FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

So I was sooooo nervous for the first day of school. I had everything all set out. My outfit, my backpack with some notebooks and a healthy supply of pens. The alarm clock was set and I was planning on showering in the morning so I had to get up EXTRA early....like 5 or 6am. In all it took me 1hr 15m to get ready to wallk out the door. Its never taken me that long before!!! I fixed my hair, added some eye liner here, foundation there so I guess it was suppose to take that long.

Then I left out. I was so nervous....I mean the orientation they gave us on being late really had me sweating (the humidity helped there). I thought we could take the Akasaka station to school (since we live in Akasaka and its very close) but when I got to the station, I was just completely baffled at how to get to train. There are sooo many tunnels and signs NOT in English. I finally decided to take the other train which I new we could take but it would take me a while to get to the station. I went down the hill and found it on the big street. Ahhh the subway! I'm saved, right? WRONG! I'm walking down the stairs to the Tamieke-Sanno station but there's like a half a mile tunnel to get to the MAIN station that will let me on the train. The entrance I came through is just one of the many entrances/exits on THAT stop. It seems like each stop has like 6 entrances/exits. It can be so confusing. Cause you may need to go to a store and get off at Shinjuku station but exit A6 or 3 or whatever. whew! However, I digress. Now I'm at the main Tamieke-Sanno station and I get on Nambouku line. The school is only 2 stops away. I make it to my station AZABU-JUBAN exit 1. I'm sooo relieved....but! now I have to work for ten minutes to get to the school. And it was raining all morning....HARD. Well of course HARD I was in the middle of a typhoon. YES I SAID TYPHOON- OMG I don't even know what that is! (I've never had to know). So I'm walking in my uncle's hoodie thats completely soaked because I didn't buy an umbrella yet and I couldn't help but wonder "Did I make the right decision coming here?" Then ....

I get to the school. FINALLY. There are so many more students there then there were at the orientation. A large majority are Japanese. And let me tell you. The Japanese believe that appearance is very important. I thought it was just businessmen and women. No. The students all look like they came out of hip and cool magazines with expensive purses and shoes and the guys are rockin' sparkling cellphones while the girls are dressed up like they're going on to a club! They reek of expensive accessories and haircuts or styles. Guys have designer manbags and leather backpacks and needless to say I feel totally and completely under dress. I mean I've got my skinny jeans on and a blouse with my favorite pin-striped vest and champion kicks (so I look okay) but the walk from the station to the school had me soaked in a combination of sweat and rain. Every gaijin (foreigner) is sweating and panting and guzzling water and the Japanese.....flawless.

My first class was Japanese Elements I at 10am and sensei let us know off the bat that this was going to be a challenging classes. She gave us the syllabus and the books we were going to use were the same books I used at GV for Japanese. I knew it would keep me intrigued and I wouldn't feel the need to jump out a window anytime some mentioned a Japanese class. I'm optimistic but I don't know how long the honeymoon phase will last. Next was Introduction to Asian Religions. My teacher is a baby boomer American hippie from the 1970s...so I know I'll like him. One of the books we have to get only cost 12 bucks!! Then the main book we have to get cost like $120.

And that was my monday at school. Afterwards I went with a bunch of guys to get my alien registration card and sign up for the national health insurance which is required by all aliens....or at least all Temple aliens. By this point the typhoon was in full swing but everyone continued in all there basic duties so we didn't see the big deal. We stopped by a shrine on the way home and it was huge and beautiful. Since we were in the middle of a typhoon the places was swarming with sightseers and families. My friend Jimmy took some great photos. A man working at the shrine saw me in the rain and gave me and umbrella FOR FREE. I can't believe how considerate and giving this culture is...without pause. Everyone is friendly, everyone smiles, and bows and says sorry and please. The streets are clean, everyone recycles. EVERYONE gets up to do the daily grind and remain pleasant about it all day. They never look tired but thats because they don't believe in losing face. And you can't help but admire it and dream of an America that emulates it.

SECOND DAY OF SCHOOL

The second day I was more prepared for the trains........but I decided to walk instead. The weather had cleared up, the sun was out so I thought it couldn't hurt. I was a popsicle by the time I got to school. There goes points for appearance. The first thing I did was get my TUid for school and then I had Intro to Film and Video anaylsis which is basically a fancy word for film study - another word for that is I ALREADY TOOK THIS CLASS IN THE STATES. It was almost the exact same syllabus with the exact same material....except the list of movies to cover was nicer like: Alien, North by Northwest etc. I mean, i wouldn't mind seeing those. I don't think I ever have and a free viewing every week of movies isn't so bad. I may have to drop it though if I can't fit it into my theme. So we'll see. Then I had a 2hr 30min break so I ate and checked the bookstore for some books I needed for previous classes. My last class for Tuesday was Ideology and Social Changes in Japan. I sat next to my roommate Meredith and this girl Jasmine who just so happens to LOOOOOOOVE the fact that I go to Temple because she has natural hair and has had no one to talk to about it for like 2 years!!! And then my roommate and I come here and talk about SHEA BUTTER and COCOA BUTTER. She nearly cried! It was a surreal moment....for all included.

After that I was done. I said "Im ready to get out of here". SOOOO ready. I bought a carton of apple juice, put on my headphones and toughed out the gruelling walk-climb-trek-crawl home. Now I'm doing Japanese homework and then plan to have a nice pleasant dream about how things in the states use to be so easy.