I've put off beginning this blog for longer than I should have. My name is Ross, and I'm studying abroad in Tokyo, Japan for one year. I don't speak Japanese. I've never even studied Japanese, but I'm here for the long haul. I'll write about my experiences here.

I arrived 3 weeks ago through CIEE and participated in a group orientation during the first 2 weeks of my stay. Since I stepped off of the plane until fairly recently, everything I've done has felt like a weird blur of exhaustion and complete sensory overload, so I'll move fast through things I remember:

There were two days of sleeping in hotel rooms reserved by CIEE staff. We all met (maybe 30 of us), went through important information, ate together, toured the Sophia University campus, and pushed through the jet lag.

One night, at the hight of my sleeplessness, I remember making copies of my passport at a konbini (convenience store) near the hotel. I was in such a daze that I walked out and left my passport inside the copier. I didn't realize it until the next morning. Embarrassing. Not something I needed to happen during week #1.

I ended up jogging through the rain (my umbrella was still with my luggage) back to the konbini and showing the clerk the copy I had made. I told him:

"Passport...copy....last night."

He looked at me blankly for a few seconds and said something in Japanese, so I clarified:

"Last night...passport....copy. Passport!"

Second time seemed to do the trick. He disappeared into the back and reappeared a minute later with my passport.

"Yokatta!"

I thanked him. Gave him a deep bow and mimed wiping the sweat off my forehead. He smiled, repeated my gesture and added a sigh of relief. I left with my passport and a ¥500 umbrella.

Throughout the next week there were orientation lectures, and day trips around Tokyo and nearby attractions. The surreal highlight was sitting on stage while 700 beaming Japanese elementary schoolers sang "Edelweiss" to welcome the foreign students to their school. It gave me goosebumps.

Now school has started. I'm glad to have some kind of routine and regular sleep schedule. That was the last 3 weeks without very much detail at all.