Orientation would suck if I actually went to it

Just so that certain people (*cough* parents *cough*) don't worry, yes I am going to the parts of orientation that I have to go to. But out of a full week's worth of events, all I have to do is pay my fees and get a registration lottery number (did that yesterday), sign up for classes (did that today), and wait for them to post what japanese classes I am in. That leaves a lot of free time for the amanda.

So, there isn't much that happened since I last left you, but I shall try to be entertaining. So, what have I done with myself for the past few days...

Well, I went on a search all over town for some boots that are not high heel, now that I discovered that I can occassionally wear a size LL (this is a fantastic revelation to me because LLs are much easier to find than 3 and 4Ls). Boots without high heels are nowhere to be found. I did that Monday.

Then, Tuesday evening I enjoyed the ever entertaining task of trying to organize my photos and other stuffs that I transfered from the old computer to the laptop. It's still not finished.

Wednesday I started on an Indiana Jones marathon with Ruth, but that got interrupted because we were invited to Round1, which is this place where you pay 13$ for three hours inside the building. They have tennis, batting cages, basketball, badmitton, soccar, and mini-golf on the roof, and billiards, video games, bowling, roller skating, and a couple other games that I couldn't figure out how to play. We made a mental note of this place because though it is far away and wastes hours of your time, it was fun.

Mini-golf was depressing. It was literally a mini golf course, with coarse carpet for the rough, white carpet for the sand pits (they aren't sand and they aren't lowered so even if your ball lands there its no different than putting on the green), and green carpet for everything else. It was very very lame.

Other than mini-golf, I played billiards, failed at tennis, and played a couple of videogames. After we finished our three hours, we also got 20 tokens to go use in "gambling." But what gambing means is that you use the tokens you get you to earn more tokens so that you can play more. Works the same as using money only there's no real money involved. We didn't see any prizes either, except for the UFO catchers (DULL!!!! There were't any interesting prizes either). But we played our coins because hey, they're free, and then left.

I really have nothing else to say. I'm going to go eat at the cafe and either go home to sleep (I stayed out way too late last night at round1) or go fall asleep watching the rest of Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford Rocks!

Japan Semester II - Revisit the Craziness

So, I am currently back in Japan, which means this blog is no longer on haitus. It also means I should probably post something with some semblance of intellegence. So here I am.

I flew to Japan on Monday, January 21st and arrived on Tuesday, January 22. Though I had a seat on the aisle and originally no one assigned to the seat next to me, they assigned two standbys to the window and center seat. These standbys were Japanese so I listened to their convos occassionally in order to practice my comprehension skills. They also kept getting up every two hours so I was constantly moving. This was partially an annoyance and partially a good excuse to stretch my legs. The flight featured four movies: Ratatoulli, Artic Tale, The Seeker, and some movie about a book club that reads only Jane Austin. All were alright, but also fairly boring.

When I arrived in Japan, I went through customs, then left for the trains. I road the train for close to two hours and reached Kuzuha at about 8:30, where my host mother picked me up and drove me home. I then distributed the gifts that I brought them and went promptly to bed.

Since then, I ate lunch with Heather twice, went shopping at Kuzuha (I needed more hangers, that's my excuse), am now sitting in the CIE lab checking my email. Oh, and I'll be stopping by the campus bookstore to look at cheaper school supplies. I'll also be stopping by the McDonalds in Makino to see if they do indeed have wi-fi, as I suspect that they do. I might be eating at Makudo more frequently this semester if they do indeed have wi-fi. Anything to sit and chat on the computer and not use the host family's computer.

Orientation starts next week, so my assignment for the rest of the weekend is to check for wi-fi access and figure out what classes I would like to take next semester. I also need to register my laptop so I can use the university's internet. Le sigh.

More later.