It was the official day one in Japan seeing as the original day one had been spent traveling to the final destination with groggy eyes and a weary smile. The day begun at the crack of dawn due to a lack of ability to sleep. For as tired as I was there was no rest for the weary as the bed proved to dislike side sleepers. I woke up and chilled on the computer for a while before deciding to take a warm shower in hopes of falling back asleep before our 8:45 breakfast that morning. I was stunned to find that the shower was not as difficult as I was told, that was of course after turning the nob only to find the water was still cold. But with the simple press of a button I was able to turn on the water heat and take a nice hot shower. After all was said and done my roommate, Delia, and I made our way over to the classrooms and enjoyed a breakfast of donuts and fruit before the day begun in full swing.
Orientation kicked off as most orientations due, introductions, long speeches, and yawns of boredom to be had by all. After the usual was done and over with it was time for a 3 hour bike tour around the city. Tsukasa our adorable guide led the way and pointed out various buildings and stops along the way in hopes of getting us acquainted with our new home. Unfortunately I was too busy trying my best to ride a bike in a skirt and not giving everyone on the road a show of my underwear to concern myself with just where we were. An unfortunate event that will be rectified. As the bike tour came towards its end Delia and I strayed from the group to make a quick stop at the grocery store in hopes of stocking up on some food for the next few days. We wrangled our friend Matt into coming along and before we knew it we were stumbling across fine delicacy after fresh food everywhere we looked. We stocked up on a few quint essential items making sure not to get too much as our bike's can only hold so much, before heading back to the dorms and our 4 o'clock meeting.
We were greeted by the president of our program and were asked to tell everyone why we chose to come to Japan. Needless to say no one tried buying a ticket at the impressionable age of 12 using their babysitting money only to discover that $2,000, although it may get you a ticket there, a trip does not make. I received a few chuckles from the classmates at this story and was rewarded with the most interesting story and the ability to confirm the fact that I am truly living out my dream.
After the jibber jabber of a mandatory meeting that wasn't actually mandatory, we stayed afterwards to hang out with some of the local high school students who were taking an English course and were looking to practice. It was a conglomeration of Engrish and Japanglish being thrown around but an hour later I found myself being asked by at least half the students in there to pose for a photo. After several rounds of "se no, cheesu!" it was time for dinner. Heading over to the conbini (convenient store) Lawson's across the street from the school, my roommate grabbed a quick and cheap onigiri (rice ball) to satisfy her hunger and I treated myself to some Gioza (dumplings) that I'd bought at the grocery store earlier that day, with plans of a night filled with studying and beer ahead. Well plans are tentative as I soon learned, because after dinner and a beer I felt the wear and tear of the day set in and decided to take a "nap." The quotations obviously clue you in to the fact that nap turned into sleep and little to no studying was actually done...
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