#1: Arrival

So this is the view from the balcony (I have a balcony!) in my room.  The view’s not exactly spectacular, but you get an idea of what it looks like in my neighborhood.  I’m living in an international student dorm about 25 minutes from campus.  Aside from the scooters, cars, and cyclists that zip down the narrow streets at alarming speeds, the walk’s not bad.

As of tomorrow, I’ll have been in Hirakata-shi, Japan for a week (!!!).  We’ve only had orientation activities so far, so I’ve had quite a bit of time to explore the area.  A few key observations:

1.  Food: Eating out is cheap and delicious.  So far I’ve gotten to eat sushi (including squid and eel), soba, udon, ramen, yakisoba, tempura, and takoyaki (grilled balls of batter with pieces of octopus inside).  And I sense this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Stay tuned for more food-themed pictures/posts.

2. Quiet: If I could boil our orientation meetings down to a single message, this would be it: don’t make too much noise.  Japanese homes are not well insulated so it doesn’t take much for your conversation on the street to travel into someone’s living room.  Apparently foreigners already talk louder than Japanese in regular conversation, let alone when particularly animated or intoxicated.  There are signs everywhere reminding us not to be too loud, in and out of the seminar houses.

3.  Language: Luckily for me, a lot of people here seem to speak at least a little bit of English.  The presence of the university definitely helps–a lot of Japanese students are eager and willing to practice their language skills.  Communication can require a bit of gesturing and patience, but generally works out ok in the end.  I’m also super grateful for the international students who speak Japanese well and are willing to help newbs like myself.

4. Miscellaneous: Restaurants usually don’t give you napkins (people carry handkerchiefs).  In many places toilet seats are heated.  Mayonnaise tastes really different.  And the supermarket nearest to me seems to only play ABBA.  Hey, I don’t hate it.  More coming soon!