When we landed at Centrair airport in Nagoya, it was almost 6pm in Japan. We went through customs very quickly, which was great compared to last time I went (it may have taken so long because it was Tokyo and it was Christmastime). After we found our bags and put them on carts, we proceeded to the main part of the airport and were greeted by what I assume to be the International Club from Nagoya Gakuin. My best friend Rie who came to Memphis for 2008-2009 was there to see me. I was so glad she came! After we all met up and talked to Kumagai (the coordinator), we went off to go explore. First we found a shop that sold Sanrio stuff, and then a Claire's. Claire's is like, forty thousand times cuter in Japan. After that, we went to the very tiny food court to eat. Rie and I got ramen, and it is soooo much better in Japan. I also saw the Japanese business man equivalent of Severus Snape. It made my day!!
We waited for other international students to arrive (there are like a ton of Americans here), then rode a bus to the dorms. Apparently I had signed up for Large Size Dorm in the Seminar House so my dorm is a decent size, but it makes me, a 5 foot tall girl, feel unusually tall. My dorm has a bed with drawers underneath, a closet I'll share with my roommate, a desk, a bookshelf, a large balcony, kitchen with a sink, induction heater (whatever that is), refrigerator, a shoe closet, sink with mirror, bathroom, and shower closet that has a bucket bathtub that comes to about my hip. There is also a place where if you wanted to pay for one, you could have a washing machine.
After we got settled in, I changed clothes and the RAs took us to a nearby 7/11 to get food. I got onigiri, which I looooooooooove. *___* It was delicious. When we got back, I unpacked and organized/decorated my room until past midnight, then decided to wash airport/airplane germs off in the shower. I turned it on and no hot water came out!! I had it up to the highest setting, and it never got any hotter, so I just took a cold shower. I also didn't have a towel then so I basically had to use a tiny rag to dry off. The first night the internet was also a piece of crap as well, so as I'm trying to let my parents know I'm alright, it keeps dying. I had to sit in the apparently "good zone" for internet, which is on the floor of my kitchen, and it still dropped it. Then my computer died, and I hadn't gotten a plug adapter yet. Thankfully, I got one yesterday and the internet been going strong for two days on my desk by the balcony! I was even able to Skype with my mom and dad this morning.
I got about two hours of sleep the first night. I went to bed about three in the morning after staying up and chatting with my other fellow exchange, Brittany. I woke up again about 4 am, went and sat on my balcony, ate an onigiri around 5 am, practiced kanji, then went back to sleep about 7:10am. I then woke up again at about 8:40am and decided sleeping was a fruitless effort and just got ready. Around 10 am, Robert and other other fellow exchange Shaun came to my dorm to get me so we could go to the electronic store, Kojima Denki. I got my adapter there, along with some batteries for my electronic dictionary. When we were leaving the store, these women with fliers grabbed us and made us test out massage chairs. They were hilarious! After we extracted ourselves from their grips, we went to eat at Cafe Gusto. I got udon and Calpico soda, Brittany got hamburg steak with eggs, and Robert got CORN PIZZA.
After eating, we went back to the dorms for a bit, then met up about 1pm to go to a 100 Yen store and this place called Don Quixote. As we were walking the eighty-seven miles there, it began to DOWNPOUR. I shared an umbrella with one of the RA's, a guy named Keita who is significantly taller than me, and we got soaked to the bone. It really sucked! We finally got to Don Quixote, and I swear I think that store has everything except for appliances. As I went up the elevator, a Japanese man in front of me stared blatantly at me. It was so weird!! Anyway, I got a lot of stuff for myself like a towel and a small mirror, and some stuff my dorm such as Doraemon toilet paper, hand soap, and trash bags.
After I paid for my stuff, I walked right out and into the 100 Yen shop. There I bought a hand towel of Marie from The Aristocats (which is oddly popular), and chopsticks. We then all went back to the campus, and unfortunately it was still raining furiously. The trek back seemed even longer now that I had two bags full of crap, but somehow we made it. I'm certainly my knees were in splinters by then. After changing and attempted to make my hair look less ridiculous, they all dragged us out again to go to dinner. We went to a rotating sushi bar, but since there is so many of us we had to go hang out in an arcade first.
The arcade had UFO Catchers, arcade games (one was this game where several people get in pods and battle each other ...somehow. I should try it!), and PuriKura (picture booths). I got eyeballed for the 67th time since I've been here by a salary man, then finally we went to go eat. By this time, it was around 7 or 8 at night, and I was so deliriously tired that everything became absurdly hilarious. Robert, who speaks in such a tone that everything he says cracks me up, kept saying the most ordinary things and I laughed so hard I was certain my ribs had been obliterated.
Finally, we got home, and I passed out asleep around 9pm. I slept until about 7am, then woke up and talked to my parents on Skype. It was great, since I hadn't really been able to talk to them since I arrived. After Skyping, Shaun came by to tell me we were all going for okonomiyaki (a Japanese dish I don't particularly care for), then going to Sakae to go shopping.
The okonomiyaki place was too packed, so we went to a Misokatsu place and got that. The chicken was horribly fatty and I don't think I'll be eating there again, even if Nagoya is famous for it. Brittany told me to close my eyes and just pretend I was eating something else, but that's impossible!! I hate fat on any kind of meat, it makes me gag. XD
Once we were done eating, we headed to Oasis 21, which is a very interesting mall! it was somewhat outdoor, yet underground, and had a roof over it that was a fountain. There was a cute shop there (I forget the name), along with a place that sold Studio Ghibli stuff.
After we left there, we went to a bookstore called Maruzen. I was able to by the Gothic & Lolita Bible volume 34 there for so much cheaper than I get it in America. Then, Ryou, Brittany's roommate, took us to Nova!! That is where a lot of Lolita shops are located. I bought some things at Angelic Pretty (aggh, but I decided I'm going to sell two of the dresses I already have, simply cause I never wear them and am not that fond of them), then a small crown necklace at Sexy Dynamite London (I have been looking all over for one!!), and finally, a small black parasol from some shop in the train station.
We walked home, and by this time, I'm pretty sure my knees and ankles have dissolved into nothing. Our final trip of the day was to 7/11 again to get dinner (I went in my new Angelic Pretty outfit just for lulz), and now I'm relaxing in my dorm room with throbbing legs. I need an Epsom salt bath or something.
Tomorrow is orientation I think.... gross.
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