Today was our official School orientation. We received our textbooks and tons of information about classes and what to expect for the next month.

Then came the scary bit: meeting our conversation partners. The CPs are Japanese students who have volunteered to practice conversing with us, show us around and generally help out. Some of them are “Lunchtime Partners” who will meet us around lunchtime for conversation practice, and others are “Classroom Partners” who will participate in our afternoon classes. Everyone’s great, friendly and very patient.

I only say “the Scary Part”, because it’s ME who was scared. Studying, doing Japanese in my head, learning lots of Kanji and all that is fine—but when the rubber meets the road and it’s time to actually converse with real Japanese people, that’s a different story. I’m generally pretty reserved as it is around strangers, but especially so in a language I’m not very good at speaking. It was all pretty taxing on me, but it’s what I’m here for.

Anyway, I went with my two lunchtime partners—Yasu and Keiko—and had a stroll around campus. They showed me where all my classrooms were, where the clinic, library and student center were and so forth. Then we all returned to the I-house for our welcome party!

The party was a lot of fun, and I was detailed to give a speech on behalf of the International Students (in English, thankfully). We played a lot of games and had some great Chinese food and generally had a good time. I finally started feeling a bit more comfortable once I began sort of polishing my little “stock phrases” so that I could speak a bit—but again, everyone was really patient and helpful. I’m glad for that, especially as the token “old guy” of the group. But in the end, I was still exhausted. It’s just gonna get better and easier from here on out, though!

Tomorrow’s our walking tour of Kyoto, so I’m gonna get to bed early…

The rain stopped last night, and it was a lovely sunny day—though pretty humid for a So Cal boy like myself. Started off with a walk to the Convini for breakfast and an excuse to start taking pictures. This was followed by our first orientation to the International House dorms where we’re staying and the welcome news that someone was coming to fix my air conditioning (turns out it was only dead batteries in the remote control—go figure).

It’s only about a 5 minute downhill walk to get to the main gate of the University followed by another 5 minute Uphill walk. The location is really very nice with excellent views of North Kyoto and the mountains. I won’t help but lose weight with all the walking and the heat!

After learning how to use the Japanese ATM machines and a stroll back home when I used the first of the ubiquitous vending machines to buy a bottle of Pocari Sweat (sounds horribly nasty in English, but it’s really tasty stuff—like Gatorade, only sweeter and without the weird aftertaste), I got online to post some updates and photos which you can see in the photos link. The other fun thing was talking to my Mom & Dad and my sister using Skype. We spoke for about 15 minutes—which cost exactly 24 cents. My how the internet has changed global communication.

Later in the afternoon, Paul-san drove Me, Leslie and Alia downtown to a popular mall so we could do some grocery shopping—which was interesting. I managed to see my first $20.00 watermelons and $12.00 bunches of grapes, but Bananas were relatively affordable at a mere $2.00 for 6 medium ones. Some things are outrageously expensive (like a beautiful slab of sushi tuna around 2 x 4 x 3/4 inches for $15.00) but others are insanely cheap (like my favorite brand of instant Yakisoba noodles which were only 75 cents). If you could live on nothing but instant Ramen and the like, Japan isn’t so expensive.

Dinner in the cafeteria next door in the Men’s dorms was pretty good and surprisingly filling even without the huge, American-style portions we get back home (which is probably better for me also). The funny part was seeing absolutely every head turn to look at us when we walked in. I suppose we are something of a spectacle, especially me—it’s not every day you see a 40-something Gaijin (foreigner) with white spiky hair walk into a college dorm’s cafeteria I guess.

In the evening after it cooled off, the entire ICP/UCR student body (that’s 6 of us) went for a stroll up the road to see what we could find. We saw where to catch the little train up the mountain to Kurama (which should be a lovely day trip some weekend). It was really quite peaceful and there was a nice breeze coming down the valley and off the stream.

Not bad for a first day…

Arrived yesterday to a very rainy Japan—as was expected, I suppose. It was so amazing just thinking that I was finally here! The plane ride was long but uneventful, and I made good use of the extended battery pack I bought for my iPod by watching videos the entire trip.

The six of us, plus two regular paying customers, all got packed into our little shuttle van and spent the next 2 hours getting from KIX airport to Kyoto. I had lots of fun reading road signs and things painted on passing vehicles—happy when I could actually decipher them, but incredulous when I realized just how much I have left to learn. As the trip went on, though, I started getting better and faster at reading them, which is a very good sign.

Even more cool was when we exited the highway and drove through the streets of Kyoto to our various destinations. It was an amazing feast for the senses—they apparently don’t do zoning in the same way we do; I saw factories next to traditional houses next to high-rise condos next to gas stations next to newer family homes next to strip malls. So many of the houses and buildings are very narrow and tiny by our US standards, but just like I experienced over 20 years ago when I first visited Italy, I was incredibly fascinated by everything I saw—wondering who lived behind that home’s window, what sort of work people did in that office, what I could buy in that shop, how the food was at that restaurant. It really thrills me when I can catch such glimpses while at the same time realizing that I’ll probably never pass that way again in my lifetime. The endless parade of human life…

We arrived at the KSU International House in a real downpour, where program coordinator Paul Churton-san awaited us with umbrellas and some preliminary welcome information (like where our shoe lockers were in the dorm’s Genkan or entrance hall). A quick trip with Kevin-san and Jeremiah-san down the road to the local Convini (a “Circle K”, no less) yielded the evening’s meal of a drink and a couple Onigiri (filled rice balls—yummy). I spent a while unpacking and getting my dorm room sorted out—though I never managed to get the air conditioning to work, gave up and opened the window. I forced myself to stay up until around 10:30 PM, but then dropped off to a pretty sound sleep until 5:00 AM, partially in thanks to Melatonin.

And so the adventure begins!

So it’s down to the last few hours then…

I don’t know why, but I’ve had a very stressful day—far more stressful than the day before any other trip I can remember. There just seem to be so many things to do still and so many loose ends to be tied up. Sheesh…

But tomorrow’s the big day! Off I go, and there’s no turning back. It’ll probably be an extra long trip, but I’ll post an update as soon as I can!

It’s almost unbelievable that the time has arrived—off to Japan in only THREE MORE DAYS!

I’m very used to travel, packing, getting everything setup to go. The difference this time is that I’m going to be gone for a month and a half. Surprisingly, I’m finding it difficult to fit everything into one suitcase, a backpack and my computer briefcase. I know that I ALWAYS end up taking something I don’t need (usually books), but when you’re going to be gone for such an extended time, that becomes a bit more difficult to determine. I have already pruned out some of the things I’d put on my “to take” pile, but there’s still a lot. I especially can’t believe how much electronics/computer gear I’ve got with me, though I’ve essentially limited it to one plastic box.

Clothing is relatively easy. I’m taking as much as will fit in the empty spaces after all the other junk’s in. Since it’s going to be hot and humid, I’m relying on mostly t-shirts and casual stuff. It’s gonna be hard to figure which shoes to take because they’re always so bulky. At least I won’t be needing any suits and dress clothing (though I am taking a nice shirt and pair of trousers for important occasions).

And then, of course, I’m already thinking ahead to coming home. I know I’ll be purchasing things there that I’ll need to bring back with me, but I think that Japan Post will appreciate me as a customer when I ship home books, extra clothing and souvenirs. I’ll hopefully end up tossing some stuff too.

I’ve built the framework for my all-encompassing web extravaganza related to my trip to Japan. I’m hoping to write regularly, post photos and upload videos so you can taste the experience along with me.

We’re scheduled to leave June 14th, so stay tuned until then!

Incidentally, the photo is of the Tatami room at the Seattle Go Center.