Waking up at about 0800 HRS was a bit of a problem. I needed to check out of the hotel by 1000 HRS and didn’t want to really go any where far. Thus, I just farted around the SHINAGAWA area looking at things. If I forgot to mention this in the previous post, I was rained on for the majority of the time in TOKYO. It was an on and off rain with showers in between. It was also VERY annoying, and made it hard to take photos.
I decided to leave the camera behind for the short outing. After being out for about 45 minutes, I returned and went to pack and double check everything. Then, I went down stairs and checked out of the hotel. I planned on meeting up with my tutor in OKAYAMA at about 1430 HRS, so I had to plan things out well. The SHINKANSEN ride was about 3.5 hours, and I didn’t want to arrive too early or too late. Therefore, I went and had my second JAPANESE breakfast.
It was an McDonald’s Egg McMuffin set, but because it was in Japan, it is JAPANESE yeah? The McMuffin came with a small coffee, and small hash browns. Decent meal, although not that filling. I looked at the clock after chilling and eating, and it was about 1000. Therefore, I made my way to the SHINAGAWA train station. After buying a ticket for the bullet train, I made my way to the platform in a very confusing station. Now, remember I sent a suitcase to my new home already, but that means that I was stuck with one more piece. As advance as TOKYO is, the place seems to love stairs. Therefore, I found a new hate of stairs, especially when I got onto the wrong side of the platform which was down a flight of stairs, and the only way to get to the other side was to go up and back down another set of stairs….
> <;
If anyone ever told you that moving luggage on the bullet train was easy, then they were lying to you. It is one of the toughest things I have ever done. Not only that , but it is a pain in the rear, and there is nowhere to put it once you arrived to your seat.
So here is a tip: If you are traveling alone or up to 3 people, then ask for a seat that is at the front or the rear of the car. The reason is that you will have more room either in front of you or behind you to stash ONE suitcase each. If you are traveling with 4 - 6 people, then it doesn’t matter, because then you can flip the whole bank of seats to face towards each other. Then you just put the luggage in the middle as a table. If there are more than 6 people, then just repeat the rules.
Well as luck may have it, I had a window seat, but it was in the middle of the train. The ticket sales lady was very adamant that I got a window seat. So, at first there was nobody else on the train, and I just left my suitcase in the first row of seats up front. But after a while, the train started to fill up and I had to cram the suitcase in front of me where my legs should have been. The ride was not so comfortable, but this was only on the last leg of the trip. I would say for about 1.25 hours.
After arriving at the OKAYAMA train station, I went out to decent weather (meaning it was not raining) and found a cab. The dorm driver was awesome, explaining everything about the city and things that I should see and where I was. It was a very cool experience, except for the fact that I was falling asleep. A short trip later, I was at the dorm and paid the cabbie. To my surprise once I got there, my tutor wasn’t there. He actually wasn’t even in the city! Apparently, he went to TOKYO that day! WHAT LUCK!
I can’t complain too much though, because he went out of his way to call another tutor to come buy and help in his stead. So, WAKE-SAN, the dorm manager, let me into my room, and gave me a welcome package, and the keys to my mailbox.
So after just putting my suitcase down, my temporary tutor, KOHEI-SAN (COA-HEY), came and asked me to bring my care package with me to the lobby. I went to the lobby to meet CHOU-SAN (Chinese exchange student from Beijing), Jon Kelbie (Scottish exchange student), James Dean & John Roberts (English Exchange students [Not from London]), YUUKO-SAN (another tutor) and ICHIMURA-SENSEI (Head of the Japanese Teachers for Foreign Students). We had many forms that we needed to fill out, and YUUKO wanted to make sure that we were on top of it.
So, after a very brief set of introductions, we started on the paperwork. It was a very confusing experience, but we were able to pull through it with the knowledge of a sample guide that was left for us. We were told to have two photo’s ready to turn in. I was alright with the idea, until I found out that the photos that I had were in sufficient for the paper work. I asked if I would be able to get some photos taken somewhere, but was told to take them at the Government Building.
Later that evening, a new set of tutors showed up. There must have been at least 22 students in total. We met three more exchange student from France: Leo, Melanie, and Jennifer. Another confusing time came, when we got a set of tutor names for all sorts of exchange students that have not arrived yet. I can’t remember everyone but the ones that I do recall are: YUUKO, NORI, NAOKI, TOMOYA, and ERI.
Pretty pathetic, that I can only remember those names from a huge amount of students, but I will say that when the JAPANESE people around these parts introduce themselves, they tend to slur. At first I thought it was just me, but then the other exchange students asked if I thought that they slurred.
Anyhow, the students wanted to go out and celebrate the arrival of us new students. Here is another TIP that I suggest: If you are going to an exchange program here in JAPAN arrive on the first day of the program. We were offered a three day window to arrive at the dorm. I arrived on the first day, only because I didn’t want to spend too much money in TOKYO. Back to the reason why to come on the first day, it is because there was the huge gathering of JAPANESE people to meet, and we all went out to dinner to celebrate. Everyday after, only certain student tutors came to meet their student. No party, no big meet and greet.
The party was a blast although we only celebrated it at a Mister Doughnut. Which if you couldn’t piece together is just a doughnut chain shop. We were lent a bunch of bikes and made our way from the dorm to the main street behind the University. I still haven’t learned all the names of the streets yet, and I am still piecing together the parts to make it to places in OKAYAMA.
It was funny to see who hasn’t rode a bike in a while, because you notice that people start to crash/fall off. I guess motorcycles in the states helped some what. But the amount of cyclist here is amazing. I hope that I will be able to at least drive once while here though. I am really starting to miss the feel of driving a vehicle. I would be fine with anything, a car, motorcycle, or truck. Maybe even a bus. Everything is smaller here, and they like to have flat/shorter noses on their vehicles. It is very interesting.
Hopefully, one day I will have some spare time and will go around and just take pictures of the vehicles that are around here. Click on the title or HERE, for more photos!
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