First Day of School, Pt. 2

After we went and looked at the gym (there is a pretty ramshackle set of work-out equipment up there), we made our way back downstairs and towards the library.

The library.

We learned where to go to find English books (not really sure why I'd want to do that), and where the computer lab-type area is.

First Day of School

Daybreak

On Tuesday, I woke up around 5:00. Kilo and Jackson were still asleep, so I silently slid the door open and brought my laptop into the kitchen. In the morning, I tend to get distracted really easily. I did some writing for this blog, but after maybe 5 minutes I got up and started washing dishes. There are actually quite a few utensils, cups, bowls, pans, pots, and other kitchen tools, but they are all really old and beat up, and most of them were dirty. After I had cleaned a solid amount of them, I decided to try and figure out the rice cooker.

There were no instructions on the rice cooker, so I used the instructions on the bag of rice. There are no measuring cups, so I used a drinking glass which looks to be about 2 cups.

I ate a banana, and then tried out the natto. It was disgusting. Luckily the rice was coming soon. We were just experimenting with the time, so we were checking it every 30 minutes or so.

At this point, Kilo had awakened, and Jackson had, too, to some degree. Kilo and I decided to go on a walk around the neighborhood.

The Program Begins

Watch your fingers...

zip

 

Tuesday the 3rd, the first day of the program, was an absolutely amazing day. After 12:00, people started to show up. First were Jackson and Sean. About an hour after they joined us, members started streaming in one after the other. It wasn't long at all until we had a full group.

A little after 4, a couple of Japanese women showed up and started taking a head count. Our program director, Shoji Azuma, wouldn't be showing up until Wednesday, apparently. After they had introduced themselves (I'm bad with names, so don't ask), they told us to go take a walk for 40 minutes; we would be leaving then.

Arrival!

Land Ho!

After about 10 hours, I noticed that the display showed that the plane was above the coast of Japan.

The first time I saw Japan.

I opened the window and saw the most awesome thing I've ever seen in my entire life. I was literally looking at Japan. I slowly started to realize that I was technically now in Japan, and that I was seeing it for the first time, physically right below me. I know it probably doesn't seem like that big of a deal to somebody reading a blog, but I had tears welling up in my eyes. It was such a moving experience to see what was literally the place of my dreams appearing before my eyes.

There were still 2 hours left of the flight, and I spent nearly every minute of those 2 hours gazing out the window, watching the tiny cities and mountains slowly float by. This was it. I was was there.

A random city who chose to remain anonymous.

I saw lots of cities and mountains, and even more clouds. I tried to figure out what cities I was looking at based on the location according to the monitor, but I was none too successful. As we neared Osaka, the clouds thickened.

It's hard to believe that underneath this beautiful,
white blanket of clouds is a "gloomy," rainy day.

Almost there...

Sitting Around, Doing Nothing... On A PLANE!

Learning to Fly

Yesterday (or was it today...?), I finally set out on my journey to to the land of the rising sun. By airplane. What does that mean? MORE WAITING!

Exciting.

That's right! "The day" might finally have "come," but really it all boils down to the same thing. Sitting around, twiddling my thumbs, waiting to be in Japan.

Friendly Bunch.

I began in Salt Lake City, of course. My dad took me to the airport and helped me get checked in for the first time, because he's cool like that. The TSA were surprisingly cheerful. They were all laughing and smiling and cracking jokes. I took off my shoes, I emptied my pockets and half of my backpack. I walked through the scanner. I put on my shoes, I filled my pockets and half of my backpack. When I got to the terminal, I realized I had shown up unnecessarily early, and so the waiting began!

Leaving Soon

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
I'M SO EXCITED!

Well then...

The Real Preparation

So, I'm leaving tomorrow.

I've had my stuff packed for about 4 days now. I just couldn't help myself. Supposedly packing early is also one of the commandments for packing light (I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere on that site). Anyway, I've got all the essentials. Several changes of clothes. A change of shoes. A swimsuit just in case. Candy. Drawing materials. Okay, I guess I'm not exactly "packing light," but that doesn't mean I haven't used some suggestions from light packers.

Sitting Around, Doing Nothing

Hello again, readers! I bring to you a relatively unexciting post!


Passport

Well, it may have seemed like a terrifying process at first, but here I am, about 6 weeks later, with my passport.

Ta-da!

It feels pretty good to finally hold it. Apparently I'm supposed to sign my full name on the line above the ID page. They did specify full name, so I suppose I shouldn't use my normal signature, just to be safe. I'm kind of nervous though. What if I screw it up and it comes out sloppy? This is some hardcore stuff!

I suppose I'm pretty much ready now. There are a couple forms I'm able to fill out now that I have my passport, and I still need to pack, but it's kind of early for that :(