This is going to be a ridiculously long post.
My second day in Japan started out slowly. I was wide awake at 5 a.m. so I took my time showering, got dressed, and went out into Nara. I made a pit stop at a convenience store to buy water and a delicious snack that was something like strawberry cream on crackers. I watched as the city came alive. Japanese men and women in business suits seemed to appear out of nowhere, each making their way quickly down the sidewalk to wherever their jobs would take them. I didn’t wander very far, but I did encounter the deer Nara is famous for. I even had the pleasure of watching an entire herd cross the street in front of four lanes of traffic.
Eventually, 9:30 a.m. rolled around. I checked out of the hotel and sat down to wait. Not much later, a woman from Nara University came in to speak with me. She introduced herself as Maki, and she along with two other staff members whisked away my suitcases outside to where a Vietnamese student was also waiting. Her name was Nguyen (pronounced something like “Jen”) and she was accompanied by another student helper, Mao. We began to speak to each other in Japanese, I having the most trouble, but still managing to make pleasant conversation.
We were taken to our dorm, which was only a block away. Our first stop was the genkan, or entryway, where we found shoe boxes and mail boxes conveniently located. We were asked to take off our shoes and don house slippers, placing our shoes in our assigned boxes. This is when I received my student ID card, phone card, and keys. They showed me to my room, which is on the second floor and down a long series of hallways. Maki san helped me unpack my things and set up my bed (they provided sheets and pillows). They showed me all of the controls for the lights and water, but I had little time to relax because we immediately left to go to the International Student Division’s office. Here, I filled out necessary paperwork under the staff’s guidance. Then, I had the delight of meeting Inoue sensei, my assigned teacher and advisor. I was extremely nervous, but he actually spoke to me in a mix of Japanese and English. We didn’t stay long, only enough to be introduced, but it was a happy meeting.
Immediately afterwards, Maki san took Nguyen and I into the city. We took a bus for 200 yen (about $2.00) to a giant office building where we got to fill out more paperwork. This, I gathered, was for an alien registration card. Since neither Nguyen nor I had extra passport photos on us, we walked a few blocks to a GIANT department store. The United States doesn’t have anything on Japanese shopping malls. We stepped into a little photo booth where we took passport pictures for 700 yen, then returned to the office building. Once we finished filling everything out, I made a pit stop at a bathroom. This is where I had my first encounter with traditional Japanese toilets. These are the ones where you have to squat down to pee. Luckily, I didn’t have any problems and emerged victorious.
We hurried back to the dorms where the Ida san (house mother) handed out—yep--- more paperwork. One looked like a wireless internet application while the other dealt with dorm rules and garbage. The Japanese take garbage seriously. There are assigned days for different things to be taken out, and everything has to be organized correctly or you can be fined. We were given a booklet explaining what went where and on what days, but this is completely foreign to me so I may need to ask for some help in this aspect.
After the meeting with the Ida san it was around 2:00 p.m. I had not eaten anything since maybe 8:00 a.m. Luckily Maki suggested we eat lunch at the university’s cafeteria. Something that would usually seem ordinary was actually foreign to me. When we entered the cafeteria, we grabbed trays and plates. Then, we walked around a large table with a large variety of foods, none of which I recognized. You were allowed to put as much or as little as you wanted on the plate along with a bowl of rice. When I was finished making my selections, I walked up to the register where they actually weighed my plate to determine the price. After I paid, I grabbed a set of chopsticks and went to where a drink dispenser poured fresh green tea into my small cup.
The moment of truth came. I ate everything on my plate, including my rice (all with chopsticks!) and I am happy to say I liked everything. However, the meal was small in comparison to American meals and I know it will take some getting used to. Maybe I will lose weight while I’m here—that would be nice!
From the cafeteria we were handed off to Mao, seeing as Maki had to go to her part time job (ARUBAITO). Mao took Nguyen and I back on the bus and downtown to pick up our completed alien registration certificates. Then we went to another office in the same building to fill out health insurance verification forms. All of this would have been impossible without Mao’s help considering the high level of Japanese and kanji involved. I caught Nguyen nodding off while we were waiting. At least I knew I wasn’t the only one who was exhausted!
When we finally finished with all the paperwork, it was back on the bus. It’s amazing to me how much people walk and use public transportation here in Nara. It’s definitely something I know I already love and will easily adjust to. It was then that Mao took us on a happier venture—shopping. I don’t think I can fully explain how awesome Nara’s shopping district is. There are entire streets lined with shops that are exclusively for walking. You feel like you are inside a mall, even though you are outdoors. And there is a HUGE variety of shops. Mao took us to our equivalent of a dollar store, except that everything inside was 500 yen or less. I bought a few essentials, like my own slippers for the dorm and a towel. The best part of all though was the music. I actually heard Steven Curtis Chapman over the store’s intercom, in English no less!! I immediately started singing along, and Mao laughed, asking (in Japanese) if I liked it. Oh yes, yes I did, I told her.
We had to rush back to the university because Nguyen was meeting her professor at 5:00 and we were already a little late. Maki had arranged for me to meet Inoue sensei for dinner at 6:00, something I was nervous for. Back at the university, we exchanged more paperwork in the International Division’s office, giving them our alien registration card information. Then, Nguyen rushed off to meet her professor and I hurried back to my room under Mao’s instruction to drop off my things before walking back to Inoue sensei’s office.
I will say now that Inoue sensei is the coolest person I have met thus far. He spoke to me with a combination of English and Japanese, asking me what I would like to eat for dinner. I explained that because I was hungry, I would eat anything! He laughed at that, offering to take me to a traditional Japanese restaurant. I jumped at the chance. With that, he led me down to Nara’s shopping district and through various alleyways until we reached a tiny Japanese restaurant. When we slid open the rice paper door, we removed our shoes in the genkan and stepped onto the tatami mats to a low sitting table where our feet hung down into a heated alcove underneath.
Inoue sensei ordered for us a meal for two, which began with tofu and miso soup, which was extremely salty. Luckily, I had Asahi, a Japanese beer, to wash it down, and I did my best to eat everything so as not to seem rude. Inoue sensei joked with me about the drinking age in the United States. I had never had beer before, and I had heard it was nasty from many people, but I didn’t find it unpleasant. I had maybe two beers over the course of the large meal. I couldn’t keep track of how many Inoue sensei had though. The next thing we ate in our meal was a variety of sashimi (raw fish) with soy sauce. Some of these were actually tasty to me, while others were hard to stomach. Inoue sensei and I talked extensively throughout the meal. He wanted to know about my college life, my family, and my thoughts on various things such as sports and education. I learned that he had studied in the United States at Indiana University in 2003 for almost a year for Sports Law, his specialty. He wrote his dissertation on Title IX, which I also found impressive. He told me that my Japanese was fine, and that working together I would continue to improve, which came as a relief to me. The last thing we had was a small fried and salted fish, which was delicious. I had a more difficult time eating this with chopsticks, but somehow managed.
At the end of the meal, Inoue sensei paid and I thanked him and the woman who owned the restaurant profusely. We donned our shoes in the genkan and stepped out into the now cool evening. Inoue sensei escorted me back to the dorm, pointing out various things of interest on our way back, including a Christian church that I plan to investigate soon. After saying good night, I made my way tiredly up to my room. After fully unpacking and reorganizing all the paperwork I had received throughout the day, I dressed for bed and almost immediately passed out.
I surprisingly do not feel extremely overwhelmed yet in spite of the fact that communication is difficult and there is a lot of kanji and words I do not understand. However, this is only my second day and I know I can achieve anything I put my mind to. This is the greatest adventure of my young life and I plan to make the most of it!
It’s the morning of day three now and I still do not have internet. I plan on making that priority number one so my parents don’t continue to worry about me as I am sure they are. Until then.
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