04.02.11 It's the Little Things

Today was a good day. I woke up early (again), so I ventured out into Nara on my own. I stopped by the convenience store for breakfast. It seemed to be bread with apple in it and it was absolutely delicious. From there, I came back to my room to drop off a few other purchases before heading onto campus to see if I could find internet access. I managed to get into the library and find their computer lab, but I needed a username and password to access them. I asked the librarian for help, and she took me to a wireless section of the library, but I found that even then I would need a password. She explained to me that I would receive my username and password on Monday. This made me nervous. I could only imagine how worried my parents and friends were having not heard from me in two days.

I thanked her anyway and went to sit outside in the middle of campus where they have benches and tables. I’m happy to say that I decided to bring my Japanese textbooks with me from home. I was able to study them for a little while to refresh my memory on a few grammar points. Once I tired of that, I wandered around campus to look at the buildings (all of them locked, of course).

At noon, I met up with Nguyen and Mao in the dorm’s genkan to go shopping. Nguyen presented me with a bookmark from Vietnam that was absolutely adorable! I was at a loss for words. I told her that I liked it very much. I only wished that I had something to give her.

 Then, Mao treated us to lunch at an “Italian” restaurant. This is where I picked up on a key difference between the United States and Japan. As some of you probably know, you do not tip servers in Japan. This suddenly made sense to me as I saw that they did not “wait” on you as they did in America. Whenever you’re ready to order, you press a button at your table and a little light appears on the wall with your table number. The server then comes, takes your order, and does not return until they bring the food. (I ate a mini pizza that was delicious.) Drinks are self-serve, and the server leaves the check with you when they bring the food. You then pay at the front before you leave.

Nguyen and Mao

Our food

I thanked Mao profusely for the food, which was unexpected. We went out shopping afterwards among Nara’s “shopping streets”. Mao knew all the cheapest spots so I was able to successfully buy a few essentials: shampoo, conditioner, cups, chopsticks, toilet paper, food, a laundry basket, cleaning supplies, etc. We took trips to three different stores to find everything and at one point when we were in a two story supermarket, I bought a few things Mao and Nguyen wanted with the promise they would pay me afterwards. When they tried to pay me back though, I waved them off, telling them it was a ‘present’ and they could pay me back with food or something of that nature. Really, I just wanted a way to thank them for their kindness.

We made a pit stop at the dorms to drop off our stuff. On the way there, I explained to Mao my concern for not having talked to my parents since I got to Nara and asked for help accessing the internet. To my delight, she took us to the library and logged on with her username and password so we could use the internet. This is when I sent mom and dad an email and updated my facebook. Not having internet until then will be difficult, but at least everyone knows I’m safe.

Mao had to go then, so we bid her goodbye until Monday. To my delight, Nguyen asked if I had any plans for the evening. I told her that I didn’t and we arranged to meet up for dinner at 6:00. I slept until then, having nothing else to do. We ended up eating at a more traditional Japanese restaurant. It was difficult to read the menu, but I managed to pick out a type of soup that contained vegetables, some pork, and mushrooms. It was like nothing I had ever tasted before, but it wasn’t bad. My handling of chopsticks was put to the test again, but I think I did all right. Nyeng and I did our best to make conversation about various things with the help of my Japanese dictionary. On the way out, Nguyen paid for dinner. I could only assume this was because I paid for her things earlier.

We went on a small walk after that, but it was cold and dark by then so we didn’t stay out long. Before saying good night we made more plans to meet up at 9:00 Sunday morning to go sightseeing. It’s a good thing class doesn’t start until the end of the week. I’m still getting used to things here.