A few observations...

I have made a few observations about Japanese life during my short stay here.... Japan is the most efficient, awesomest country ever in some ways, yet in some ways, they are just... not.

Efficiency/ Greatness
1. Public Transportation
Japan has the public transportation thing down, yo. If you want to get somewhere, you can take a train or bus pretty darn close to that location, and then walk the rest of the way. Although extremely crowded at times (I mean, chest to chest, breathing in another person's face kind of crowded) trains show just how much people utilize public transportation. I can make it to class in about 45 min via foot/train/subway versus what might take a heck of a lot longer during rush hour in a car.

2. Anti-car greatness....
Although Japan has some pretty sweet cars riding around, people tend to not use them all that much in Tokyo. They're just a pain in a big city. Instead people walk everywhere (how do those Japanese girls do it in 4 inch heels? I have yet to see a young Japanese girl in any sort of flat, comfy shoe...) or ride their bikes. Oh the bikes... you are bound to be run over by one any given day because they are everywhere! And the things people can do on bikes... I've seen moms with a child sitting in the back and front of her bike, with a baby strapped to her chest, holding an umbrella. Bike riders are that talented.

3. Energy saving...
The toilets in my house have sinks on top of them. They use the running water that fills up the tanks of the toilet. The dorm I stayed at had a place to put your room key when you entered the room that would allow you to turn on the lights, so that when you left and took your key with you, the lights would automatically turn off. Again, the public transportation/ anti-car greatness. And my family does not possess a dryer for the laundry. A few of many examples I've seen...

Anti-greatness (abridged version)
1. About the energy saving thing...
I think it's mostly to save money, not because people care about the planet. If you go to a store and buy anything, it is guaranteed to come with a plastic bag. If you go to the local 7-11 an buy a pack of gum, most likely it will be handed to you in a plastic shopping bag. Yuck. Also- excessive packaging for everything. If you buy a boxed lunch, it's probably wrapped 3 times in plastic and then has individually wrapped everything inside of it. Hmmm

2. Foreigner fear....
I get it, I look different than most Japanese people- but really, really? Must you stare so intently? ugh...

3. Why must we wait at the street corner in the pouring rain if the walk sign says don't walk if nobody is coming from any direction? Argh...

So far the good has outweighed the bad, which is a good sign, I think. I'm having fun, and hope it wil stay that way for the rest of the year...

What a ride...... it's week 3 I guess

    Wow, I am in awe as to how crazy the past few weeks have been.  I am both excited and extremely nervous about having to go to school here in the crazy world of Tokyo...

   I arrived with the rest of the Japan Study group at Narita airport in Tokyo on September 13.  It was almost surreal arriving, because I had just spent 10ish hours on a cramped, hot airplane, and arrived in a humid, crowded airport a day later than when I had left America.  I met most of the people in my group, only some people were caught in Chicago during some freak rainstorm. After stumbling around the airport for a while in some sort of daze, my group finally left for the dorm we would be staying at at the equivalent of 2 am America time.  

   The dorms were interesting... I assume they are normally used for business men who are doing business away from home.  Each room had its own bathroom and was really nicely organized (Japanese people have a much better realization of space utilization than Americans do...)  My group and I then went through orientation, meeting some volunteer Japanese students from the Rainbow club at my school, who were pretty darn awesome.  Once I get my light pink rocking cell phone, I plan on getting everybody's numbers.

  Orientation included introducing us to the realization that we do not know Japanese.  Like at all.  I realize this most when I go to the grocery store, or the mall, or basically anywhere in public.  I hope eventually I will stop feeling like a 2 year old who has no grasp of language skills at all.  The group liked to go out and have a good time and it was fun going to restaurants and bars just because I could :)  Now orientation is over.... time for the real test, when I am not surrounded by 30 other native English speakers who I can feel foolish with and commiserate with.  Will I survive?  Probably.  Will I embarrass myself? Definitely.  Will I learn a lot about myself and cultures other than mine?  I certainly hope so.  

   My host family rocks, by the way.  They have a large house and have set no curfew for me.  I am excited to stay with them.  My host father speaks quite a bit of English, so I hope I don't fall back on that when I am nervous or flustered, because I want to learn as much Japanese as humanely possible.  

   That's all for now... more later

random thought of the day: Japanese people have the best parking skills I have ever seen.  They can park cars in places I never thought possible.