Arrival

To all those concerned, I am arrived and settled safely in Nagoya. I got here at about 8:00 pm (about 6:00 am) on September 11. i was greeted by the director of international studies, some students from the universities (RAs i think) and several of my fellow exchange students. we were then taken by charter bus to the International Seminar House where we will be staying for the next few months.

My room is 301 in the seminar house. I've met my roommate, HeeJung Lee, a fellow language student from Korea. We get along well, and she loves peanut butter almost as much as I do. Thus, the gifts of Beer Nuts and communal peanut butter went over well.

Our accommodations are less like dorms and more like small apartments. There are two small bedrooms separated by a folding divider, a kitchenette (sink, hot plate, refrigerator/freezer, and cabinets), toilet, and Japanese style bath/shower. The style is very traditional, including raised floors to trap ghosts. There are both sliding and western doors, which ever is more convenient in the space, and my roommate and I of us share a Japanese style closet (i think the wood in it is cedar, it smells very nice).

We also have a lovely balcony over looking the soccer field. there are no windows in our bed rooms, but i think the giant glass doors to the balcony more than make up for that. They also have window-like qualities, including portions that slide open so you don't have to open the whole thing and both screen and glass. This is good because it is very humid here and there are quite a few mosquitoes. We also have a bar for drying clothes and hanging things.

The weather here is about like Illinois or Iowa. In the winter we should notice more of a difference. the ocean keeps is cooler in the summer and much warmer in the winter.

We made a run to 7/11 tonight for food untill we go shopping. For those of you who think i'm cheating, it was all Japanese food/drinks and foods that have been made Japanese. I just had an egg sandwich, but I will start my experimentation tomorrow when i things have settled more.

On the way to the store, i heard a Japanese glass summer wind chime. I definitely want one on our balcony, even if it won't be summer for very long.