The Obligatory "First Day" Entry

Was thinking about a quick skype, but it seems no one is really on, right now (family wise).  So I'll send this out real quick.

I have a room.  That room has a lock and internet.  That's about all I can ask for. I haven't gotten my ethernet adapter yet, but I have ingeniously rigged my old macbook as a wireless router, so it works for the time being.

I knew they were small, but for some reason I thought the closets were a little bigger.  As it stands, there is plenty of space, but there is no nook actually large enough to put my suitcase.  I've talked with others and they seem to have a similar dilemma.  I don't particularly want to mess with it at the moment.

I also haven't heard anything about my roommate, but there's still a day and a half left.  There's also the weather to think about, which may delay some flights, but more on that later.  I have met some people, though.  There are a lot of different people here.  I rode the bus yesterday with two students: a male engineer from Argentina and and a female architect from Morocco. This morning, I sat an talked with my new Argentinian friend and several students (one veteran student; "sempai," if you will) from various countries other in Africa.  Polyglot-ism is definitely the name of the game here.  So far, no Japanese, but the Argentinian (obviously) speaks Spanish. The minimum number of languages per person is around three, but I feel inferior because none of my "second" languages are as good as theirs.

Most of them are also in engineering.  They all say their majors, and I am in awe.  Then they ask for mine, and I have to answer "game design."  They all at least pretend to be impressed, but I have a hard time believing it.  They are all young though, so explaining a love of "video games" is not as difficult as it is with some people.  I explain to them my admiration of engineers and they all say, "but design is engineering too.  you will be a different kind of engineer."  They sound sincere, but it's difficult to get my head around.  I do sense that the generic concepts of "design" is better understood in this group (particularly by the architect), and maybe that helps.

There is a typhoon.  It's mostly wind and it's tearing up the ceiling tiles on the the overpass of our building, but that's the only damage I've seen in the area.  Not much in the way of rain.  The one when I was in Japan was very heavy rain, but--though it rained last night and most of the morning-- the typhoon wasn't said to have actually hit until about eleven (about an hour ago now).  It's a little scary, because i don't usually see debris (small like leaves and trash) flying so much except in tornado footage, but you guys know me and storms-- it's mostly pretty cool.  I keep scaring the locals though by wanting to open the window or go outside to see the wind.

my friend and i also did a little meandering the building; finding the amenities and facilities.  Breakfast was simple affair with a modest spread of rice and a small variety of eastern and western vegetables and dishes, coffee, milk, and juice.  After that, we found the kitchens and a few of the common areas.  there is no shortage of balcony and roof space here.  that should be fun.  I still haven't found the laundery, but not long into our explorations, we got distracted by the students i mentioned earlier and got to talk with them and some of the korean "guides" for the program.  They're a fun and lively bunch of people.

anyway, that's my rambling overview of the last twelve or so hours.  the first hour of airport and such is on facebook.  It is almost time for me to meet for lunch with the program students for lunch, so i will end this here.  later folks.

- kat