Big Buddha; Classes Start

Hello from Tokyo on a rainy Tuesday evening. Adding on to last week's small earthquake, we've been getting rain here since Sunday thanks to a typhoon. I guess I'll just have to wait so see what Mother Nature throws at me next week.

Last week I started my homestay and our group went on some field trips around the Tokyo Area. We went to Kamakura last Thursday, which has a bunch of very old temples and this incredible 750 year-old Buddha. Very cool.

Classes started yesterday, and I've been to three already. I had 3 hours of Japanese this morning and I'll do the same on Thursday and Friday, so a grand total of 9 hours of just Japanese class. Add that to the fact to always being surrounded by Japanese, on the train, homestay, etc. my brain is getting a serious workout. Everything involves constant thinking. It's kinda exhausting, but exhilarating at the same time.

And I've been making the intensely crowded commute for the last two mornings. And I decided my big, bulky backpack was getting in the way entirely too much, so I decided to go for it and buy a satchel or "man bag". Everyone, and I do mean everyone, has one here and I can see why. My backpack was incredibly inconvenient bumping into everybody else on the train. While some of the guys' bags here could be worn by women in the US (one of my friends accidentally got hers taken by one of our Japanese guy friends, who has a similar bag), I think I managed to get one that I can be used in the US without ridicule.

Good things happening while away: Titans are 4-0 and Northwestern is 5-0(!)

But apparently the American economy is sucking big time. Get it together America.

Konichiwa From Tokyo!

This is my first post from Tokyo thanks to somewhat limited internet access during our orientation. I’ve made it through a week of orientation; we stayed at a dorm about an hour west of downtown. It’s all been really good so far. I was supposed to arrive here last Sunday, but weather delays bumped our flight to Monday meaning I got to spend the night near O’Hare. After a 13 hour exhausting flight we finally arrived. And I lot has happened and I’m lazy so here goes my…

Brief Overview of my first week.

-Tokyo is COMPACT and huge. They manage to fit so much in a small space. It's kinda overwhelming.

-Vending machines are everywhere and are super convenient. My first Japanese beer, was from a vending machine.
-For the most part, everyone dresses really well. It’s fun to just look at all the great fashion here. I really want to go shopping.
-We already had an earthquake. It woke me up in the middle of the night, but I didn't remember it actually happening until someone mentioned it the next morning.
-The train system kicks ass. So efficient, clean and fast. The El will be so depressing to ride on when I get back. But when the train is packed, it's PACKED. A businessman trying to get off the train looked like a football player pushing through everybody. It's a little crazy.
-TV is highly entertaining. I've yet to find Ninja Warrior, but I watched some show that involved people biking across a floating path and some bungee jumping show.
-Apparently Japan has a weird idea of what being fat is. They have dieting TV commercials where people about my size push out their stomachs and grab their little amount of fat. I don't get it. But I do get why everyone is so skinny. They walk everywhere; my feet are getting a severe workout.
-Tokyo’s equivalent of Dunkin Donuts is Mister Donut and it’s fantastic. I’ve eaten far too many.
-Purikura is addicting and cheap fun. It’s pretty much a photo booth where you have awesome backgrounds and get to draw lots of girly things on your photos. So Japanese and so wonderful.
-Shinjuku=Times Square/Manhattan. Harajuku has crazy awesome fashion and delicious crepes.
-I have an actual address. It’s on facebook. I’m in Suginami-ku, about 30 minutes from my university and downtown. Postcards are welcome. And I’ll try to send one to you if you give me your address.

Hope all is well back home.

-Sean

3 Days Til Tokyo

Hey everybody! I'm in the process of packing and getting everything ready for my abroad experience. For those who don't know, I'm spending six months in Tokyo, Japan, at Waseda University in downtown Tokyo. This means I'm missing fall and winter quarters at Northwestern, but I figure the experience will definitely be worth it.

My flight out of Nashville to Chicago is at 6am (Boo.) and then I get a 13-hour flight to Tokyo Narita Airport, so I figure I'll be exhausted by the time I get there. Then I'll begin about 10 days of orientation before I settle in with a host family and start classes. Exciting! Having never been out of the country before, I'm really not sure what to expect. So I'm trying to just take in as much as I can and enjoy what lies ahead. And I'll try to share it with you along the way.
See you in Tokyo!