Infrared and Omuraisu

After our jam-packed first week in Tokyo, the past few days have slowed down a bit as we get back into school mode, but it has been nice to have some time to slow down and unwind. Unfortunately, the main reason we have been taking it easy has been the rain: today and yesterday were dreary, rainy days, which basically turns each train car into your own personal sauna. (The windows literally fog up.) Not the best start to the school day. Sunday, at least, was beautiful weather, and my friend and I did some more exploring around the area where we live in an (unsuccessful) attempt at following a hand-drawn map to find the post office. We actually got pretty lost, asked a lady for directions, and she ended up being super nice and walking around with us for a while in an attempt to figure out the little squigglies on our piece of paper. We didn't find the post office (so no postcards home yet, but  we did find a delicious "coffee" place which was actually like an upscale IHOP -- it was DELICIOUS. I had an omuraisu, which is like an American omelette but mine had cheesy rice inside. SO good.

After lunch we returned home to relax in the dorm before going to our university to meet for the SISEC welcome party, which is basically just a big international student organization that encourages interaction between foreigners and Japanese students. When we met at campus there were probably about 50 people already gathered, and let me tell you that moving 60+ students through the trains within downtown Tokyo is no easy task. I stayed right by the line leader, just like I was taught in kindergarten, because I really didn't want to get lost. So, I ended up being one of the first few to arrive to the restaurant in Shinjuku where we had rented out their "party room" which had seating for upwards of 80 people. It was really well serviced and we had lots of delicious food and drink. I met a ton of Japanese students and and got some new numbers -- which I haven't talked about yet. We were all really excited to just have a phone again but Japanese cell phones are actually THE coolest thing ever. I mentioned that cell phones have email addresses that you use to text people, so it could get pretty annoying to have to exchange a cell phone number AND mail address every time you get a new contact. But, the Japanese have (of course) solved this problem by putting an infrared sensor in their phones -- so when you meet someone new, you just hold your phones next together, press a few buttons, and *bam* you have a new contact in your phone, complete with their name in both katakana and kanji plus any phone numbers or mail addresses they have stored in their user profile. Pretty dang amazing.

After the welcome party, we headed home and were back to our dorm at a reasonable hour. A few of us got a dinner snack and then packed it in early to get ready for our first full week of classes... which as I mentioned, started off very gray. Monday was pretty uneventful: I had Japanese class and then lunch with a few Japanese friends, then went to my public economics course which is still really interesting. I met with the professor after to get some beginning ideas for my thesis, but am still in the very early planning stages. In the afternoon a bunch of us ended up heading back home together (forgoing shopping in Harajuku because of the impending storm), and we spent the evening lounging around the dorm before grabbing a quick dinner out. While I was really looking forward to a homestay, I have really enjoyed the dorm as well: it is nice to have one central area for us all to meet, and we have all enjoyed getting dinner together.

Today (Tuesday) started off with rain and the sauna train ride. It was definitely my most miserable commute yet, so I'm hoping I've hit the low point, although in the summer months things are sure to be worse. Today I had my Japanese and anthropology classes, and was able to have lunch in the cafeteria before the lunch rush (which is absolutely insane). My anthropology class was pretty interesting -- we had a group from the Japan Association for Refugees (JAR) come and talk to us about opportunities to go volunteer in some of the hard-hit areas in northern Japan. It is a great opportunity and I am really excited about getting more information. After class, and friend and I left to go to find the high school where basketball practice was being held, which was quite the adventure. We had to ask directions several times, found the middle school gym first, and then finally found the gym on the second floor of the high school building. I just sat and watched practice the whole time, but it was nice to be around something familiar like basketball again. It was raining on the walk back to the station and I shared my umbrella with someone on the team and started talking about NBA players, when I found out that in Japan Kevin Durant is called the "Durantula" because of his long arms and legs (does he have that nickname in the US???) and he commented that  Kevin Garnett has an exceptionally small head. I really like the team but I'm not sure if I have time to be a manager -- I have to do a lot of writing for my classes and I also want to get really involved in volunteer work, but I'm still going to think about it.

I finally made it home through the rain and a little later a group of us left to have dinner -- we ended up at the same place I had eaten on Sunday, so I got an omuraisu again because it was just that delicious. It was great company and one of the most enjoyable dinners I have had yet. I spent the rest of the night catching up on internet happenings, because while the ethernet for most everyone else was out, mine was mysteriously still working... but hey I wasn't complaining. I'm feeling pretty out of the loop regarding the NBA playoffs but the Celtics are up 2-0! All about 18!!!

Tomorrow brings a walking tour of the Yotsuya including the imperial palace grounds, so I am pretty excited about that. The weather is also supposed to be better, which is exciting! But, I keep reminding myself about how hot and humid it is going to get in the summer, so I need to enjoy the cooler weather while it lasts... じゃ、また！！！