Making the Journey

The past "two" days was mostly filled with traveling. Starting early Monday morning and effectively ending Tuesday evening, I was making my way to my dorm room in the outskirts of Tokyo all the way from the homeland. The 14 hour flight wasn't too bad for my first international flight alone and it is clear that airline technology has improved since I last went to Germany all those years ago. Sure, the seats still suck and I spent the entire flight staring at the excellent service that Business First was experiencing, but otherwise I can't complain. Even the food was okay, if terribly unsatisfying since I was usually hungry again in about an hour. I didn't sleep much on the flight, but I was able to pass the time watching Avengers, The Hunger Games and Young Frankenstein. Awesome movies if I do say so myself.

Japanese immigration and customs was very relaxing and easy to deal with and I was able to get out of the airport within an hour since landing. I then found myself on a bus heading to a hotel to sign in to take a taxi to go to my dorm. Oh, and I had to pay for most of it. I found that really annoying, but that could just be me. Luckily enough, I didn't get lost and was able to settle in to my room fairly easily.

Sadly, as you can tell...my room is kind of cramped. That is pretty much the only room I have and I am forced to spilt it with a roommate. We also got a small kitchen that is poorly equipped (which is better than nothing) and a Japanese bathroom with an awkward shower thing. Oh, from what I heard the hot water is broken already. Somehow I am not surprised. And the messy bed? Totally not mine. 

I met most of the other students in my building and managed to make a brief run to the supermarket to buy some food, but not nearly enough to readily eat. Let's just say as I probably skimping on most of my meals today until I stock up on food tonight. It does seem I am the least skilled in Japanese in my building so I will depend on the skills of my roommate and neighbors to get around at least in the beginning. 

Today is the first day of orientation and I am hoping that my basic concerns are covered for the most part. That being said, I am still pretty stressed out and already homesick. The next few days will hopefully go well and my stress can be ironed out in favor of actually enjoying this experience. If not, it will be the longest 3 and a half months of my life.