Feeling Productive

It is the beginning of my second full day in Japan and I was up early, again, without any assistance. I think I finally got the heater in my room working, although currently it is very loud and obnoxious. I would much rather be in a warm, quiet room. I guess I will have to run it for a while, and see if it gets quieter. It does slightly remind me of home, because the heaters in my den are very, very loud. I spent part of yesterday setting up this journal and sending e-mails, although I hope that does not become a regular part of my day. As much as I do like sending e-mails, I hope that everyone back home will just check this frequently to hear how I am doing, and know that if it comes to anything important, I will certainly e-mail them about it. I just want to be able to write for myself, and allow people to have access to it, rather than trying to talk to everyone individually, which limits my ability to target everyone at once. After doing some work at the center, I came home where my landlady had cooked for myself and Rachel and Matt, the couple down the hall. I have yet to remember my landlady’s name, although I believe it starts with an M. She is very nice, it certainly makes Melanie Heist (the realtor of my house in Williamsburg) look like a witch. My rent here is less for two months than living in Williamsburg is for one. The dish that my landlady cooked was very interesting. It had at least three types of meat in it: beef, chicken, and something that came from the ocean, although I am not quite sure what. There were potatoes, seaweed, and carrots. The carrots here are huge. I mean, ridiculously huge. I will have to try to take pictures of some of the food here. You all would be impressed. Although the soup was very good, I am not sure it settled well on my stomach. I felt quite sick most of the night. But I have found several foods that are much better here than they are in the U.S. The mayonnaise is fantastic. I mean, really, really, very good. I hate mayonnaise at home, but my first meal here, I found myself really wanting to have extra. It is that good. They also know what they are doing when they make pickles. They are the right mix between the freshness of a cucumber and the dillness of a pickle, if dillness is a word. I ate the pickles over at the other dorm, where I believe four guys from the center live. It may be more than that, but there were four there last night. They are all really great guys and have done their share of showing me around and teaching me the ropes. They certainly won’t replace my guy friends from home, but it is really nice to find people who can make me laugh. I spent most of the night trying to refrain from giggling too much so that I didn’t seem like a nitwit. Later we all watched a very good movie, Ping Pong which is a Japanese movie, very funny and also very touching. I would recommend watching it if any of you can get your hands on it. I am not sure if you can find it in the U.S., but the version I watched did have the option of English subtitles, so hopefully so. Two of the actors in it, one of the ping pong players and his Sensei, are apparently very famous, good actors here in Japan, and are in a lot of movies. I came home and went to bed, now on a tatami mat on the floor, covered with a futon pad. I slept in my sleeping bag, covered with a blanket and a comforter to combat the cold, and I was very warm all night. It may have been my best sleep in quite a while. I am still making a mental list of things I need for my room, but I bought groceries yesterday, just enough to give me a basic breakfast and lunch. I still don’t have any cookware, although there is plenty downstairs that I should look through. So for now, I am making things that can be cooked in the microwave or don’t need any cooking. However, it’s a lot harder here in Japan. They don’t have bagels, and a lot of their foods (ex. yogurt and oatmeal) are plain. A lot of the things that are inexpensive in the U.S. are very expensive here, and surprisingly, so is rice. You would think that in a country where they consume a lot of rice that it would be less expensive, but it is not so. Another really interesting thing about Japan is the vending machines. You can get hot and cold drinks out of the same vending machine. You can get teas and sodas in small sizes or in HUGE bottles. They still have a lot of cigarette vending machines, and although the drinking and smoking ages are 20, neither is enforced. I have heard that they even have vending machines for pornography.

I have decided that the best thing to do communication wise is to get a cell phone with prepaid minutes. Although it will be slightly more expensive for people calling in, it will help me be in touch with everyone here at the center, and as there is no longer a phone line in my dorm, the only other phone is at the center, and is not always open during the hours during which it would be best to call. It is 10:07 AM here now, which means that it is 8:07 PM at home. So early morning until about noon is a good time for me to call home, Although I have been getting to bed pretty early, so I am not sure I will stay up late enough to reach people early in the morning. I am still not quite sure what my contact information here at the center is, but I will get it to you as soon as I have it. I have a long day ahead of me, so I think I’m going to go get started.

Music equivalent of the day: Ping Pong, the movie
Food: the soup my landlady made
Meditation/ inspiration/ thought of the day: The joys and failures of electronic communication
Top priority: buying cookware