It's Been Three Weeks!

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I've come to Tokyo. Some days it feels like I've been here longer. And some days it feels like the time has gone by so fast. It's been hard to completely process everything I've experienced so far. And I really have experienced a lot of new things. I can't say I've felt a huge culture shock yet. I mean obviously some things are different here, but I wouldn't say these differences have been very "shocking." I feel like I've adjusted pretty well to life here, especially considering this is my first time in Japan and abroad.

Well moving on, yesterday I had Japanese class from 9 until 12:10. And it felt as long as it was. Thankfully my teacher was pretty hilarious, and good at teaching, which made the three hour long class bearable (when we were talking about our hobbies he said that his was gambling on horse racing haha). I have Japanese class three times a week in three different classrooms with three different teachers. Definitely not what I'm used to (and not the most convenient thing in the world).

For lunch I ate with some of my friends in the Waseda cafeteria for the first time. The food was pretty cheap and decent tasting, but there were like no chairs open. So we ate standing at the chairless tables (lololol). After the 50 minute lunch break, I went to my last class for the day War and Peace, in which we will look at different case studies of humanitarian intervention and discuss them, etc. It seems like I'll be able to learn a lot in that class, yet while it is interesting, it is also boring at the same time. None of the classrooms that I've been in so far have clocks, so at times it feels like I've been in class for an eternity.

After class I went to the SILS library, checked out a book (for one of my classes) for the first time, walked around a bit, waited for friends to get back from class, and then hung out in the Niji lounge. While there I got a text from my host mom saying that we were going out to eat ten minutes from then, but since I was at school I had to call her to let her know I'd be late. Meals aren't really set at a specific time everyday, which is nice but can also result in slight misunderstandings. My host dad got back from a work trip yesterday (did I mention he is a company president? Pretty cool right?) so we all ate, drank (I tried a canned highball which was pretty weak lol), and talked together. Somehow we got on the topic of dating, and my host dad jokingly (? or seriously) said that I should date his 21 year old son I meet the other night, and that I should marry a Japanese man in the future. It was pretty hilarious. My host mom was also complimenting me about my personality, etc., which made me pretty happy. I'm glad I'm starting to become closer with my host family!

Today I was able to sleep in! (Although it was only till like 9, so not really haha). My first, and only, class on Thursdays starts at 2:45, so I was able to take it easy. Before heading to school for lunch, I took a different route to the train station and explored Harajuku's famous Takeshita Dori. I also stopped in a Forever 21, which is only like 10 minutes from my house. It was great. Clothes. So cute. Once I get my scholarship money, I'm going to treat myself to a day of shopping. I am so incredibly glad, and lucky, that I live in such a great neighborhood. I can't wait to explore it more!

For lunch I meet one of the Waseda students who studied abroad at Earlham. It was really nice to see her again, and I hope we can hang out more in the future. Although it was a bit weird, since we are used to seeing each other in American, not Japan. Since I had time before class, I bought pineapples from the 100円Lawsons (seriously the best conbini ever), and hung out with my friend from Earlham and one of the Niji members. I'm so excited for the Niji Welcome Trip this weekend!!! I bought cards today at a 100円 shop, so hopefully I might teach Kings to those who want to play (it was a lot of fun when we played at the last nomikai).


I had my Exploring Tokyo class (which is taught by my program director) from 2:45-6. The 4-5th block is definitely worse than the 1-2 block. I was so tired, and really thirsty, and hungry again. And the class was huge. More than 80 people! I've never been in such a big class before. At least we weren't in the classroom the whole time. We were separated into small groups to explore certain places around the Waseda area. My group went to the Shin-Edogawa garden. It was really beautiful, and bigger than I thought it would be (though I got bit by like a million mosquitoes...). I'm excited to explore different areas of Tokyo, but the class seems like a lot of work. Everyone told me that classes at Waseda were super easy, but it seems like I've picked the ones that actually have real work...(probably because some of them have foreign teachers). I'm hoping that the work load won't be too overwhelming though. I really want to experience as much as I can here, and homework would definitely get in the way of that...but I'll make sure to balance everything (although the scales might tip more on the fun side than the work side haha).