Orientation Day 2

Originally written 8/29/12

We were expected to head back to the building where we are having our orientation sessions on our own today. It was not as bad as it seemed, though I am really wishing the weather will start to cool down soon. The dry heat I am used to in Texas made me rather weak to humidity. I am soaked with sweat only minutes after I walk out the door. -_- It's especially embarrassing because I am surrounded by people in long sleeve shirts and pants going to the office and they don't look the least bit phased by it. It will be much easier to bundle up.

Orientation consisted of dorm/homestay expectations and rules (basically...don't behave like an American college student), and a short lesson in how to ride the trains and subway. Overwhelming doesn't really come close to how it feels looking at this map. When they explained it, there seemed to be almost a logic to it, but I am sure it'll be different in practice. We rode from the Kaihin Makuhari station to stop at the Shin-Urayasu station to have lunch at the nearby food court and learn how to walk to the campus (about 10 minutes away). I am hoping all this walking will help me to lose a little weight at the very least.

A view of the ocean as we rode the train for the first time.

The ride back was pretty normal. But one thing I'd like to comment on is how wonderfully clean the trains are. Granted, I was in one of the newer ones with the fancy digital map that appears in English as well as Japanese, but we did ride an older one later and there was still no trash and no graffiti of any kind that I could see anywhere. It just seems there is an overall greater respect for things here that you don't really see in America. It saddens me because I think it speaks of the general attitude and nature of the culture.

After the ride, we were free to go back to our hotels and spend the rest of the evening however we wanted. I was so tired from the heat that I went straight back to the room and ended up passing out at around 7 while trying to watch a Japanese quiz show. My hunger for dinner wasn't even enough to wake me.

Though Skylar did get in touch with me finally and we got to talk for a bit, so that was a nice way to end the evening, with or without dinner.

So...what is so crazy about these toilets that I kept mentioning? They had all these buttons that confused that crap out of me the first time I used it at the airport after I landed. There is one to decide how much power you need to flush, one to turn it into a bidet, and another that I haven't quite figured out yet and am afraid to try. Hell, I was afraid to try the bidet. >_>

I then noticed at the hotel that the toilet there felt surprisingly warm when I used it. And for all you dirty people out there, no, no one used this toilet for a long time right before me. This is something girls would notice before guys, but it had seat warmers. My first impression was how novel this was. I hate a cold toilet seat. It is something you are never ready for.

Also, it had a remote! I was thinking that there definitely was a prank hiding in here somewhere.

Ok, so maybe I hyped up the toilet thing since now that I have talked about it and seen how dull it is described outside of my head. Oh well, I still think they're pretty awesome.

Other odd, but interesting things I discovered:

You had to insert your key tag here to turn on the lights and air conditioner in the room. It was strange to me at first but then I realized the cleverness of the idea. It saves so much energy because the lights will always turn off when you leave whether you remember to turn them off or not. We need these if we don't already have them.

My first purchase at the "konbini," convenience store. Haruna recommended this flavor saying it was her favorite. It did kinda taste like pizza, but not really. And the cheese flakes were new to me. >_>

I think I meant to talk about other things but I kinda passed out so that's all I have for now.