All by me onesies

After an early breakfast today (yay, washoku! I didn't actually know what it was, but it was good >_>), we headed to the train station to meet with the staff. But because they were Kanda students and I am Meikai, we had to split halfway there and I had to get to my station on my own. Luckily, all I had to do was wait on the same train and get off at a later stop. We did have to transfer together once at Nishi Funabashi, which is this hub station for a lot of different lines. And the one we had to ride on was one that also headed into Tokyo. So I got my first crowded train experience. I must have been touching at least 6 different people. And no need to hold on to the handles. The compressed bodies do a decent job at keeping you from falling. I heard the story of one student who liked to jumped at just the right moment and see how long it would take him to touch the floor of the train again. You certainly can not have a personal space issue travelling in this country.

I met up with my fellow Meikai students and we took a short tour of the school. I say short because the campus is tiny. It appears to only take up a couple blocks. I had to stay behind to talk to one of the staff about the camera and what can be done to file a report or claim in the country. Once I finished, I walked out of the building and realized I was the only one left. I also realized I had not paid much attention to where we were going when we left the station.

Despite my slight sense of panic for being left totally alone, I still had to stop under this canopy on campus to enjoy the scenery. Don't know what these seed pods are, but I am guessing edamame? Please correct me if I am wrong, Jeff.

So, anyway, I just started walking, found a familiar street, and followed it. Fortunately, Meikai is straight down one long street from the station. Ok, one step accomplished. I made it to the train station. Now I have to figure out how to get back to the dorm by myself for the first time. And somehow, out of a likely rare luck that I will probably not have again, I managed to get on the right trains all the way back. Did not have to turn back once. Yay!

And to give some perspective to how overwhelming it feels to navigate the trains for the first time in Japan, here is a picture of my train map that I have been using.

My first reaction upon looking at this: O_O

Another reason I am glad I chose the dorm is that many of the host families live about an hour's ride away. I have a 10 minute walk to the station, I ride for 20 minutes, and then another 10 minute walk to the school.

A close up of my specific train stops. Yes, you are reading that right. My school is right next to Tokyo Disneyland.

The street I will be walking down when I go to school. Don't think I will mind walking this every week.

And here are a couple things I get to see while walking back to the dorm. The neighborhood where my dorm is has these cute little community gardens. Very cool.

Rice field.

The garden across the street from my dorm.

I came back to my room, had my konbini bentou for lunch, passed out, and woke up to discover I pretty much slept through the entire afternoon. So much for studying. -_-

Wish me luck on my placement test tomorrow. I am gonna need it!