Wednesdays are free days for us, unless we signed up for field placement. I chose not to because I didn't need the added stress of interning at different places alone and not knowing what to do. Anyway, the three of us agreed to wake up later and have breakfast at 9. Only, we learned that they stopped serving at 8:30. :/ So I figured I could update the blog again til it was lunch time.
All I can say about the test yesterday was how weird it was. Some questions I could answer without hesitation and made me feel like I had wasted my time studying. Other questions made me want to cry because I couldn't even understand what was written in front of me. Honestly, I have no idea how I did. As for the oral section, I am sure I did horribly. They asked me questions using words I was not familiar with, and their explanations on these words confused me even more. >_< I will find out tomorrow how I placed so at this point I am choosing not to worry about it and enjoy my day off.
After the test, we rushed to the train station at Kaihin Makuhari (about 5 stations down) in order to have lunch and meet up at the IES Center to attend a safety session. A female police officer gave us a very exuberant presentation of what she does as a cop and what we have to watch out for living in Chiba, which apparently has the highest rate of purse snatching in the country. Great. I am tempted to put all my important stuff in my pockets, but then they are vulnerable to pickpocketing. And as a female, I also have to watch out for voyeurs and molesters. They like to follow women on crowded trains to cop a feel or take pictures with their phone under their skirts. The problem is so bad that some trains have female-only cars.
We were free for the rest of the day so wondered back to the 100 yen store. A group of the students decided to get together with one of the e-pals to have dinner in Funabashi. At first I was reluctant, but then realized that I should take advantage of going out to see more of the country. What I didn't realize was that we had to walk over a mile from the Kaihin Makuhari station to another station (which I can't remember the name of) and I kinda thought I was gonna die. Walking long distances wasn't too much for my legs more than it is for my tiny Asian feet. Oh well, I guess I am going to have to get used to this eventually.
Though I wasn't thinking about that at the time. Only that I was hungry, tired, hot, sweaty, and my feet hurt. Once we arrived at the Funabashi station, we waited for some of the e-pal's friends to meet us. This station is also near where some students have to register for their residence card. One got so impatient that he walked off by himself. Reminded me a lot of someone I know. >_> Waiting for him to return only made most of us grumpier than before. We didn't want to abandon him, but we also felt he brought it on himself by wondering off in a new area alone. Eventually, we did find him at the right building, but registration was taking so long he told us not to wait for him.
Dinner was good, but really small for the price. I only ordered an appetizer because I had a paid-for meal plan dinner waiting for me back at the dorm. It seemed like a waste to skip it when I already paid for it. We split from the main group early because we were too tired to stay and walk around some more. Eventually, the guy that wondered off found us at the restaurant and rejoined us. If we didn't have to stand around for almost an hour and wonder around to look for this guy, I may have been more open to staying later and wondering around the city. It looked just like those city scenes that you so often see in anime. The crowded, narrow streets, little shops selling anything and everything, and neon lights everywhere. Next time, when I am not tired and hungry and grumpy, I will try to remember to take a picture.
Luckily, the train stop was only two stops away from our dorm, so we didn't have to walk the grueling mile back to Kaihin Makuhari. It seemed like the trains connected, so why we walked instead of rode is still unclear to me. Maybe they were trying to save a few bucks. I guess we needed to in order to pay for that meal. -_-
The only upside to this day was hanging out with more of the students and getting to know them, and this delicious fished-shaped pastry. This one was stuffed with green tea flavored cream. Oishii!
Time to get ready for lunch and head to the registration office.
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