Catching up

Yes, I'm sure we have a lot of catching up to do, you and I, dear reader. All in due time. So much has happened since I arrived in Japan that I don't really want to go back and do a play by play, but here are some photo highlights of the week:

Japan from above!

Rice paddies

Temporary dorm room!

Manju--believe it or not, it's food!

The university computer lab--and you thought this was the age of technology!

Welcome to Kansai Gaidai's Nakamiya campus :)

At Kiyomizudera!

View from the other side (the "Pure Water" temple)

One of the coolest places we went to, and I can't even remember the name! (It was really long.) Something about taking a cable car up a mountain and walking through the forest at night with a lantern in your hand to get to a Buddhist temple is pretty awesome. Literally.

International candy, side by side :)

Rooftop laundering!

So now you have an idea what I've been up to (if you haven't seen all the hundred other photos on Facebook already). As for today (Sunday, the start of a new week), I got up early and moved out of the Seminar House and in with my host family in Neyagawa. It's not too far from school, but I had to get a train pass that cost me 6980 yen (or about that much to get a bike and ride 45 minutes to school...I don't think so. Not with a 9 a.m. class!). I'll be out another 5980 after I pay my family back for the phone I got, too (bureaucratic complications, big surprise, and I still don't quite know if it's exactly what I need). So despite the inexpensiveness of clothing and food, living does seem to be expensive here in Japan. I know it will be worth it, but I think I still have to watch my spending. Hopefully the major fees are out of the way!

Another issue is communication--obviously so, but I also don't remember as much Japanese as I thought I would. Even though the first day with my host family has been good, it makes me sad that I can't seem to communicate with them very much at all because they've done so much for me already, driving me around town and buying me cheesecake and udon and sushi (although my okaasan said she was going to get it anyway).

The last thing I'll mention is that I have yet to make time to really get quiet with God (yes, I do feel a little guilty for writing this instead of talking to him), but I did see a poster in the CIE building on campus advertising an "international" bilingual Christian church that many KG students have attended in the past, so hopefully I get a chance to check that out. 

Anyway, it's about dinner time (8pm now) so I better sign off. I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but I feel like my writing hasn't really sounded like "me" since I got here, so I'll try to be more coherent next time. Classes start tomorrow so hopefully I can comfortable with my schedule quickly so I can really settle into being here AND being me.

Mata ashta! (また明日、until tomorrow, or later!)