So, I have finally arrived in Hikone, the location of the Japan Center for Michigan Universities and the place I will be living for the next few months!
My friend Kat and I had a bit of trouble on the way here, but we finally made it safely. We decided to stay at a hotel in Hikone the night before moving into our on campus apartment, but we got some bad directions. The hotel was supposed to be a one minute walk from the station, so when we got off the train that took us here from Tokyo I thought, it can't be that hard to find, we don't need to ask for directions! After 20 or so minutes of walking we finally gave up and went back to the train station to ask only to find out that it was a one minute walk from the next station over! We had to take another train, but once we got to the right station the hotel was visible right out the window. It was a good learning experience; always ask for directions, even if you think you know where you're going!
Now we are safe and sound in our apartment. We took a taxi here from the hotel so we would have no chance of getting lost! We also had our first experience grocery shopping in a Japanese grocery store yesterday! There was lots of yummy stuff that we don't have in the U.S. though also some stuff that Kat and I thought we would never want to try. It is hard for me being a vegetarian in Japan though because most of their dishes include meat or fish. I bought some different kinds of Japanese noodles though, and next time I go to the grocery store I'm going to get some fresh produce so I can make some stir fry.
I took a video of our apartment so if you are interested in what it is like please take a look!
We had an orientation this morning to learn the ins and outs of the school, and we got issued bikes so now we can bike to the store! Tomorrow we take our placement tests to find out what level of Japanese we get in to! Wish me luck!
