天気：蒸し暑い
Wow, where do I begin. Today was really long, but lots of fun. It started off with a meeting in Multimedia hall. That was pretty straightforward. Diego, Georg and I decided to try find the City Office to complete our alien registration. After getting directions and a map from the CIE, we decided to go on foot. This wasn't such a good idea. It was very humid and we actually ended up getting lost. We misjudged the distance and took a wrong turn; ended up in a suburban area. I asked an old lady for directions but unfortunately I couldn't understand her Japanese. She was so kind though. She actually went back into her house to get someone who could speak English, and then we were on our way. Never got to thank her. We got to the railway line, and decided that we weren't going to make it back in time for the meeting at 1:20 if we tried to go to City Hall. This was Georg and Diego's second attempt to get there , so they were a little frustrated.
We ended up going to McDonalds for lunch (whoops had it again). I had a teriyaki burger, and white grape juice; it was really nice. In the corner of the shop they had wireless internet for the Nintendo DS. Also, the counter was accessible from both the street and a clothes shop on the inside of the depart store which I though was really cool. So anyway, we ended up walking all the way back to the Uni, and we actually made it in time for the session; I think it was because we power walked. This session introduced faculty members, which was good, and then the next one was seminar house info. Oh my gosh, recycling in Japan is crazy. In this area, there are 5 different categories for recycling (PET plastic, plastic, glass, burnable and raw garbage, and cans). It can get very complex sorting the rubbish. And, you have to clean it too. As I was to learn later, Siemu researched trash sorting and found that one area had 46 categories!!!! He also told me that Nagoya (his home town) has 7 categories. I think, you know, 5 or 6 categories isn't so bad. It's a good system.
So yeah I met with Seimu after taking lots of photos of the beautiful garden and pond on campus. We were sitting in the CIE lounge when we saw a whole lotta people getting white sheets of paper from their mail box. It turned out to be the student's homestay information. Christiana came in with her friend Christa. She got a family of 6, with a mum, dad, grandma, and three kids around her age (20). We decided to ditch the session on health (STD's) as it was not "required". Christina and Christa needed to pick up their new phones, so Seimu and I tagged along. They had to go from the convenience store to 7-11 and back again. Finally, they got everything sorted, although they weren' t too happy with the phones in the end.
We went to sit down in the auditorium, watching some Japanese students do break dancing; they were busting out some pretty cool moves. We talked to some other people and a guy from New York came to sit with us. His name's Andrew. Anyway, we all decided to go out for dinner. Andrew suggested okonomiyaki (savoury pancake). Coolies; I love okonomiyaki. So we all walked back to the street, near the seminar houses, along side the park. We found this little place that served (among other things) okonomiyaki and takoyaki (fried octopus dumplings). There were already a number of international students there, and we luckily scored the last table! I ordered ika (squid), the girls buta (pork), Seimu ebi (shrimp), and Andrew mixed okonomiyaki. And we also got a serving of takoyaki. The okonomiyaki was really nice, but I didn't like the squid so much (tried it though). The takoyaki (which it'd never tried before either) was sooooo yummy. I has a very interesting, mushy texture. And, we got free water with refills. The okonomiyaki was only 500円, and for 8 takoyaki it was 300円. Sooo cheap and sooo yummy!!! 
After that we went to the park to chill and said good bye to Seimu for the night. It was so nice to see that little kids could be running around at night and be safe. Awww, there was a little Akita puppy called Maro, with little bee wings attached to a harness. So cute, I want one!!! Oh yeah, there are a lot of stray cats around; it's a big problem in Japan. We stayed out till about 10:00, talking bout lotsa stuff. Andrew, 19, seems really nice. He's broken a bone in his hand and it's in a cast that's falling apart. He has to go to the doctor to check it out. He's made up a ridiculous story about how he broke it. He tells everyone he broke it trying to save orphans from a fire, being attacked be a grizzly bear in the process. After walking back to their seminar house (using our quarter inside voice, as Japanese houses have no insulation and there have been complaints), I went back to mine. Lolz, Ghost Busters was on TV, subbed. While watching the last half an hour, I ate some of this really nice cake that tasted like a pancake with maple syrup on it. So cool!!! Anyway it's late now (past 12) so I'm finished for the night....
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