O NOES! Akiba, Kichijouji, and Parks

SORRY! I was really busy last week with classes and trying to set all that stuff up. And a typhoon came through this past weekend, so I didn't really do anything. HOWEVER, the weekend before that I went with Perkins and Viet to Akihabara and Kichijouji. They had so much anime crap there I was too stunned to buy anything. When I say "crap," I mean crap. They had everything from keychains, figurines, bowls, pillows, pens, whatever. You name it, they probably had it.


Going to Kichijouji was actually a little more fun for me because they had a Matsuri, so we got to see some Taiko drummers. The quality on my video is, sadly, very poor, so you can't get the full feel of the amazing drumming. I apologize.


Also, Kira and I had lunch next to the little pond by the Student Plaza. We tossed food to the Koi. I'm not sure if you're supposed to do that or not, but they were so well trained to come up to us that I could tell many people had done it before. I love the Koi here! They're HUGE!


I could see how the trains in Tokyo could easily be a navigation nightmare. The lines overlap with each other and there are just SO MANY trains!


Going back to Akihabara: Perkins and I decided that Akihabara is actually not that big. They have tons of stores, but everything is bulit upward, so the area that the stores are in isn't actually that wide or anything. We walked all over Akiba, and we went to a little "park." It was basically a sand lot with some playground equipment on it. We were like, "Wow....park." Not at all like the park in Kichijouji, which felt more like an amusement park to us.
AKIBAKICHIJOUJI
I really wanted to go to a maid cafe to see what it was like, but we didn't get a chance to go that day. There will be more opportunities for exploring Tokyo. From what I've seen so far, I kind of like it. The atmosphere is very different from American cities, though. I'll come up with a way to explain that later. I can't quite grasp it right now.

I'm still working on some registration issues with my classes. The different departments don't seem to speak with each other here, so neither knows what the other one is doing. It's really left up to the student to find all the necessary people and places, which was difficult at first because I didn't speak much and I had no idea where anything was located. I'm finding that my Japanese is improving little by little every day. I just need to keep practicing. I'm hoping that I'll somehow find a club or circle to fit into where I can speak with more Japanese people. I'm really glad that Yurie enjoys spending time with me because she taught me more in two hours than I learned in my Japanese class here in a week. Purdue's Japanese class is much more challenging, and, truthfully, I miss it.

Note to self: The washers here take an hour and the dryers probably take an hour and a half. Who knows? I would also like to thank anyone who ever made me use critical reasoning skills. Because of you, I easily figured out the washers and dryers here. In order for things to dry, you have to empty the lint filter. This may surprise you, but I think I'm one of the few people who realizes this. Also, you have to actually put soap IN the washer in order for your clothes to get clean. You'd be amazed at how many people try to slide it through the holes in the top of the washer that clearly just for ventilation. >_> And, Dad, this won't surprise you, but I think you'll find it amusing. I have to wash my T-shirts twice.
<~~ YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN: A scene from Tsukuba University