No photos today, but damn I wish I had a good camera with me last night, I think I'll go look again for one tomorrow.

Last night, all of our "buddies" (students at the university who volunteer to help us with stuff) threw us a party at the largest of the uni cafeterias, it ran from 6.30pm - 8.30pm, but it was good fun! We arrived, and I met a Japanese girl known as 'Gon' (her real name is Mami) and she poured me some drink after I admitted I wasn't too keen on the beer someone had given me. So I drank lots of this sweet fizzy fruity juice, which came in cans, and it wasn't till Gon and I attempted to go to the bathroom that I realised the drinks had been very alcoholic, you can imagine my delight when in my stall I discovered one of these. It seems to be one extreme or the other over here, the seat was heated, it could spray and blow dry you in, um, various places, and it could play a little tune so that other people couldn't hear you pee. Fantastic.

Once the party ended at 8.30, poor drunken Gon had to stay and clean up, so after exchanging email addresses, I had a choice of where to head next. I decided to go with a group of people from the other House, most of whom I didn't know, to an American restaurant called "Big Boy". We ate, drank, and got kicked out after an hour or so, because in Japan many places just double your bill if you stay longer than that. But there was about 20 of us. Most people headed home after that, but it was still ridiculously early, so I headed with a few people to Lapita House, another uni accommodation to have a party on the roof. Whilst under the influence of alcohol, my Japanese had improved tremendously (Gon didn't know a lot of English) and when I met a Chinese girl called Nancy in the restaurant, I realised I also remembered a lot more of my Chinese than I had thought. However, it wasn't really necessary because Nancy's English and Japanese was perfect, although she hasn't really travelled, it's apparently all down to watching TV. Yeah!

So, we reached Lapita and made it to the roof, beer in tow. The view was amazing, the whole of Kyoto lit up, Kyoto Tower in the distance, and the green mountains all around us. We put some ambient background music on, and sat and talked and talked. At about 1.30am, I headed back to the House with Bjorn, a housemate who had also been there, and the bike ride was fun. Luckily for us there were no cars. I went to sleep at 3am, after talking to Dave on MSN, and this morning I'm not entirely sure I was sober when I got up to go to class, but it was all good fun. I'm just glad I had a decent night out, and today, emailing back and forth with Gon has proved to be good Japanese practice, I have a friend and a study aid all in one!

Hooray!

Don't miss the new post below this one! Seriously, you don't want to miss it!

Well, I had my first class today. It wasn't too exciting, and three days a week I only have one class so I have time for many exciting adventures. Today was very hot, so my exciting adventure was limited to the purchase of a Totoro rug. Which was still quite exciting, for me.

Yesterday was very exciting! I found contact lens solution all by myself, once I managed to get the pharmacy guy to understand me, then I went down to Teramachi, alone. So, I successfully caught my bus to the city centre, and located said shopping street. I'm not saying how long it took me, though. But, once there, I found the best shop in the world, full of second-hand clothes of all sorts, but decent, good quality stuff, some of it as it is, and some of it the shop people had customised themselves, so you could have a t-shirt that was made out of two, or tops with added bows and lace, etc. And all the tops were 390 yen each, which is under £2. Once I stopped salivating I managed to buy four tops, all one-of-a-kind and completely awesome, an amazing black jacket, which was £10, and a pair of earmuffs, which I've always wanted, for £4. Here's my favourite top that I bought:



Those of you who have seen Napoleon Dynamite should appreciate it, anyway.

Anyway, after that I couldn't shop for any more clothes, because nothing could ever measure up to that shop. So I looked at DVD, game and book shops, it's so great how all these uber rare and/or long-awaited RPGs such as FFIII and FFXII and old stuff for the PS1 are just casually scattered throughout the stores here. The Japanese have it so much better, and I just wish I could take more stuff home with me, but I have neither the money nor the baggage allowance.

I explored a lot, finding my way about Kyoto centre in general, and found another giant mechanical crab scaling a building. Our Japanese friend Sada, is terrified of them, and I kind of see why. Again, camera failed me however, so no photo as yet. I then went down a street that I think led to the grand Kyoto station, well, I saw Kyoto Tower anyway, but my attention was diverted by the cutest shop ever. After browsing for a while, I made a purchase, and asked the nice lady if I could take photos of some of her displays, and she said yes. I won't sicken you all with the extreme cuteness of it all here, so here's an example:



...Or two.

Sorry, but that nut is just so cute! Anyway, on my way home, I discovered the most amazing book/DVD/CD store 5 minutes away from my dorm. All second-hand manga titles are 100 yen each (under 50p) or you can buy a full set of, for example, 10 for 500 yen (under £2.50). We're talking books that cost £7.99 each in the UK. And everything is in perfect condition, I think people treat it like a library, buying them then selling them back when they're done. The CDs are just as cheap, UK and US albums being from £2 - £4 each. I was so tempted just to buy a couple of sets, but then picked them up and realised how heavy they were, and cursed my 20kg luggage limit yet again. Oh, I'll figure out a way, I'm not passing up my chance to own the full set of Ginga Tetsudou 999, (Galaxy Express 999) which I've been dreaming of since I was about 13. Heh, I only discovered a couple of years ago that the reason I liked Matsumoto so much was the fact that I was given his anime to watch as a 4 year old kid at my childminders house; it also explains my 'stylised' drawings in art class, which I couldn't explain to my teacher at the time.

Anyway, off on a tangent I was, but yes, Japan seems to be a wonderful place...

Engrish update! (Don't you just love these?)



Taken in Osaka, in the Nanba area. It isn't advertising anything, so I'm not sure what the point of it is. A little creepy, perhaps...



I stole this one from Cassie-san, who found this in her dorm at Waseda, Tokyo. Words cannot describe its awesomeness.



I found this whilst strolling around Kyoto city centre yesterday. Would you trust these people with your hair?



The recycle bin outside my bedroom.

Cola Bottles.

Today, I visited Osaka.

A group of six of us cycled to the Saiin Eki Hankyu train station at 10am, and caught the train, which took about 50 minutes to get to Osaka. I now know how to work Japanese train and subway stations, which is a good thing. Anyway, we arrived at Osaka Umeda station, and spent the next hour trying to find this guitar shop that the guys wanted to visit. We found one, but it was the wrong shop, then we thought we'd found it again, but it was a music school of the same name. Eventually we did find the shop, Lisa (from Canada) and I went to buy cute socks while we left the three guys browsing.

We then decided to find lunch, and ended up at tiny and this not-so-great place where people sat on stools around the cashier, and the food came through a dumb waiter. I had a salad, which I seem to have for lunch every day no matter where I go, but it's so nice. We then went for a wander to the subway, and got off at Nanba station, where we found scarily tall buildings, flashing lights and giant mechanical crabs climbing up the outside walls of buildings. I did take photos, but I have tried everything and my camera just does not work outside, or on things that are slightly far away. So, we looked at digital cameras in a shop, but they were all quite expensive so I'm going to wait until I find a bargain. I did find something of interest, however, posted on the glass side door of a shop:



So, we decided just to do what it said, and keep it happy. We wandered a bit more after that, had green tea ice cream whippy cones, then Lisa needed to head back, so us girls left and found our way back to Kyoto fine, via an even quicker train route because we were clever enough to change trains twice, leaving the guys in another guitar store. Then, on the way back, I found bread at last in a giant supermarket that I never knew of. It's taken me this long to find bread. So, I've just had my celebratory hajimete sandwich, and there will be many more to come.

And that was a very condensed account of my day in Osaka.

私の自転車 - My Bike



Everybody cycles in Japan. My bike is basically a pile of scrap. The people that were here last year left their bikes behind, and so they were "recycled" and re-sold to the new students this year, with the profits going towards parties and such. When the buddies took everyone down to view them, I was on the phone or something, so I only got down later, when all the crappy ones were left.

The asking price was 3000 yen (£15) but it was halved to 1500 yen (£7.50). Then it was pointed out that it had no gears, the front brake didn't exist, the seat was tatty and the wheel lock (no need for chains and stuff here!) needed a new key. But it was the best bike that they had left, so Naoki offered to take it to the repair shop for me, and said that if the total cost including repairs came to more than 5000 yen (£25) in total, the House would refund the difference. Fair enough, I needed a bike. So the next day, it came back looking a lot better, with two working brakes, a new seat, and a new lock. Gears are apparently unnecessary, but it also has a bell and a light. And best of all, a huge front basket, which seems to be the fashion here.

I asked how much the repairs came to, and Naoki replied
"It's cool, it wasn't your fault that it was falling to pieces so the House just paid for it".
So, delighted, I offered him the 1500 yen initial asking price.
"To be honest, its such an old bike, we can't ask you to pay for it. And the tyres are a bit old too, so yeah, you can just have it".
So that is the story of my free bike. Which may fall to pieces on me yet, but its better than Mat's bike. But not Other-Matt from Edinburgh's bike, because he paid 14,000 yen (£70) for his. However, his bike is new.

There are pros and cons to owning a new bike here.
The pros: It won't fall apart. And it looks cool.
The cons: Even though people seem to just park their bikes everywhere and anywhere, there are rules about where you can and can't park which aren't indicated by signs in any way, and so us gaijin are totally unaware of them.
Example: Julie and Aude, the French girls on my floor, bought bikes, rode them, liked them, and then rode them to the shops the next day. They came out of the shops to find that they had been lifted by police, because they were illegally parked. Even though there were tons of other bikes there, and the place didn't look any different or anything. So, they must now buy new bikes, as the place where bikes are reclaimed is many miles away, and a hefty fine must be paid. Luckily, their bikes were cheaply bought from the House, so they didn't lose too much money. This is why I win.

Moving on, now, to the rules of riding your bike on the street: There are no rules. This was confirmed by the University during orientation.

- Cyclists do not wear crash helmets. This worried me a little, but they just don't exist, and so cannot be purchased. I found it hard to believe, but it's true.

- Cyclists do not signal when they turn corners. Or stop. Or anything. I'm guessing if I make arm signals anyway they should be understood, but we're so close to traffic there's no room to actually stick my arm out anyway.

- Cars do not have to stop and look for cyclists when coming around corners, at small junctions without lights, etc. It is the cyclists responsibility to stop before a car comes out and ploughs into them.

- Cyclists may cycle on the the pavement, or on the road. Usually both. Cyclists just ride on and off of pavements as they please, although pavements don't exist half the time anyway, and so you never know what they're going to do next. One reason I can think of for this is that although cycling on the pavement is generally safer, every few yards there is a big thick telephone pole, which must be avoided. There is no room to cycle between them and the buildings, so you have to veer out into the road, which can be more dangerous than just going on the road in the first place due to lack of signalling, etc. You'd think cycle lanes would be a good idea in this country, but no.

- Cyclists may cycle on either side of the street. Again, on the road, or pavement. I think this rule is shocking, and stupid. But people do it everywhere, you see lots of cyclists going head-on into a flow of busy traffic. I've had to do it a few times myself already, in order to avoid the liberally-scattered tram lines, railways, etc.

Conclusion: Cycling here is scary, but necessary. The public transport here is very very cheap and efficient, but for people using their own private means, it is complete chaos. There are a lot of cars, but most people do just get around by either bike or moped. One reason for this may be the fact that having a car here is extremely expensive, as the car must be under a certain age, there are many taxes, tolls, MOT checks, etc, and you must rent your own parking space, which costs a fortune in itself. It is in fact banned for anyone to commute by car to Ritsumeikan University, including staff. It's great that so many people cycle, for health and environmental reasons, and apparently you can cycle to any location in the city within an hour, if you know where you're going. But I'm surprised that there isn't a better system for cyclists, who must constantly put themselves and pedestrians at risk to get anywhere. Walking isn't always an option, as it would just take too long, and it just seems to be taken for granted that this many people choose to cycle, and that the government does not need to encourage them in any way, i.e. by actually making the system safe. When we were given our talks on why entering the National Health Insurance scheme was necessary, the sheer amount of students that have cycle accidents every week was a key reason. But nothing is done about it, as far as I can see, and perhaps the people here are happy with their system, after all, this is through the eyes of a foreigner.

Having said that, I do enjoy the bike ride to uni every day, a 15 minute ride through relatively quiet streets, and there are some very enjoyable nearby routes through residential areas that we can ride along for pleasure, and most of them will take us past temples and shrines. And it is a huge convenience, as walking to some places would just take too long. So, perhaps I will get used to it all soon, I don't feel that I lack confidence while cycling on these roads, I personally took to it quite quickly, and if I have to cycle along a busy road, so be it, I won't avoid it. But I think it would be interesting to ask Japanese cyclists for their opinions on the system, and drivers as well, and also some of the foreign students who are living here with me. I don't know much about transport systems throughout the world, so who knows, maybe this is just a typical example of what you could find in any country, and I'm just being stuck-up about it, but its my only big gripe about Japan so far, so I'd like to try and understand it a little better!

Today, I'm taking the day off.

The past three days have been very productive (finally) and I will be considered after Monday's Crime Seminar to be fully oriented.

The speaking test on Thursday was fine, and I discovered the joys of the co-op canteen. There's a wonderful salad bar and all kinds of food, and now I no longer have to worry about finding at least one decent vegetarian meal per day. We were, however, frightened by the great deal of paperwork that was thrown our way.

In the evening it got better though when Dave confirmed that his tickets for coming to see me at Xmas are all booked :)

Yesterday, we had the morning free before orientation started again at 1pm, so I went and opened up a bank account, at last. They gave me this cute little bank book with happy cartoon people on it, and my cash card will soon follow.

I then decided to cycle to the semi-nearby "Hyaku-En" (100 yen) shop, which I was given vague directions to, but having no sense of direction at all, i got lost 3 times before I found it. And the road was terrifying (see "My Bike", above.) I bought all the stationery that I needed, and a cute little whiteboard for my door so that people can leave messages. It's shaped like an apple. The shop itself is wonderful, it sells just about anything you could ever want, the quality is good enough, and everything costs just 100 yen (about 50p). It's so great. Trying to find my way back again was a bit of a problem, I got lost again, but I made it back to the dorm to drop my things off before heading to uni, although i was a bit of a sweaty mess by that point, as it was average 28C yesterday and always sunny. I then had limited time to get to uni, and, of course, I got lost on the way there, but eventually I made it and got into the classroom just in the nick of time. Unfortunately, on the only day that I wasn't early, the staff were handing out free tickets to a Noh play that is showing next week, they were the last tickets, and just as I got in the door Jason handed the last ticket to the girl in front of me, then said to the rest of us, "you weren't early, so TS." Just a minor annoyance.

We were then assigned to our Japanese language classes, I got assigned to the middle group along with Mat, and I also got in to the Calligraphy class, although his name wasn't drawn for the arts course that he'd chosen. We were then offered options of taking other classes, but most of them centred around Japanese Law, Japanese Economics and Japan-America Relations, which just don't interest me. There were two that I was interested in taking, International Aid and one discussing Homer's Odyssey (randomly stuck in there) but they both clashed with my timetable. So, this semester I'm just going to use the extra time to work on my dissertation, and next semester there will be historical and cultural-themed classes available, which I'm very interested in, so I can take some then. It was great though, we were the only people whose home university didn't demand a certain amount of credits - most people I knew had to take at least 4 of these extra classes, (people not doing Japanese language had to take 7) and I know i would have been bored stupid if I'd had to do that. I know it probably sounds like I'm skiving off a bit, but my timetable is actually "full" as it is, (with the same amount of classes per week that I would take in Edinburgh) plus my "extra" calligraphy class, so this way I won't be uber stressed, and I will have time to do research and practise my Japanese in general. And actually see Japan a bit. Hooray!

After our timetables were determined, we had a health seminar with the charismatic Dr Nakagawa, a tour of the library, and we were given our email addresses and computer IDs for the machines on campus. By then it was 5.30, and I was about to head back, when Mat asked me to show him the way to the Hyaku-En shop. No-one asks me for directions, no-one, and he soon realised why.

So we made it, although it was rush-hour so the roads were even more insane than usual (again, see "My Bike") and we had a good rake, then had a really fun ride back, as it was dark by this point, and it was just a bit terrifying. I think it goes unsaid that with me leading, we did get lost a couple of times. Well, that temple just jumped out of nowhere.

So, today, I'm just conserving my energy for the big party tonight that we're having, later on I think I'll go down to the "Liquor Mountain" and see their wares. Sounds promising, anyway.

Today I finally got to see Ritsumeikan University!

Most of us rode there on our bikes, and I really enjoyed the ride itself. It took about 15 minutes to travel there from our dorm, and we went through a maze of little streets that knitted together hundreds of little Japanese houses. In fact, it was so maze-like, Emily (a housemate) and I got lost on our way back, and had to go a long long way, but in the end her map-reading skills saved the day.

As soon as we got to the classroom we were given our written test, one in a series of tests which will decide the level of class that we are placed in. I sailed through it until page 9 out of 13, where it just got a bit ridiculous, but luckily everyone I spoke to felt the same. So I'm sure it was accurate enough. We then had general orientation and tours, we saw a giant TV in the International Student Lounge (I'm going to take a photo) and then were treated to a buffet lunch in the amazing cafeteria. For once, there was lots of vegetarian food, so i filled up for the rest of the day, paying close attention to the tasty-looking macaroni coleslaw. Mmm.

We then had a bit of free time to explore, so we wandered around the massive campus, and some of us, including myself, had our first experience of using one of these, which I didn't really enjoy much. We were then called back for more orientation talks, then finally a Listening placement test, during which most of us nearly, or actually, fell asleep. It was a stupid test anyway.

We were then free to go, and after visiting the Rits Co-Op in order to obtain an electronic dictionary for Emily, we went with Julie and Aude, our French floormates, to visit a nearby shrine. It was very, very nice.

Emily and I got lost on the way home, but Ukyo-ku (and probably most of Kyoto) is a maze of narrow streets, and since in Japan there are no street name signs, we didn't really stand a chance anyway. But we made it!

And thus concludes a condensed description of my day. I took many photos today, and have discovered that my camera just doesn't work outside, at all. Or at least not on things that are more of a mid to long-distance away. So I was rather annoyed, but Sada (another very nice buddy) is taking us to Osaka soon, where digital cameras are apparently very cheap. So I'll see just how cheap they are.

And now it is to bed, for tomorrow I have a Speaking test, which is the worst nightmare of every language student.

Quick update for today: Japanese milk is fabulous.

I was out today and took lots of cool photos. Unfortunately, only the ones I took in air-conditioned buildings came out, I think the heat/humidity affected my camera, so I'll try again when it's cooler. But these are entertaining enough for now...

Mmm...




This one too had me a bit confused.

Today, Kyoto escaped the typhoon, thank goodness. We were just a bit windy, but still about 31c outside...

Now, back to our arrival at the dorm (13/09)

After our long, long flight and taxi journey, things were about to get even more confusing. Mr Yamazaki, the dorm manager, met us at the door, and carried my luggage in for me, leaving Mat to carry his own. This has happened many times since; it seems that men are expected to carry everything for women here, so I just let them :)

We were told (in Japanese) to take our shoes off and place them in the box with our room number on it (mine was 317) and to put on a pair of rubber slippers that were provided for us. This is customary of Japanese houses and some other buildings, but there are a few other rules regarding slippers, which I'll explain later, and they took a bit of getting used to. We were then handed a can of Coke each by Mrs Yamazaki, which was greatly appreciated, and were asked to fill in certain forms and write our names in both katakana and romaji on various strips of... something magnetic. These were to go outside our rooms, and on the big board in the hall which tells you if people are in or out. I don't think the Yamazakis speak English, and if they can, they pretend not to.

At that point, Naoki, one of the dorm buddies, was summoned, and he showed us to our rooms on the third floor, carrying my luggage up for me. The rooms were very bare, just like typical university dorm rooms, but they were a good size, and they had remote-control air conditioning. The lack of decor didn't bother me, because I quite enjoy making the rooms I stay in look pretty - I've improved it a little so far, but I'm not ready to put up a photo yet!

Anyway, our rooms have a little alcove bit when you walk in the door, where you remove your slippers before stepping up onto the floor of the main room. This I believe is a Japanese concept, but the room itself is western-style. Before we got the chance to investigate much, we were whisked away again for our grand tour of the building.

Neither of us took in much, it was all in Japanese and we were just too tired. But we were shown the kitchen, (there's one on each floor) and something to do with the cooker, (which has no oven) and the communal fridge, which is shared between those who decided not to buy personal fridges for their own room. We were then shown the laundry room, which is where I think we got our bedding from, and which also happens to be free, washers and tumble dryers. The bedding was a little scary - everyone has the same floral duvet, pink fleece blanket, sheet and bean pillow; this pillow is about half the size of a normal pillow, but it's full of beans. Big beans. It looked really unconfortable, but it's actually ok. The Yamazakis wash our bedding for us weekly, we just take our old set down and pick up a new set, so there are two sets for everyone on rotation.

The shower/bath rooms were next - there is only one each for men and women in the whole building, (about 60 people) so it's all communal. Again, you remove your slippers before stepping up onto the wooden slatted floor, undress in the next area, putting your clothes and towel in one of the pigeon holes, then go through to the shower room. There are about five showers round the walls, and a big bath in the corner, which is filled at about 5pm every night by the Yamazakis (you can't fill it yourself). It reminded me of swimming pool showers, they are actually very good, and once you have showered you may use the bath as long as you are clean, because everyone has to share the same bathwater! There are covers to put over the bath when you are done to keep it warm, they do work, I took a bath at 1am the other night and it was still warm, although not as nice as it is at 5pm, mm.

The Japanese room and the communal lounge are right next to the bath rooms, on the basement floor. The Japanese room is exactly that - a room in the Japanese style, used for tea ceremony and the like. The communal lounge has tables, chairs, books, a TV, DVD/VCR and a Playstation. It also has communal computers, but there is LAN internet access in all of the bedrooms so I don't have to use these.

I think that was everything that we were shown on our tour, Mat and I basically followed Naoki around like zombies and figured everything out again later. We went back to our rooms and I made my bed and unpacked, I noticed that the big sliding windows have an extra sliding net thing to stop insects coming in if you open your window, as do the curtains. I haven't seen many insects yet though, just a funny green thing I saw in reception the other day. However, all you can hear at night are the crickets and cicadas outside in the big "flower garden", which isn't in bloom at the moment.

I realised how much storage the room has, and how little things I have with me to put in it, but we also have to store our food and utensils in our rooms because the kitchens are very small. I still have a lot of empty shelves though. I don't think I've fully figured out the air conditioning yet either, but I know how to make things colder and that's all I need, I think my room is definitely the coldest in this whole building, for some reason no-one else minds the insane heat.

Maybe I'm a snowman.

Welcome to the sauna. Today was especially humid, and I didn't even wake up till 5pm...

I suppose I should start with the flight, now that I seem to have recovered from it. I flew from Aberdeen to Heathrow on Monday 11th with Dave, and we stayed in a hotel in a place called Horley, near Gatwick Airport. We tried going for a walk, but all we could find were other hotels, and a couple of service stations, so we gave up on that idea. There was also a cute terrapin in the reception that waved at us, and the wall between reception and dining room consisted of a giant fish tank, which I thought was a bit creepy.

The next day, we went to Gatwick at about 10am and met up with Mat, who I flew with. Our flight was at 14.15, and I was quite pleased with the aeroplane, it was a Boeing 777, and we flew with Emirates to Dubai. We got seats together, with one seat spare in between for books and cushions and me stretching my legs, etc. I watched a couple of films on the screen thing, and saw most of Europe out of the window and the cameras, until it got dark. We got to Dubai six and a half hours later, and even though it was midnight there when we stepped off the plane, it was insanely humid and very very warm. But the airport was air-conditioned so we walked around for a couple of hours, I spoke to my Mum on the phone until my credit ran out, and we went to the duty-free supermarket where people were buying full trolleyloads of stuff, and I wondered how they'd get it all on the plane. We boarded the flight to Osaka Kansai a while later, and this time Mat and I were separated by half a plane, and I got stuck in the middle of one of the centre rows and was the only non-Japanese on my half of the plane (an Airbus A345). Mat however, got a front row seat with lots of legroom, and a window. Somehow, I slept for about five hours, although I had no idea how much sleep I'd gotten when I woke up because they didn't bother turning on the flight progress thing for the entire duration (it was a 9 hour flight). It was pretty uncomfortable in the seat, and so I didn't enjoy that flight as much. I watched more films and was pretty bored, until eventually we reached Osaka.

We went through security, met with our taxi driver and were on our way again, but as it was raining and already dark, we didn't see much out of the window. Two hours, a thousand half-read neon signs, 10 McDonalds and a restaurant called "The Kyotominator" later, we arrived at the dorm...

The view from my bedroom window!

I have arrived... (Update later)

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to Japan I go. Tomorrow morning!

Well, I'm not there yet, so I may as well post something that most people I know will appreciate...