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.