If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good.

A beach near my school.

This week marks my being in Japan for over a month! I've gotten use to the way most things are done. While there are some things that annoy me, I find a lot of things make sense.

Showers: The bathrooms here are tiny, at least in the dorm. Thankfully I'm short. I'm pretty sure anyone over 5'8" has to crouch to get their hair wet. In order to get hot water in the shower or the sink you have to press an on bottom and select what temperature you want (It looks like a thermostat). This makes sense to me. Water only gets heated when you need it to be hot. Fun fact though, the controls that are by sink also control the one in the shower. So, for example, when your in the shower in the morning and your roommate is done using the hot water for the sink and she turns it off, the hot water goes off in the shower too. And it gets cold. Fast.

Waves breaking against the shore.

Shoes: Different shoes are needed for indoors and outdoors. When coming in from outside you have to take off your shoes and put on your indoor shoes. This is true for our dorm. When we walk in the building we have to take off our shoes and put on other one, and then we we get to our room we take off the indoor shoes as well. Japan is all about cleanliness. It is actually a good way to keep dirt out. Though it is mildly annoying when your hands are full of groceries and there are other people trying their shoes from the same place as yours.

Transportation: I love the trains here. Even though they get crowded as you move toward, they are clean, timely, and, aside from the bullet trains, relatively cheap.  It cost me less to go to Nagahama and back than it does for me to take the Metra into Chicago.  I also love riding my bike everywhere.  Does it suck when you want to buy out all of the grocery store and are limited to what you can fit in a basket and backpack? Yes, but I instead of making trips to the grocery store every two weeks like I would at home I now go once or twice a week. Not the end of the world.

People: I have yet to meet an unkind person. Sometimes you just get stared at for being the only foreigner in 50 miles. Some people want to just test their English and get a photo with gaijin. I love riding my bike down the road saying “Konichiwa!” to everyone I think will say it back, most say it first.  Everyone my friends and I ever have ever asked for help has given us some. They are also very forgiving when I have no idea what they’re trying to say to me.

Classes:  Studying abroad would be really great if it weren’t for the whole studying part. My culture and society class is great. It’s in English, we take field trips, and I enjoy the subject. My language class is hard. They weren’t kidding when they said intensive. I get frustrated because majority (and by majority I mean everyone except for one other guy and myself) has taken at least some Japanese and most times I just do my best to not look like a complete fool when my sensei calls on me. Though to give the program credit I sure do know a lot more Japanese than when I first started. I’m also extremely grateful to Melville sensei for being patient and working with me.

On the same note, even though I do get frustrated when I can’t understand people or read a sign, common sense has gotten me pretty far. A good sense of direction helps too.