Lots of Lightning

The sun rises earlier here than it does back home, I think.

I woke up once at four or so and it was already light outside.  I woke up again at five and wondered why my alarm hadn't gone off.  I woke up again at six because there were people in the common area talking and giggling and eventually got up around six-thirty.

Breakfast was a yogurt cup, melon pan and carton of milk while a handful of roommates continued chatting and generally enjoying each others' company.  Then there was an hour or so of bumming around the Interwebs before grabbing my bag for the day and heading over to KGU's campus.

It was hot.  It was muggy. But the lounges were adequately air conditioned.  Our group was one of the first ones to the CIE and so we got in line early to register our laptops to use the university's wifi.  That done, I met up with Daniel (above) and a couple roommates and we wandered around to check out the convenience stores and food on campus.

I ended up with tempura udon, chocolate mousse cake and melon-flavored Fanta (I didn't know they made it!), which was all wonderful.  Then it was back to the convenience store to order myself a phone!  It seemed like there were going to be 20 billion options, but it turned out there was only one model available in two colors for the pre-paid, gaijin-only plans.  It was 6000 yen for the phone, charger and two months of service (which is about $60, by the way).  Then they told me to go away and come back in an hour or so to pick it up.

Back in the CIE, I poked around the Interwebs and spoke with mom and a few people in game chat.  Yes, I am from the future and I was killing time, so again, I apologize if that killed time messes stuff up for y'all.  Then I went back to the shop and picked up my phone!  I played around with it for a while while I waited for my Language Lab tour to begin.

They explained the program we'll be using for homework and whatnot and then took us on a tour of campus.  We talked out of the CIE and found a black cloud had moved over just campus.  It seemed okay until the thunder boomed.  And the lightning started flashing.  Loud, loud booms and really close-by flashes.  We continued our tour and while we were in one of the buildings, the cloud burst. Literally.  We couldn't leave the building it was raining and winding so hard.

When it died down a bit, we headed to the library and a few other places (and I remembered my flip-flops have absolutely no traction whatsoever) and ended up in the CIE again.  I poked around the Interwebs and posted videos of the storm on Facebook while outside dried off and then headed back to the dorm.

I ate the katsu sandwiches I picked up yesterday and took a quick shower to remove the sweat of the day.  I found the ginger cookies in my bag and shared a few before wandering downstairs to poke at the Interwebs a bit more.  Daniel came by to visit one of the other people in the seminar house so I pestered him to hang out a bit before heading back to his own seminar house.

The bugs were out today, and apparently I'm just as tasty in Japan as I am back home.  I have at least four bites.

In other news, I figured out the address for my CIE mailbox.  Enjoy~

Kathryn Michelle Sipos

c/o Center for International Education

Kansai Gaidai University

16-1 Nakamiyahigashino-cho,

Hirakata city

Osaka 573-1001 JAPAN

Big huge address--and I still don't know who my host family is.  I don't get to know that until the 4th or 5th.

I also figured out how to open the windows on the other side of the dorm and was able to take a picture through the screen.  This is aimed toward seminar house 2 and possibly seminar house 4 in the distance.  You can also see the park around the corner from where I'm staying.

For now.  Tomorrow's more orientation and form-filling-out and the placement test.  It'll be full and partially miserable, but I'll live.  Can't wait to know what classes I end up with.