Thursday, March 22, 2007

2nd day!

Aw man.... so so soooo tiring trying to communicate. It's a mix of English and Japanese and desperately wishing I had one of those electronic dictionaries. I must sound stupid, looking Japanese but absolutely not acting like one. So glad they are so patient with me.

I also need money. Yen. I have USD, but not Yen.

So the 1st official day was interesting. Not exciting or anything, but definitely worthwhile. Mrs. Yokota, my homestay "mother", took me around Atsugi macchi (Atsugi town) to shop. I didn't buy anything, except my bus ticket. I don't really have much Yen on me. I'm sure the tour of the town was to teach me how to get around... but honestly, w/ me still trying to translate everything spoken to me, I don't think I'll be exploring anywhere just yet. All I know is that bus stop #7 is to TPU, and bus stop #11 is to their home. After walking an additional 15 minutes.

And the place is called.... I forget. Some long Japanese word.

See me struggle? Hehe.

But she showed me the clothing stores, mostly in passing to the shoe and purse stores (I think I know her interests... lol). But we took a walk into the movie store and book store. OMG there are so many comics and anime. Anyone disturbed by the fact the porn section is smack in the middle of the anime section in the movie store?

But I found out... despite Japanese-imported manga in America being mostly Naruto, DBZ, or some form of cheesy high school romance, most comics here are targeted towards adult businessmen. Hence the porn. And the hentai comics. Whereas from what I notice, while I like manga, finding one worth reading in America is not very easy. Target audiences, ya know?

Strange not to need to feel silly when admitting to an interest in what we find to be children's stuff.

Oh! Had the most awesome sushi too! I really like Outoro. I'm not sure what that translates into. A type of fish.

Today, I'm heading off to TPU to meet the staff. Yesterday was a holiday.... the changing seasons from Winter to Spring. Thought that might be interesting.

Bye!

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