Settling in and Orientating at KGU

It has been just over one week (that is almost impossible to believe!). In a way, it feels like forever since I got here. But at the same time, the time has been flying by (and it will all be gone before long!).

Everything feels distinctly foreign (so much so that anything remotely resembling home really stands out). But after only a week, daily life is already starting to become more natural and familiar.

The locals are all very friendly, though it does seem some have grown weary of the pack of exchange students that descend upon the community every semester. (That is understandable when you consider the impact caused by 300-some college foreigners on a community where being quiet, courteous, and rule-abiding is so important to daily life - remember that the building walls are paper thin, so anything above a whisper carries through the neighborhood at night).

Seminar House 2 - my home for the semester!
(We are the best seminar house, don't let anyone tell you otherwise)

The park by the seminar houses (students have nicknamed it Beer Park)
(the faculty and surrounding community are not happy about this)

The neighborhood is really active with families, even in the cold winter. It is near impossible to go anywhere without constantly being passed by people on bicycles, motorbikes, or the Japanese trucks you see everywhere here. The streets in the neighborhoods are all very narrow and can barely fit one car across, but locals fly down them nonetheless.

Down the street from the seminar house heading towards campus

Hirakata City has little plots of farmland randomly everywhere

Hirakata-shi Station (where most of the city life is)

I really like Hirakata City so far. But it certainly isn't the prettiest city. Like many areas of Osaka, it really feels like it just isn't trying to impress anyone. It's just there. And that is nice.  

Kansai Gaidai University (from the front gate)
(imagine this filled with students that haven't started the semester yet)

Orientation Week has meant a lot of time sitting in assemblies listening to speeches and rules and regulations (so many rules to follow in Japan!). Being under pressure to meet lots and lots of new people quickly tends to be the most stressful part of anything like this for me, but I am glad to say I had a pretty easy time meeting many really wonderful people here. (We have formed our own Gaijin Crew. It's super official - there is an email list and and we require applications to be accepted (not really)).  

One of the few reasons an emergency floor meeting will be called is for improper garbage sorting

A small anecdote about trash separation here. We have a professor that conducted an anonymous survey asking a class of Americans how many had broken the law in the past few months. Around 60% answered in the affirmitive. He gave the same survey to a class of Japanese students, where well over 90% answered yes. And among those answers, the prevalent answer for law broken was "sorting garbage improperly." Of course, garbage sorting isn't actually a punishable law here, but Japanese treat it very seriously as if it were. 

I don't know why it is never mentioned, but one of the most prevalent differences I face in daily life is the meticulousness with which garbage separation is treated. And when you are out and about, there are very few trash cans around, which often means you carry your garbage with you all day and dispose of everything at home (and somehow this works, because everything tends to be very clean).

Slideshow presentation on how not to be a bad foreigner and have creepy older ladies stare you down:

On Friday, the university students organized a giant trip to Kyoto to familiarize us with the train system (which I already had to learn to get to Nara, ha). We didn't have as much time to explore as I would have liked, so we will definitely be going back soon on our own time. 

Our modest little tour group led by a couple KGU students
The tour group included some of our 'Gaijin Crew'

Picture from the top of Kyoto at a temple, city in background
Standing by random guy

Had the most delicious okonomiyaki in Kyoto

Saturday we made a quick trip down to Osaka City. We got off the train at what appears to be a major business district with not a ton of accessible night life, but it was good to see all the same.

Saw one older man cross the street while the crosswalk was red (Osakan stereotypes), but for the most part, people still would stand at crosswalks and wait for the light, even with no cars anywhere in sight for a couple meter wide side-street crosswalk.

Shoddy ipod photo after arriving in Osaka

All we do when we travel is look for places to eat, then eat, then  look for a different place to eat.

Coffee jelly with vanilla ice cream and a white chocolate filled croissant (soso goood) 

That really about sums it up so far, though I could go on and on forever about everything we've been doing and eating (so much food).  Classes start tomorrow. Very excited about that, many of the class topics here are very interesting and hard to find back home. 

Anyway, everything is going very well. You are all very much missed. Hope things are going well back home!