Second Day

It was my second day in Japan and yet I do not know if it has really hit me that I will be in this country for the next year.. Despite bring in a country that I am not totally familiar with, language or culture, besides the occasional time I find myself looking up to the sky and thinking, "I am really in Japan, wow," I don't really feel anything. Maybe it is my way of coping with my extreme nervousness. Does that make sense, feeling really nervous but nothing at the same time? It sounds weird, but that is what I feel.

Woke up at a decent time for once (8 AM! has not happened in a lonnnnnng time). After getting some breakfast, I set off to the Fulbright office in Japan and experienced first hand how crowded a subway can get. I thought the crowd in Taipei during New Years was bad, but now I see what Japanese people (or at least in Tokyo) have to deal with going to work. Let us just say that it is not comfortable getting pushed from behind until you are basically a sandwich, especially if you have a piece of luggage with you.

Since I was the first Fulbrighter to arrive in Japan (My university starts earlier than most Japanese ones; other people arrive mid-September), I got a quick, basic run-through of what to expect and what to do. I will still go to the group orientation in September but hopefully I won't really need it. I also got my first check and I now have huge wad of bills hiding somewhere in my hotel room (no bank account yet). I must admit that when you have a few thousand dollars on hand you are a lot more careful about where it is all the time. Met up with a current Fulbrighter (Dan) at Tsukuba who is leaving in a few days and he was very helpful in answering my questions and offering me advice. Also took me to Tsukuba after we meet up with his girlfriend (Mio?). Note to self, do not try to arrange a meeting with someone when you don't have a cellphone and you did not specify an exact meeting place.

Chinese extended families (including the numerous god-siblings that people from our parents' generation have) are notoriously large, but those connections can be really helpful sometimes. I found out this summer that my mom has a god-sister who works as the head of foreign languages at Zheng-Da University in Taiwan who, as luck has it, did her Ph.D work at Tsukuba University. She has a student who is currently doing his Ph.D work at Tsukuba and she give me his contact info. After Dan and Mio helped me find my hotel, I called and meet up with him and he was also really helpful in answering questions and giving advice. He offered to help me with finding a place to live (my primary concern) and all of the paperwork I have to do here. I can probably tap into the Taiwanese student network here as well, which might prove to be invaluable (since one has a car). I must say that as much as I stress out and worry about things, they do tend to work out for me in the end.

So now I am in the lobby of my current hotel (well, more like a cheap place to stay) using their wi-fi. I do miss the nice room I had last night in Tokyo with the huge and comfy bed, in-room internet, TV and all, but considering one night there costs the same as the 4 nights I will be staying here, yeah, I can live with bringing my laptop to the lobby to use the internet. Tomorrow I will check out the international student center to get some more info and start looking for an apartment, hope things go as well as things recently have (knock on wood).