It's been an... interesting two weeks.
Aug. 7th, 2002 03:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shirenomadMy parents and brother arrived shortly after my last post (Friday the 19th). We spent the entire day packing up, deciding what goes with me, what goes in storage, and what goes home but not to Japan because I won't have room for it but don't want to leave it in a potentially mildewy storage closet. Also stashed my car with some friends of my grandparents who happened to live in the area (and have a never-used RV port in the backyard). Must remember to get them a souvenir.
The weekend was spent at Disneyland (hey, as long as everyone's down there...) Dad was too wiped Saturday after lugging boxes around, so we went without the parents. "Adopted sister" Elyssa, however, flew down to join us. The three of us managed to hit all the major locations before the crowds picked up, then we hung around, poked our heads in the stores, and dropped by the neglected rides and exhibits (they've redone "Great Moments with Lincoln"... it's really good) until the parades and night events started. Then the parents joined us Sunday to check out the new California Adventure park... Dad managed to wear himself out again in a hurry by riding California Screamin' and had to sit out a couple hours. The park as a whole is really well put-together, but it needs to be open more than 12 hours a day.
Spent a few days at home with friends and family, just to get my brain back in order before launch. (Okay, and see how fast I could crush Warcraft III from beginning to end. Finished the last mission 12 hours before my plane left.) If you noticed me online the week after my last LJ entry, I was probably checking my mail really quick from Campbell.
I'm borrowing a laptop for the duration of the trip. God bless Jess Stephens; he found me one that would work on the Japanese power system. He's getting a souvenir too. (But he used Windows ME for the OS, so it'll be a small one. :p) Managed by sheer luck to get it successfully hooked up to my regular computer, so I copied over my mail files, ICQ data, various general text documents, and a whole mess of music. (Had to cut back on the last part... the laptop's only got 5G of hard drive space and I need something left for schoolwork, etc.)
Took a non-stop from San Jose to Tokyo. Another UCI student, Jenn, was on the same flight by sheer coincidence; she's going to another program at a university right in the big city itself. And unlike me, she had someone to meet her there, who showed me how to get to the train station (thank God for small blessings). Once on the train, I was on my own, and I got off at the wrong stop a couple times... thankfully, you don't get charged until you actually leave the station, so I had a chance to re-orient myself and get back on.
Spent the night in a hotel that had been pre-arranged, then met with the other students in the morning. There's ten of us from various UCs (for some reason, I was expecting more), so we got to know each other in a hurry. We all took a bus up to Tsuru U, got moved into our various apartments -- small, but I've been stuffed into worse, and it's only 10,000 yen a month -- and went through orientation. Set to begin classes on Monday.
Incidentally, I have never felt so lost in my life. Normally, if I wasn't sure what to do, I could always ask someone or read the directions or whatever... with my limited knowledge of Japanese, that's no longer an option. Little things like operating the washing machine or choosing food at the supermarket are baffling me, and I find I'm growing conscious of everything I do, wondering afterward if I might have committed some breach of etiquette. It's good incentive to learn fast, I suppose... -_-
I've got an ISP from my apartment, but it's by the minute, so I don't expect to use it too often. More likely I'm going to bring my laptop with me to the university on a regular basis and go online after class... except I can't get the settings right at the moment to jack into the network. (Win ME is such a piece of junk...) If I can pull it off, expect me online between 9:30pm and midnight, Pacific Daylight Time (Japan doesn't have DST, so adjust those times an hour back come fall when all you North Americans switch over). Weekends are likely to be a bit more erratic... my host family and I may or may not be doing something elsewhere.
Regardless, drop by here often to hear more of my wacky adventures in Japan!
The weekend was spent at Disneyland (hey, as long as everyone's down there...) Dad was too wiped Saturday after lugging boxes around, so we went without the parents. "Adopted sister" Elyssa, however, flew down to join us. The three of us managed to hit all the major locations before the crowds picked up, then we hung around, poked our heads in the stores, and dropped by the neglected rides and exhibits (they've redone "Great Moments with Lincoln"... it's really good) until the parades and night events started. Then the parents joined us Sunday to check out the new California Adventure park... Dad managed to wear himself out again in a hurry by riding California Screamin' and had to sit out a couple hours. The park as a whole is really well put-together, but it needs to be open more than 12 hours a day.
Spent a few days at home with friends and family, just to get my brain back in order before launch. (Okay, and see how fast I could crush Warcraft III from beginning to end. Finished the last mission 12 hours before my plane left.) If you noticed me online the week after my last LJ entry, I was probably checking my mail really quick from Campbell.
I'm borrowing a laptop for the duration of the trip. God bless Jess Stephens; he found me one that would work on the Japanese power system. He's getting a souvenir too. (But he used Windows ME for the OS, so it'll be a small one. :p) Managed by sheer luck to get it successfully hooked up to my regular computer, so I copied over my mail files, ICQ data, various general text documents, and a whole mess of music. (Had to cut back on the last part... the laptop's only got 5G of hard drive space and I need something left for schoolwork, etc.)
Took a non-stop from San Jose to Tokyo. Another UCI student, Jenn, was on the same flight by sheer coincidence; she's going to another program at a university right in the big city itself. And unlike me, she had someone to meet her there, who showed me how to get to the train station (thank God for small blessings). Once on the train, I was on my own, and I got off at the wrong stop a couple times... thankfully, you don't get charged until you actually leave the station, so I had a chance to re-orient myself and get back on.
Spent the night in a hotel that had been pre-arranged, then met with the other students in the morning. There's ten of us from various UCs (for some reason, I was expecting more), so we got to know each other in a hurry. We all took a bus up to Tsuru U, got moved into our various apartments -- small, but I've been stuffed into worse, and it's only 10,000 yen a month -- and went through orientation. Set to begin classes on Monday.
Incidentally, I have never felt so lost in my life. Normally, if I wasn't sure what to do, I could always ask someone or read the directions or whatever... with my limited knowledge of Japanese, that's no longer an option. Little things like operating the washing machine or choosing food at the supermarket are baffling me, and I find I'm growing conscious of everything I do, wondering afterward if I might have committed some breach of etiquette. It's good incentive to learn fast, I suppose... -_-
I've got an ISP from my apartment, but it's by the minute, so I don't expect to use it too often. More likely I'm going to bring my laptop with me to the university on a regular basis and go online after class... except I can't get the settings right at the moment to jack into the network. (Win ME is such a piece of junk...) If I can pull it off, expect me online between 9:30pm and midnight, Pacific Daylight Time (Japan doesn't have DST, so adjust those times an hour back come fall when all you North Americans switch over). Weekends are likely to be a bit more erratic... my host family and I may or may not be doing something elsewhere.
Regardless, drop by here often to hear more of my wacky adventures in Japan!
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no subject
Date: 2002-08-06 11:24 pm (UTC)So . . . the most important question is "Are you enjoying yourself?" That's the first thing to address. *grins* The second question is . . . "Did LoTR come out there yet?" :p (Kidding, kidding!)
Anyhoo, like I said, it's good to hear from you again. I'm going to be hanging on your every word when you talk about life in Japan. (I'm such a geek!) Buy me a souvenir! :D
Okay, time for sleep before I hurt something. :p
no subject
Date: 2002-08-06 11:44 pm (UTC)As for your questions, 1) I'm not sure yet; ask me again in a few days, and 2) it might have, but since I don't have a Region 2 DVD player or a VCR, I haven't been paying attention.
*checks his watch* Whoa, you ARE up late...
no subject
Date: 2002-08-07 10:35 am (UTC)And I was kidding about the second question. :p I'm in a Rings-obsessed mood since yesterday, and will probably continue to be so for quite some time. *grins*
Well, I hope you WILL have fun if you're not already.
no subject
Date: 2002-08-07 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-08-07 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-08-06 11:53 pm (UTC)Glad to hear you made it there okay, though, and that stuff's mostly all right. =)
no subject
Date: 2002-08-07 03:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-08-07 09:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-08-07 10:05 pm (UTC)torture sceneUnum. :pno subject
Date: 2002-08-07 11:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-08-08 08:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-08-08 09:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-08-07 11:09 pm (UTC)Hope you're having fun over there.