Day 5 - I guess I'm always going to be busy, huh?

Today was my first break from orientation. I thought it would be a nice lazy day, where I can finally wind down and relax a little. I was wrong.


Thankfully, I got to sleep in, and slept until about 10, and then had breakfast with the family. However, after spending a few minutes unpacking my luggage, mama called me to go. Turns out we're going to visit papa in the hospital! I might not have mentioned it before, but before I came to Japan, the Katayama family agreed to host a study abroad student. Between that time and me getting here, Mr Katayama caught a cold, which got worse, and winded up landing him in the hospital. He's still there now, and slowly recovering, but I didn't get to meet him until today.


However, before I could go to the hospital, Miri-chan and I got to go to Harajuku! Woooooooow! It was amazing!

You know in highschool, when all the classes got out at the same time, and the hallways were so crowded you couldn't walk 3 feet without bumping into someone, and had to walk so slowly that the entire 10min break between classes was taken up getting to class? This was even more crowded. It's a good thing I didn't lose Miri-chan, because she still doesn't have a cell phone, and if she did get lost, she'd have a hard time getting back on her own. Together we roamed the main strip, Takeshita street, and got to enjoy the interesting clothes and accessories. Miri-chan hadn't done a Purikura/photobooth before, so we found a place and had a crazy time of getting that done. I did it before with the whole waseda group, but doing it on our own was a daunting task, and we ran out of time editing pictures. Eventually I will put up pictures, but I'm just to lazy to do it right now. After purikura, we got food at mcdonalds (My first time in japan!) It was weird, because they put egg on all their burgers. I got a egg teriyaku burger, and it was pretty good, if messy. We also ended up getting crepes before going to see papa.

Getting to the hospital was a trial of its own. We didn't look at any maps before entering the station at Harajuku, so we had to ask someone how to get to the right station and nearly missed it. We finally got to the hospital, and after buying flowers for papa, couldn't find mama. And that's when my cellphone died. After some more sweet directions, we managed to find mama, and found out that the don't let the patients have flowers for individuals in the hospital, they all go to a mutual waiting area on the floor, so mama kept them to put on the table at home.

I finally got to meet papa, who was very sweet, if quiet, probably because he's still sick. I didn't feel good about asking why he was sick, and when he would get better, but I hope he will before I go back home.


On the way back, Mama, Miri-chan and I stopped in Shunjuku. Turns out that the station is actually part of an enormous shopping center, kind of like costco, but bigger. We sampled a bunch of different delicious foods from hokkaido on the 6th floor, then worked our way down through floors and floors of different clothes and furniture and other miscellany. I got to try cantaloupe from hokkaido, and it was probably the best I've ever had.


We got back to the house, and I remembered finally to sign up for classes. I'm taking… 8 of them. I didn't want to take an intensive japanese course, which would be 5 of the 7 possibly japanese credits I'd get, so I'm taking a bunch of 1 credit classes instead. I'm also taking an econ and a lit class in english:


Japanese:
Enjoying Life, Culture & Seasonal Events
Honorific expressions for business 3-4
Learning Japanese through Food 2- 3
Practicing Natural Conversation Activities 2-3
Living in Japan 1-2
"Kanji" Encountered in Town 2-3


English:
Economic Development 01
Contemporary Japanese Literature

After signing up, we went out to shop again, to get some basics for Miri-chan. That was a bit hectic because the store we went to was already closing. Mama pretty much forced her way in and bought whatever she wanted anyway. Then we went to a supermarket and bought food for dinner. The sushi was huge!

 

I couldn't eat the squid. It was too cute. And also kind of scary, staring up at me with those creepy dead eyes. Nnnnn. Couldn't do it. 

Found out my room has a heater! I'm finally warm! I'm sitting here in my room writing, and I don't have to huddle under the covers to keep from freezing. This might be okay after all. I have high hopes now, Japan. Don't disappoint.