Arrival

So, I arrived in Japan safe and sound yesterday, and got unpacked. It's hot and very humid here. It's only about 80 degrees Fahrenheit, but quite humid. Haven't figured out how to get the A/C unit in my bedroom working yet (it might just not be working at all right now).

Last night we went as a group to a local convenience store for food and such. I picked up some instant noodles, and had a bowlful last night. Was pretty good, and even though I couldn't really read the instructions easily, it was pretty much the same process as I'd used with instant noodles in the States.

After eating, I went to bed and slept like a log through the night, waking up about 9 AM with the bright sun streaming through the window. To sleep on I have a futon which is actually quite comfortable. The futons are set out on the middle area of the room, which has tatami mats.

Today, I worked on catching up on email and calling friends and family to say hi and let them know how I was doing. In the afternoon, we went to the electronics store (電気屋), where people bought stuff like network cables for their PCs, digital cameras, etc. I personally just looked around and didn't buy anything.

After the electronics store, we headed to a sushi restaurant just around the corner from the store. It was one of those restaurants with the sushi on a belt and you just grab what you want off of the belt. You could also special order stuff from the touchscreen at the table.

There were two tracks, the lower one was a belt that carried already prepared sushi around to the different tables arrayed along each of the betlts. The upper one was a track for a little carrier to run up and down, delivering special orders. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the inside, so for now, the above description will have to suffice.

It was quite fun, wish something like this was practical and at least somewhat wide-spread in the US. The plates of sushi I had were all 105 yen, which made for a nice, somewhat cheap meal.

Anyway, I hope those that are reading this blog enjoy it, and I'll try and make at least one entry per day, if I can. Thanks!

– Stephen