Yesterday began at ten thirty at Doshisha, meaning we had to navigate our own way there. Lucky me I went in a group so I wouldn't have to find my way using the subway and through the grid like street structure of Kyoto to the university. Austen, Ben, and I made it rather painlessly and easily (mostly due to Ben's memory) and then, with the rest of the SCTI students, we sat down for a lecture about earthquakes, health and safety (again) and extracurriculars (clubs we could possibly join during our stay at Doshisha). I have about three different brochures sitting in my bag right now, waiting for me to "read" them (don't count on it; most of them are in kanji, not even hiragana). Verdict is still out on whether I'll be joining anything.
After extracurriculars, the teachers of our classes, plus auditors from Doshisha University and Kyoto University, joined us for the Academic orientation. First off, the english of the Japanese auditors is great (they're all native Japanese students who are just taking classes with us); I can only hope to become that proficient in Japanese. Second, I have YET to see a Japanese girl who doesn't look trendy and fashionable (seriously though, I want to have all their outfits!). Digression: Watanabe-san, the financial manager of the center and the woman who gives us our lunch money allowance/transporation allowance, who speaks basically perfect english, is SO SO CUTE. Seriously we are going to be BFFs by the end of the quarter, I've decided. But I digress. Anyway, we met our Japanese teachers, there are four total, and they all seem really really sweet and fun. Hopefully they won't be too hard on us (in terms of academically...). And then the Anthropology teacher gave a tiny speech about her two classes and basically induced me into considering taking 19 units this quarter. I know I know, I want to take it easy! Trust me, I know that! But the way she described her class "Intro to Japanese Anthropology"...basically we would get to research whatever we wanted and the class itself would become a tutorial type thing. Um...AWESOME. Oh well, so I'm struggling with trying to decide what to do about that...
Finally lunch came around. Since we got let out early, Austen, Matt and I decided to walk the Imperial Palace Grounds (it's apparently closed the public, but opens annually actually in a few weeks for only a week!) before eating. It's right across the street from Doshisha, and there were many many sakura trees. :)
After we had lunch then headed back to the Stanford Center for our brief introduction with the Religion and Culture class teacher, and then she proceeded to tell us we were going to visit a few temples in Eastern Kyoto for the afternoon. We went and saw Heian Jingu, Nanzenji temples (one Buddhist and one Shinto). The Buddhist temple was really really pretty.
At the Shinto Shrine, we took part in a ritual that is supposed to bring us luck and help us in our studies for the quarter. However, it was so cold and I was so tired I felt very sleepy during the entire thing. Nonetheless, it ended with us sipping a little bit of sake so that made me feel all warm and fuzzy. :) Subsequently, after the ritual, we were free for the rest of the evening!
Austen and I headed back the the hotel and promptly took a nap. Later we, plus Nancy and Ben, went and found dinner, went to an arcade, came back, and crashed. All in all, another fun and eventful orientation day in Japan!
(Hotel Room)
Now this morning! So were supposed to check out of the hotel and get to the center for the Home-stay Orientation by 10:00. Unfortunately, checking out took a little more time that it was supposed to (since were were assigned time slots of when to check out and give our baggage to the center) and my group ended up being late. :( Not exactly fun when you're trying to make good impressions early in the game. But at the home stay orientation, they kind of went over absolutely everything we'd already heard before and so I didn't feel too bad about getting there a tad late. However, we had the cell phone orientation after and OMG Japanese cell phone companies are just SO SO confusing! And of course Stanford students, being the smart ones we are, must know everything, I mean EVERYTHING, about all the plans; they must find all the loopholes and clarify the complicated system of Japanese cellular telephones. So I'm just glad that Nancy figured out what kind of plan we wanted to get. :D Funny though. In the conversation, we learned that in Japan, "free" doesn't mean it doesn't cost anything. Instead, "free" is synonymous with "unlimited". Interesting how things translate.
Anyway, after that whole fiasco thing, we were then split into groups and Doshisha students took us on a campus tour to show us where things are. Actually, we visited the TWO other campuses that are nearby. Apparently, the one we are based at is primarily for the humanities and social sciences. One of the other campuses we visited is for the physical sciences. The other is for engineering. And then the FOURTH one, across the city, is primarily for athletics, and other extracurriculars (I think...I could be wrong...). Anyway, the girl leading us around was very very nice and I could understand most of her Japanese, though when I didn't have any idea what she was talking about I just asked her and she responded in English (I'm trying, I promise!). Doshisha was also having their club fair since it's the start of a new term; I felt like I was at the Stanford Activities Fair, where everyone overwhelms you by shoving flyers in your face, asking if you like doing a certain activity, and if you would be interested in joining.
The hours seem to fly by super fast, and then suddenly we'd had lunch, gathered our things, and were set to meet our host families. Note: if you don't know, my host family is made up of two grandparents. I was absolutely PETRIFIED of meeting them as my Japanese speaking abilities and understanding capabilities aren't the greatest. I can also be a pretty quiet person if I don't have much to say and I generally don't like to force conversation unless I feel the situation a) calls for it, b) it's too awkward to let it be silent. So...conversing in another language? SCARY. Kowaii desu, as they say in Japanese. But I met my host grandfather and it seems to be alright. They live in the southern part of the city about 30 minutes away from the center.
Right now I'm actually sitting in my room. I met his wife and she's very sweet as well. I went out with him earlier and he showed me the neighborhood (we visited a department store and few super markets) and then toured some of the back streets. I have my own room complete with internet, TV, desk, closet, and futon. They are so so very generous. And then I met his youngest daughter (whom I believe just stopped by) and she's so cute! I believe we're having dinner tonight with the eldest daughter and her family, so we'll see how that goes. More to come on that front.
Japan is utterly amazing. End of Story.
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