Day 0-1

What a flight. 1.5 from PHX to LAX, 3 hours in LAX, 12 hours to Tokyo, 2 hours in Tokyo, 1.5 hours to Oita, 1 hour bus ride from Oita to Beppu. I'm pooped. All the people here are really nice, but I still don't know enough Japanese to be able to communicate in Japanese. Hopefully that'll change in a few weeks. On the flight from LAX, I met a few people who are in the same program as me. One of them had a seat right next to me. Lucky! I don't know where they went, as we separated in Tokyo to go our own ways to get here. Hopefully I see them tomorrow.

I didn't eat much today. I got 4 hours on the flight to Tokyo, in an attempt to stick to JST to avoid jetlag. So I spent the rest of the day (after a short tour/introduction/meeting people) in my room, hanging out on Skype with Eric and Trevor. I had a canned coffee and some cheese-flavored "string potatoes." i would have gotten more, but I didn't have enough small Yen coins. Then I was too lazy, tired, and nervous to go out and walk to the coop store on campus to buy some food. Maybe tomorrow. Now I'm watching the GSL and chatting with some Aussie friends. Being in the same time zone as Korea is pretty awesome, so I'll be able to watch the GSL every night.

The internet is blazing fast. I uploaded some videos, and each took less than a minute to upload. Granted, they weren't very big (not HD or anything), but it's still a lot faster than at home. Hopefully I'll be able to make some good content and take advantage of the fast internet. I'll probably do a tour of the dorm in few days, a week tops. The plugs in my room are American style (3 prong, 2 polarized and 1 grounded), so worrying about plug converters and stuff wasn't a big issue, but that's probably not true for most of the rest of the country. I'm guessing they have American style plugs because APU is an international affairs school, and American plug converters are super, super, super easy to find.

The pillow is really neat. It has little beads inside that are kind of like melty beads. I found the company that makes them online, and they're called "Corma" beads. Supposedly they're better for sleep and ergonomics and stuff. I can't wait to try it. If I like it enough, I'll try to buy one if it's not too expensive.

There's a kitchen, which I could use to cook, but I'm not a great cook, nor do I plan on buying cookingstuffs for the 2 months I'm here. Luckily, though, there's a refrigerator/freezer in the room, so I can keep stuff in my room. I was only taken around the dorm area, so I didn't get to see the cafeteria, but the study program is providing breakfast in the cafeteria, so I'll see it tomorrow.

I wrote a lot! Hopefully it's not boring or poorly written. I'm hoping to get more video and pictures every day I'm here for this first week.

~M

Youtube: http://youtube.com/rpglover101

Photo album (hopefully it works): http://rpglover101.imgur.com/OHIRA#vfuXH