Orienting Myself

Everyone, make sure not to catch the swine flu while I’m gone. If you follow this puppy/bear cub’s advice, you’ll be safe! (These posters are everywhere.)
I’ve gotten so far behind my actual timeline on this blog that I’m going to try and condense Orientation week into one post. It might be long, so hang in there.
I was so happy that my roommate was from Japan and had gone to Kansai Gaidai before. She was even willing to walk us to campus the first morning of orientation and show us around, so we wouldn’t get lost. It takes about 20 minutes to walk to campus from the Seminar Houses, especially with a heavy backpack.

When we got to campus, I couldn’t believe how new and beautiful all the buildings were! Everything seemed shiny in the sun, the library was huge and even had a stained glass window and the fountain was shooting to the sky, decorating the quad area. I knew I was going to love it here.

Asami left us to go to our Orientation session, which we had several of over the next few days on various topics. The most notable was when I signed up for a bank account. I had expected it to be difficult, with how formal the Japanese are, but I didn’t expect to spend around an hour filling out a form the best I could, then finding out I had made a small error on all three forms and having to do them all over again. *sigh* Another thing about Japanese bank forms – Japanese people use a stamp with the kanji from their name called a “hanko” to “sign” all official documents. I, obviously, do not have one. Therefore, I’m required to sign my name exactly the same as my passport on all official documents. Have you tried to sign your name exactly the same twice? It’s not easy. Try it.
Orientation activities gave us plenty of time left over to explore the surrounding area. Leaving through the main gate of campus takes you to the main street that runs to Hirakata City station. Brittany needed to exchange some traveler’s checks, and we had heard the bank was toward the station, so we headed out. Thankfully, it wasn’t all the way there, because it’s a really long walk after lugging a computer bag to campus already.

On the way to the bank, I happened to look down at the sidewalk. It is the little things everyday that remind me that I’m even Japan, because, yes, even the sidewalks and sewer covers are cute. Only in Japan. The sidewalks had alternating pictures of cute animals and the sewer covers had intricate designs including a chrysanthemum, the symbol of the imperial family.

The next day, Asami took us to a nearby mall to go shopping. I had more takoyaki (yay!) and a crepe for dinner. Yum~~ We looked around in a lot of the clothing stores, which are all really expensive. The funniest store was for men’s clothes, but 75 percent of everything in there was either pink or purple. I imagined some of my friends at home wearing that clothing, and it was quite hilarious.
When we got back, my third roommate, Cailyn, had arrived. She looked really tired, so I tried to help her as best I could. I knew exactly how she felt, having been there just a couple of days ago. It was very cramped with all three beds in the room, but we pretended like it was one big bed and that made it a lot more fun. I really had a great time staying with those two.

Thursday night, we had an opening ceremony for exchange students, with a huge banquet afterward. I say huge because there are 442 exchange students from all over the world studying at the University this semester. We gaijin (foreigners) were excited to see what would be on the Japanese buffet. Sushi, vegetables, fruit, even some rolls and random chikin (this is how it was spelled) and beef taquitos were laid out on the long tables. They were also grilling out hot dogs and sticky chicken on a stick (This is the official name. hahaha) and had the ice cream machine going. Cailyn and I stood in line for 15 minutes for ice cream. Yes, we wanted it that badly and it tasted all the better for waiting. We left for the dorm very satisfied, especially since the weather had cooled off for the day.
Friday was the tour to Kyoto! We were so excited. They put us into a group of five and gave us four Japanese tour guides, who were all very nice. We rode the train to Kyoto and walked to Yasaka Shrine and from there through a park and a little village to Kyomizu Temple. (Shrines are from the Shinto religion and Temples are from the Buddhist religion).

At Yasaka-jinja, I rang the huge bell and made a wish, after throwing in my five yen coin. Our guides told us that five yen is especially good luck because they have a hole in the middle, so you can look through and see the future. From Kyomizu-dera, there was a beautiful view of downtown Kyoto. Cailyn even took my picture against the mountain scenery, next to a sign that says, in beautiful kanji… no smoking. It’s still a nice picture. Brittany drank the water from the Temple which brings intelligence, so we knew she would do well on our upcoming Japanese review tests. My feet were tired from all the walking, so I sat and watched.


After the Temple, we were starving so we walked toward downtown Kyoto to get some sushi. First, we stopped at a Japanese Starbucks, which has most of the same menu items at a similar outrageous price. Then, we found Namco Wonderland, where the Japanese girls quickly ushered us past the HUGE crane machines to the Purikura machines. These are similar to photobooth pictures, which you can draw and write on afterward. They are VERY popular with Japanese girls around my age. They also make your eyes really huge for some reason.

Finally, we got to Kappazushi! I had already eaten at the one in Hirakata City, and was excited. It is a rotating belt sushi restaurant where you pick off what you want as you see it, but you can also order something from the little screen menus and they will send it on a small tram after they make it. My favorite? The hamburger sushi, which takes remarkably like a Salisbury steak with a little squirt of butter on top. I ordered two sets.

When we got back to the dorm, we made our plans for the next day. Huge plans, exciting plans. That’s right – we were headed to the Pokémon Center.