Almost Time!!!!111one

Sorry about the um... NOT pics of anything thus far. I've been too busy to worry about getting pics of my ugly town up, haha. I'll try to have lots of Japan up on here, as that's one of the main purposes of this page. I only have 3 more days in Louisiana before I head out of here for Japan! It's quite exciting, though I've been such a slacker lately about getting ready. I have everything I need, but it's not all packed and such. I still need to just get my contact information from people kind of consolidated before I leave.

I now know I'll be living in Kokubunji-shi in the western Suginami-ku (ward) of the Tokyo Metro area. It lies between Tachikawa and Ogikubo, for anyone familiar with the territory at all. I shouldn't be far from the Nishikokubunji-eki (train station) on the JR Chuo Line which eventually crosses the Yamanote Line and disects the metro area. It's unfortunate that I'll be located quite far from my friend from Louisiana, Mark, but I will be at least on the *side* of Tokyo that the school is located in, which is Shinjuku. I know it will be crowded there, but at least the crowds shouldn't too adversely affect the traffic, since I'll be on the super-reliable Japanese trains, instead of the insane post-Katrina Baton Rouge street traffic, which is enough to drive one to just commit seppuku. I only am regretting that I haven't been studying my Japanese like I should have.... At least I won't have a choice but study/practice it in a few days, heh heh. "Excuse me, but where is the bathroo..... shucks... 'Sumimasen, otearai-wa doko-ni arimasu ka?'" Heh... That's too simple of an example, because nothing is ever that easy in life of course. It'll be more like, "Well of course, when one is contemplating the relation of these elements according to new ideas of quantum physics, it's clear that.... shucks... '.........eeetttooooo...... shiranai...' (um..... I dunno...)."

I've got a couple new GameBoy Advance games to bring with me and a few books to read when I get bored late at night at my dorm, since I won't have a PC or TV to stare at usually. I'm sure homework will keep me somewhat busy as well, but I really want to meet some people and hang out whenever I can during most of the day. After all, what's the point in going somewhere like this just to sit in your room all the time? Ah well, about time for me to head to sleep because I've gotta visit the folks in the morning and still finish packing up, and then of course stare at some Japanese vocabulary and such for a while. I might post again in America, but most likely will not post again until at Mark's house in Yachiyo-shi, in Chiba Prefecture. Sayounara!

Pics of BR Perhaps?

Whattup?! I know now at least.... two people are reading this in some capacity or another. It's now 3 weeks before I head off to Tokyo. I've got some new winter clothes for the trip, as it's not really all that cold here in South Louisiana now and I've got to make sure I don't freeze my nose off in Tokyo. I figure that before I go, I should post some pictures of my hometown here just so that you can contrast where I live now with where I'll be in Tokyo. I have a few pics, but they're at home and I'm at work. I'll have to go around and try to get some pictures of some of the touristy things or somethin' too.

My next step is to actually set out what I need to pack besides clothing. I just got a handful(50,000) of yen for the trip as well. That turned out to be like $437.68USD. According to one of my school counselors, I need about Y45,000 as soon as I meet them on the day that I move into Tokyo from my friend's house in Yachiyo, for my cafeteria meals. I guess I'll just have to get more when I get there, since the exchange rate is better if you're actually there and less of a hassle than having to order yen here. You can tell people order it ALL the time, since when I asked the banker if I could order some yen, he was like, "So, goin' to China??!" I had to advise him not to jump to that conclusion if he's dealing with an Asian person in the future, as that would surely cause a bit of stress. Haha!

These next three weeks may be a bit crazy. I just finished my toughest (fail) final exam for the semester today, and have three more this week. Next week, I'll be traveling across the state to Ruston, which is about 5 hours away by car, then to my folks house (2.5 more hours), then back (2.5 more hours), then back to Baton Rouge (5 more hours...). This is all for Christmas of course, so I can hang out with a great friend of mine up there and of course, see my family. The next week, a friend from my parents' town is coming down to visit as I finish packing up and getting bills taken care of before leaving. After that, it's time to head to the airport! I'll be filling up the spare time I have, studying my Japanese some more and playing lots of video games, as I probably won't see games much while over there with the busy schedule I have lined up in Japan. I've been putting hours and hours on Xenosaga(PS2) and Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate(XBox).

w00t! My first post!

私のブローグにようこそ！(Watashi-no buroogu-ni youkoso!) Welcome to my new blog! Here, I will be posting about the random things that I do and some pictures of stuff I see while I'm staying in Japan. I'll be landing at Narita Airport in Tokyo on Jan. 4th, so *possibly* I'll already start posting stuffs from the Land of the Rising Sun. I may be a bit jet-lagged though. It also depends on my computer access at the school in Shinjuku, as I won't be taking a laptop with me. Anywho, I hope my pictures and stories are interesting!