the end of the beginning

(me and one of Shannon's friends at a Yoyogi Park o-hanami - when everyone goes to "check out" the pretty cherry blossom trees that bloom in early April. but don't be fooled, peeps: you really go to get drunk and stay that way for as long as possible! this particular one turned into a mini-rave, if my awesome glasses are any indicator)


yay! finally, welcome to the blog, aka the daily (probably more like weekly, though, if we're being honest) record of my reactions to the amazing city of Tokyo, over the 4 months in which I'll experience it. I actually got here about two months ago, but due to some serious technological difficulties and my complete laziness, I've only just gotten this thing up and running. but no worries - you didn't miss too much. we're on the Japanese school system, so I'm still in my first week of classes, clubs and general craziness. and I'll throw in stories about the random things that happened before now, like having an all-nighter at the gaijin nightclub, feeling my first earthquake (kanaa?) and standing next to Stevie Wonder :D

fyi, for the first month I was here, I lived in a dorm in an area called Miyazakidai. in Japan, dorms are a) privately owned, so you've probably got at least a half hour commute to school, b) single-sex, with no members of the opposite sex allowed past the front door, and c) usually equipped with really annoying midnight curfews. as in no one can get in or out from 12:01 am to 6:29 am. it sort of makes sense since the trains stop running from like 12:30 to 5:00 (taxis will take you for everything you're worth), but it still gives you a sucky ultimatum for those of us who don't like to choose between catching some z's and having a good time - either leave the night establishment you've been patronizing right when all the locals show up, or do the all night thing and die the next day! count yourselves among the lucky, American kids... but if I didn't think about that, or the relative lack of options on the cafeteria menu, dorm life was pretty ok. it was nice being able to keep yourself to yourself, and I could go to Harajuku and Shibuya for free with my commuter pass. anyway, after the first month, I moved to where I am now - with my crazy host family in Saitama, aka the burbiest of the Tokyo suburbs. when Akiko-san, Marina, and Stephen, my host mom and sister and exchange brother (he's from Oregon) and I are all together, it's good, ridiculous times.


I miss everybody and everything I know in a very absent kind of way, which people who've tried to contact me before are probably familiar with. as it turns out, even in Japan I accept where I am pretty quickly at face value. this has its advantages (homesickness usually only hits when I try to make appointments at the one stupid salon here that has an unfair monopoly on black hair care) but of course, the downside is a problem - I feel like this a lot of this trip is just passing me by. maybe writing all this stuff down semi-faithfully will help make this cherry-blossom fantasy that much more real...