Our (the international students') time in Japan has been made easier (for the most part) by many Japanese students from the university who volunteer to help us out.

These students picked us up from the airport, and the university even gave them the funds to buy us bus tickets and taxis to get us to I-HOUSE. The taxis, by the way, had lace-covered seats, and the drivers were wearing white shirts with black bow-ties and tuxedo vests. Talk about service!

On my first full day in Japan, a group of girls took me and some others shopping for necessities. We went to the grocery store (pictured above), along with a pharmacy and a 100 Yen store--the Japanese equivalent of a dollar store. Oddly, one of the first things they insisted I needed was a toilet brush, which would not have been at the top of my priority list, but really, it made the shopping experience much easier to have someone semi-bi-lingual to help you (the girls are mostly freshmen and have to rely on electronic dictionaries to look up a lot of their vocabulary).

Sometimes they seem a little overly-eager to please us, however. At an entry party where we were mixing with Japanese students, three of them sat down at table by me, staring intently as I tried to eat my food. It felt a bit like a "don't tap the glass" moment. Then, I tired to make conversation by complimenting one of the girls' necklaces, to which she said, "You like? I give," and started to pull it off. I assured her she did not need to give it to me, and was glad I didn't tell her I liked her shirt.

The biggest issue of trying to shop in Japan (so far I've mainly just gone to the grocery store on my own) is that you find there actually quite a few products that are difficult to identify if you can't read the labels or aren't familiar with the brand. I've been eating lots of ramen. I find there is a seemingly-endless supply of "just add hot water" products here. And luckily, they all come with little diagrams of hot water being poured into the container, which is really quite a blessing.

On a side note, Pepsi Twist is still common in Japan. Or perhaps they've re-introduced in the US as well? But I bet only Japan sells lemon Pepsi with Gundam Seed anime toys attached. The pop here, by the way, often comes in metal bottles, or extra-tall cans.

I went to a Japanese McDonald's (or "Mack D's" as the Australians put it) the other day, and chicken nuggets apparently taste the same everywhere. Otherwise, I haven't had a ton of restuarant food. I had some very good curry on one of my days out, and some mediocre ramen and so-so rice on two other occasions. I expect I'll eat out more when I'm able to order food without assistance.

I have a camera now, a Sony Ericsson. It was the bottom-of-the-line, free-upon-sign-up phone, and it's way superior to the one I have back home. It takes pictures, sends e-mail, and you can send your name, number, etc., to another person's phone via infared transfer. It makes taking pictures of strange things a little easier, such as this chocolate, which I would imagine only sells well in Japan (who knows? I could be wrong and Crunky Chocolate is big in Germany or something).

posted by No_Fluff_Reviewer @ 8:49 PM