One down, 259 to go…

If you were wondering what the numbers in the title are referring to, here's a hint: there are 52 weeks in a year :)

So after a chaotic, confusing arrival, I think I've finally gotten into the groove of things, and made a few new friends in the process. Classes begin 8.30am from Monday next week, so this week was to help us get orientated. And boy were there many orientations! Here's what happened this week in retrospect:

Monday.

Left Sydney at 9.15 and arrived in Tokyo at 5pm. Got stuck in the customs line for one hour, and then wandered around for an additional hour waiting to hear from TUFS that never came, and took an hour to reach my dad's place. Will attempt to travel to TUFS tomorrow. Recorded vlog of my dad's place.

Tuesday.

Went to take photos of Sakura blossoms with dad (Just missed peak Hanami season in Japan, but there were still plenty of trees in blossom!)

Successfully reached the TUFS campus with two massive luggage cases in the pouring rain by evening, with assistance from my dad. Recorded vlog of my dorm.

Wednesday.

Orientation session #1: Orientation to everyday life in Japan. This involved learning that over 10,000 earthquakes occur in Japan every year, if you count ones you can't feel. Though I doubt we need to know about ones we would never have felt in the first place, but they certainly succeeded in scaring us over earthquakes. I wonder how many earthquakes we couldn’t feel happened in the time it took to show us the video.

Had my first meal at the university cafeteria over lunch. Forgot to take a photo of my upsize ton-kara ramen >.<! (大盛トン辛ラーメン)

Took an excursion by bus to the Fuchu City Municipal Office to have our existence recorded. Also set up Japanese bank accounts at Japan Post Bank. Now I have an official permanent address in Japan! If you have permission to view my Facebook profile, my mailing address can be found here.

Orientation session #2: Gaining authorisation to use TUFS wifi and computers on campus.

Ate out for dinner at a "Izakaya" to relish our legal age to drink. Also to experiment. It was more valuable as an experience than as a meal. Ordered some dishes we didn't know the name of that didn't meld with our palate. Special mention goes to this frozen squid stuffed with a soy sauce and fish base; the first mouthful caused me to gag. I wasn't the only one.

Thursday.

Orientation session #3: Formal university entrance ceremony. Heard speeches from five important looking Japanese people who could speak English pretty well. That's pretty unusual! One particular message stuck with me - "think global, act local". Very remarkable to hear such a motto in a nation as homologous as Japan! This campus specialising in foreign languages is leading the nation in embracing what I call "global shrinking". TUFS not only acknowledges the increasing adeptness of other countries at harnessing the power of the internet in bringing people around the globe closer, but has turned it into an asset and an advantage in their constant pursuit of remaining global leaders in foreign language education. Respect.

Visited Kichioji (吉祥寺) to buy technological paraphernalia at Yodobashi camera. They were holding some promotion on level 8, which made me feel special. Global shrinkage, local magnification.

Stayed up revising for the placement test tomorrow. Minimal facebooking tonight.

Friday.

Orientation session #4: Orientation to life over the next year at JLC. Got a better idea of how intense the coming year will be. Full time study 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, with expectations to revise a minimum one hour every night if we don't want to fall behind. It won't be purely Japanese language study though; we will be doing a variety of other subjects from amongst Japanese history, mathematics, science and PE, depending on our field of major.

Assessment test for most of the day. First stage, 80-question multiple choice and short answer test. Next stage, 5-7 minutes interview. From these results, we will be divided into respective classes, in which we will remain for the rest of our time at JLC. All classes will reach a level of Japanese proficiency sufficient for tertiary education (assuming you keep up); the difference between class A and class E will be how polished they are.

Went to eat at a sushi train (回転鮨). Couldn't all fit at one table, so we sat at two. I ate about eight plates; each plate had two pieces of sushi and cost 105 yen (soooooo cheap!!!!).

Went shopping around Fuchu city. Didn't buy much, but it was good hanging out with a bunch of fellow Monbukagakusho scholarship students studying at JLC this year. Learned a new term from a Norwegian friend: "Gaijin bashing". It's where you go around ordered, courteous Tokyo as an ignorant foreigner, walking into deceptively welcoming train ticket barriers, unwittingly cutting the line, and such. We even had a first hand experience walking along the footpath as a massive mob, blocking all bicycles, which was a problem because a good 50 or so bikes passed us. You should have heard us - every time, like seagulls

First prayer letter overdue.

To do list

Looks like I've got a fair few settling in tasks to complete.

Checklist of things to be done

• Obtain a dorm room (done!)
• Register my existence at the City Municipal Office (done!)
• Open a Japanese bank account (done!)

• Get health insurance
• Fill out contract for utility bills for my dorm room

• Get a Japanese SIM card

• Pay my dormitory rent and security bond
• Pay tuition fees
• Have my arrival interview with the Associate Professor
• Send out first prayer letter

Acquire work permit (apparently this will put my scholarship status under jeopardy)