Southern Fried Sushi: Laurie in Japan: It Starts!

Oh my gosh, everybody, I'm sorry about the late update. I have been so busy and out of my mind. But I'm here1 And I'm safe! And I'm going to try to give you the whole story, but it's long...

So I got on my first plane to Atlanta on the 29th, but we sat on the runway for twenty minutes waiting for clearance from air traffic control. Apparently there was some problem with "clouds over Atlanta" so we were late flying out. We reached Atlanta fifteen minutes before my next flight to Seattle took off. I was in the VERY BACK of the plane so It was five till when I reached the gate huffing and puffing. I was greeted by the sight of four other people arguing with a man. The plane had already left. In total there was like ten of us that had delayed flights and missed this particular Seattle flight. So after speaking with several people, I ended up getting the next flight out which was at 8 the next morning. The Delta covered it and also gave me a hotel voucher.

I got up the next day and flew out on the 8:20 flight. I was really lucky in that I was seated next to a nice lady named Edie. We talked the entire five hour flight time literally flew by. Honestly of all the flights I had to take, this one was the most fun.

Me and Ms. Edie

It must have been in God's plan for me to miss that first Seattle flight. Otherwise I would have gotten in at Midnight and had to stay 12 hours at the Seattle airport waiting for my next flight. This way, I not only got to enjoy Ms. Edie's company, but I arrived with only two hours before my next flight, having stayed in a hotel that night instead of an airport.

The Seattle-Osaka flight was not so enjoyable. I have never sat that long before. 11 hours... My butt was so numb by the 8th hour that I briefly wondered if it had fallen off somewhere between Alaska and Russia. There were no cool TVs in the back of our seats this time. This plane was much older and you could tell. What annoyed me was that there were controls on the stationary armrest that was constantly pressed to my thigh. You see on the far right, the big, indented circular button in the picture below?

That's the "call the Stewardess" button. My jeans kept accidentally calling for help...

This was our inflight meal. We also got like two other snacks.

This was my view flying into Kansai. It was breathtaking.

When we got off the plane, we followed a long, winding path as if in a labyrinth of glass walls. Finally we reached a train that took us to baggage/ customs. We had to pass through "Quarantine" turnstiles manned by Japanese workers in surgical masks. That was a little unnerving... I hand to wait in a long line to be photographed, finger printed, and my visa looked at. Then I finally got my baggage and went through customs. Right away as I left the secure area of customs I saw two very excited people holding a sign that said "Kansai Gaidai.

They gave me a "ticket" and told me to buy supper and meet back at the same spot in two and a half hours. Alex, another Kansai Gaidai student, was on the same plane as me. We wandered the airport looking for food...

There was a lot to look at...

THe strangested thing to me was that for nearly every product they sold, they had a plastic replica of it on display.

Even for restaurants.

This is where we ended up getting our food. We figured it would be easier to point at what we wanted. I am terrible at ordering in Japanese. ...Even if the food I'm ordering is Chinese...

This is what I bought. It cost me 680 yen.

The fried rice was actually very good. I liked this.

On the bus ride to Hirakata, I felt quite shaken by my first experience ordering food. It upset me a lot that when people spoke to me in Japanese, it was too soft and too fast. I floundered. I felt lost and a little bit alienated. I was stressed out, exhausted, mentally drained, and with a serious case of jet lag. I found myself asking myself, "What the heck am I doing? I must be out of my mind!" Luckily I was saved from my descent into madness by another student, Peter from England who sat beside me on the bus and talked to me most of the way.

We arrived, got the tour of the Seminar House's general whereabouts, got our room assignments, and got settled. I am on the 3rd floor in a unit with pretty much all Americans. Only Meri, one of our home-stay students is from Finland. My roommate, Shamikia, is from Georgia. I was so tired. I practically passed out on the futon.

The next day, we were up at seven. Meri and Miriam (from SH2) walked me to the University so I would know where it was. It was quite a long walk and it is really hot out. Though, it's not as hot as Memphis has been recently. Hirakata heat is more of a slow burn. You're okay at first, but twenty minutes of walking later, you're red in the face and sweating.

I got most of the things that were worrying me done. I'm registered for class, my fees paid, proper paperwork turned in, and all orientation lectures attended. Oh, a wonderful discovery I made...

Those vents in the ceiling, they're fans! If ever in Japan in the summer, I recomend standing under them.

Seriously, I do.

After we were done at the University, the group of us headed to Soft Bank to buy phones. I have my Verizon Wireless cell so I didn't need one, but it was fun none-the-less.

This is a Gundam phone they were selling...

Next we went to Cycle World so I could buy a bike! Yay!

This is the bike I chose. Silver with a black basket.

This is my bike key!

You put the key in the top of the lock and it unlocks the back wheel. The bike will only work if the key is in the lock on the back. It's the same concept as a car key...sorta...

You can see the lock on the back wheel under the bike seat. My bike has a little bell and light, that by law must be turned on at night. My bike is registered with a license sticker and everything, though the nice lady at the bike shop (who spoke little English) had a hard time with my name when filling out the paperwork. When I said "Laurie" she head "Marie." Meri had to tell her in Japanese that My name stats with "Ra." Anyways, I love my bike. It's old, but it has character. :)

This is the classroom we had the Seminar House Residents meeting this morning, where they went over the rules and saftey tips.

I thought the chairs were neat.

This is Miriam.

Briana and I bought Onigiri (riceballs) for breakfast today.

Mine had salmon in it.

Afterwards we went to the banking session. It was very confusing. By 12:15, we still had a line of people. They told us to just hand them the paperwork and they would notify us if there was a problem.

At 12:30 we had to be seated for the ceremony. The university president spoke as well as some people from the American Osaka Consulate and Australian-Osaka Consulate.