Hello Dears,
I have successfully spent my first two weeks in Hakodate. I do apologize for the late posting but getting the internet figured out was a bit more 難しい (mutsukashii - difficult) than anticipated. I plan on posting at least once a week so keep watching. I'm sure I'll have lots of things to tell you about. Let's start with the past two weeks.
The flight over here was fun. Mom drove me down to Las Vegas where I boarded a forty-five minute flight to Las Angeles. Remind me to take the airport bus next time, walking from one end of the airport to the other in boots, carrying a large twenty-plus pound suitcase, is not the most exhilarating of experiences. From there we had a thirteen hour flight to Haneda Airport, Japan. The flight was comfortable, sleeping a maximum of three hours - not so much. I did however have a very nice conversation with a Japanese lady who sat next to me on the plane. We have exchanged email addresses and plan to talk more. Once landing in Tokyo I was able to make it through customs without a hitch and caught my third and final flight to Hokkaido, Japan. Sorry to say I don't remember much of the two hours but I did get to take a very nice nap.
Upon landing in Hokkaido I was guided to a taxi and promptly had a bout of waterworks. I am extremely happy to finally be here in Japan and I guess it was a little overwhelming of an experience to be in a place that I've wanted to be for so long. The taxi man was very kind a we had a little laugh at my happy-tears after explaining that I was not crying from sadness.
I was ushered into the Hokkaido University of Education Administration Office and introduced to a few office workers as well as some of my fellow students. Forgive me for not having their names on hand, it will take a little while to remember them. They helped explain a few things about the school and brought me to my new home - Suiin-ryou, an all-girls dormitory thirty minutes from campus. I have my own room with a window that looks out to a beautiful view of the other side of the building. Everyone has been extremely wonderful in helping me to settle in. The communal shower is something that i'm getting used to and the laundry room is a territorial war-zone, but the girls are all very nice and friendly. I have had help ordering a refrigerator and a drying rack for my room (delivered today - YAY) and getting internet set up. Today I had a halting but pleasant conversation with a girl from floor two.
Concerning schoolwork, we completed our physicals this past week. I'm healthy, actually considered tall, and have slightly low blood pressure. Hopefully now that I can keep food in a fridge I can get back to normal. We also took a Japanese proficiency test. I know I understood at least one question, 水 (mizu - kanji for water). I'm pretty sure I'll be in the lower level courses but I look forward to it and hope to improve as I go along. We went through orientation on Tuesday the sixth. I'm not sure yet what my classes will be but I'm confident that I will do my best.
I have also met some of the other exchange and international students here on campus. We have two other Americans from Alaska, a plethora of Australians, the individual Kyrgyzstan, and a few from China, Vietnam, and South Korea. There is a student from Bulgaria, two from Norway and that's our group from Europe. All in all a very lively and friendly collection. We have participated in a few trips to the Lucky Pierrot (Hakodate's equivalent of a McDonald's, with very tasty and cheap food.) A group walk to Goryoukaku, a beautiful historical park here in Hakadate. The park is home to a traditional-style-architecture government building and many 桜 (Sakura - cherry blossoms/trees). The park is famous for it star-shaped landscape and Spring Cherry Blossom vistas.
A welcoming dinner of たこ焼き (Takoyaki - octopus dumplings) was a wonderful experience and a great way to get to know some of the exchange students. Its made with a batter and a special hot-pan where you turn the dumplings with a poker as they cook. They can be filled with any meat - octopus, tuna, and ,in our case, a serving of hot-dog. When done they are topped with Japanese Mayonnaise, Takoyaki Sauce, Sea-weed flakes, and Dried Fish Flakes. They are incredibly delicious and very filling.
Our second adventure as a group was a カラオケ (Karaoke) party at the cat-themed karaoke bar. We had a laugh belting out Adele, Evanescence, and Disney songs. They had small digital screens to look up the songs and tambourines and maracas for accompaniment. We managed to squeeze in a twenty-something group into a small corner room and we were able to thoroughly enjoy ourselves. I do hope we plan to go again in the future.
That's all the adventure for now. See the attached photos for a visual image. I do apologize for my abysmal lack of pictures, that is something I promise to work on in the future. I plan to update some of these to my Instagram as well. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment and i'll let you know. I hope you guys enjoy my adventures as much as I do and I look forward to exploring Hakodate with you.