Sorrry!!! Updating pictures is hard! (By hard I mean it takes so long)

This was my first field trip with out culture class. We went to the Zojoji Shrine.

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Here is what the rest of my commute looks like, after I change trains.

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I have a whooooole lot of pictures from Odaiba. odaiba is a manmade island, with a ton of stuff to do! We went there twice, so these are pictures from both times.

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Alright! Here we go! I'm on a roll!

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Let me see if I can do a ton of updating!!!

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I finally got around to getting...

MY ADDRESS!! Took me long enough, right?

Carson Richel
Office of International Students
Temple University Japan
Azubu Building
Minami Azabu 2-8-12
Minato-ku, Tokyo 106

If anyone wants to send me things, they are more than welcome to!

Plus, you might get something cool back in the mail....

Another catching up entry, less organized with more random pictures, because I keep forgetting to take pictures on my way to school from the second station.

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Thanks to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday! ( I will also post pictures of my 'cakii' (cake)

:)

After a long time of he internet being on and off, and just plain not working, they actually had ethernet installed! WOW! The whole biulding was done in 2 days, and they gave us ethernet cords to boot. Sweet.

Now for a grossly overdue update!

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My first trip to Harajuku was today.

Holy crap, it is paradise on a chocolate covered stick of heaven that I never want to leave.

There are limited pics because when I wanted to take them, everything was closing, so I need to take more when I go back.

Me annd matt met the lady that designs clothes for famous J-rockers like Hide and Yoshiki, as well as L'arc, and Luna Sea.

She has the pictures to prove it. The whole store was covered in autographed memorabilia, and photos of her with all these famous people. insane. And she spoke some English too. I was in total awe, and want to ask her a million questions the next time I go!!

PLUS there were stores with really old Vivienne Westwood stuff, REALLY COOL Viv stuff, and second hand Lolita stores. I touched clothes that I've looked at in mgazines for years.

I AM SO HAPPY.

A real update tommorow, I promise!!

I've been busy with classes and traveling around, but here are the pictures I have taken so far.

Click the link for pictures!!

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That's it for this update. I'll do more things and take more pictures soon!!!

Miss you everyone :D

I'm in the computer lab here at school, waiting for class to start. I've had an amazing time so far, but I'll go back to the beginning.

The Flight:

Everything went smoothly leaving Philadelphia International Airport, and I promptly fell asleep as soon as I got on the plane :) I was unconscious for most of that flight. The small time I was awake, there were only clouds out of the window, so it looked very pretty! It was a sea of ripply clouds. It was so beautiful. But like I said, I was asleep most of the time.

Got off at Dallas; the airport is HUGE. Had to take a monorail/shuttle thing to my terminal. I made it there without any trouble, and settled in to wait for the flight. I made my first Japanese schoolgirl sighting before I even got to Japan! There were two waiting for my flight, as well as a lot of other asian people. I called my family, and realized how much I was going to miss them.

We boarded the plane, which was hugeeee. 3 rows of 3 seats, and like, a ton of sections. There was a pillow, a blanket, and headphones on each seat, and everyone had their own little TV that is in the back of the seat of the person in front of you. I watched Cartoon Network a lot!! Hehe. I was asleep for a lot of that trip too. That ride went smoothly too, until...

Someone apparently had some type of medical emergency, and there were no doctors on board to help. We had to land in Seattle, and were there for a while.. an hour, maybe more. When landing at that airport, they require a full inspection of the plane and re-fueling, so it took a while. (But that's a better choice than landing in Anchorage, where there was freezing rain!)

So somehow this ended up delaying us 4 hours, which meant that when we got t o Narita Airport, they were closing. (Yes, the airport closes at 11:30 apparently.)

This was good for one reason: customs and getting our luggage was extremely fast.

This was bad however, for a lot of reasons. Getting there so late meant that there was no way to get to my dorm that evening, as the bus I needed to take to a hotel was no longer running. Also, pretty much everything was closed. When I called the International Programs Manager, they told me I would either have to get a hotel or take a taxi, which would both be WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. The representatives from AA were already gone, so there was no getting a hotel voucher.

Luckily, the Narita airport people said we could stay there for the night. Which was good because it was free, but bad because I had to sleep on a bench, and when the place closes, apparently they shut off the heat, or at least turn it waaaay down. Which sucked. But whatever, I didn't have to pay for a hotel or taxi.

In the morning, I did what I should have been able to do when I got there, which was take a bus to the Miyako hotel, and then a taxi from there to the dorm. That was all fine, and went very smoothly.

Japanese public transportation is so nice, clean, and reliable. I love it. While on the bus, we went on a highway, and I could see all kinds of cars. ALL the cars are so tiny! Even the trucks are tiny! Smaller than the bus!! I also saw the huge Ferris Wheel. Very cool. I also saw that they sell cars in regular storefronts, and it looks very weird to see two car fronts looking out of a regular storefront window!

So anyway, I got to the dorm place, Ontakesan, and got my papers and my key. I unpacked most of my stuff, and passed out because I was tired. Matt came up to my room when he came back from class, and brought me food! Yay!!! I had a really good sandwich that was bread with soba noodles inside. I also had a pizza bun :D (Like a regular dumpling bun, but with pizza stuff inside!!)

After eating, I got a much needed shower, and Matt showed me around and caught me up on things I had missed. We went to a food store, and I got some things for my refrigerator, and things to drink, as well as funny snacks. (I can't put pictures up now, because I don't have them here at school.)

Soooo then we ate dinner at a ramen place, and it was very delicious! We went back to the dorm then, and I took the rest of the night to catch up on sleep, and finish unpacking.

That's my update for now, I have a lot more to write, and pictures to add. Things to expect soon:

-First trip to Akihabara(the ultimate electronics/arcade/anime fandom place)
-First trip to Shibuya
-Why me and Matt are going to be on Japanese Television
-My first Japanese crepe

AND MORE!

Stay tuned :D

Hold crap, I will be in Japan in less than 24 hours. I'll be on the other side of the world, and I won't be back for three months.

It's crazy, but i'm exited. After being nervous anyway...

I've never had so much throuble packing in my whole life!! It's hard to fit three months into three bags :D

I'm enjoying a Hot Pocket, as a fond farewell to American cuisine, and hello to a much healthier asian diet. Hopefully next time you see me i'll be nice and thin!!

It will definatley be wierd to not see my family and so many of my friends for so long, but at least we have the internet :) With that, nothing seems that far away anymore...

So, Goodbye America, Ohayo Nihon!! (Hello Japan)

I'll miss everyone and do my best to keep in touch and m ake you all proud of me.

Well, I leave for Japan in little over a day. I will do my best to keep a log of my journey here, and for those of you who are interested, friend this journal in addition to my regular one.

So, if you want me to send you something from Japan, leave your address. If you know something you'd like, you can leave that too.

The comments will be screened, so if you have anything else private you'd like to say, knock yourself out. :)

It will be wierd not going back to MSU this semester, but this will truly be an epic journey. Matt is already there, and from the little i've talked to him, it already sounds amazing.

So for now, this is how I will start this log.

I hope to see you along for the ride.