Anyway, I've been in Nagoya since the 1st of September & the first week or so consisted of me trying to get oriented with this *new* part of Japan. My host family picked me up at Nagoya Station after a brief ride on the shinkansen. I was subsequently introduced to a new house, a group of people, & an entirely new way of life. To be honest, at first, I was a little hesitant about staying with them. I was worried no one in the house would really try to talk to me or get to know me for some reason, but as time passed, they've become almost as much of a family to me as my real family (well, minus the blood-relation & the whole language barrier issue), but I'm definitely glad I made this choice. :]
School orientation began on the 5th & I had to take a placement test to determine which level of Japanese I would be taking. Somehow, I ended up in 400. I think I aimed pretty low given that there's two levels higher, but I was intimidated & thought they would be too hard... well, 400 is still a bit too easy since I already pretty much know all of the material, but at least I actually get speaking practice & an opportunity to practice the grammar points & get a nice review & such (blah, blah, blah). The other 3 classes I'm taking are fairly boring & sure-fire snoozers, but I had to take something else, RIGHT? At least after ikebana I get to take flowers home to my host family. :3
A couple of days ago, Typhoon Roke started blowing its way up to Nagoya. On Tuesday, it was raining. A lot. It was raining so much that the train that I have to take back to Kasugai was stopped. I had to stay at school. :[ I had to stay in this weird little Japanese-style room with these two other strange girls & sleep there. No change of clothes. Nothing to take a shower with. No comfort. Awful. :[ I was very, very sad. The administration for the exchange students (aka CJS) went through all of this effort to make me feel comfortable & gave me a shirt, a towel, & even said they would reimburse me for purchasing toiletries & other needs. They placed me into the Yamazato Koryu Kaikan (which is an international dorm) for the following night, but I didn't stay.... After a little drama with my host family & CJS & a long-winded story I REALLY don't feel like reiterating for the millionth time, I somehow ended up home last night, but oh my god. Japanese bureaucracy is horrifying. Typhoons are annoying. Sooooo, when you combine the two you get quite possibly one of the most goddamn 大変 situations ever.
Something I've noticed is the insane feminization of the men here. I have kind of a problem with this. I see guys on the subway all of the type preening their too-dyed, too-much-product-ed hair, & I try so hard not to get caught shaking my head at them. There's also these sandals that look like women's sandals that I see everyone wearing. I even saw a guy wearing like lace-up gladiator type sandals. I see guys wearing pink all of the time or having things with heart patterns on them, or wearing CROCS for god's sake. & see guys wearing TOE RINGS here. What is this!?!! I don't even know. Why? Why can't boys be boys? Why do boys have to look like girls? I feel sorry for the girls here. Slim pickin's. :[
Anyway, my camera battery died & I've been too lazy to bother looking for my charger so... this is a pretty texty entry full of not-my-own pictures.
Also... wearing a dress the day after a typhoon. Bad idea. Duly noted. x_x
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