lets all say whoa: Tsukuba

Well, let me first start out introducing where I live. This...THIS, is Tsukuba Daigaku Hirasuna Shukusha (Tsukuba University Hirasuna Student Dorms). We have no air conditioning, no heating, no hot water, no showers. I have mold growing out of cracks in my walls, my floors are torn up, and my window does not close all the way. It's alright though now that I've gotten used to it... I figure that after living here for a year, the rest of my life in amerika will be so much happier... And rent is only 12,000 yen a month (about 100 dollars). My room is one the right allll the way on the top floor. There is no elevator of course, and the routine hike up to the top has helped get me into better shape. I honestly had to take breaks on my way up at first...the stairs are steep..and its hot...

The doors are supposed to be locked at all times, and you need a special code to get in...but the door broke, and the alarm was constantly going off...so the system was turned off... The policy here at tsukuba seems to be if it breaks... oh well. So I doubt this will be fixed any time soon, if ever.

Every morning I have a 10-15 bike ride to class (depending on the day). That in itself is an adventure. Many big hills, and crowds of people to manage my way through. I arrive to class hot and sweaty everyday. Its awesome.

As you an see, my room is very cluttered. Its not a very large room...yet I have attempted to fit a fridge, dresser, bed, tv (w/stand) bookcase, desk and fold out bed/chair thing, in it. When I first walked in and put down my suitcases, I was terrified...it was so ugly..and s

mall...and smelled... but now its like home, and it doesnt smell so much anymore...

My bed was HORRIBLE. It was like sleeping on the ground. Every morning I woke up with all my joints hurting, and no matter how much i slept (10-12 hours) I would still be exhaused the next morning. I've solved this problem by buying a futon and putting it on top of my mattress. I love sleeping now... :]

These are my friends (Jean, Patrick, Alex, Micheal, and Simon[not pictured]. We all know each other from ICU. Patrick goes to UCR, although we never talked to eachother before (even though we sat next to eachother in Japanese class...). We, as a group, don't get along very well...at all...patrick and jean can't stand eachother, but pretend they do. Alex and Micheal don't get along very well and make no attempt to hide it. Simon is always gone on weekends, so he hasn't had a chance to get invloved in the "UC drama" here at Tsukuba. I've managed to remain neutral, and I get along pretty well with everyone. We hang out at the Kyujuukyu no mise, QQ for short(99 store...basically a japanese version of 99 cent store). QQ is pretty great, we all do most of our grocery shopping there. And we make regular visits to buy ice cream and hang-out out front. Kinda lame, but hey, its Japan.

Supprisingly, theres not really a lack of things to do here in rice field land. I actually prefere it much better than Tokyo. Theres a resonably large mall only 10 mins away by bike. Theres TONS of small and cheap mom'n'pop shops with great food. Theres a rock climbing wal/spa/movie theater with a bowling alley upstairs about 40 mins away by bike (we, as a UC group, make this trip weekly on our bowling excursions). Theres tons of parks, including a small shrine. Very pretty and lots of bugs...

This weekend is a 3 day long festival. My school has been blocked off to traffic (traffic meaning bikes) and theres tons of stands selling food and other small trinkets. There are also a few make-shift concert halls and cafes in some of the buildings. We went to see a band today that was covering some Mr. Children songs (popular japanese band) but they were pretty freaking awful. Cute, but horrible. We left. We also got to see some bad hip hop dancing on a large fancy stage.

Japanese festivals are very flashy..but kind of boring (kind of like Japan itself...). Pretty much, once you've seen one festival (and by see, I mean you've walked around for about 30 mins) you've seen them all.

What's a festival without fireworks? The town over was having a HUGE fireworks show, so we biked the hour to the next time, and sat in a field to watch fireworks. Jean and I ended up walking around during the 2.5 hour show because it was akward sitting with the two other couples we went with (more like we were jelous cuz we didnt have boyfriends... haha). The fireworks were pretty fun. TONS of people though. And delicious food. I love festival food... takoyaki, okanomiyaki, kakigori, karage, crepes...ect... google them all if you dont know what they are, im too lazy to tell you :]

So that was kind of an introduction to my school/town. I know it wasn't really an update on how *I* am. But oh well for you. I'll try to make more frequent posts.... I know I say that alot... And i try alot... But I've been really busy (which I'll tell you all about in a later post! :])

but enjoy some photos finally!

Jean and me with some new Japanese friends. At an izakaiya. Notice my glass of coke. :]

Although Japanese Baskin Robbins doesn't have peanut butter and chocolate, they DO have these awesome seasonal sundays.... Here's the halloween sunday!

This is my lab bench where I work/sleep/study...

Patrick tripped out on coke...

Atheist Jean pretending to pray to what ever god the shinto people pray to

Poor legs...so bruised...

So in Japan, they have different flavor kit kats! New ones for every month and season! Here are a few... some flavors are really good, like green tea and chestnut, but others... kiwi and catalope for example...errhhmmm yeah....

This was randomly in the middle of the park...basically it says watch out for rapists... will do japan, will do

Drunk bowling?

Because I'm the sober one of the group, it's my responsibity to look after the drunk kids and make sure they dont fall off their bikes. Patrick here got away from me for a second..and well yes, he fell off this bike, hurt himself, and we had to hear him complain the whole way home.

And for everyone who asks that I have more pictures of myself...heres one, blurry but whatever