Don't push the table too hard.

Sorry for the lack of update yesterday. I didn't get in until late last night. So first let's start with the bad news. I need a new wireless card for my laptop. For some reason it decided to die. :( Poor little wireless card.
Alright now the update.
JANUARY 10th
Yesterday was my orientation at Temple University, Japan branch. Earlier, in the week, I ventured out to the building, checked in, and picked up my books. As such, I didn't have to show up till later in the day. It's been rather nice getting to sleep in late these last few days. I wonder how long this will last. Hopefully, I'll either get a Japanese job, or I'll enroll in a Japanese class. I arrived slightly before 11:30, met up with Lesley, and joined up with some other students (Gloria, Bennett, and Sarah) on a walk around. Fun stuff! We went to the other Temple building so that some students could register their laptops. I got to know the other law students a bit better, and met a nice Floridian undergrad (Tegan) who told me of a supposed goth club that serves sushi. Hopefully I can find out more about that! Mmm...gothic sushi.
Following that, we went to the bank. Nothing special there, except there was a hilarious picture book on avoiding cancer. It used mice to give the lesson. Some of the things made sense, such as don't smoke or drink. But other things...well, don't eat hot or salty foods. DON'T TAKE HOT SHOWERS. Ne?
After that we went back to the school to enjoy a free lunch. Of all the things to get us, they got us Subway. Engrish time! The Subway slogan in Japan is "The Natural Ideal Style of Eating Vegetable." You're welcome.
After that, pretty standard orientation. The usual stuff. Sorta helpful. Got to know more people. Yay! Made some amusing fiends. After a long day of orientating, disorientating, and other stuff, we got our pictures taken for our ID's.
Now comes the fun part. Last night we were treated to a complimentary dinner at a local Japan restaurant! The fun bonus thing? ALL WE COULD DRINK! The waitress was constantly refreshing the big ass bottles of beer. The meal was several courses.
The of sashimi, and several other delicious fishy things. I love sashimi and sushi as you know. They had lots of good salmon, tuna, octopus, and something else which I couldn't identify. There was was some onion-y/bean sprouty thing. Not in the picture there was a large box with four compartments filled with yummy things. One of the things was some tasty fish balls. They tasted like fresh homemade gefilte fish. I wasn't the only one who thought so either! Oishikatta yo!!!!



The next course was very yummy hot pot. Filled with various forms of meat and vegetables, we gleefully devoured it as we continued the festivities. After that course there was a yummy ebi (shrimp) dish. I wish I had a picture of this. The dish consisted of a deliciously grilled prawn on a stick. Flavored to perfection! So very good. My only regret is that I was polite and only had one. Damn.

Sadly, I was unable to have the next course, which consisted of pork tongue. Here, we have one of my new fiends, Juliana. She's a very interesting woman. Hopefully she'll join some of my future adventures, and not kill me for publishing her in this blog! The reason I choose this photo was because it has her holding the pork tongue while sticking out her tounge.I was able to partake in the final course, which was a nice udon noodle soup. Very delicious! Japanese food is so good.

What I liked best was getting to meet my fellow students and drink lots for free with them! And yes, I did have a lot of sake!

I left the restaurant feeling slightly buzzed. I wasn't quite sure how to get to Shirokane-takanawa eki, the nambuko line station near the law school. Thankfully this wasn't a problem. I was able to use my Japanese skills to find a subway station, and then navigated my way home. My Japanese is finally starting to improve again. I think the biggest problem for me learning in the first place was Takabatake-sensei. She really is an ogre.

January 11
Today was the second orientation day. It was completely optional. I only went to the school for three reasons. 1) To have my computer registered for the wireless 2) To find out about the phones 3) To read my Japanese law book so I could leave it there. Obviously, I found out the bad news today about my poor little wireless card. Irksome. I went with Juliana and Renee to lunch today. We went to a local Italian food place run by the Japanese. It was actually pretty good, but way overpriced on weird things. The main course was well priced. I had spaghetti in a tomato and creme sauce, which had some delicious seafood. But we ordered some "toast" and that cost 450YEN a pop. Evil! After that, they delayed the phone orientation and then finally announced they were pretty much still in negotiations with the phone companies for a good student deal for us. So that was a bit of a waste. At least I found out that there are some other discounts available in Tokyo for me as a student.
Following that, I went downstairs to inquire about the phone. Juliana mentioned there had been a change on the waiting list for the Sapporo trip. I checked, and eep! There was a spot for me! EEP! I rushed to the post office, withdrew 40,000YEN, ran downstairs and plopped down the cash! Oh yes, I'm going to Hokkaido! What's going on there? Well my school is taking a trip from Feb. 3rd to Feb. 5th to the 58th Annual Sapporo Snow Festival! As the name suggests, the festival is held in the city of Sapporo, located on the northern island of Hokkaido! As it's further North, Hokkaido is a very snowy place! I can't wait to go! Hopefully, besides taking glorious pictures for you all of the awesome snow festival, I will be able to go either skiing or snowboarding. In the alternative, I'd like to see if I can visit the Sapporo Breweries!
After I paid my trip fee, I went with Abby to go get some sushi. I went to Kyoto, the sushi stand I went to on Tuesday. Thankfully, I was able to get it without wasabi this time. We went back to the school, and had our sushi! YUMMY! It's freaky. She reminds me a LOT of my friend Zellie. Same interests and everything, except she doesn't know Nightwish. Yet.
After that I finished my Japanese law readings, and headed back. I've finally finished writing up this update! Enjoy!