Hello all,

So it's been quite a while since I've posted anything. Things are still really busy and I doubt they'll slow down any time soon. But I've got some new pics that I want to share so here goes.

So the picture on the left is a kaitenzushi restaurant. The sushi come out on a convey belt and goes around by all the tables. If you want a plate, you just pick it up. When you're done, the waitress comes and counts your plates and gives you a bill. This place is 105 yen per plate, and most plates have onigiri. Sushi here is so much cheaper and so much better than the states, it still surprises me.

The pic on the right is an osake vending machine. I had heard of them, but there is one right on the street in Hikone. As you can see, they have a good selection of Japanese beer (Yebisu is my favorite so far), some chuhai (something like smirnoff ice or mike's hard lemonade) and I think cups of shochu (flavored distilled liquor ~30% alcohol). All alcohol is much cheaper here than in the U.S., even imported stuff like Jose Cuervo and Smirnoff.

Well I've got to go now, a friend of mine is cooking up some gyoza so I'm gonna go snag a few. Thanks for reading and leave comments or questions!

So it's been a pretty eventful few days here in Hikone. This is Lake Biwa, on a nice cloudy day. It's rained or been cloudy every day so far, but it's still hot enough to work up a sweat on your bike. But enough about the weather.

It's been really busy with placement tests, required meetings, and things just getting oriented. After that was over with it was off to class. Honestly, the first day of class I understood barely any of what the teach was saying. It was 100% Japanese, spoken really fast, and to make it worst, I've never had a male teach and rarely heard a male even speak Japanese. It's slowed down some now so it's much better during class. But I wish I would have listened to more movies/television before I got here, just to get used to hearing different accents and tones of voice. If everyone hear sounded like Cook-sensei I would have been fine, but I guess you can't hope for that.

So other than just going to class, I've been shopping, talking, and generally loitering around Hikone.

That pic on the left is my roommate, Adam, on one of the first days we were here, getting rained on while exploring. Now we have bikes though, so it's much more convenient to get around. It is pretty easy to spot each other because we're required to wear matching helmets. Supposedly it's for the sake of safety, but I personally things it's so people can quickly identify us and get to the other side of the road.

made it!

So, I guess from the fact you're reading this you can tell I made it to Hikone intact. The only casualty so far is my ankles, which are really swollen from the twelve hour plane ride. The plane ride itself was pretty uneventful. The only weird thing was it was daylight outside for the entire flight. After I got to the airport, there was a two hour bus ride and now I'm in Hikone. I'll upload some pics when I get the USB cord for my camera. I had to ship my luggage here from the airport so it should come in tomorrow.

But for now, first impressions: It is supremely clean everywhere I've been. We stopped at an all-night truck stop for a bathroom break. Probably cleaner than the majority of the public toilets anywhere in the U.S. Oh and there was a water garden in the bathroom with a fountain and lily pads.

Also, I see a lot of signs, but I read too slow to comprehend them. There is a lot of English writing, and some of it, like the name of a bank (Softbank) and a garage (Up Garage) don't really make sense. But I'm sure we misuse Japanese all the time in the U.S. too.

Time to go to a meeting.