In Japan at last

All right, I have arrived in Japan at last. The 14-hour flight over was very, very long, but not as bad as I thought it would be - took some sleeping pills and passed out for 5 or 6 hours.

Arrived in Narita, and had to haul my two suitcases and two carry-ons through the airport, a train, a subway, and a bus. For future travelers to Japan: you can have your suitcases delivered to you in Tokyo, but it arrives the next day: if you're taking a similar route and have lots of baggage it's probably a good idea to just move what you need for the first day or two to your hand luggage or one suitcase, because maneuvering around people, especially in the subway and bus, is tricky. As you may have heard, Tokyo is rather crowded.

My room is a dingy little single with a fridge, sink, and very small closet. They provided linens, but the pillow is full of beans or something... I got a headache and stiff neck from sleeping on it. Showers and bathrooms are shared (two of each per gender on my floor) and there's a communal kitchen on my floor too. My AC apparently doesn't work, and the room is hot and sticky as hell. Need to find a fan today. There's no windows to slide open, just the entire back wall is glass, half of which is a sliding door leading out onto a huge patio thing connected to some other rooms. Not a very exciting view, sadly, but it is surrounded by trees.

Not sure how the curfew works yet, I think there's a gate that closes at 11 and after that you can't get in... not entirely sure yet though. Guest policies are very strict: I can't even have a family member stay with me in the room. We're not even supposed to let people come see the room. Damn, I miss American dorms... I think people are going to see how easy it is to sneak people in, heh. The dorm I'm in has the reception desk though, whereas the other Hoshien dorms don't have anyone at the bottom, I think. Boo.

Everyone is very friendly, though I was a little out of it yesterday due to sleep deprivation. Met several people at the airport, then there a welcome party for new students. After that, some of the Japanese students there showed us to a discount store and a little supermarket - got some food for breakfasts, mm. 

There is the most horrendous bug noise outside. It sounds like an electric saw or dental work, then a dying electric saw. Cicada perhaps?

Orientation and a campus tour this morning. Just have to find the building we have orientation in - it would probably have been helpful for them to give us a campus map...