Hmm.

Japan does not follow Daylight Savings. It used to, after WWII, but was discontinued. This will make things confusing when I try to call people back home in a few weeks. I'm used to 13 and 15 hour difference! Now I'll have to do MORE math again.

I love the area I am living in. I'm in ... Shinjuku-ku? Japanese addresses are actually rather confusing to me. Anyway, it's a station or two, or a 30- to 40-minute walk, away from Shinjuku proper. (Tokyo is huge, people. Bloody hell. I just about had a heart attack the first time I saw a Tokyo metro map. I still don't feel comfortable taking it on my own. I miss the DC metro, it was so simple...) Shinjuku has the busiest train station in the world, Japan's largest skyscraper district, and largest number of foreigners. The chaos and nightlife is accessible, but where I live it's a lot quieter. The streets are lined with tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurants. Pretty shrines and traditional houses are squished into corners or between modern concrete monstrosities. Japan, where did all your traditional architectural aesthetic tastes go? But anyway, I love all the little restaurants around the area. I just have to learn how to read the menus so I don't end up with sea food... Speaking of which, I have tried some! Still don't like it, unfortunately. I have tried shrimp, unagi (eel), and salmon sashimi when I was desperate at a nomikai (all-you-can-drink, this one with set food courses included - almost all seafood. TENTACLES. AH.) Oh well, I have been trying... I've found some food I really like, and if my menu is quite limited at the moment I am at least eating a lot - probably eating too many eclairs/crepes which are often in convenience stores that are on every block... Japan sweets/pastries are wonderful.

Takadanobaba, nicknamed Baba, is the area Waseda students usually go to for close-to-home fun. There are a lot of restaurants and izakayas - the traditional-style Japanese bars with all-you-can-drink. Oh man, I thought Americans drank a lot... At least they usually don't go back and drink more after losing everything they ate that day. They're awfully cheerful and less violent, though. (Similarly - unchained bikes EVERYWHERE. I'm used to DC, where bikes are always locked up and it's common to see some with their wheels jacked.) There is also an English pub, called The Hub, which my friends have become very fond of. Quite small though, as usual, and there tends to be a large group of us hanging out, so it's always difficult to find a restaurant to eat in or a bar to go to.

Speaking of toilets! Bathrooms rarely have paper towels, or even air dryers. Hmm. To protect the environment, but... wet hands!

I want to be out and exploring Tokyo more, but unfortunately I have a heavy load of classes (I'm taking the maximum suggested credits - long story - and Japanese class alone is enough to drive me insane). We've got some 3-day weekends coming up, perhaps then...

Also need to find more Japanese friends to hang out with and make them speak Japanese to me.