Yo

I feel as if I haven't posted on this thing in forever, so I may ramble on for awhile. I hope this post finds you all well.

So I left Korea a few days ago(I feel as if I've been in Japan for weeks now), not having any plans as to what I was going to do once I touched down in Tokyo. My flight was on the 3rd of July, and I couldn't check into my dormroom until the 4th, meaning I had to find a place to stay for one night. I was going to wing it, but as I have learned, winging anything in a foreign language can be pretty rough. :(

Anyway, I was sitting in my seat on the plane minding my own business when the lady next to me started talking to me(in Japanese of course cause everybody and their mothers think I'm Japanese). When I told her I was going to study in Japan for a year, she told me her daughter was doing the same thing in Korea(who she had just visited). Then she asked me who was picking me up from the airport and where I was staying. I told her I had no idea, and that I would figure it out once I landed. She gave me one of those "OMG" faces, then invited me to stay over at her home. Long story short, I ended up staying at her place. I showered then slept over in a complete stranger's home. She cooked me breakfast the next day, then drove me about 20 minutes to the JR station so I could find my way to school. I was blown away by all of this, and I asked her what I could do to repay her. Man, she said all I had to do was show the same kindness she showed me to another person.

There's so much I want to say just about that, but I don't want to be here all night. All I can say for now is that the experience showed me how little of a person I am. My parents told me my name HONG means like, big hearted, or something to that effect. What part of me is big...? Now that lady, she's the real deal. Geez, what a misnomer I am. So many people in the world are going through such shitstorms. I am blessed with a chance meeting with someone like that lady(her name is Misako btw), and I still have time to bitch and moan about how much life sucks. Motivation indeed.

Anyway, the people I've met here are pretty awesome. I also met some QUALITY people in Korea, and I was very sad to have to say goodbye to them. Gah! Take the opportunities you have right now to enjoy the company of those around you. These people I am meeting... man, I KNOW I would develop the kind of relationship with them as I have with you guys back in Irvine. But we had to say goodbye after only a few days. So while you still have the opportunity, enjoy each other's company. Jeez, I'm sure you hear that enough that it just sounds like some corny BS, but I've been feeling this now more than ever.

So walking is a big thing in Japan. I feel as if I've walked 100 miles in the last few days, and I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't too far off from the truth. The campus(ICU) itself is nice, as it is built in the middle of a forest in the middle of Tokyo. That sounded kind of weird, but I'll try and get some pics up so you guys can see what I mean. There are also killer bees on campus... that part kind of sucks. We got together with a bunch of people and drank the second in the dorms. I had to represent for the obnoxious greeks all over America(along with a SigEp from UCSD), by shotgunning a ~24oz beer in a couple of seconds. People were like "WTF?"... I responded with a wet belch.

Since the intensive language program started, I have been in constant motion from 8am to around 2-3am. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty tired. But hopefully things slow down once I get all my things taken care of. I found out where Tokyo Paraestra is, which is where Shinya fights out of(but apparently he doesn't teach there), and I am planning on checking it out.

Ah, I also found out that I have no housing for this coming academic school year. I have to find a place by myself(*tear*). Remember that application I filled out when I was really, really high? Well, apparently nobody appreciated what I wrote down and I got passed over by all the dormitories. Now I REALLY regret that, cause that places me in some deep doo-doo, financially speaking. But I'm sure things will work themselves out.

There's a shit ton more I wanna tell you guys about, but this post is way long and out of control, so I'll try again next week or something. I miss you guys, and I hope to hear back from ya'll soon.


-gene