Nihongo-a-Go-Go :: Mandy's Journal

Veni, vidi, vici!

Well, I feel very...confident now about moving here. I was very worried about how I would adjust to life here, but I've been more comfortable and assertive here than I've been travelling anywhere else. Here's the rundown of my day.

First thing, I knew that I needed to take a shower. The showers here are very different. They're gas heated and you basically stand in the room and hold the shower thingie to wash yourself. I think it would have been more enjoyable for me if I hadn't had to wash my hair. With my crazy long hair, it took a really long time. From now on, I think I might wash my hair in the sink with some help from Aimee. *nods* But I felt a lot cleaner and more awake.

After that, the plan was as follows.

1. Go to Nagoya Station to get passport photos.
2. Go to the Nishi-Ku Ward Office.
3. Get food for dinner.

We conquered all three!

Finding the station wasn't hard, but we had no clue where to find a photo booth. As we wandered, we did find a plant shop, lots of French bakeries, a bookstore, and two big department stores. Thankfully, a very nice woman at the information desk spoke English and gave us directions to the next department store over, which had photo stuff on the 7th floor. This was a painless experience, though the pictures are as hideous as every other id photo I've ever had taken.

After that, we walked up to the ward office. We actually walked too far! It also started raining and thundering as we got there. It wasn't hard to find our way back, though we managed to time it so that we were there when everyone was on lunch. The woman was very helpful, though at first she told me that I couldn't get a certificate of registration until Monday, and I need it on Monday for orientation. It ended up that we needed to come back at 4, and they would have it done for us. So, we had about 2 and a half hours to kill. Luckily, there were several shops along the way to explore. We went into a big fun drugstore. Everything is Hello Kitty! I was most amazed by the HK razors and HK floor wax. We bought a bag of spaghetti and a pack of 5 chicken ramen while we were there. At least...I hope it's chicken. :) I also got a box that had candy and a keychain change purse. It's super cute! There is only one piece of candy, actually, and it looks like a huge white smartie. The change purse is actually made of metal, but has a zipper around the outside. It's Card Captor Sakura, and I'm totally enamored of it. The bookstore was very neat. Lots of manga, all new and neat and tidy. There were also the huge monthly manga magazines, which are about as thick as phone books. I almost picked up this month's Asuka, but decided to be good. ;) The neatest thing there was a Japanese version of the children's book "The Hungry Caterpillar." Kawaii!

The walk home seemed a lot quicker, and the rain had eased up. We stopped up to our room, and as we were leaving, we had a 'chat' with an elderly woman. Aimee understood a little bit of what she said, but I felt like an idiot. :) She seemed very amused by us, and it was fun. I've found that knowing how to say "please," "thank you," and "excuse me" go a long way, especially if you say them with a big smile. We went down to the convenient store that's right below our building, but it was too expensive to go shopping there. So we picked up drinks for dinner, but that's it. The drink itself is yummy! It's lightly grapefruit flavored, and called 'Qoo.' It's very mild; all the drinks seem to be. Becky, you would love them!

I'm pretty sleepy now, but I think I'll pep up again after dinner. Tomorrow's tasks...groceries and VOLKS!!!!

Posted by Mandy at September 24, 2004 06:09 PM