In Japan!!!

I'm in Japan! I've made it to Hiroshima! I've got an apartment! That's all!

… Psyche! After spending some time in Shinjuku, Tokyo, three of us bound for Hiroshima boarded a shinkansen in Tokyo Station. Our prefectural advisor who is living in Tokyo, Ai-san, graciously guided us from our hotel through Shinkjuku station all the way to the boarding platform for our trip to Hiroshima. Before boarding the train, of course, we bought bento's (y'know boxed lunches?), something to drink, and something on which to snack.

After chatting and calming each other's nerves for almost four hours, my two colleagues got off the train at Fukuyama. We plan to connect with eachother in Saijou sometime, and though the hope is to meet there for a Fall Festival in October, I fear that we may all be working on that day. Once I get more situated, I will be sure to contact them.

So, as I was waiting for the Shinkansen (bullet train) to start moving again, I noted that I could see them meeting their Fukuyama contact. Quickly, I whipped out my camera and captured a few shots of their first arrival at Fukuyama station. While they were no doubt going through the stress of self-introductions, I, on the other hand, had to sit on the train, alone, for about another 25 minutes dealing with the silence. I took the opportunity to listen to music on my Sony walkman and that seemed to help me remain calm.

After arriving in Hiroshima, I quickly met with Murata-san, my supervisor(?), and after some confusion, we met with two members of Hiroshima's board of education as well as Mochidzuki-san (who is not from Shizuoka btw) who is kind of responsible for me but above Murata-san. I would say that introductions went well.

My afternoon was then spent with Murata-san and a real estate agent. As was expected, they already had pretty much found the best place for me, but I did get to check out two places for comparison. My home is practically right in front of the new baseball stadium in Hiroshima. It is called Mazda Stadium and Hiroshima's Carp baseball team won their game last night by a Sayonara home run in the 12th innning. We, meaning Murata-san's family and me, all quit watching the game during the seventh inning because the Carps were losing. We regret that now, but the grocery store nearby will have a store-wide 5% discount because the Carps won.

My apartment has a dining room/kitchen and one fair sized room and runs about 400$ a month. However, I will be spending a lot of money to get things like a laundry machine, a refrigerator, a stove top thing, a futon and perhaps a desk as well. I've decided not to worry about getting a TV for now, but instead to get that later when I can afford a decent sized one. In the meantime, as soon as I am basically settled, I hope to get the internet connected because without that I won't feel connected.

It's crazy to say this, but I remember a lot of the streets, stores and such here in Hiroshima. However, there are so many places I don't know, and Mazda Stadium has made a good section of Hioshima to become more developed. Now, I am totally pysched for being here.