19:01

22/9 Monday

Classes start at 0900 everyday, so we have to get out by 0800. Now the thing is, this is the time when everybody goes to school or work. So imagine how crowdy the trains are at this time!

We missed our first train but got into the second. You never have to wait long for a train to come in Tokyo, unless accidents happen. Anyway, getting into a train is a feat of itself, but being inside this packed mess is another story of its own! Everytime the train stops you have to make yourself as small as possible and hope that people can get past you and step out to the freedom. Then the next load comes in and you're practically SQUEEZED even further into the mass. And it's not a nice, gentle squeeze, it's a desperate, harsh one! People push and push and everyone feels like they're in the way. Yeah. Sometimes, you have to step out to allow people to exit, and everytime that happens you worry that you might not get onto the train again... And especially for me, if I lose sight of my JLSP mates, I get worried that I might not find the way on my own. But I think I can manage now. Sometimes I still get lost even though I'm with other people, but it's not that bad if you check the signs properly. Hopefully...

So we got to our first class. Japanese for three hours straight! It was intense, but I feel like I'm improving already. On Mondays, we have Iwami-sensei, a nice and cool lady. She spoke in Japanese 99% of the time and it was great! We read this article about the big Kobe earthquake back in 1995 and I'm glad I stayed up so late the day before to study the vocabulary and look up all the kanji I didn't know. ^^; But later on O said he might change to the C class, so if he does that we'll only be three people in D. I don't mind small groups, it's actually quite nice and will probably not be as nerv-wrecking when you have to do speeches. But having someone you know a little better in the same class feels much more safe.

Our first lesson went overtime for a little bit so we only had 25 minutes for lunch. (It's usually around 50 minutes, but today we had to buy a textbook and so got even less lunchtime.) We went to Yoshinoya, a Japanese fast food place, "a guys' place", said S, but A and I went anyway. And true, there were really only salarymen sitting there eating. ^^; But the thing is, it was packed! And I didn't get a seat! And it was only 20 minutes left. And I was told to wait ten minutes before I could get a seat so I didn't bother and went back with an empty stomach. ;_; Next class was Japan Studies, economy. I can almost say that it was painful to be in it. Economics with a teacher (Y-sensei) who doesn't speak English very well and on top of this just read off his paper. Boring! I almost fell asleep a couple of times too. ^^; He also made a comment about the low birthrate in Japan being the women's fault, because, basically, they now actually work and have carreers and because "there are lots of lesbians". WTF? I'm just going to leave it at that.

By the time the Japan Studies class ended it was 1430, and me and a OS went to the main building to pay our rent. They only take 15000 for September because we came in halfway through the month. The rent for October and November will each be on 30k yen, and December 4k only because the course only lasts until the 3rd.

The last (fourth) period is usually not obligatory, but it is recommended that you take a class or two extra anyway. We went to this free conversation class, where you get to meet volunteers from the university and just sit and have a talk. This conversation class we went to had more Japanese volunteers than actual participants, so it was a bit awkward. ^^; We made self introductions (I lost count of how many I've done by now...) and me and my speaking partner (Maasa-san) went through a couple of awkward silences. Agh. Why can't I be this super social and talkative person that everyone else is?! Sigh. I will probably keep going because it's good practice. I'm thinking of taking an extra kanji or grammar class too.

So, fourth period ended by 1610 and a couple of us JLSP students went to Shibuya where people were going to get cell phones. I wonder if I should get one too. But in the end you seem to have to go through a lot of trouble in order to finally have one. The price though, is not so bad. 10k for the phone, a charger and a prepaid card (3k of the amount). The actual phone was just 5k so it was really cheap. Might be worth it. A word about Japanese electronic stores - they're sooo packed and crowded and narrow! At least for the low-price ones. The Donki (name of the store) stores in Shibuya and Shinjuku (we had to go there in the end because the Shibuya one was out of stock) were all of this type. Whereas this Softbank store in Harajuku was more like the ones we see in Sweden. Light, plenty of showcase room and also, good ventilation!
On our way back home, we saw this:

Kabukichou! Tokyo's equivalent of red-light districts. This is supposedly where the "love hotels" are.

We had made up plans with the other JLSP students to go to an izakaya (something of a Japanese equivalent to a pub) back in Shimotakaido. So home we went, changed clothes and got ready to go out - when we saw Kouji-san and Atsuko-san walking past our dorm! They were apparently going to join up with us JLSPers but the place was packed, so everyone had migrated to a park nearby. And there we went, the park was large and several groups of people sat spread out all across the area. Us JLSPers had taken over an area with tables and benches. People were already getting drunk! Because some of us hadn't eaten for over 8 hours (12 for me cause I missed lunch! ;_;) we headed to a supermarket to get som bento. They were all half price because it was so late (~2130) and the store wanted to sell them off, I suppose. So I bought this:and a bag of korokke (check the link for pictures), for only 400 yen! It was so cheap, unbelievable! And it was good too. :D The others bought drinks and while me and A were eating people started to seriously get drunk. Some JLSPers went over to another group of junior-high yankees (!! 14 years old and yankees!) to talk. That was interesting. K-san, who's Japanese, managed to fool them into thinking that he's half Finnish, but I mean, he speaks fluent Japanese so I wonder how he managed to do that!

So anyway. Drunkness. People's faces reddened and they all started to speak in a louder voice. This is a new experience for me too, cause I usually don't tag along out when people go drink, Sweden or Japan. It was fun though cause people laughed a lot more and seemed more talkative. :D Some people offered me to drink but I was strong and withstood it, yay!

The day ended an hour or two later when A and I went home. The park's just a couple of minutes walk from our dorm so it's really convenient. But I still don't seem to be able to locate anything so I always make sure I go home with someone, hehehe.

Today (tuesday) is a public holiday, so we're all free! I woke up 1430 (oh my gosh... I almost slept for 12 hours...) and I have been taking it easy so far. I'm not going out (it's already 1900) and I have some studying to do, so occupied I will be, all day!

Japan life starts for real now!