Tsuru So Far

I think I will just bullet point my experiences since it's easier to read and follow. I don't want to bore you guys :P I will add details when need be and if you ask.

WARNING: LONG POST

Tsuru Arrival

• After the orientation at ICU in Mitaka, Tokyo the Tsuru people headed towards Tsuru by bus. The bus was small haha, but the air conditioning was amazing *o*
• I thought the ride would be long, but it only took a little over an hour.
• The view that we saw on the bus were pretty awesome. So not used to being on the opposite side, though haha
• The fences or whatever they're called on the roads on the freeways are much higher than in America. I feel a lot more safer lol
• There's a lot of checkpoints. I think we went through 3 before reaching Tsuru.
• The tutors greeted us as we came. They popped those streamer things and said their usual greetings. They're a hyper bunch of group :)
• Afterwards we sat in a room and did the usual introductions. We got to meet our individual tutors.
• My tutor's name is Shinsei and he's a fun guy. It's a bit hard to communicate because he knows very little English and my Japanese listening/speaking  is pretty bad. I hope I don't annoy him because I often don't understand what he is saying so I ask him a lot to explain again >< He's a nice guy, though!
• They did took us to our apartment. It's about a 10 minute walk (felt longer in this heat...)

The Apartment

• We arrived at the apartment complex where we were to stay at. It's cute looking. The entrances face the mountains which is a beautiful view.
• The place was actually bigger than I expected. 
• When you enter you see a hallway with 4 different doors. One closest to the door is a closet (I think), Then there's two doors facing each other. The right leads to the bathroom (no toilet) the other leads to where you do laundry. Then there's a door where the toilet is.
• As you proceed you see the kitchen area. Complete with a ref.
• Across from the kitchen is a slide door where if you open it you can see the area where I sleep at the top. Below is a storage space where a bunch of stuff that I can use is stored (stuff like rice-cooker, toaster oven, vacuum, tables, bookshelves, tv, stereo, and other cleaning supplies).
• As you proceed you walk into the living space. A small space that's actually a fair size for me. The back is where the door to balcony is. The balcony is where you hang your clothes to dry.
• There's a small area where I sleep. I have to climb up a small ladder (not very comfortable for my feet...) to get up there. It's a good thing that it has it's own light switch and outlet. 
• After checking out the place me and Shinsei got out the stuff in the storage and started to fix up the place. 
• We later found out that the place also came with dishes, pots, and other essentials that thankfully I don't have to buy.
• Afterwards we tried figuring out the internet. Several other tutors came in asking if we knew how, but we didn't. In the end, no one got internet that day.

Dinner

• After everyone got acquainted with their apartments we headed out to eat dinner. We went to a restaurant across from the school. 
• I was so amazed and happy when we walk in. It's one of those restaurants where when you walk in you take off your shoes before proceeding to the tables. 
• Their low-tables so we sit on the floor.
•  We took awhile deciding what to eat. Mainly because the menu was in Japanese so we had to have the tutors help us with that.
• I got Tempura. Didn't really know what type of tempura since it only said tempura.
• When we got our food it smelt soooo good.
• My tempura had various vegetables and seafood (shrimp, different fish). おいしかったよ！ It was delicious! So goooood! So much better than what I get in America. Like seriously, the variety they give is so much  better. In America, at least at the places that I've been to, the dish only has vegetables and two shrimps and it costs $9.
• My dish was about $8-9 but was so much better. Like I said, it had more variety. It also came with miso soup, tofu, rice, and salad. It was definitely better than I expected!!!!

Supermarket and After

•   After dinner we went to OGINO, a supermarket. We went there only to buy food for breakfast and dinner. I also bought toiletries since I felt gross sweating in the heat so I wanted to take a shower.
• Had great help with Shinsei. At times it was difficult to communicate, but we managed it.
• After that we returned to the apartments and parted ways with our tutors.
• I pretty muched rearranged the living area a little and took out stuff from my luggage. There's really no place for me to put my clothes (there's  a closet, but it requires which I don't have).
• I watched a little tv (no cable, just basic channels), took a shower, then went to sleep.

The Next Day

• Few of the tutors came to pick us up in the morning to take us to where we needed to be at the school for a small orientation of do's and don'ts in Tsuru.
• After the orientation we ate lunch at the cafeteria. OMG IT'S AMAZING. UCSB DINING COMMONS GOT NOTHING ON IT!!!!!
• Like anywhere else you buy your food buy going to a vending machine where you put in your money pick what you want and you're given a ticket. You give the ticket to the cafeteria people who in turn give you want you want.
• I got curry and it was delicious! It was 350 yen which is around $4-5. Not bad. Definitely better than dining common food.
• After lunch we went to register our alien cards. The walk was like 30 minutes long. Trust me, it was painful. The heat just beated down on you as you walked.
• When we got there we waited for each person to register (there's 14 of us so it took awhile).
• After that we headed to the hyaku-en store. Japan's equivalent to the $1 store. I bought a few essentials. Also bought myself a small towel since I sweat a lot. Oh, and I bought a box of wet tissues. Have I mentioned how amazing they are for this weather, yet????
• Some of us went to OGINO again after. I bought a lot of drinks. Every time one of the tutors walk by me they were surprised by it haha たくさのみものだな？
• After that we returned to our apartments. Me and two of the tutors, Shinsei and Haruna, tried to figure out the internet. Apparently, I was the only one having trouble. I felt really bad because they both had to homework, had to study, or had to do something. Eventually Shinsei left and it was just me and Haruna.
• We found out that the ID they gave us was wrong so we ended up waiting for quite awhile to get word back.
• During that time I talked with Haruna in Japanese. You don't realize how sucky your Japanese is until you're forced to say it >< My Japanese is so broken and I find myself stuck most of the time. She was cool with it, too. She tried speaking to me in English, too so I helped her with that.
• We eventually were able to get the internet working! やった！！！！
• Haruna left and I was left only, but with internet! And that's how I came to blog about it XP

Since this post is getting too long I'll make another one about my reflection of Tsuru and abroad.