So It Begins (again)!

Hi All,

Finally things are moving along!! I’ve had a great week thus far; the start of the semester, seeing old faces, meeting new people!

Oh and the weather, the weather has been great (except for today)! Bring it with it the blooming of the 桜 (Sakura) in this area.

I can be happy again, it’s been a little tough since 3/11 but cheerfulness is in the horizon now.

The semester has thus far started the same way as last; we know barely any one and the chaos of registering. In lieu of that I will finally talk about the events prior to 3/11.

The first part: My mother’s visit

Now, my relationship with my mother is quite unique. She used to be a policewoman in the Dominican Republic before she gave it all up to pursue the American dream. With that said, she’s a lot on the austere side. Her humor is almost non-existent, add that to the fact that I am not a serious person – at all, and you get a picture of our relationship.

Her arrival had me stressed. This is a small town, how do I keep her busy?!! But I was able to plan through her 10-day stay no problem.

Thank you all my friends in Japan!! I could not have done it without you!　みんな手伝ってくれてありがとうございました。

Some of the things we did were to explore the surrounding area in bikes (I was totally shocked that my mother could ride a bike, I never knew), have lunch with my friends and so on…

We had lunch with the Professor I TAed for, who kindly invited us to lunch and gave us a lovely tour of some of the nice touristic areas in the Shizuoka peninsula.

We visited my friend’s home and my mother tried on a kimono.

We went to Tokyo Disney Sea

It was interesting. My mother quite enjoyed her time here. She loved Japan and the Japanese people. She loved how disciplined and polite everyone is here. She left saying she would’ve liked to have stayed longer and in another time would’ve consider what a life in Japan would’ve been like…

I’ll tell you about the second part next time =)

Later.

Arrival, Settling and Jet-Lag

Hi All,

I don't know how to start this or amuse you enough to continue to read more. But here goes the introduction:

I arrived at Narita Airport, Japan Monday 20th Sept.

The flight was a little over 13 hours. The first 8 hours weren't horrific since I slept about 5 of them. I pulled an all-nighter the night before with the full intent of knocking out most of the flight and all I got was a 5-hour nap??

The first night I slept over at my friend's house(Yoshiko, Waseda U. exchange student to Stony Brook Fall09-Spring10). I got to meet her family which I was extremely honored and happy to do because she had gotten to meet my family during her stay in the states.

To add to how much of an amazing person and friend Yoshiko is,not only did she pick me up at Narita (and struggled with me as we carried a year's worth of nothing that somehow all weighed over 150lbs along Tokyo's subway); She delivered me right up to the Bullet train to Mishima, Shizuoka the next morning (again struggling with luggage and morning rush-hour). Do I love her? yes, yes very much so.

Arriving at Mishima...

Got picked up by a school representative from the station

. Apologized every time I breathed about the heavy luggage... and for being late (because of course I was late). Everything else was very standard of a new arrival.

Highlights:

The first night I was in Tokyo, Yoshiko took me out to dinner and introduced me to her friend Angela (intern from Germany to Nihon University,Tokyo campus). She is an amazing person, charismatic and speaks conversational English, knows Latin and speaks fluent German and Japanese.

A two-year on the way to dinner stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing me. She stared at me until I was out of her sight. After I walked past her I turned to check if she was still staring at me, and she waved good-bye. She stared out of curiosity and amazement of seeing some one who is so different from everyone else she is used to. She was incredibly adorable!

I got to meet other international/exchange students. We're very diverse and from all over the world, which I *love. There's Damien from France, Heather from NJ, Dale from Ohio, there's Moris? from Mexico, Ka Lai (SBU) but is originally from China, Billy (SBU) and a three students from Korean-- whom I will make greater efforts to befriend and learn their names since they are fluent in Korean and Japanese but not English.

Well until something semi-interesting happens.

See you later.