Shinjuku

Hello All!

I'm in my hotel room in Tokyo right now! It was a very busy day, as you can already tell by the post below that partially chronicled my plane ride. Anyway, once I got here, I met up with Chihei Umeda and checked into my hotel room at the Kadoya Hotel in Shinjuku. It's actually a great location, and its a bit of a shame I won't spend more time right here becuase there is a ton of stuff to do. It reminds me a bit of New York, with tons of restuarants, shops, and bright lights all over the place. Chihei tried to introduce me to the subway system, but it kinda flew over my head.

Anyway, we met up with another guy in the program, Jeffrey, and walked around Shinjuku for a bit. Chihei was telling me that it is generally a safe place, but that there is still a Yakuza presence. We had dinner at a FANTASTIC tonkatsu restaurant. Something that blew my mind was that the rice was so good! I think Emily told me before that the rice in Japan is way better than it is in America, but I didn't believe her until now. It truly was the best rice I've ever had. And this was just a hole in the wall place! Anyway, I didn't take a picture of this meal because I felt embarassed, but I'll take pictures of food later because I know thats a big interest.

Here are a few quick observations:
1) I have the shortest hair in the country. All the guys have longer hair with highlights and stuff.
2) I stick out because of how casual my clothes is compared to how fashionable everyone else is.
3) Some man came up to us telling us he could help us learn Japanese, but I'm pretty sure he was trying to show us to a place to meet women. Yikes.
4) A girl was puking in the street from drinking too much.
5) The restaurant had a little button to press to get service. They are very fast.
6) I already knew this, but it is still weird to me that you don't tip in Japan.
7) The toilet has the option of big flush or little flush. I take this to mean big poop or little poop.
8) I have big poops.

Too much info? Bah. Anyway tomorrow I meet Mrs. Takahashi, and then I actually move in with the Kin family. I'm very excited. They won't be keeping me in quartantine for so long after all! Having the doctor's note to prove I don't have swine flu helped me out, I think.

Anyway, below is a short video. Enjoy!