Attempt one... GO!

Okay, I have been given some tips on how to go about posting some pictures on this blog.

I will try the simple approach today. If you see a picture, I succeeded. If you see a joke, well I think the answer is obvious then.

Yay! I feel accomplished now!

Now! To figure out how to put many pictures and make it easy to access without crowding the blog!

Finally!

Okay folks, welcome back to the show. As you can all assume based on the lack of the post, it took me longer than anticipated to get Internet. But now that I have Internet, I should be able to go into full swing. Of course, that is assuming I don't go all lazy for a while.

Anyways...

Some friends have requested that I post some pictures to make the blog more visually friendly. That is my term, not my friends' term. I will try and post some pictures now and hope for the best. Seeing as I have proven to be somewhat technologically challenged, you folks can expect some practice post every now and then.

Before I get to that, I mentioned a while back that I had learned some important information that I felt you, my dear readers, had to learn about if you planed on coming to Japan. I am a man of my word so here it goes.

Okay, first thing you guys need to realize is that when you come to Japan, you don't just simply get off the airplane and begin to have fun. No no, that is not the case. If you thought the paperwork and footwork that went into applying and getting accepted to study abroad in Japan was hard... Friend, you have no idea what hard is.

First thing off, Japan likes to keep track of it's foreigner residents. They want to know where you are staying, for how long you will be staying, for what purpose you are here, and what you plan to name your first born son. That last one was a joke.

In order for Japan to accomplish this, they require that every foreigner go through a "gauntlet" of sorts. By this I mean that they want to make sure you are really serious about being here and make you do paperwork, after paperwork, jump through loop, after loop and what not to prove how serious you are. If you should fall during this trial, you are stripped naked and beaten with a bamboo stick outside the city hall. I'll leave up to you folks to figure out which are the jokes.

Anyways, the first piece of documentation you need to pass this "gauntlet" is called an "Alien Registration Card." You get this by going to your local City Hall and applying within. However, this is not as easy as it sounds. Before going to the City Hall, which sometimes is not even in the same town, you have to make sure that you have your Passport and 2 Passport sized photos of yourself, not your dog, don't make the same mistake I did. Anyways, if you forget to get your pictures taken before leaving home, do not worry, you can actually take them at any photo booth that you will undoubtedly find near the area you live.

Now, one thing you need to learn about applying for your Alien Registration Card is that you will not get it the same day. If anything, you will be lucky to get it within a month or two. While you wait though, they will provide you with a certificate saying that you have applied and paid for your card. Oddly enough, you don't get this certificate on the same day you apply either. You will be asked to come back in one or two days to pick it up. Since you won't have your card right off the bat, this certificate will be vital to your survival in Japan. I will explain why later on.

So, you go to the City Hall to apply. Easy right?... Well NO! Come on! You folks should know this by now. Once you enter City Hall, you have to find the correct window and pick-up a number for that exact window. After your number gets called out, you will be taken into a room in the back and asked to leave your things there and wait in the room till they call you to go to another window. I kid you not, this room I went to was exactly the kind of room you see in mobster movies where they beat-up and eventually kill the snitch, or "stool Pigeon," in the group.

Anyways, after you wait in the room, which will or will not have a working fan (if there is A/C, you are in the wrong building), you eventually get called to go to another window. You can expect anywhere from a 5 minute to an hour wait inside that little room.

At the next window, the one you are called to, you will be asked to sit in front of a clerk and fill out some forms. While filling the forms out, the clerk will review the information on your passport and ask you to verify what he writes down. This can take a while because they will usually write one word, ask you, write the next word, ask you, write the next word, ask you... Well, you get the idea. They will also verify that they can read what you wrote on the forms. Be careful of making a mistake on the forms too. If you do, you have to start all over again, and trust me, you don't want that. Its worst than the bamboo beating.

Another thing you need to be aware of is that you, as a foreign individual to the country, do not exist in the eyes of the government till you fill out this form for your Alien Registration Card. If you don't have that, you are basically a ghost in the crowd. And I mean ghost is every literal sense. Without the Alien Registration Card you cannot get a cellphone, not even a prepaid one, and you cannot open a bank account.

That's right folks! You cannot open a bank account. Whatever money you have in your pocket is the money you have to live off of. This is somewhat of a major concern, right? Well, do not worry! Remember that certificate I mentioned? The one you get after you apply for the card? Well, you can use that to open a bank account and get a cellphone and what not.

So, in the end, after you have filled out every form they push your way at the City Hall, and verified every word that the clerk writes down. You end up with a receipt that tells you to come back the next day or day after next. You also end up with a deep understanding of the Japanese Government... They love their paperwork. Makes bureaucrats back in the States look like 3 year old kids playing house... Or office... Whatever it is that kids play nowadays.

AND that folks is the first step in beating the "gauntlet" to prove you are serious about being in Japan.

Now for a Picture!
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And I can't figure out how to do it! Yay!

Still at it...

Hello again folks!

First let me say the I was RIGHT! The IT center is closed till Thursday. Here in Japan though, it means that it will be open tomorrow. Assuming everything goes right, you guys might get to finally see some pictures on here tomorrow. But untill then, I'm back at the NetCafe.

Now, I have been recently asked by a few people back home if I have gotten one of this cellphones I spoke of. I think my brother referred to it as a "Magical" cellphone. Well, the answer to that question is yes... I have gotten one of these cellphones and it blows my mind. It was a little high priced.

If you come to Japan and want to use a Cellphone while you are here, be prepared to pay $100 dollars or more for the cheapest model. Cellphones here can range in price anywhere from $100 dollars to $1000. However, the best thing about this is that you technically own the cellphone and therefore don't have to pay so much for the service and there is NO cancellation fee. Unlike in the States, where you get the cellphone included in some plans and end up paying for the phone through the monthly cost and cancellation fee.

Overall, my cellphone cost me $150 or so and it was on sale at the time. It would have been easily $300-$400 otherwise. That's one thing I'm starting to love about here. When they put something on sale, they mean it. Also, with insurance, service plan, unlimited internet information packet, I am looking at about $20 - $25 dollars a month to use my cellphone here in Japan. I also got a coupon from a friend that gave me the chance to choose 5 months of free service, or a insanely large cellphone strap of a dog that talks to you in Japanese. Guess which one I got?

Now some restrictions do apply, such as extra fees for calling between 9pm-4am and calling phones from other companies. However, my company is SoftBank and from what I was able to gather from asking the University volunteers and people at the dorm, about 6 out of 10 people have SoftBank. SO basically, with my plan, I can call any Softbank phone for free. Also, I can receive any phone calls, including international, for free.

My time is up for now folks, but I'll be back later. Till then, have fun and keep on reading!

Well, that was a shocker!

Hey folks, back again and guess what?

That's right! Still no internet on my laptop. Apparently, the IT guys forgot to mention that aside from my login information for the regular computers on campus, I need to set up a different set of login information for the wireless here on campus. Ain't that just peachy?

So, I find myself again at the internet cafe paying for the ability to check my emails and make this post. I have to admit this is starting to get on my nerves. Also, today being a holiday here in Japan, one which no one bothered to tells us about or what it is about, the IT center on campus is closed. My guess is that it will be closed till Thursday, when classes here on campus start up again for the new session.

That being said, this is all you folks are getting today. Yup, thats it... I'm cutting you off. You've had enough for one day. Now go, scatter, wonder off drunkely into the night.

Heads Up! Ahhh my eye!!

Okay folks, back again.

This past 3 days have made me realize a few more important things that I feel you should know if you plan on coming to Japan for any extended amount of time. Unfortunately, this might take a while and I`d like to get it all in one go.

Also, since I am still without Internet and find myself once again back at the internet cafe, I have decided to postpone it. I have spoken with the IT people here at the university and have found out that I will not be able to log onto a wireless connection at the university till the 21st of this month. SO, that being the case, I will wait till then so that I am not paying money per the hour and I can take my time typing up the information I want to pass on to you, my dear readers... Yes, my precious readers... My... Precious...

Okay, that was creepy enough. Back to the post! *cracks whip*

Now that I have given you all a heads up of what I plan to do, I will cut this post short and only say one thing...

Cellphones in Japan are light years ahead of anything in the States.

I mean, I think you need a degree to be able to properly use them. Also, the amount of features on the phones is INSANE. You can do anything with the phones! Anything from making a simple call to scanning bar codes posted all over town that give you web addresses and what not.

Also, you cannot function socially without a cellphone. All cellphones in Japan now come equipped with a small infra-red device that when turned on, you can exchange contact information with another person. They get all your details that you include on your "introduction card" on the phone. You will literally see people standing around holding their phones inches from each other exchanging contact information.

Honestly, its a little overwhelming. Feels like I've been trapped in some kind of hibernation device and have awoken to a world light years ahead from the old world I knew... And that's just the cellphones doing.

I have finally managed to get my pictures onto my laptop. Apparently, when I bought it I didn't realize it came with a card reader. All I did was pop it out of the camera, pop it into the card reader and bingo!... What? I'm not an expert on computers so stop looking at me like that.

Once I'm able to connect to a wireless network on my laptop while on campus, I will upload a bunch of pics.

Until then folks!!

The encounter with the roommate...

Okay, back again folks. Still no internet access. Well, not one that I don`t have to pay for anyways. I`m back at the internet cafe, checking emails and what not.

Anyways, I have been in Japan for about a week and when I last typed up a post, I was finishing up my whole adventure from Arizona to Japan. Now we get to the horrible part... The part where I met my new roommate.

Now, first off, my roommate hasn`t been bad to say the least. So no need to start thinking anything bad, yet.

Okay, I arrived at the dorms at what I could only assume was around 8pm or 9pm here in Japan. Honestly I couldn`t even remember the way to the dorm the next day because I was so tired.

We get to the dorm and are asked to wait in the lobby. The nice elderly gentleman behind the window at the entrance starts calling people on a PA system they have through out the entire building. I couldn`t understand a word of it. I kind of hoped it was because of the terrible quality. I waited about 8 minutes before a student came to claim me down stairs. He was the complete opposite of what I had imagined. By that, I mean that he was literally a kid. I mean, a kid in the sense that he seemed fresh out of high school.

Anyways, you`ll get to see a picture of him eventually. He leads me up to our room and I open the door to find a room twice the size of what I had imagined. And, given what other people had told me about room sizes in Japan, it turned out to be the size of an average dorm room in the States. It even has a divider curtain thing that runs through the middle of the room so that you can block out the light from the other half of the room. Its pretty nifty.

After the initial view of the room wore off, I realized one thing that had up to that point slipped my mind... I couldn`t understand a word my roommate was saying. I mean, nothing, zip, nada. Not one word. He speaks waaaaay too fast for me to understand with my now deteriorated Japanese and when I ask him to slow down a bit, he slows down for only about two sentences and then goes back to full speed. Also, whatever Kanji I knew is gone... But that's another story for later.

I managed to pull out my dictionary and since then, everyday it has been one word search fiesta after another. It is rather frustrating, but that is my own fault for not practicing enough before coming here. You reap what you sow folks, remember that!

Aside from the language barrier, he is perhaps the most quiet individual I have ever met. He is constantly on his cellphone or either has his headphones on listening to music. Also, he sleeps more than any human being I have ever met and has a gift for doing disappearing acts. I wake up, he`s still sleeping. I leave the room and come back, he`s not there anymore. I come back later in the day, he`s back in the room sleeping some more. I leave to go have dinner or something, and THEN he`s awake. He`s awake only long enough for me to talk to him 30 minutes or so and then I have to go to sleep because its close to midnight already.

He`s an odd person. I`m sure eventually he`ll be forced to stay up the whole day. I mean, he has to study too once classes begin, right? Guess we`ll find out eventually.

WELL, that`s it for me again folks. My time is almost up. Untill next time!

Day One-ish - Part Two

Hello again folks!

This time I am typing to you from perhaps the most comfortable internet cafe I have ever been in. I mean, I have my own little room with a huge comfortable chair, a TV, headphones, and a foot rest so that I can put my feet up. And, just outside, there is a huge selection of Manga and Anime for me to read and watch.

But that`s a story for another time. Back to the beginning we go!

SO... Where was I? Oh yes, I had just arrived at the airport.

Okay, so, after meeting up with the larger group of international students and the volunteers, I quickly realized that I was the only non-white person there aside from the students from China and Korea. Also, because I was wearing my hat and was perhaps the tallest person there by a foot, I stood out like a sore thumb. Immediately thevolunteers began asking me questions which they later realized that I couldn`t understand 100% and switched to English. It was good to say the least.

After the meet and greet with the volunteers and the other students, we quickly boarded a bus that took us to Umeda. As I have found out, Osaka is not a City but a State. It is just so populated that the city limits just blur into one another. Umeda just happens to be one of the cities. The bus was rather small, I ended up hitting my head on the roof which has never ever happened to me back in the States. I felt a bit silly because of it, but oh well.

The bus took us to the bus station in Umeda and we quickly got off. I found myself helping a lot of the student with their luggage when it came to getting it up the curb of the sidewalk.

The train station is perhaps one of the biggest, if not only one, I have ever seen. The oddest thing about it? People are organized. I mean, it was like watching ants gonig back and forth. Everyone had their own little path and line to follow. It was very effective given the sheer amount of people in the train station.

Anyways, we bought our tickets from this little vending machine. I`ll have to show you those pictures later. we got on the train and quickly became the center of attention. I would like to think it wasn`t because we were foreigners, but because all the luggage we had was blocking the aisle.

After what seemed a rather long train ride, mainly because by that point I had been up for close to 38 hours or so, we arrived at the next train staition. Now, funny thing about local train stations, there is no escalator or such. We had to carry our luggage up the stairs.

Now, before I boarded the airplane back home, they weighed my luggage. Adding the luggage plus my carry own, I was carrying close to 135 lbs up a flight of stairs. After I got up the stairs, I had to walk for 20 minutes or so across town going up and down hills. It was not pleasant... Not at all. I thought I was going to drop dead. Still, I made it to my dorm in one piece.

I`m going to have to stop at this point because my time is almost up.

Until next time folks!

Day One-ish... Part ONE!

HELLO FOLKS!

I have survived my flight. First let me say that so far everything has been rather interesting. I have a lot to say abut everything beginning with my flight and up to present day events. That being said, I will have to make this a two or maybe three part post depending on how much time I have.

Alright then, on to the first part of my adventure!

First thing I need to mention, and this is more important than any of my previous rants. You need a visa to enter Canada. No matter what the reason is, even if you are just landing there to change airplanes, you still need a visa. Out of about 15 people who I asked, one of them including my program coordinator, no one told me that I needed a visa to change airplanes at Canada. Also, as it turns out, me being of Mexican Nationality means that I need a visa to land just about anywhere. That was the first problem in my adventure.

After arriving at the ticket counter for Delta Airlines at about oh... 4am in the morning and not having slept the day before because of a combination of nerves and excitement. I was greeted with this rather infuriating piece of news. Now, it is no ones fault but that of the governments involved. Apparently the visa requirement was added some point in the past month. This just goes to show that you should perhaps check, double check, and triple check your information before you hit the airport.

Now, as you can all guess, there is somewhat of an issue with not being able to land at the airport in order to catch your next flight. Believe me, this was not lost on me. So what did I do? Well, I tried to keep my temper in check and called my booking agency, Orbitz, and asked what my options where. After about 40 to 50 minutes of making phone calls to different airlines, I managed to get my ticket cancelled and refunded. That just left me with one problem... How do I get to Japan now? Why, American Airlines of course, they were kind enough to sell me a last minute ticket to Osaka that would let me arrive on time to register into my dormitory... And they all lived happily ever after...

Well, WRONG! The new ticket cost me almost $400 dollars more, all window seats, and it had me flying from Dallas all the way to Tokyo Japan. A nice long 13 hour flight over about half of the United States and the Atlantic Ocean as well. And, for those who know me, I hate flying. I mean, I really hate it. I had prepared myself mentally for it, but that was when I had over an hour of lay over at each airport, which would allow me to pull myself together, and it didn`t have me sitting for 13 hours straight.

That was just the beginning of it too. First flight from Tucson, Arizona, to Dallas, Texas, had me sitting in perhaps the most uncomfortable chair known to man and hardly any leg space. I mean, I`m a 6' tall person and I`m a bit on the wide side. That just the way I was built, tall and wide. I have to wear XL shirts because of the width of my shoulders. But anyway, flying to Dallas from Tucson only took me a little over an hour. Unfortunately, I had to ask the two people sitting next to me to please let me out so that I could use the restroom. They were not happy about that. By the way they looked at me, I might as well have shot the Pope.

After arriving at the Dallas Airport, which by far is the biggest airport I have ever been in, I ran into a new problem. Our airplane arrived at one of the B gates. My connecting flight was all the way over at the D30 gate. Of course, at the time, I didn`t know how big the airport was mainly because I had my window closed on the airplane and didn`t want to see anything outside. It gives me a slight feeling of vertigo that combined with the queasiness in my stomach during flying... well, you can imagine what would happen. Anyways, I got out of the gate and asked the first person I say where the D30 gate was and if I could walk there in 30 minutes. He said yes. I can only hope now that he has suffered some horrible illness or accident for saying that.

After 10 minutes of walking, I quickly realized that I was not going to make it there on foot. Luckily, I figured out the tram system they had there and manged to take it the wrong way which meant I had to go the long way on the tram. I managed to catch my flight though with only 5 minutes left to spare. I never had to run so much in my life to catch something that I had such a dislike for.

I think I will spare you the horrid details of the 13 hours flight. You just need to know that it was a window seat again. Also, the choice of movies on the airplane was rather good. If you get the chance watch *The Proposal,* it was very good and funny. I was however lucky that the person sitting next to me was a rather kind lady from the US that had lived in Japan for years. She gave me a phone card which I used later to call home.

After arriving in Tokyo, I was greeted by a rather perky and cheerful Japanese man who had a sign with my name on it. Apparently, I had about 20 minutes to catch my flight to Osaka. And, as luck would have it, it was at a gate on the other terminal. SO, the perky Japanese man led me and two other people from my same flight across the terminal and through the security check point. It was literally a sprint across the terminal. I have to say that after having sat for 13 hours straight, getting off an airplane only to run is perhaps the most horrible feeling in the world. My body literally felt stagnant. I mean, I thought I was going to drop dead somewhere along the way.

Anyways, after making it onto the airplane I was rather surprised. For the first time I was actually comfortable. I had enough leg space and a whole row to myself. It was awesome and rather relaxing after everything up to that point. Little did I know that it was all just a set up.

After arriving at Osaka, I had to wait in line to get through immigration. Now, I`ve never gone through airport immigration in the US, but I can only imagine how horrible it is. I had to wait in line for what felt an hour thanks to the poor air circulation in the room. After going through immigration, I had to pass to the inspection area where they open the luggage and ask you why your brought this and why you brought that. It took way to long as compared to other people that walked or were literally waved on by. I guess it was my fault too. I brought some tools with my for some of my hobbies. Apparently they had never seen anything like it and that lead to a lot of questions and them asking to see what they were for.

After that, I went outside the arrival area to meet a group of volunteers that were there to help us get to our dorm. I was glad to see other students from other parts of the world that looked just as confused as I did.

I think this is a good place to stop. I have taken some pictures, but until I can purchase a cable for my camera, since I forgot mine back home, I won`t be able to upload them any time soon.

So folks, please join me again for part two of my arrival into Japan!