Oh the Places You Will Go . . .

Hey everyone!
Wow, so much is going on and I can't remember all of what I last told you lol. So the day of Orientation: I left very early because I wanted to take pictures of my walk, you can see them on Facebook, and ended up sitting at the bus station for a good hour. It's a lot of fun because my eyes are so bright I get a lot of attention. So tons of people were watching me and I watched all of them. Everything about this country is amazing! I see so many things that remind me of Yuka and Trevor. I miss you guys a ton because of it! But then I see so many things that I've never seen in the US that I miss everyone else because I wish they could see what I'm seeing! I wish you could all just be here with me to experience the wonder of Japan! I'll tell you a little about what I've seen and noticed:
*In Japan you'll see very elderly people, bent practically in half with age, walking around with canes and I can't help but think they're almost 200 years old! Ooki-chan (my host mom) says that the humidity makes Japanese people look youthful. Either way it's crazy to see such aged people waltzing around, taking trains and buses.
*All of the business men where the same clothes: dress pants and white button up shirts. Seriously, there's thousands of men dressed like that! They look very nice but also casual so I guess it works. Maybe in the winter they'll add dress coats. . . I'm waiting to see :)
*Elementary school kids and younger kids in general are so adorable! They all wear brightly colored hats, so they are easy to see and won't be hit by bikes or cars. Adults are more discrete about the way they look at me but kids just blatantly stare. I just smile at them. There was a young boy in a restaurant last night that I caught staring at my eyes. When I looked at him he jumped and looked away so fast, ducking behind a wall. It was so cute!
*Everything here is so efficient and courteous. There are even unspoken rules about riding escalators. If you just want to stand on them you stay on the right side. If you're in a hurry you can walk up the left side. Everyone, even elementary school kids, abide by this rule. People just naturally move to the right side so those who need to hurry can get past without any problems. We would never be able to pull off something like this in America, we're way too selfish!
*Whenever we go anywhere (the exchange students from Otemon) the Aussie boys are always the loudest! We were in City Hall yesterday to get our Alien Visa's and in the whole office, which was quite large, it was so quiet you could have a hushed conversation easily. With the exception of the Australian boys who just crack up laughing and make weird jokes all day. They have no idea bout sensing the mood lol.
*I've decided that they might be nothing more simply beautiful as seeing a tall apartment building with balcony's full of clothes flapping in the wind. I want to take a picture of it sometime but I know it won't do it justice.
It's funny, I researched Japanese culture so much before coming here that I'm not having culture shock, simply experiencing everything for myself now. I love the way Japan works! I love the organization and the attention to details. It's like a dream come true for my organization freak self. It's so beautiful here!
I went to Orientation at Otemon. The campus is huge! It was funny because Fukuda-San, one of the main guys in charge of exchange students, assured us that it was a small university of only 6,000 people. . . that's more people then the population of Ephraim. Oh boy! Small town girl in the big city :) The university is beautiful! I'll take more pictures soon for you guys. They have tons of clubs and I think I'll do Aikido for my martial art :)
There are 10 exchange students and I'm the only American! There's a boy from France, Louis, but he came from a London university with Sei, a boy that is full Chinese but has always lived in London so he speaks fluent Chinese and English. There are four people from Australia, Sarah (who is so pretty! And very nice), Maddison, Dan, and one other who I can't remember his name right now. There is a girl from Korea that we all call U-San because none of us can say her real name. She's pretty tall for an Asian and is always in shorts. Sarah and I talked about how nice her legs were yesterday lol. then there are two students, Shane (I think . . .) and Fefe (her nickname), from China. Everyone, besides me, speaks a small amount of Japanese. U-San, Shane, and Fefe speak it fluently. Everyone seems very nice. Louis, the guy from France, called me "America" yesterday because he couldn't remember my name lol. We had a fun conversation while walking through the streets. I'll try to get pictures of everyone soon.
So there are 4 girls and 6 boys. I really like the girls but I can't communicate with two of them, which sucks because they are both so nice and I want to talk to them. Sarah and I spend a lot of time together and we have a good time. Her accent is so fun. Shane, the Chinese boy, is very friendly from the little I've seen him. He speaks very good Japanese but tends to stick close to Fefe and speaks Chinese with her. We had broken up into two groups yesterday to get all kinds of paperwork done and when our groups bumped into each other at the bank he gave me a great big smile and waved to me. I want to get to know him more.
Things here, other then that, are going great. We did a ton of paperwork yesterday. I even got a Japanese bank account and a Hanko which is a Japanese stamp of your name for important documents :) (check out Facebook for further explanation). Yuka, does having a Japanese bank account make me more of an honorary Japanese person? I know it's not a Social Security Number by any means but it should count for something lol.
I hope you're all doing well. I love you guys so much! . . . and only miss you a little heehee just teasing. I do miss you guys :) Luckily I haven't felt very homesick, just every now and then and only for a second and then I remember that right now I'm living my dream. I am so happy, as I'm sure you can tell from my huge smile in all of my pictures. Hope to hear from you guys soon. Hugs and kisses!