Hey Everyone, 

Sorry it has taken me a while to post but I've been busy adjusting to everything here in Japan. I figure the best way to start this blog is to recap how the first couple days of being here have been. 


Day 1: Travel 

I knew that it wasn't going to go smoothly. The entire week before I left was filled with ups and downs and last minute chaos. Anyway, I make it to the Atlanta Airport at around 6 am to catch my 7:40 flight to Dallas. As I go to check my bags, I am told that one of my bags is about 15 pounds overweight. I now have to go over to the side with my mother and sister and get rid of 15 pounds of clothes, toiletries, and other stuff to meet that requirement. Needless to say, this is not how I wanted my travel experience to start.

I make it to Dallas and have a little over an hour to get to my gate. I hadn't eaten breakfast at this point so I stop by Starbucks and get a hot chocolate and some berry coffee cake :). Next thing I know, it's time to board this 13 hour flight. It wouldn't be so bad other than the fact that I am in a middle seat in a row of 5. I figure I'll suck it up and just make it through it. 

Here is where the fun begins. My flight was supposed to leave at 10:40ish from Dallas which would put me at Narita (Tokyo) at 2:10ish to catch my connection to Fukuoka. My flight from Dallas didn't leave until after 11 due to us waiting for maintenance reports. Fun stuff. On top of that, I had ordered a special meal so that I didn't have to eat gross airplane food. While my food was definitely better than the regular food, it was also half frozen because the staff is incapable of reading directions that say to let it thaw. The cherry on top is that I did wind up missing my connection to Fukuoka. Fortunately, the airline had already gotten me another flight. 

The one glimmer of happiness on that Dallas flight was the fact that I FINALLY got to watch Skyfall, Life of Pi, and Wreck-It Ralph. (All of which are awesome movies!) 

So I land in Narita and discover my new flight that is scheduled to leave at 4:55 pm. That's awesome other than the fact that I have no way to contact my parents or the university to let them know about what happened. I tried to get my computer to work and it decides that would be the perfect time to do system updates (insert rant about how much I HATE HP). At this point, I'm freaking out and I just wanted a hug but that wasn't available :(. 

I get on my flight and make it to Fukuoka. I now have to purchase a bus ticket to get me to the university. The problem: I had not had the opportunity to get any yen. So, I make my way over to an ATM that says it takes VISA. Well, apparently it didn't like my VISA and refused to read my card. I look over at the ATM next to it, and it's out of order. I'm thinking please just get me back to the US, I don't want to be here anymore. Fortunately, I found an ATM outside and was able to withdrawal some yen. The kicker: I still can't do math and pulled too much yen out. 

Now that I have my yen, I go to buy a bus ticket and the man tells me that I have to go to a different terminal to get the ticket I need. So I get on a bus with my two pieces of heavy luggage and head towards the terminal. I get my bus ticket and head towards the university. 

I get to the bus stop at the university. It's about 10 pm and we're at the top of a mountain. I have nobody to help me and I have to carry my two pieces of luggage down two flights of stairs and across campus. I eventually make it to the dorm that I am staying at and get checked in. End day 1. 

Day 2: Unpack and Sleep 

That pretty much says it all. :P  


Day 3: Exploring Beppu City 

So the weather yesterday was pretty awful. It wasn't cold but it was rainy and foggy. After being stuck inside all day the previous day, I decided to go into the city and do some shopping. I bought a bus ticket at our local store and headed out. I managed to find two big stores to go to. One was like a department store, the other was more like a mall. I was able to buy some stuff I needed to get. I also made some discoveries along the way. 

1. They have KFC, McDonalds, and Starbucks over here. 
2. I forgot how much the Japanese enjoy gambling. You literally cannot drive a mile without seeing a pachinko place. 
3. They love Disney and Hello Kitty over here :) 
4.
5. I can walk down the street and not have to worry about being mugged or getting harassed by homeless people. 

Since the weather wasn't really cooperating, I wasn't able to take many pictures. The ones I did take have been posted to Facebook :) 

I'll keep you updated as I prepare to go through orientation!