SOS (Rescue Me)

Today's the big day, that is to say, my last day of freedom before IUC starts. Having read a previous Light fellow's blog on the importance of the first two weeks which basically consist of around-the-clock placements exams, I have been sufficiently scared into studying like crazy at the last minute. Don't get me wrong, I made sure to brush up on my Japanese during the summer... just not to the point that I feel I can confidently walk into Pacifico Yokohama... yet. I still have a few more hours and if anything, studying at the last minute is a confidence booster, right? Though I recall I had no problem tackling the placement exams for PII, this time the stakes are a bit higher. IUC is like the Olympics of Japanese studying... or at least, the qualifying events. Unlike my first yearlong stay in Japan in high school, I want to make sure I don't spend the majority of my time reading Doraemon comics and helping friends with their English. つまり、がんばります。絶対負けたくない！

My first few days here in Yokohama have been going well so far. I had no problems getting from the airport to my apartment courtesy of the airport limousine and a taxi. I have to admit I was kind of dismayed by the sparseness of the apartment, but a quick stop to a hyaku-en shoppu and some posters/pictures that I brought from home really spruced up the place. While I had purposely arrived early to make sure I was over jetlag by the time school starts and more importantly, to register with the Japanese govt. as a foreign national.... I uhhm kind of had a bit of trouble figuring out where to go to register also how to get there. By the time I mastered googlemaps (which btw is awesome- I can literally see the street I'm living on!!) the office was already closed for the weekend.... Win some, lose some.

As a consolation, I went to Shinjuku Friday night to meet up with some Yalies!! It'd been waaaay too long since I'd been in Tokyo and it's just as crazy as I remember. We went to a cool gyoza place for dinner and then ended the night with karaoke. Great night all around, though I was a little sketched out by how crowded the midnight train from Tokyo back to Yokohama was. I was definitely ready to karate chop some salarymen who were getting too close for comfort. %!^#(>_<)*#!@