I got lost in Akihabara.

And yeah I don’t think I need to tell you I was SCARED SHITLESS!!! LOL.

I don’t regret it though, I mean I had a few minor heart attacks every time I felt lost… but my adventurous spirit made it pretty enjoyable XD. Plus if I hadn’t even tried to get there, I would have hated myself. It’s my last day in Tokyo, after all~

Okay so one of my friends here is Conner, who is this white kid that has lived in Tokyo before (for 3 years), so he showed me how to work the train station. (I totally wouldn’t have been able to figure it out by myself, haha.) Well that was all nice and easy, but he soon got off at an earlier stop to go to Disneyland, so I was left all alone. I managed to get off at the right time LOL (shut up, it is an accomplishment!! XD) and basically wandered Akiba. I have always wanted to go there, so being able to go there by myself with just a little help was a great feeling. It was really cool and quite different from the Shinagawa area I’ve been staying in. But after like an hour, I wandered wayyy too far LOL and I went in a few circles (hence, heart attacks). Eventually everything started coming together after the excessive wandering.

Oh, and there was this mourning stand full of flowers that an old man took a picture of with his cell phone. A girl like TOTALLY bitched him out for it and was like WHAT ARE YOU TAKING A PICTURE FOR?!! HUH?!!? while she was sobbing. It was scary, lol. I went into a few arcades, otaku stores, appliance stores, purikura zones (lol err), and video stores. All pretty interesting, but nothing I haaad to have.

I got on the train back, and while I was on it I kept getting paranoid and thinking that I was on the wrong one (going the opposite direction, but the same line) which was pretty pathetic. Once I got off at Shinagawa I felt really at ease.

All I bought was a Rirakkuma wallet because I couldn*t find any good otaku stores. So it was sort of a waste of time, but a priceless experience.

Well basically I am literally completely independent right now and free to go anywhere (I <3 YFU Japan and it’s free-for-all attitude). It is indeed BALLIN.

So that was my first train/independent-lengthy-adventure experience. XD I only took like 2 pictures because I haaaaaaate being the obvious tourist. Plus the pictures aren’t that cool unless you’re in them, and I really wasn’t feeling confident enough to ask someone to take a picture of me.

OH and this morning I gave a speech at the US Embassy in Tokyo LOL FORGOT TO MENTION. I was speaking on behalf of the JAFS scholarship and thanking the embassy for supporting it, etc. The introduction was in Japanese.  It’s the first time I’ve said more than 10 words in Japanese, and it was a speech in front of all the JAFS students and the Embassy officials. Yeah, I was freaking out. But… in the end,,, I just have to be honest here: I did great XD!!! everyone told me how well I did and how good my Japanese was after I made the speech! I was so happy. It’s nice to hear that you’re a good public speaker. Oh, and one of the embassy officials was seriously freaking out too and shouted SUBARASHII!! (AMAZING!!) and walked down and hugged me after my speech LOL. I was totally awkward and was like “uhh haha arigatou…”

So twice today I was scared shitless was sure that I was going to totally fuck up. And both times, in the end, everything went great.

Sorry this is really messy and I don’t have time to upload pictures, the computer room at the hotel is really busy and there’s always a line so I feel like a jackass if I take up too much time.

YAY TOKYO!! AND YAY NAGANO TOMORROW!! I wish everyone was here. Lia and Jenna, I want to go eat cute little pastries with you guys! But I can’t! AND MAX if you were in Akiba with me it would have gone a lot better hahaha.

tokyo. is. so. FUCKING AWESOME

Okay it`s 5:53 am over here IN TOKYO (yeah it feels awesome to say that!!) I only have about 45 minutes to write about the last 4 INSANELY PACKED days. So this is hardly going to cover what has happened XD.

 

SO basically the SJ orientation was like a summer camp. Cafeteria food, really jank public showers, and more etiquette lessons and “workshops” to reiterate that “Hey guys Japan is different” lol. But my kumi (group/class/gang) was ridiculously awesome so it turned out to be really enjoyable!! In the 2 days we knew eachother we already developed nicknames and inside jokes <3 for future reference: “cannon ball”, “Liz it’s your fault”, “THE scapegoat”, “CAFE LATTE!!”, “Conner’s a winner” :3. Also, I love California in general; the weather was amazing all day everyday.

Well finally on wednesday orientation was over and I experienced my first international flight– and got placed in the middle of a 5-seat row LOL WTF. So I only got up once in the 10 hours; I sat between two Japanese businessy men and I think one of them was taking speed, he would like randomly eat some tablet thing and then act super squirrelly haha umm.

 So after 10 hours of listening to a mixture of D12, AAS, and JapanesePodcast101, we arrived at Narita International Airport. It was so quiet and different. A great kind of different. The first Japanese I spoke was “toire wa doko ni arimasu ka?”, crappily XD. Then I couldn’t even find it after she gave me directions! Learning experience I guess haha.

We were bussed to TOKYO PRINCE HOTEL (super gorgeous and super high-end!!! Particularly awesome for me because with the scholarship it’s free =D). The ride was so exciting; I was worried that I wouldn’t be excited to see Tokyo since I’ve seen so many pictures and studied Japan so much that I’d killed all the freshness and shock people would usually receive. That was so totally not the case… to be acually here is an experience that you can never ever dull down with excessive research. I can’t describe how wonderful it is here…

After settling into my room (beautiful… the pictures don’t do it justice), I left the hotel to go shopping!! YFU Japan said they would allow us to visit outside of the hotel because, I quote, “We know it’s impossible to make you stay in the hotel. Just don’t take the train or go too far” LOL TOTALLY BALLIN, I KNOW. FUCK, IT WAS SO COOL. I sound like such a loser, but I got to spend my first day in Japan WANDERING TOKYO AT NIGHT. I was expecting to be locked in my room by YFU officials! AHHHHHHH in those moments, everything was right.. <3

There’s this gorgeous Japanese-style garden attached to the hotel! SO PRETTY AT NIGHT!! (sorry flip it over yourself I dont have time ;-;)

The first thing I bought was total impulse; creme d’anjou –I was all “kuremu danju HITOTSU!! =D” LOLOL I like to think he didn’t think I was gaijin…BUT later I nervously asked for a computer room in the hotel and the woman totally switched to english. Don’t blame her, I said it really crappily. 1 FOR LIZ, 1 FOR JAPANESE PEOPLE. I’mma keep a tally hahaha.

PICTURES DO NOT DO THESE MOMENTS JUSTICE, AT ALL.

CREME D’ANJOUUUU. It was mediocre food-wise, BUT THE ATMOSPHERE MADE IT GODLY.

I have a great story about this adooooooorable street perfoming girl musician too, but I have to go to breakfast now!! I’m totally late from typing all this. BYE EVERYONE!!!!!! Wish you were here!!!!