Well, I am sitting here on the JAL (Japan Airlines) 747, bound for Osaka. We are about three hours into our trip, with about 10 hours yet remaining. So far, everything has been routine. Lunch was served, Japanese food that was, while not quite good, at least edible. I am on the window seat, though it is regrettably over the left wing of the plane, so my view is limited. We are currently over Canada's Northwest Territory, en route to Alaska. Cloud cover is heavy, so I cannot see much at the moment. On the way to Chicago, however, I had quite a view. It is so amazing to look down from 30,000 feet in the air and marvel, firstly, that this amazing metal bird can get off the ground at all, and secondly, how pretty the countryside is from the air.

My seatmate (I have only one, with an empty seat between us, conveniently enough) is headed to Osaka for Japanese language school. He taught English in China two years ago, and in Japan last year. We have a lot in common, you see. His Chinese is better than mine, but my Japanese is better than his. Interestingly enough, the people in the two rows ahead of us are all Chinese. So, the flight attendants, after realising that they were not Japanese, (though they addressed them in Japanese for the first hour and a half of the trip!) had a little trouble speaking to them, as the Chinese people speak exactly three words of English, and the Japanese flight attendants' English is not that great either. Therefore, my seatmate and I helped out. The Japanese flight attendant would tell us, in Japanese, what she needed from the Chinese. When my seatmate could not quite grasp her Japanese, I told him in English, and we endeavoured (with him doing most of the talking) to translate that into Chinese. Then came the reply, and the process was reversed! Quite a conversation, let me tell you! The Chinese, thrilled that we Gwai Lo (the Chinese term for us "round eyes," it means, literally "foreign devils") spoke their language, albeit haltingly, (to be fair, I spoke it haltingly and my seatmate spoke it much more fluently) so they talked to us for about 20 minutes. Most of my contribution was explaining why I knew Chinese at all, and apologising for not knowing it better. Anyway, the Japanese flight attendants are amazed that we speak any Japanese or Chinese at all.

Well, the in-flight movie (the first of two, actually) starts soon, so I will continue this later, either over the Pacific or from Kanazawa itself.

Mata ato de (be back later).

Ok, I promised that I would be back later, and here I am. It is now 18:50 here, which would be 05:50 for most of you, I believe. To bring you up to date, I got here (Kanazawa University's International Student Centre) at 19:30 or so last night. When my narrative left off, I was on a plane, over Canada. I had better explain how it is I got to Japan. The plane ride was very long, taking about 14 hours total, I think. I was met at the airport, after picking up my baggage (no problems there, thank goodness) and going through customs and immigration, by a travel agency employee. She bought my train tickets and put me on the first of two trains. I rode the JR Haruka (Kansai Airport express) to Shin-Osaka, then switched to the Thunderbird (actually, Sandaba-do in Japanese!) to Kanazawa. The trains took another 3 hours. A gentleman from the International Student Division of Kanazawa University met me at the train station and we went, via a Toyota minivan (that was an exact copy of ours, except that everything is on the wrong side!), on the wrong side of the road, to the International Student Centre. We stopped on the way, at the gentleman's insistence, to buy toilet paper and food for breakfast. Then, at the Kaikan (I use the Japanese abbreviation, because I just get tired of typing International Student Centre), I was given a lengthy introduction and briefing from the head of the ISD (International Student Division, remember?). Luckily, Kobayashi-sensei, one of the Japanese professors that I had at William and Mary, was there. She has, amazingly enough, both gotten married and gotten a job here at Kanazawa! It was very nice to see her. After this initiation, I was finally alone in my room, some 20 hours after I had begun my trip! Needless to say, between being awake for 24+ hours and the jet lag, I was quite ready to sleep. However, I first unpacked my stuff and struggled to make my bed (I still have not figured out how to put that &*^%$%# fitted sheet on properly!). Finally, I fell asleep at 22:00 or so, Kanazawa time. I woke up the next morning at about 7:30. Amazingly enough, I was rested, and have held up well all day. Should I not be tired? Well, I should not complain!

Anyway, I woke up and took a shower, which was interesting, because my shower is in the bathroom. Being in the bathroom is not so incredulous unless I describe to you the bathroom. It is a 2x2 metre room, containing a toilet, sink, and removable shower head. The entire room is watertight, so, to shower, you must first turn on the water heater via a wall-mounted, digital control outside the door and select the temperature (luckily there is a chart recommending that I should take showers from 40 to 43 degrees Celsius, about 110 F, I think), then close the door, turn on the water (I use the sink to make sure the temperature is nice), then flip the "selector switch" to the shower setting. I then stand by the toilet and shower. It is most interesting.

While I am on the room, let me describe that, as well. You walk in a big metal door to find the refrigerator and sink to the right and the bathroom to the left. Walking through this area, you come to the "bedroom / main room." The futon is on the left, and a desk, a wardrobe, and some shelves are to the right. In front of you is a sliding glass door that opens onto my balcony, which contains a drying rack (for clothes) and an escape hatch! In case of emergency, (I am quoting from my room's instruction manual) one is supposed to open the escape hatch, drop the the enclosed ladder and climb down to safety. Anyway, my room has more digital controls than the Batcave. I feel like I am living in Star Trek! It does not help that everyone has a cell phone (read: communicator)! :)

Anyway, after my shower, I had a breakfast of "Neo Raisin Rolls" and orange juice and read some of my book. I continued to organise my room and then went to a meeting in the Common Room (where I sit now, typing this). We went to the Gakushoku (student cafeteria) and ate lunch, then to the bank, where we opened bank accounts with 1 yen. That is about 1 American cent! After the bank, two of my newfound exchange student friends and I went to the su-pa-, a huge Japanese version of a Wal-Mart. The two that I went with were from Ireland and Australia! We did some serious shopping, ate some "American sutairu!" (style) pizza then returned. That is my first day!

I am enjoying it so far, I must say. The strangest thing about living in Japan (so far) is that you must sort your trash into SIX categories! Paper and burnable kitchen debris, cans, bottles, newspapers and magazines, hazardous trash (batteries, florescent light bulbs and such), and everything else. What a long strange trip...

Well, I will give you more in a week or so.