Let me begin this blog by noting that I was going to embed a video of myself and my humble yet adequate apartment, but I noticed first that I needed some pants and then later that I needed a microphone. So maybe next time. It's coming up on the one month mark since my last post, and I am horribly tardy on an update. Now that I actually have internet, however, these can be as frequent as possible. For anyone who actually visits here, thank you. Now, onto the update. It's difficult to catalog all of the important events in the last month. It's honestly been a strange balance between minor culture shocks and a little too much English. There's a significant amount of hand-holding that all of us in the program receive at the outset, and rightfully so. Many of us are beginning with little to no knowledge of Japan or its language. And when you have to live here and pay bills that come in the mail with your name as the only English on it, some help is appreciated. Still, I have yet to settle in entirely, and each step gets me a bit further. I have to already take a vacation day soon so that I can go into the city and take a test for a moped license (do you need a license for these in the US?). All around, they are the best cost-efficient option, given the license fees, insurance, gas efficiency, and so on. And I have a short distance to travel to get anywhere I want to be. After that day, actually, my life might settle down. I can be a bit more independent and go to the gym or beach or karaoke or anywhere here without a hassle, unless it rains...which it does. And I don't think I've ever seen it "sprinkle" here as much as I've seen torrents of rain somewhat reminiscent of the worst rain I've ever seen in my life, which was coincidentally two days before I came here in Philly. So enough of the future; what have I done? I rode my bicycle for a few hours last weekend to find a beach. I stopped in a fishing port city on the way and played baseball in a park with a couple of little kids. I later exchanged phone numbers with their mother (not what it sounds like), and I got a pleasant call the next morning from all three saying thank you for playing and let's maybe do it again sometime. Oh, to trust people. Then I went to the beach and hung out with some incredible bugs. They came en masse out of the ocean and onto the rocks around me. They were little segmented creatures not unlike giant pill bugs that skittered away at the tiniest commotion near them. It was an exodus. I was scared. So I then rode / walked my bike back through the mountains for another few hours and caught some unwanted rays. I visited another beach the weekend before that, and have done some sightseeing around various mountaintops in the region. I am cooking a lot for myself, but I can't acheive a genuine Japanese flavor on my own. Nonetheless, sometimes I need to eat several hundred grams of chicken and yes, the metric system is starting to grow on me. Also, I only have a few TV channels here as of now unless I want to pay more, but it's still enough to watch the Olympics (with interesting Japanese narration), coverage of Obama's running mate, and an interview with a boy who has a nearly sexual fondness for cold water all in one evening. Ain't Japan great? I don't know, but I intend to find out. Leave me some questions, and for now I'll leave you with some pictures. 1 and 2: some views of the landscape in Nagoya, where last week's orientation was held as my modem waited for me at home. It was pretty desolate, in a good way. 3 and 4: views from a mountaintop. 5: I try to find my keys in Daniel's kimono during a workshop. 6: "Oh sunset, now you're making me feel romantic", a quote similar to the one half an hour before, which was, "Oh jellyfish, now you're making me feel significant pain in my leg". 7: The very same beach with the sunset, viewed on a different day from a mountaintop. 8: Is it racist if it was my first one ever? 9: Fukiage Beach, the same one as the other pictures. I never bothered to snap photos of my bicycle adventure. Also of note, a couple weeks ago witnessed the 30th anniversary of a Japanese man's disappearance via Korean abduction at no location other than Fukiage Beach. And finally, 10: As far as volcanoes go, this one is active. Hey! Leave comments. Let's talk.