The past weekend was pretty busy. Thursday and Friday I didn't have any classes so I pretty much got a very long weekend. On Thursday I went to the Kesei-Tsudanuma station to go get my Alien Registration at the City Office. This will probably be considered as one of my most memorable events because I was in a situation that I have never been in before. So as we entered the City Office building there's a little booth that had a sign on it that said Alien Registration. One of the office ladies came up to me I told her that I needed to do my Alien Registration. Then she said and I quote "Speak Slowly" to which I replied "Alllliiiieeeenn Reeeegiiisstrraatiioon."

Now that I think about it, the whole thing kind of sounds pretty stupid. But I've never been told to speak slowly and it was definitely equivalent to culture shock for me. I guess since I've been here the people I've met all spoke a little bit of English so I was cushioned a little, but I've come to realize my error and it won't happen again. Other than that I think I've been adapting pretty well to the customs of Japan. Most of the time I stay silent, but I gotta improve my Japanese so I'll be practicing more now. On Friday we went to Harajuku and the Meijin Jingu Shrine. It was awesome. I really enjoyed walking around Harajuku and we stopped at this store called Kiddy Land; which is insane. It's floors and floors and floors of cutesy stuff. I bought stationary =D

Then on Saturday morning we left our dorm really early to go to Camp Zama, which is an American Base located in the Kanagawa Prefecture for Hanami - which is flower viewing; specifically for the Cherry Blossoms. It was so prettty.. it was like a festival in the base. There were food booths everywhere from different countries and games and live bands. There was a lot of people though so it was hard to capture the Cherry Blossoms by themselves. Here's a pretty decent shot though. We left the base around 3pm and then stayed in Shinjuku until about 10pm. I was going to this club called Trump House, which plays Electro music, with some of the kids in the IES program. Since trains stop running at midnight, clubs here start around then and end at 5am when the trains resume. So pretty much you gotta stay out all night.

The club decor was intense. There were chandeliers hanging everywhere and deer heads all over the walls. Good thing I'm short because some of the chandeliers were pretty low. AFter the club we went to McDonalds for early breakfast and here's a 6am shot of Shibuya right before I went into the train station to head home. Sunday I pretty much just slept. Here's to week #2.

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The past weekend was pretty busy. Thursday and Friday I didn't have any classes so I pretty much got a very long weekend. On Thursday I went to the Kesei-Tsudanuma station to go get my Alien Registration at the City Office. This will probably be considered as one of my most memorable events because I was in a situation that I have never been in before. So as we entered the City Office building there's a little booth that had a sign on it that said Alien Registration. One of the office ladies came up to me I told her that I needed to do my Alien Registration. Then she said and I quote "Speak Slowly" to which I replied "Alllliiiieeeenn Reeeegiiisstrraatiioon."

Now that I think about it, the whole thing kind of sounds pretty stupid. But I've never been told to speak slowly and it was definitely equivalent to culture shock for me. I guess since I've been here the people I've met all spoke a little bit of English so I was cushioned a little, but I've come to realize my error and it won't happen again. Other than that I think I've been adapting pretty well to the customs of Japan. Most of the time I stay silent, but I gotta improve my Japanese so I'll be practicing more now. On Friday we went to Harajuku and the Meijin Jingu Shrine. It was awesome. I really enjoyed walking around Harajuku and we stopped at this store called Kiddy Land; which is insane. It's floors and floors and floors of cutesy stuff. I bought stationary =D

Then on Saturday morning we left our dorm really early to go to Camp Zama, which is an American Base located in the Kanagawa Prefecture for Hanami - which is flower viewing; specifically for the Cherry Blossoms. It was so prettty.. it was like a festival in the base. There were food booths everywhere from different countries and games and live bands. There was a lot of people though so it was hard to capture the Cherry Blossoms by themselves. Here's a pretty decent shot though. We left the base around 3pm and then stayed in Shinjuku until about 10pm. I was going to this club called Trump House, which plays Electro music, with some of the kids in the IES program. Since trains stop running at midnight, clubs here start around then and end at 5am when the trains resume. So pretty much you gotta stay out all night.

The club decor was intense. There were chandeliers hanging everywhere and deer heads all over the walls. Good thing I'm short because some of the chandeliers were pretty low. AFter the club we went to McDonalds for early breakfast and here's a 6am shot of Shibuya right before I went into the train station to head home. Sunday I pretty much just slept. Here's to week #2.

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