Sorry it's been awhile since last post.

So I bet you are all wondering what happened to me (if anybody is still reading this thing that is ;) So there are several troubling legal red tape issues you have to take care of as a foreigner living in Japan under a visa. However I'm finally through all the red tape nastiness so I'm feeling pretty good about all that. School has started so I'm kinda on a set schedule now getting up for classes early every morning. My classes have not been very interesting so far but as it's only the 2nd day of the 2nd week I hope they pick up some more and start getting harder. Tokyo is treating me pretty good I've been sampling many different restaurants and checking out the night life a bit on weekends. Karaoke in Japan is much better than the American style. Going to a Karaoke box with just your friends is quite fun. I've been able to meet several pretty cool people and am getting lots of practice at Japanese because several of the people I've met do not really speak English. However going out in Japan can be VERY expensive. At some places I've been to it's been 1000 yen for a beer. Usually it's only around 500 yen though occasionally cheaper. There are lot's of good places to eat but they can quickly get expensive if you go to an izakaya or something like that. (There are plenty of cheap places to eat too but the food at the expensive places is sooo good.) And if you stay out past last train, usually a little bit after midnight, you are stuck hanging out till the trains start running again sometime around 5-6 in the morning. The nice thing is though that my host mother is fine with me coming home on the morning trains after going out and drinking with friends. I kinda stumbled into a job working as an English tutor for 1 hour a week and get paid 4000 yen for that so that's helping to defray some of the cost and if I end up getting desperate for money I could actually find some decent paying part-time jobs... or maybe just tutor a couple more people. I'll try to drop a more detailed update soon and get some more pictures up.

Survived one week in Tokyo.

Well it has been a week since I came to Tokyo. I am sitting here waiting for Enta no Kamisama to come on. I am beginning to get used to Tokyo. This week has been pretty busy taking care of errands and exploring Tokyo. Living in Tokyo as a foreigner requires a lot of work. I arrived in Tokyo last Friday by way of the Nozomi Shinkansen line which makes a stop in Shinyokohama and then hits Tokyo which makes it a super quick way to get from Nagoya to Tokyo. It only took about an hour and forty minutes from Nagoya. I had my two biggest bags shipped from the hotel in Nagoya so I only had to carry my two smaller bags. I put those in a coin locker and went to the station across from my school. I explored the campus a bit and the area around it. The Overseas Liaison Center arranged for a student from the university to take me from campus to the home of my host family. When I arrived at the host family's house I met with the host mother and the three of us (me, the student from Sophia, and the host mother) spoke for some time. The host mother and father do not speak English so day to day communication is good practice. The family actually hosts 3 students the other 2 attend the International Christian University (ICU) not far from the house. The family I am staying with are very nice and pretty much don't care what I do. The mother is a good cook and cooks a lot of food so often the biggest problem with the food is actually eating all of it because it would be rude not to eat everything I was given...
I took the weekend to travel around a bit and get used to the train system. There are train lines all over Tokyo so getting around is not too difficult. Monday was a holiday here so I was not able to go to the Chofu city office to get my alien registration card which I needed for getting a cell phone and a bank account.. and to just stay in this country in general. So on Tuesday I went out and got the card then went to find a phone as I was already feeling that it was essential to my existence in Japan. I settled on Softbank for the phone. The phone I got is amazing. It has a built in TV so I can watch and record TV from anywhere, a GPS unit, a widescreen display a browser capable of viewing normal web pages (not just ones designed for phones), media support for video, music, etc, a ton of cool games (including some SQUARE ENIX games like a Secret of Mana spin off) a set of Japanese/English English/Japanese and Japanese dictionaries and a bunch of other features.
Wednesday we had the placement test and school orientation. The placement test was alot harder than expected but they don't announce the results until next week so I have no idea what level of Japanese I will be taking.
Thursday I took care of getting a bank account which definately tested my ability with Japanese since the bank worker didn't speak English. I think everyday life here will allow for alot of Japanese practice. Anyway I will post more later and some pictures. Take care everyone.

Made it to Tokyo.

Well today was a day of firsts. First time riding on a Shinkansen, first time seeing Mt Fuji, first time in Tokyo, first time meeting my host family, first time setting foot on the Sophia Campus. In the last week I've been just kinda hanging out. I saw the sights of Nagoya such as Osu Kannon Temple, the Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya Castle, and Meijo Park. My ryokan was very close to the Heiandori subway station so it made checking out Nagoya very easy. I think of everything I saw in Nagoya, Nagoya castle was my favorite. I also tasted some of the local foods of Nagoya of which I really liked the Kishimen. My host family is very nice and I think I'm going to like staying here. There are two other guys here who are studying at ICU. Well I think I'm gonna try to get settled in a bit so I will post a better more detailed update later.

Made it to Japan. Initial exploration of Nagoya.

Well I made it into Nagoya around 6:30 on Tuesday night after a very long plane flight. At the airport I bade farewell to my traveling companions and set off to find the train that would take me to the place where I was staying. The place is very nice and has a much appreciated air conditioner since the weather has been very hot.
The room is small but nice. There are two baths a small one and a large one but I have not tried the large one yet.

By the time I took the trains out and found my hotel it was pretty late so I took a bath and relaxed and then went to bed. I woke up around 7:30 on Wednesday and felt pretty good. I seem to have escaped any jet lag. I first went around and explored some of the local area. I found a Book-off which is a large used book store with very good prices. I also saw some familiar sights which weren't quite so familiar.

An oddly shaped can of coke.

"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."

By the way 10 bonus points for whoever can say where that quote is from :)
I then set out to find Nagoya castle. With a little help from Google maps I found my way there. Inside they had an exhibition of Japanese swords, muskets and many other sites such as the set up of rooms and a palanquin. unfortunately many of the floors no photography was allowed.

Wednesday night I headed to an izakaya with Tyler and some people he knew in Nagoya. Beer was very expensive but the food was pretty good. I tried some okonomiyaki and noticed that they had cheese curds on the menu. I was curious to see what cheese curd in Japan would be like so I tried them. They were a tad bland but otherwise not too bad.
It is now Thursday morning so I set out to go explore some more. I will post more soon.