After arriving at Narita International Airport, I was anxious to make my way to University of Tsukuba campus and start my life as an official 学生 (student)! Unfortunately, that would take a lot longer than expected. In fact, even though we touched down around 3pm, we wouldn't make it to campus until about 8pm. While waiting at the airport, I was able to better acquaint myself with some of the other students and learn about their particular goals and interests. There were students from all over the world, from Slovenia to China and beyond. It was truly amazing to see such a beautiful rainbow of cultures and ethnicities all coming together to live and learn in Japan.
Eventually after wrangling everyone together, we all loaded onto a charted bus and took a 2+ hour bus ride to University of Tsukuba. In Japan, the sun begins setting around 4:30 and turns pitch black by 6pm. Needless to say, it looked as though it was midnight by the time we arrived at the University of Tsukuba and transversed our way through the gargantuan 636 acre campus to our dorm rooms at Ichinoya. When the bus finally arrived at Ichinoya dormitory, we were each greeted by our respective tutors who would help us with the basics of living in Japan - things like opening bank accounts, buying a 自転車 (bicycle) and 携帯電話 (cellphone). My lovely tutor, Mizuho, who is a wonderful aspiring English teacher, was gracious enough to help me to my room and take my friend Rochelle and I to eat our first authentic ramen (wherein I proceeded to commit a major faux pa by forgetting to say いただきます(loosely means: I humbly receive this meal) before inhaling my noodles!)
My first impression of my new living quarters was..."this is it eh?" The rooms were small, plain, a little dirty and obviously a few decades old. Believe it or not though, getting a room in this particular dormitory was actually like winning the dorm lottery. I was lucky enough to receive a room with air conditioning/heat, a small stove range and an even smaller bathroom inside - students in adjacent dorm buildings don't have any of these things and actually have to pay $1 per 9 min for their showers (and have to make it home before 11pm if they want their shower hot)! My room, which was on the 4th floor (no elevators) of the building, contained the following: an old metal desk, chair, wooden bed with hidden drawers, a blasphemously uncomfortable microbead pillow, a table lamp (which was broken), a wire storage shelf, a stove, sink, a bathroom with a shower attachment. I was most excited about the bathroom - it was nothing like I've ever seen before! At first glance, the bathroom looks like little more than a mirror and a toilet and a large sink. However, when you move the sink cover over the toilet, the entire room becomes a shower! Not only that, the hot water controls are on the outside of the bathroom. We went through 2 days of ice cold showers before we found out from our tutor that you had to press a particular button to make the water hot (D'oh!!).
Currently, having lived in this dorm room for the past 4 months, I can say without hesitation that it is like a second home to me. As I write this I am in Texas, thousands of miles away from Japan on a short holiday visit to America, and honestly all I can think about is missing my tiny little dorm room and my awesome life in Japan. I'll be back in Japan in a few short days and I am beyond excited!
じゃまた
Ashia A.
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