Tutor / Dorm

Erika, my assigned Japanese counselor, was a 24 year-old college student who was studying to be an English teacher at the same university that I would be attending. Compared to the other counselors I would meet, her English was very poor so I was confused as to why she wanted to be an English teacher. Erika loved to read, drink French wine and hang out with her friends in Tokyo. She was an only child but had a black pug that she gave an ordinary English name, like George. Other than those few facts, I didn't learn a whole lot about my counselor due to her limited English skills and my shyness to use Japanese.

She helped me carry my luggage throughout the busy Yokohama station from YCAT; past the busy shopping areas like SOGO, The Diamond, and Takashimaya; to the Yokohama City Blue Line. There, she bought tickets for the both of us and then we put our tickets through the gate which sucked them in and then brought them up through the next side for the passenger to grab and use as they exited the station when they arrived at their destination. I was unaware that I had to do this, so I left my ticket at the first gate. Erika had to purchase me another ticket when we made it to Gumyoji where the dorms were located.

Erika printed out a map of the bus line I would be riding on every day and circled the Kanji and stop numbers that were important. Stop 12 was where my dorm was located; stop 20 was where Yokohama station was located; and stop 22 was where I had to get off to walk to school every day. I thanked her and reassured her that I wouldn't forget my ticket at the first gate again.

I had been awake for about 20 hours and after many hours of traveling, being stressed and overwhelmed by a completely new culture, I was becoming delirious. We continued lugging the baggage through Gumyoji's shopping street when it started to drizzle. The street was like a dream-land that had lights and streamers twisting and winding all about; with beautiful, airy symphonic music playing through the speakers; and there were various quaint shops that displayed its Japanese food, crafts, and all sorts of items to lure the shoppers in. A cute, little old man bowed his head and said, "good luck in Japan!" as he noticed that I was a new resident. It really made me happy to be given such a sweet welcoming by a local in the district I would be residing where most of the residents were old.

As I approached the end of the shopping street I was taken aback by people carrying signs, screaming the same phrases over and over into megaphones. I glanced around and noticed posters of people with the names written next to them on stuck to the walls. I asked Erika what was going on and she couldn't explain it. Later, I would come to learn that it was election week in Japan which is perhaps the noisiest time in Japan. People drove in trucks all day long, blasting their sirens while screaming "vote for so-and-so" until a certain hour of night (I want to say 9 PM).

Following Erika closely behind, I crossed the street and quickly took notice to a tall blond who was crossing in the opposite direction. She looked so out of place that I could only guess that she was a new student as well. Erika took a left and then continued on a little bit further until we made it to the entrance of the dorms. We went through the first set of doors and then were met by a short blond girl, three Japanese students and an office lady. They introduced themselves as the dorm assistants and said that if I ever needed help I could call them or go to their rooms. The short blond was referred to as "the Boss." At first I didn't know what to make of her as she seemed kind of bitchy. Malinda*, "the Boss," had already been there for one semester and was fluent in Japanese. She was originally from Sweden but had been studying at the University of Sheffield in England so had picked up an English accent.

Everyone asked where I was from, and when they heard that I was from California they all oooo-ed and aaaawwww-ed. They then asked if I knew Cindy* who was from the same school as me back in California. I said I knew who she was, but didn't know her.

"Let's get you into your room so you can have a proper sleep," Malinda said while directing me and the rest of the gang up the flight of stairs and to the 3rd floor where my room was located. She opened the door and we set my luggage on the floor.

"この部屋はちょっと変ね？(This room is a bit weird, isn't it?)” she commented to the others. I agreed in my head.

She showed me around the room and how to use to toilet, shower, kitchen sink and AC/heater and then showed me the trash can. Disposing of litter was really complicated in Japan, so she said that she would go over it during orientation later the following day. After explaining everything about my room, Malinda and the other left. Erika had to get going as well since she lived about 2 hours away near Gunma, so we made plans to meet at the dorm complex in the afternoon the next day to get a keitai (cellphone), gaijin (foreigner) I.D. card, register for national health insurance and visit the university I would be attending.

I said goodnight to Erika who had seemed to be getting more comfortable using English with me. I was finally all alone. It wasn't entirely peaceful and quiet since the sirens were still blasting and people were still shouting in their microphones. I checked to see if I could pick up an internet signal so I could get in touch with my family to let them know that I had arrived and was getting situated, but could not. So instead, I opened word and jot down a few things about my long journey:

"Phil, Dylan, me the undercover agent, bombs in coach purses, hush-hush trips to Thailand, security just minutes after boarding. I’m living in JAPAN. WTF. I can’t carry a conversation with my tutor in Japanese, let alone even think coherently. My room isn’t at all what I expected. Ripped off! Shopping, orientation=tomorrooowwww. California! Malinda, the Boss."

Shortly after I closed the laptop and got ready to sleep then made my bed and crawled into it. I didn't have a pillow so used a fluffy jacket I had brought to rest my head on instead. I had problems sleeping that night since it was extremely cold and the bed was painfully uncomfortable. Since I couldn't figure out the damn remote to the AC/heater, I put on pants and and sweater in order to keep warm.

That night I remember feeling so alone. It was the first time I had lived solely by myself and wasn't sure if I could manage on my own. I thought about Japan and what adventures would come my way. I wondered if I would make any friends but wasn't counting on it since I knew I would be so unlike every single person studying through the same program. After more thinking, the sirens and noise died out and I started to drift to sleep.

Then,

finally,

I was asleep.

-Ofilia