Orientation

I woke up from my nap, left my room, walked down the stairs and then entered the meeting hall located near the entrance of the dorm complex and sat down in a chair seconds before the orientation began. I looked around the room to scoop the others out and it appeared as though everyone already knew at least one other person. When the orientation began everyone was asked to tell their names and where they were from. The Aussies, Swedes and Frenchies all knew each other before departing, just like I knew the two others (Eli*-whom I have not yet mentioned-and Brad) who came from my school. The only problem was that this was the girl dorm and I was without friends or people I knew so felt lonely and a bit shy compared to the others who seemed a bit more at ease.

Malinda "The Boss" and the other dorm assistants introduced themselves and then started the orientation process. First, they explained the laundry rooms and the schedule and sign up forms for getting a new change of bed sheets and blankets. Then they passed out sheets explaining the AC/heater remotes since all of the buttons were written with Japanese. This did not help me because my AC/heater and remote were different than all of the others. Last, the explained the complicated procedure of taking out the gomi. To be honest, I never figured it out so I just wore a hoodie to cover up my face every time I went to the garbage dump area at the dorms because they set up cameras to monitor everyone to make sure they were doing it correctly.

The New York Times article "How Do Japanese Dump Trash? Let Us Count the Myriad Ways", along with a slideshow, reveals just how tedious taking out the trash is in Yokohama:

"YOKOHAMA, Japan - When this city recently doubled the number of garbage categories to 10, it handed residents a 27-page booklet on how to sort their trash. Highlights included detailed instructions on 518 items."

During the orientation we were instructed to literally separate everything (i.e., plastic, wrappers, papers, string, clothes, metals, cardboard, etc.) from each other, and depending on what certain items were we were told how to dispose of the gomi in the garbage dump area. Certain items were to be placed in a plastic bag that was to be tied up; other items were to be placed in a plastic bag that was not supposed to be tied up; and many items were not supposed to be in a bag at all. Oi.

From what I came to learn at the end of that semester, most cities in Japan did not have to follow such tough guidelines for removing their trash and that the guideline was a decision made by the city of Yokohama itself in order to cut down pollution.

Here is Yokohama city's guide on removing gomi: "How to put out Your Garbage and Recyclables"

After the orientation was over I asked one of the Japanese dorm assistants to help me set my keitai up into English and then I exchanged numbers with him, Malinda and a few others. By that time I was pretty exhausted from waking up extremely early and then running around all day so I decided to get something to eat at the shopping street (a tonkatsu bento) and then returned to my dorm room and crashed.

-Ofilia

Dorm Room Pictures

While I waited for the orientation, I took photos of my room:

This was the kitchen.


This was the desk. On the left was my dresser.


This was my uncomfortable bed.

This was my bathroom.

Second Day/Errands

Within what seemed like days, I woke up. I had no idea what time it was, but it felt as though it was at least 10 am. I jumped in the shower/bath and got ready for my first day in Japan. After getting ready, I was really anxious to walk around the shopping street and find something to eat for breakfast.  

I grabbed some money and my keys to my room and headed down the stairs to the entrance. I glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed it was 7 am, which was a lot earlier than I had expected. However, what I did not know was that that clock was broken and hadn't budged in years and that it was actually only 6 am. Therefore, none of the shops were open when I took my stroll and the only people who were out and about were businessmen headed towards the station to start their commute to work. I tried to play off that I knew what I was doing and where I was going and continued to walk on through the shopping street, past the Gumyoji Temple, and walked up a hill until I spotted a McDonald's that was located just before the train tracks on the left. Being that it was the only thing open during this time, I decided to have my very first meal in Japan there.

McDonald's. Ugh. How American of me. ; p  

I entered and was greeted with irashaimase (welcome) by every employee. I had no idea as to what they were exactly saying to me since I didn't know keigo (polite form of Japanese), so i just ordered in Japanese which wasn't hard to do since everything on the menu was written in Katakana.  

“ホットケーキと小さいコーヒーお願いします。”（pancakes and a small coffee, please.)  

I ate my first meal in Japan alone while feeling as though all eyes were on me. I watched the other people to see what they were doing so I didn't make an idiot out of myself. I was mostly worried about what to do with the gomi (trash) after I had finished since they were so strict about it. Luckily, a man had finished before me so I watched him discard everything into the correct waste basket and then I followed his example. Not so difficult. Only plastic in one and only paper in the other.  

After disposing of my trash I headed back. It was around that time that all of the shops started to open so I bought a couple of things (a pillow, toilet paper and a couple of towels) and then headed back to my dorm.  I went through the entrance and asked the office lady for the correct time and then returned to my room, set my iPod's clock to Japan time and then took a nap before meeting with Erika.  

Erika met me at the dorms like we had planned and we headed towards the station to get everything I needed to done. First off, we went to Yodobashi Camera where I bought my keitai (Japanese cellphone) which only cost a dollar with my student discount. Little did I know at this point just how important my keitai would be. Before going to Yodobashi, I had told Erika that I originally didn't want a cellphone while I was there because I wasn't planning on making friends so didn't see the point of it. She laughed at me.  

We bought my keitai and went back on the Blue Line to our next stop in Maita where I took my picture in a photo booth; went to the district office to register for national health insurance and gaijin identification card; and then take a break to drink tea and eat lunch at a curry shop. That was my first time eating Japanese curry, and I loved it! Erika and I had small talk once again and she told me that she had never been to America but would like to live in New York someday.

After our lunch she said we needed to go to the university to pick up information about orientation and my Japanese placement test.  We hopped back on the blue line and got off at stop 22; walked 20 minutes to the 留学生センター（International Student Center, or ISC for short) and met with Kazoi-san* who was in charge of running the ISC office. She had me fill out a few forms for my student I.D. card and then showed me where my own individual pick up box was located. Within the box were a few more forms with information about the orientation and sheets that I would need to fill out after I had chosen the classes I would be taking that semester. Before I left Kazoi-san told me that I would learn everything I needed to during orientation and couldn't wait to see me around.  

Erika and I left the campus and she dropped me off at the station. She asked if I could figure out how to get back home on my own, and I hesitantly said I was able. Before I said' thank you' and 'good-bye' she reminded me of my stop number (12).  

My first train ride alone was very uncomfortable. I can't even begin to explain what it was like being a gaijin in Japan. All eyes are on you. It might not be blatantly obvious that people are staring at you (and yes, there are times when the person sitting next to you does turn their head to stare, making your entire ride awkward), but they are. Most people look away when you turn your face toward them and then continue to look at your from the corner of their eye. At times I felt like a celebrity and at others I felt as though I was some sort of asshole, invading their precious country and disgusting them with my gaijin-ity.  

I successfully made it back to the dorms on my own and had an hour to kill before the orientation. At the entrance of the dorms was a sign that had the names of the people attending the orientation along with what country they were from:  

Australia: 6 

France: 3

Sweden: 2 

and America: 1 (being me)  

I was extremely excited but nervous about meeting some of the people who would be attending the university through the same program.  

I went back up stairs to my room and waited.

-Ofilia

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