Impressions

Everything here is different, not totally different but just enough to make the everyday seem weird. Last night I walked around the neighborhood where my dormitory is in and managed to find this "river" called the Aishyma River which leads to the ocean. It was overgrown with weeds and plants but there were still fifty or so people there walking their dogs and engaging in activities that you would do in a park setting. I followed this along the water to a larger park that has a small beach and ocean access. The parks are few and far between in what is otherwise very densely developed area. Any open space seems to be at a premium. On the way home I came across a small dumpling restaurant and stumbled through ordering a simple meal which was delicious. I never really know what I'm ordering so I'm lucky that I like Japanese food and I like to try new things. I might be able to learn a little Japanese with time, but it's a very difficult language. However, people seem very friendly and willing to help me figure things out. The streets have no names and people seem to get around by remembering buildings or relative locations to other things. It seems crazy, I don't know how they can figure out where they're going. It makes maps some what useless.

Today I road my bike back down to this area and met up with some other people who live at the dorm. We fished but didn't really catch anything. Last night I went out with some guys from the dorm to a club in Kobe where there are supposed to be a lot of Americans called Sonic. What they didn't tell me is that the train doesn't run past 1 am and starts back up at 5 am. The bars close at 5am so we stayed out until the club closed and made it back to the dormitory around 5:30. It was a pretty crazy night.

I finally got a cell phone today with the help of my friend Shiro who speaks very good English and who I've been hanging out with quite a bit. He and another guy named Ryo have been showing me around and helping me figure out things that would be difficult to do if you didn't speak Japanese. I met another guy named Mizunu who is also really into traveling to look at architecture. This morning we went up into the mountains to look at a Tadao Ando building I wanted to see.

So far I've eaten a lot of interesting food. I've had really good sushi with raw octopus, fish eggs, thistle, and squid. I've eaten some udon noodle and have been drinking coffee out of little cans you buy at the convenience store called Family Mart. The neighborhood I'm in doesn't have that many restaurants since it is a commuter community but Kobe is only a few train stops away

Tomorrow is my first day at work. I'll write another post soon to tell you about it.