On the 29th, we met up with a couple of girls from Berkeley who are just finishing their programs. We went to Asakusa to visit the Miyamoto Taiko Store. The main store was closed, but even at the other one, there were a lot of things I wanted to buy. (By the way, if you want any bachi or tabi or anything, let me know.) Tom and I went to Odaiba after that. We went to 'palatte town' which had a shopping area, arcade, ferris wheel, and Toyota showcase (which was full of cars, information about cars, and exhibits on design/function). The picture is of the view of Odaiba from the ferris wheel and of one of the Pokemon themed cars that was on display. (By far one of my favorite things I've seen so far.)
Today, I moved into the Weekly Mansion in Kameido. To be blunt, moving sucked. During our first trip, we got lost after we got off at Kameido and ended up walking around in a storm for about an hour. (My shoes and some of the clothes in my suitcase are hang drying right now.) We had to make two trips to Shinagawa to get all of our stuff, but between those two trips we made 2 trips to the Koto-ku office to register as aliens. We couldn't register the first time because we didn't have our room numbers yet, but we weren't getting those until 3:00pm. After doing that we tried to get cell phones, but couldn't because we didn't have all the paperwork. Then we went back to Shinagawa the 2nd time and ended up riding packed trains (you know, squished in like sardines) back to Kameido. I'm glad I don't have to move for another 6 weeks. The mansion is small, but it will do. There are 57 other EAP people here and a lot of them are going to Sophia. Tomorrow is our 5 hours Japanese placement test. I wonder how that will go...
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