Pictures!

Sorry!I know i said i would put pictures up last night but when i got back from the welcome party I fell asleep.
The welcome party was nice. I met some people from Thailand, Australia, States and France.

This morning I had to wake up at 7:30 to get ready for my Alien Registration. When I was there I met people from New Mexico, Cali, and Mexico. Everyone here seems really nice and willing to make new friends. After alien registration I had a meeting about Japanese Language courses then went to lunch with my new friends.

So far I have tried some new food and it has been pretty good. The food is not expensive. I can eat lunch for about $3 or $4, especially since hot tea and water is free!

The more I am here at APU the prettier it is because i keep seeing the campus and views at different times of the day!!!


Ok well here are some pictures of the journey so far!!!!

Michelle and I at the Chicago Airport

Seoul Airport!

Michelle and I in Seoul.

Fukuoka, Japan! (On a bus so didn't really turn out)

View from Michelle's floor.

View on campus.

Downtown Beppu during our shopping tour!

Well thats all for now. I will post all my pictures on my facebook and just some on here so add me if you want to see all the pics!

Stephi

First Day

Hi everyone! 

I am officially in Japan now.  I got here last night after about 26ish hours of traveling. The dorms aren't bad, i have a  roommate but we can close a door between us and have our own room. Her name is Risa. Met some other cool people too. 

This morning i got ready and then went on a shopping tour of Beppu with other students and Michelle, thats where I made some friends. After shopping for a few hours we came back then went to dinner in the cafeteria. I had Gyuniku-udon, which is noodles(udon) and beef in a broth. Udon is only one type of noodle they also have soba and ramen. I just got done with dinner and now in 10 min there is a welcome party for new international students!!!!!!

Beppu was very pretty but I didnt take many pictures today because we were in a rush. But I will upload some pictures when I get back from the party!

Stephi

General Info

I apologize now for how long this entry is, but i just want to fill everybody in on what's going on.

To start with a kimono is a traditional Japanese garment worn by men, women and children, unless you ask a Greek person then Kimono come from the Greek work himona which means winter and what do you wear in the winter to stay warm? A robe. You see: robe, kimono. There you go.
For those of you that don't know I'm half Greek...

Anyways.... In 8 days I will be going to Japan for 4 1/2 months with my lovely roommate Michelle. We will be studying at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) in Beppu, Japan. After we get done studying we are taking about 9 days to travel from Beppu to Tokyo.

My adventure begins on March 27th at 10:20 am when I fly out to Chicago then to Seoul, South Korea then finally to Fukuoka, Japan. Where I will then have to get on a bus for about 2 hours to travel to APU.

So these past few months have been a little stressful trying to get everything together from clothes, money, airfare, visa, classes to everything else you can think of. Also trying to prepare myself for the different culture such as the food, behaviors, and toilets (google Japanese toilets and you'll understand). Then don't forget they speak a whole different language (which you may see sometimes in my blog) that uses Kanji (the characters) along with two other writing system called Hiragana and Katakana. AND when speaking to someone older or more important i.e a boss you use a different style of speech then you would with someone younger or more aquatinted with or you will offend them but when in doubt be more formal rather then less.

Well the next post you will see will be when I am actually in Japan. Future post will also, hopefully, have pictures or videos.  If there is anything specific you want to know about my trip or Japan in general feel free to ask and I will try to include it.

Well everyone thats in for today. See you again in Japan!
P.S.- The time (7:35 am) on here is the time in Japan, just FYI.