i think the best way to describe the city where i live is "efficient". obviously, that's kind of what you think of when you imagine Tokyo. but its pretty astonishing when you are looking at it in person. there are neon signs everywhere, cartoons with Japanese characters everywhere, and today i saw a geisha walk casually by me. there are little alleys that are roofed over, and inside of them are bustling stores (hyaku en stores are the best! hyaku means 100, and en means yen. everything in this store is 100 yen! you could literally furnish your apartment here..) there are cell phone booths everywhere, people handing out leaflets, random stores everywhere selling god knows what and music playing in every one. its so overwhelming, but every person that i have interacted with has gone out of their way to help me/communicate with me/be kind to me. i didn't really think that me being Caucasian would be unusual here- they are exposed to a lot of western culture, but today i had a little Japanese man stop and stare at me. i smiled and bowed to him to show respect, but he just continued to gawk at me. another young man commented how he was jealous of my eyes and loved the way English sounded, its bizarre.

that is a picture of the main station where i live. its incredible!

I made some new friends today. one girl is from hong kong, her name is Joanna, and another girl from Taiwan named Pai-ii. they are both 24 and are so helpful and kind. i wouldn't be able to function in the city without them! today we (Naomi, Joanna pai-ii and i) all went exploring our city, and we went out for dinner and purchased cell phones. dinner was great, i splurged and bought beer, and had amazing rice and a salad. the food here is crazy so i am taking baby steps with what i try. i made a promise to myself that i would try everything i can and that i wouldn't hold back though! so i have to warm up to the cuisine pretty quickly!


buying a cell phone was quite the experience. the man who was helping us out was by far and away the cutest Japanese man I've ever met! he kept giggling at my attempts to speak Japanese, and would high five me when i got a word right. he was SO helpful, and spend a long time with Naomi and i trying to explain our plan, our cell phones etc. its weird here because no one uses their cell phones to call, they email from phone to phone. there is no SMS texting here, so when you purchase a phone you are given an email address. if you feel so inclined, my address is jes.halll888@ezweb.ne.jp i will receive the email like a text and be able to fire you back one instantly! all those of you with blackberries, hit me up!

this has been such an amazing day. i don't think that i will ever just walk down a street here without an amazed look on my face. this place is going to be awesome!