On Campus

Yesterday morning I left my hotel in Musashisakai and took the bus to my school, International Christian University. The bus loop near my hotel was a little confusing – none of the signs were in English, so I had to rely on the numbers on the bus to make sure I got on the right one. Once I was on the bus, I matched the characters on my phone to the ones on the bus’s sign that tells you what the next stop is. I also looked up how to pronounce the characters so when the bus announced the stop I’d be able to see and hear that it was the right one.

As I was on the bus, an elderly lady sat next to me and started speaking to me in Japanese. I smiled at her and said “Wakarimasen.” (I don’t understand/I don’t know). She laughed a little and went across the bus to ask another lady directions, I assume. She was nice. I think it’s a little funny she tried speaking in Japanese to the only non-Japanese person on the bus.

That’s something I’ll have to get used to while I’m here, I think. Both on the train and on the bus I was the only white person, and I assume the only non-Japanese person. That doesn’t bother me, as I come from the very diverse city of San Francisco and have been in situations where I’m the only white person in a room or on a bus. But it is interesting and different to me, to be the only person not of a particular nationality.

As I arrived at the school, loaded down with my immense backpack and my camera bag, I went up to the gate of the school and noticed two security guards there. I thought I’d have to say something to them before I entered the school, but we weren’t able to communicate. Fortunately right then, a girl came up behind me and translated for me. Her name is Ami, and she is from Delaware. She is Japanese, and knows Japanese and English. She helped me find my way around campus and asked several people for help. I think I would have wandered around much longer if I had not run into Ami.

My dorm room is very nice and spacious. My roommate and I (my roommate is from UCSB too) have a large bedroom to share, two large desks, two cabinets and two closets, a mini fridge, a microwave, a bathroom, and an entryway. It is about three times bigger than any dorm room I’ve had at UCSB. I think I’m going to like it a lot.

My dorm room - big and clean!

After unpacking, I decided to take my camera and explore around campus. The campus is about 1/4 the size of UCSB, so it only took me about half an hour to see it all. It is so green. Beautiful trees with intricate branches everywhere, secret paths, and bamboo forests here and there. There are also a lot of stray cats on campus, but the ones I’ve met aren’t very friendly.

I passed a sign along my journey that said, “Watch out! Bees are flying. Be careful enough to go around.” I thought that sign specifically meant bees, and since I didn’t see any near me, I decided to continue on. After about ten minutes I had received 11 bug bites.

A hidden path on campus. Home to many mosquitoes.

The main gate to campus.