いらしゃいます! Welcome!

I visited Sanrio World (AKA the world's largest collection of Hello Kitty merchandise) this past weekend.

Like most Japanese stores, it was completely overwhelming. The store itself took up an entire floor of a department store in Ginza, which is no small feat; and this floor is completely packed with ADORABLE THINGS. It was hard to contain my excitement - I practically ran laps around the store, hugging all the stuffed animals and "ooh"-ing at the tiny and obscenely cute toys. 

I felt kinda bad for the employees at the store - they're pretty much required to say "irashaimase" or "welcome" every time you approach them. Needless to say, I heard "irashaimase" a lot during my time at Sanrio World. 

That's one thing that I still have not gotten used to yet here - the fact that pretty much every employee in every store I have visited is literally ECSTATIC that you have blessed their establishment with your presence. They thank you for walking into the store, they thank you for admiring their wares, they thank you for buying something, they thank you for paying for your item, and then they thank you for leaving. They're insanely helpful, and very efficient. Even on my best day working at Stop and Shop, I was NEVER as happy or efficient as these Japanese retail workers. 

Still, to be fair, Japanese merchandise can be quite expensive, so you're paying for the excellent service, in a sense. Ginza in particular is a very high-end shopping district - on one street alone I saw stores for Chanel, Gucci, Dior, Cartier, Mikimoto, and Harry Winston. If I was "Oprah rich" I would've done some serious shopping here - but since I'm not, my friends and I decided to leave Ginza after Sanrio World and went to Shibuya to walk around instead. 

And that's how I met this little guy. He stole my heart. You can't get a real sense of how tiny he is, but he's literally no bigger than one of those extra-large Nathan's hot dogs - the Japanese have mastered miniaturizing their dogs here. Unfortunately, he was 80,000 yen - the equivalent of about $850 US dollars. 

I think it's some sort of nation-wide requirement for every Japanese dog owner to dress their dog in ridiculous sweaters. I have seen Japanese women walking golden retrievers in sweaters. Just the other day I saw a woman walking a miniature Greyhound wearing a cable-knit sweater and jeans. JEANS. I'm not kidding. It's a shame I can't take pictures without the owners noticing - I'm sure they would be very upset with some gaijin taking photos of their stylish pet. And a very large majority of the dogs I've seen here are super tiny - they can fit comfortably in a handbag and sit quietly on the train. I have to say, most of the dogs I've seen don't look very happy - but I guess if my owner dressed me up every day and carried me everywhere I would hate my life too. 

Well, that's all for now. Someone has mentioned watching the Fifth Element in Japanese, and that sounds like a hilarious time - sayonara for now!

Oops.

So I realized a couple of days ago that while I've been doing a very good job keeping my Facebook updated with pictures of my new home, I have also been neglecting keeping other people (who do not have Facebooks... like my parents) in the loop!

I've been in Tokyo (technically, Oota-ku district) for over two weeks now, and I finally, truly feel settled in. After forcing myself to learn the train system on my own, I can get around the entire city pretty easily; and even though my Japanese is still pitiful (though I did just learn their entire Hiragana alphabet last week - unfortunately they have THREE) I've found that being polite, ("Suminasen" and "Arigato gozaimasu" or "Excuse me" and "Thank you") smiling, and bowing can take me far enough.

If necessary, pantomiming wildly also helps, too.

Tokyo is EXTREMELY different from home, though. I stick out like a sore thumb constantly - I might as well have "gaijin" (foreigner) tattooed on my forehead. I would be lying if I said that I didn't miss home a bit. Their food, while quite delicious, can sometimes come in small, unsatisfying portions, and Japanese never eat on the go - you'll never catch a native munching on a granola bar on the train during the morning commute. Also, the Japanese are very, very stylish - especially Japanese girls around my age. Everyone is always dressed to the nines; casual Fridays do not exist here. Rolling out of bed and strolling into class in sweats is something I definitely cannot do - between the hour commute and my fashionable counterparts, that would be a serious faux-pas.

My dorm is located in a small town, away from the more active and loud areas of the city. I live in a single room that's probably a bit smaller than my Mom and Dad's walk-in closet at home; but I like it a lot, it suits my needs perfectly here and has forced me to become incredibly organized. The dorm is co-ed, and there are more guys than girls here, so the dynamic is really fun. We have an awesome common room with tons of video games and movies - everyone likes to hang out there after class and just unwind. I've made a lot of good friends in a short amount of time, and they've definitely made this trip infinitely more entertaining already.

It's hard to describe Tokyo itself, since it's so big and there's so much to it. So instead of a sub-par paragraph on the city, here are some photos:

It's definitely a beautiful and truly unique place - and it's so exciting! I think that's the thing I love the most about Tokyo right now - there is always something going on, or somewhere to go, to shop, to see... at times it can be overwhelming, but fortunately my quiet little room is always waiting for me when I get back from sightseeing at the end of the day.

So as of right now, that's the best I can do in terms of summarizing my two-week experience here in Japan - I know I missed a lot, but I had to start somewhere! Anyway, I have elementary Japanese awaiting completion - I'll post again soon!