Toyosu and the Gas Museum

I got my housing contract and rent squared away, which meant I could now use the internet.

We went with Dorota and Kamila to Nishi-Kawaguchi station, and then on the trains (plural- we take the rapid transit, which skips a couple of stations, down to Tokyo and then double back using the local subway train) to Toyosu.

Toyosu is HUGE. Toyosu. Is. HUGE. It's really really new- all the buildings look really new and pristine- this is apparently because all the factories pulled out and others came in to fill the empty space. Everything is so organised and neat. It's ridiculous. The trains always come on time and are fast and efficient and spotless. I can't stand it sometimes. :)

I got my student ID card for the university (exciting!)and then went to a talk about Gakusei Project, a student initiative for a Japanese <--> English exchange. I learn Japanese (and did!) and they learn English. It's a really neat culture swap lead by one of my new friends from Toyosu, Yamaguchi Izumi. Izumi-san was so cheery and helpful and enthusiastic about everything. She apparently knew everyone everywhere, so it was kind of like a game of Katamari Damacy, where we just kept picking people up wherever we went. The students from the meeting and I went to get lunch, where they discussed their problems with the canteen- all the food was on display, but it was all in kanji and no English, so foreign students couldn't order. I ended up getting a bowl of rice with some croquettes and...french fries?

Izumi-san sat near me and was so nice and terrific. She was really happy that I could use chopsticks well and was interested in Japanese culture. We then went around the building to check out labs, introduce me to friends she knew, and show me parts of the campus. The Cognitive Engineering lab deals with emotions and communications, so they have a giant display case up front filled with giant robot figurines! They have the giant legit Wing Zero with the buster rifle, the tiny Gundams, Dragonball Z characters, Gurren Lagann! People were also kind of surprised we watched anime in the U.S and laughed at how much I was geeking out over the display case. Apparently it's really rare for a girl to like Gundam.

My favourite professor was the one that came outside to ask his students why they were standing outside talking, and then was introduced to me. I was many times introduced as 'from an American university but from India' to alleviate any confusion. He said, I have an Indian friend. I want to go to India. To eat CURRY! We'd just been discussing curry in the elevator and laughed. Luis, the Brazilian exchange student and Takahashi Keita, one of the co-leaders of the Gakusei project, went along with us and were totally awesome. Izumi-san kept saying Keita-san should take lessons from Luis, who would always hold the door and elevator for people. Haha.

The other UVa student who'd left to be introduced to his professor and lab partners, showed up later, and we all went to walk along the bay and then to the Tokyo Gas Museum (yes, they have one). It's so incredibly awesome! They have a frying pan where you can use gas to cook virtual food, and a heat-seeking room, and a room with a heated floor, and a hot air balloon at the entrance that goes up and down with a column of flame! How is gas so interesting now?!

I was also able to scare Izumi-san a bit in the food area, where I correctly IDed all the different Japanese food pictures (except the gelatinous azuki dessert). She was like, "oh my god, you're Japanese." And I said, "no, I just like to eat," and she repeated, "You're Japanese!" :) It was really fun putting together random Japanese and English, and I think we all had a great time.

Then we went to the bank (ginko) to exchange Zhuo's traveller's cheques (toraberaz chekku) so he was able to pay me back. I learned a lot of stray Japanese words and differences in them. Gomen is used amongst friends but is too rude to use around professors so 'gomen ne' is preferred. Yokoso is a casual 'welcome' whereas 'iraeshimas' is used more formally around clients and customers. Wakarimas means 'I understand' and 'youkai' is similar to the more friendly and flippant 'roger.' (lojja).

Notes:

* All the streets are straight lines, and the terrain is so flat that it's perfect for bicycles, so you don't even need a car- just a bicycle or the trains. And they have specially made bicycle lanes, and everything is clean, even in a major metropolitan city. And cars and small and compact and yield to bicycles. Why is it not like this everywhere?

* Japanese people seem to really like cute little dogs. I swear I saw more chihuahuas and papillons and beagles and Pomeranians than anywhere else. And they were all so cute. ('kawaii des')

*Whoever advised not to pack jeans because no one wears them over here and will think you're a weirdo...is a LIAR. It's a bit cool here right now, and I didn't pack any long pants (BAD idea in general). It's not bad- I can wear what I have and be fine. But really, I see rows and rows of people at the station wearing jeans. When I told Izumi-san about the whole jeans thing, she thought it was really funny.