32 Flavors And Counting

Hello again. I'm going to try to update a little more regularly so family (and everyone else) can stay in tune, since we can't talk much. I had my first day of real classes today. I was placed in the "C1" level of Japanese, which is an upper-middle level (the highest level being A1, then A2, B1, B2, C1, and so forth until E). I feel confident I was correctly placed, if not in desperate need of learning some more kanji and improving my listening abilities. In any case, Japanese class in various forms meets at the very least once a day (although on several days we meet twice). I am also taking some courses in english, which include Public Health, International Organizations, and (hopefully) Japan-US Relations.

Today the weather was quite pleasant. Yesterday not so much. I haven't been that rain-sodden in recent memory and in the future will walk or take the train rather than biking to campus when it, as it so often does, pours in Kyoto. One thing definitely still on my "to get" list is a quality rain jacket. Otherwise, though, I've made pretty good progress in purchasing all of my basic needs. Today I went to a giant "hyaku-en" store (the Japanese equivalent of a dollar store) and got some great deals. Whoo, hyaku-en! I've also got some capsule toys to show off...

Here we have my new cell phone charm, a pikachu! :) I love my little green kitty muchly, but alas my abuse of my mobile became too much for it and the little ring that held it together broke. I shall repair it and put it on a less stress intensive charm duty, but for now it enjoys a place of honor on my desk. In any case, capsule toys, for those of you not familiar, are the Japanese equivalent of the little bubblegum machine toys that you see at supermarkets in the US. (Only about a thousand times cooler.)

As you can see the pikachu above is fairly tiny, but this Mobile Suit Gundam figurine, which came in a capsule in about a thousand tiny pieces, fits in the palm of my hand when fully assembled. (And even comes with his own display stand!)


All painstakingly detailed (there's just no other word for it), I'd say these capsule toys far rival the little trinkets one gets for a quarter at Walmart. The above toy is a Nintendo DS Lite and game case which is attached to my Nintendo DS Lite, which feels ironic or possibly redundant. (The game featured is a kanji dictionary for the DS, which I totally plan to purchase while I'm here.)


In any case, I leave you with my new door hanger and its accompanying engrishy message:

"KAIUN" ... Better fortune
It means you will lucky. And if you have a wish of
better tomorrow, it will guard your wish.
Hello Kitty wishes everyone's better fortune.
Will you have it in your room?

Let's hope so, Hello Kitty. Let's hope so.