The Longest Day

The day started at 4 in the morning. Then I lost track of time. I just know it kept on going.

My flights were fairly uneventful. The first was a half hour, the second was 4 hours or so. The last flight was the 12 hour flight. They fed us two meals and a snack, all of which was decent as far as airplane food goes. Last time I was on a plane that showed movies it was the kind where they had one screen for the whole cabin and they just showed whatever movie they had--It was the live action Jungle Book movie, as I recall. This plane had screens for each seat and simultaneously showed multiple movies, each on a different channel. Throughout the trip I watched Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (unimpressive), Adventureland (strangely depressing), Wolverine, and The Great Buck Howard (I think that was the name of it anyway). I tried to sleep, but I think I only got an hour or two the whole trip. The plane arrived in Osaka at 3:50pm local time (local for me, not for you).

Immigration and Customs went ten times more smoothly than I had imagined. The lines weren't incredibly long and I got through in no time at all. I was finished with the whole process in just a little over an hour. I found a good dozen other exchange students and we all met with some staff who put us on a greyhound bus to get to the dorms. The bus ride was an hour and a half, but it was quite enjoyable as we got to look around at Osaka. There aren't a whole lot of skyscrapers or anything, but the buildings and houses are all packed tightly together and just keep going as far as you can see in all directions. I couldn't tell how they distinguish one area from another, it seemed like it was all just one big city forever and ever.

It was dark by the time we reached the dorm (I'm in Seminar House 4)--local time 6:30ish. An RA met me at the bus and helped me get my bags to my room. I was given a packet of information, which I still haven't fully looked at. I wandered around the dorm and was spoken to very little. Remind me to tell you about the dorm--I'll try to do that tonight. At 8:00 the RAs had a supermarket trip which I went on so that I could have something to eat. I was not very adventurous and just bought some fruit and vegetables and a danish type thing. When we got back I was too tired to do anything other than jump in the shower and go to bed. Hence I didn't write this post until this morning. I went to bed around 10 pm local time which would have been 9 in the morning Eastern time. So really I went from 4 in the morning to 9 in the morning the next day--which may not be a lot, but for me it really is.

Today I have some orientation activites to go to and some business to take care of--like finding my way around, paying some fees, etc. I am looking forward to seeing the campus. Hopefully today will not be quite as long as yesterday.

Thinking of home,

Stephanie