First Impressions

First and foremost - I am having a great deal of fun, while relaxing at the same time. Please know that I miss you all, but there is so much here to experience, so many new things, that I am definitely not moping around homesick :).

Things I've done so far that have been interesting:

1. Rented a cellphone from the airport - cheap, useful, but sadly so much cooler than my own phone I don't want to give it back! :(. It has web, TV, music, quality camera, and so much more (not to mention its cute as hell)
2. On the way to Mai's house I saw Tokyo Tower, Cinderella's Castle at the Chiba Disneyland, drove through a tunnel that went under the ocean, and was continually thrown off by all the cars' "oppositeness" and how narrow Yokosuka's streets are.
3. Met Mai's father, mother, younger sister, and toy poodle.
   
4. Ate the most delicious curry for dinner which was made by Mai's mother.
5. Have watched too many silly Japanese TV shows since I've been here. These include but are not limited to: different game shows, comedy programs, cooking shows, Mickey Mouse in Japanese, and many, many Japanese cartoons.
6. Finally watched Ghibli's "Gedo Senki" - a wonderful and beautiful movie made by Hayao Miyazaki's son based on the book "Tales from Earthsea." I have no idea why this hasn't been brought to America yet - shame!
7. Learned that American three pronged plugs don't work in Japan, which only has two prong outlets, so went to the mall and bought an adapter.
8. Was glad and became less shy when I noticed I wasn't the only "gaijin" (foreigner) walking around Yokosuka
9. Ate the most delicious tonkatsu donburi (fried pork cutlet over rice with a sweet omelet), and have pretty much come to the conclusion that all Japanese food tastes 10 times better in Japan.
10. Am getting used to the time difference, the hot humid weather, and the nonstop music of cicada and crickets.

Pictures as promised ^-^:

(Kakkui Keitai = cool cellphone)

The Adorable Toy Poodle Fu-chan!