I just want to make a notice that I have arrived in Tokyo, and now I am overwhelmed by many new things. My flight landed at Haneda Airport around 3:40 pm, but I did not get to my apartment until 9 pm because I got lost in Shinjuku. The city is very crowded, and I got caught in a rain. I printed out the directions from GoogleMap, but I am very bad at reading maps so it would be impossible for me to navigating without a GPS. Even so, it still took me more than an hour to find the correct train line to my place. However, my first impression of Japanese is they are very friendly. I asked two people for directions and one even took me to the gate even though I said I would be fine.
I feel like it was just yesterday when I applied for the program, and now I find myself in Japan. My school is in Ikebukuro, one of the most lively districts in Tokyo. I know that my days here will be all exciting and I can’t wait for that. My biggest disadvantage is that I am not staying at the dorm with other students, so it is hard to socialize with other students. However, we have a wonderful Facebook group for international exchange students at Rikkyo this year. I was able to make some new friends and went on a quick walking tour with them during yesterday. We also have a student organization called COBBY at Rikkyo. They will pair me with a Japanese student, who will help me during this semester. I am so much looking forward to see him/her on the orientation next week.
I think I have some advices for who travels to Japan for the first time:
- Travel hand-free. The best thing I did was sending my suitcases via Takyuubin (baggage delivery service) because traveling with two big suitcases would probably slow me down more.
- Check the directions in advance. GPS would be the best, but a printed map is useful as well because you can show it to people when asking for direction.
- Bring an extra battery packet for your phone. Trust me, you don’t want your phone running out of battery when you are in the middle of your trip.