I had another good day today. It's been long, but very pleasant. The folks here are extremely nice and willing to go so far out of their way it humbles me. Okay, I know, y'all feel that I cannot be humble, but anyway.... ;-)
Professor Imai, who is a TESOL professor, came by my apartment in the afternoon. We discussed our plan for the afternoon and evening, and set out for the grocery store, Aeon. Since I will be on my own for most meals, I needed some supplies. I decided to mainly purchase breakfast stuff and easily prepared foods (mostly frozen dumplings and stir fry). I did pick up some of the most incredibly sweet smelling strawberries. I got supplies for English tea for breakfast and loads of sweet rolls and bread. I think I'll be set for a while. I hope I don't have to bother friends to take me back to the grocery store. The grocery was fun. I love visiting grocery stores all over the world. There are so many similarities and differences. Similarities: Ritz crackers, aisles, fresh produce, yogurt, Coke. Differences: fresh bok choy, a wide variety of soy sauces, interesting premade savory cakes, a new variety of apple I've never seen, a Saki aisle, and red bean paste filled bread. I spent Y5,215 (all but the pastries) + Y4,195 (pastries and bread). I have no idea how much that is. Someone wanna do the math?
Professor Imai, he later asked me to call him Hiro /hero/, and I had a rambling conversation throughout that spanned topics such as the HUTE students visiting UWEC next week who I will meet with tomorrow, his work, my work, International TESOL (he and 2 colleagues are attending in New Orleans!), who does the grocery shopping in his family (his wife), cultural items that struck either of us, his Mercedes, etc. He's a very nice man. I think we will be good friends. Later, I treated him to dinner at Sushi Roll.
From there, we returned to my place, put my food away and set off for a walking tour of campus. The campus is a little smaller than UWEC, but has a modern, well-maintained feel to it. We discussed renting me a bike during my visit, which we did accomplish when we visited Mr. Takeshima's office. I also obtained maps, one in English of the campus and one of Cato, the nearby town, in Japanese. I'll definitely need these to navigate my way to a sushi restaurant by bike. I think my colleagues here are a bit surprised by my spunk and adventurousness. I know Hiro is surprised by my knowledge of Japanese cuisine; he remarked on it.
During my campus tour, I met some students, all of whom seemed very nice and friendly. I was oriented to my office, room 109 in the Natural Sciences building. Next door is the Languages building where Hiro and another colleague also, Hiro, have their offices. I met the second Hiro and discussed the TESOL Conference. He's been before and is looking forward to it again. While in the Natural Sciences building, I met Jerry, a part-time teacher and part-time graduate student here. He's from California, I think. He is completely bilingual as he has lived here for 4 years. We had a grand time hanging in his office, joking and chatting about many, many topics, including their upcoming trip with students to Singapore. Jerry will also attend TESOL, but he doesn't drink, doesn't like it. So, we'll have to take him out and get him a NA drink so he feels comfortable hanging with us while at the jazz clubs. He looks forward to cajun food!
My office here is clean, prepped and useful, if not like my office back home (i.e., cluttered, full of books, piles of papers on all surfaces, strewn with lists of things to do, decorated with international gifts, dirty and crowded with furniture).
Hiro and I walked back to my apartment for his car and drove the 20 minutes or so to a sushi restaurant. I took several photos just like a damned, embarrassing tourist. I enjoyed the sushi revolving on the little conveyor belts. My favorite today was bonito sushi with a dab of mayo and minced scallions on top! Yum! I had 3 orders of 2 pieces. I also had unagi, tuna, and salmon. All very good. 6 plates total for each of us cost Y1,365. I think very affordable!
I'm tired now. So much for my first full day. More tomorrow night!
k
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