Got free wifi on the bus!

Sun 12/10 9:48 PM

In UC Berkeley, have no WiFi access so I guess I’ll upload these posts when I get it (not for the next 4 days in the least.)

So, today was quite fun, after saying bye (which, although I didn’t think much of it then, I know I’ll miss my family multiple times in the homestay,) we separated into our Kumis (組), which means “group” in Japanese. I was in the White Kumi and our group Alumini and Sensei (先生) seem like very cool people. We ate dinner, which was not as bad as Dadda made it seem (I had Marinara Pasta, some Chickpea rice, a watermelon, and zucchini, because after the fabulous late lunch at Viks I did not have much of an appetite.). We then came back and headed up to the classroom, where we played a name game (each person says name of everybody before them and then their name, kind of like In My Grandmas Purse) and then played a fun “Common Ground” game, where we stated something and whoever it applied to had to get up and find another empty seat other than their own and the two adjacent one’s. One without a seat has to say the next common ground.). Then we had free time, so we just socialized (lo and behold, conversation was about SAT and college admissions — and I was not even the one who started it!). Then we went down, got introduced to the staff members, and had a slideshow about Exploring Japan.

Now I am all bathed and brushed, and thanks to Amma and Nani’s fabulous training (and a bit of personal travel experience) I have remained consolidated except for what I will wear tomorrow, I have a dirty clothes bag that is packed away, and I think I am set!

Goodnight! お休みなさい。

P.S. I must add, however, the dorms are very bad, especially the lighting. But the showers are much better than Dadda made them seem — the are closed cubicles, with a curtain separating where you keep your dry towel from where the water is running.

Oh, and a little Japanese culture based on what we learned today — we always speak of DST, or Desi Standard Time, which means arriving at least half an hour after something is scheduled. Apparently JST, or Japanese Standard Time, is arriving at least five minutes before anything is scheduled!

Gnite 😀