First Days

Hi guys I just arrived in Sendai yesterday!

Sendai is crazy!!!! Its so huge and its a maze. The streets are a lot smaller and cars just zoom past. On the other hand, it`s really pretty and really clean. Anyways Christina and I just finished exploring the city (well we only went down a few streets) but there are so many different shops. We went into this electronic store that was behind the huge train station and it was basically Best Buy on Crack. I have never seen so many wacky electronics in one place. The store was huge!!!

Everything with the airports went smoohtly. The frist airplane (from Chicago to Korea) was awesome. It was a 747 so it was really big, but what was really cool was the built in TVs that were in every seat. I watched What happen in Vegas, College Road Trip, and Iron Man. There were a bunch of movies to choose from. They also gave us two huge meals and tons of snacks. When we landed, the airport in Korea was acutally not in Seoul but on an island about an hour from the city. It was huge and very high tech. The second plane ride from Korea to Sendai was also very pleasant and they also gave me a huge meal even though it was a two hour flight. Customs was very easy and Christina and I were both given a cart for our luggage, which we really didn`t need because Mikiko was waiting for us right outside of the baggage area.

After Mikiko picked us up she drove us into Sendai (which took about 40 mins.) and we ate at a sushi resturant. Then she drove us to the University. Tohoku University is very spread out throughout the city. I`m really worried about finding my way around. My dorm itself it over two miles away from the closet campus (there`s five total) and there`s hardly any side walks. Everyone rides a bike so I`m sure there won`t be any problems.

After dropping our luggage at the dorms Mikiko drove us to our hotel. We aren`t allowed to live in the dorms until Oct. 1. My room is soooooo small, but clean. It was about 4:00pm at that time and Christina and I were so tried that we just went to sleep. This morning I was up at 3:00am! I hate jetlag but hopefully tonight will be better.

Tomorrow my Professor is going to pick me up and help me settle in. We have to go to the US embassy so that should be interesting! :)

Hope everything is going well and I miss everyone!!!!

Pre-Departure

Hi everyone I only have a few days left and I'm so excited, but there's so much work to do. Everything is so complicated from getting a cell phone that works in Japan to setting up the correct bank accounts! And packing is a monster. I have two gigantic suitcases filled with clothes.

Ok here's the amount of clothes I'm bringing:
- 5 jeans
- 2 skirts
- 3 shorts
- 10 tee-shirts (mostly for workout and for sleeping)
- 5 pj bottoms
- 30 (!) shirts
- 17 long sleeve/sweaters for winter
- 4 hoodies
- 4 jackets
- 2 things of underarmor
- wintercoat, gloves, scarf
- 4 dressy shirts
- 2 dressy pants
- 5 pairs of shoes
- 3 dresses
- 3 purses

Here's the other stuff:
- makeup
- 3 boxes of hair dye
- 1 bottle of hair product
- toothbrush and small toothbrush
- lots of medicine
- deodorant
- face wash
- extra batteries
- shampoo/conditioner
- converter

Anyways everything is going smoothly and I can't wait until I take off!