So, Japan

 It's a group of islands that is quite prone to earthquakes.  It is also very small, and rather crowded. 

Which leads me to my room. 

I had such high hopes for 'private kitchen and bathroom,' but I should have known better.  I do have my own facilities, but they weren't quite what I expected. 

My room in general is about the same size as my grandmother's walk-in closet.  Granted, she has a rather large and beautiful closet, but having to use a closet as the best comparison to one's room is rather disheartening.  My bathroom as a whole is about the size of my parent's bathtub.  Sans shower, the room is very much the size of an airplane bathroom (another saddening relationship) and the shower / tub is so narrow that I have to turn sideways in order to wash my hair; standing straight-on means that my elbows hit the wall and get caught in the pink-polka-dot curtain.  My kitchen is a sink, an electric burner, and the mini-est fridge I have ever encountered, together with a shelf set into the wall across from my water-closet.  (I think the European name is more fitting in this context).

Once I have cleaned my room more thoroughly, I will post pictures of it.  I have a cute nighttime city-scape view, and can hear lots of cars.

However, I love it here.  I'm about 25 minutes outside of Tokyo proper, but it's still very busy here.  Campus is very near Tokyo Tower, which is something of a Big Deal.  (For those who don't know, Tokyo Tower is a radio / TV tower that resembles an orange and white Eiffel Tower.  I've been there before; there is a clear plexiglas floor segment one can stand upon (or look through) with a clear view to the ground. Children tend to jump on it).

As of today I am an Official Resident Alien with a semi-mastery of the train system and an even greater mastery of asking for directions; each morning I've managed to become lost between the final station and the school, but I'm 99% confident that I figured it out coming home this afternoon.  If not, I'm in trouble, because the Japanese placement exam is 8.45 Monday morning, and if I'm late (like I have been) I won't be allowed in, and all my Japanese-speaking ambitions will be over. 

But now I am going to bed.  I arrived with very little jetlag, but have still been going to bed on the early side.  Now it is midnight, and the latest I have been up so far.  How adventurous.