Where it's hot, hot, hot (Tokyo)

A day full of heat and action-packed adventure to be sure!

To start, I was wrong to brag last night about how I had completed all of my foreign documentation correctly- I noticed before I went to bed that the house number on my foreign registration paper and my health insurance card was wrong! Bad news all around. I must have been so flustered yesterday that I didn't even think to double-check that all the information was correct. So, this morning bright and early I headed back to the ward headquarters to get everything straightened out. It went well and the mistake was corrected quickly. At least no one harassed me about an ugly photo this time!

After that it was back to Waseda for a two hour Japan Study group session before heading out on a group excursion. I came out of the wrong exit but, luckily, ran into one of my friends before I had time to even wonder where I was, so we walked to school together. It was a very very very hot day here in Tokyo-land, and we were both happy to reach the semi-sometimes-air conditioned confines of Waseda building 22.

The lecture was a brief overview of Japanese history taught by our resident director, Professor Nordmann. Actually a very interesting presentation. I haven't studied about Japanese history or even historical culture, so it was very enlightening. He also touched on Yokohama, the point of destination for our outing today, a city that didn't really exist until the 1800s and even then was mostly comprised of foreigners. There is still a large foreign presence in Yokohama- the city is laid out in a grid style, there is a special cemetery for foreigners, and there are many foreigners who still live there today.

A long subway ride, once we got there we were all famished and foraged for food in China town. Really exciting for me actually- I've never been to a China town, even in the US, so it was neat to see all of the specialty shops and decorative signs. Unfortunately, a group of us chose the worst Chinese restaurant to eat at- really expensive, really slow, and nothing to write home about taste-wise (although I guess I kind of am).  It was still fun, though. After that we marched up an epic hill, baking under the raging sun, until we reached a look-out over the ocean! It was wonderful in that it was both beautiful and breezy!

Really long commute home today, probably about two hours, but it was fun to see another part of Japan. Tomorrow is supposed to bring rain and (finally) cooler fall weather. We are all very much ready to say good-bye to summer, even though it seems to like sticking around.