first weekend

(August 6)

Well, I've successfully lived through my first weekend in Chiba City! Sunday also meant that I had been in Japan for a week, although since I spent the first two days in a hotel talking to (mostly) other Americans, I think Wednesday is more appropriate, as the end of my first week in Chiba.

The weekend was pretty chill, partly because I'm still settling in and partly because I don't have any friends or anything else to do, really. I spent Saturday morning walking around my neighborhood and finding my way to the grocery store. I also looked at bikes at the local bike shop, because having a bike would make things much easier.

Then I left to meet Gina and Hirata-san to watch fireworks! They took place in Makuhari, which is only a few stops away by train and apparently a pretty famous part of Chiba City. It's right by the bay (though really, most of Chiba City is) and is home to the Makuhari Messe, a big exhibition center, among other things. The fireworks were right by the water, and in some cases, over it! We made our way to the parking lot (which is where our tickets put us) and settled in, complete with some padding that Hirata-san was smart enough to bring. Then we sat and ate dinner before the fireworks started. They were pretty cool – Japanese fireworks are much cooler than American ones – but we were a little bit far away so it wasn't quite as impressive as when I saw them in Yokohama with Megumi two years ago. But overall it was a good show, and a good chance for me to get to know Gina and Hirata-san a little better!

The next day I had planned to go downtown and shop for things, but I ended up just shopping near my apartment. I mentioned that I wanted to get a bike to Gina and Hirata-san, and they told me that I could get one for relatively cheap at Mr. Max, a store that I think is similar to Sears. So I went there and ended up just buying stuff there and at the nearby 100-yen store. But I did buy a bike! It was about 5000 yen (more than $50) cheaper than the cheapest bike I'd found at the bike store, so I was pretty happy. I rode it to work today and it's already much better than taking the bus! (Except when it rains.)

Things are still pretty uneventful for me, as I have no phone and no internet (and as I said, no friends – or at least none that I can contact without a phone/internet) and have mostly just been staying at home after work. I would explore the city a little, but it gets dark pretty early (around 8) and since I work until 5, I don't want to get lost downtown in the dark (because I probably would). I'm really glad that I have a television (that I'm borrowing from the city for the year) with a decent amount of channels - I love Japanese TV, and without it I think I'd probably get really bored and/or lonely just staying in my house all the time.

Tomorrow is the welcome party that my workplace is throwing for me, which I'm pretty excited for! They keep asking me if I drink and seem pretty pleased when I say I do, so I bet it'll be a good time. :) Anyway, hopefully soon enough I'll figure out getting internet and a phone, but until then, I'll just keep writing this on my computer!