Pasmo, saikou!

The day before yesterday was the oral portion of the Japanese placement test. I really feel that I didn't display my full ability. Sigh. A lot of the problem was that I was really nervous, and a large portion was also the questions themselves. "Discuss the dilemma facing developing countries between economic development and environmental protection. Take a stand and defend your position." I guess that's to see how advanced our vocabulary and such is, but that's a tough question to articulate a strong answer with examples in English for me. XD+ And, naturally, after she turned the tape recorder off and asked me more conversational questions, I spoke really fluently.
The results of the placement should be posted today. In fact, I might go check after writing this.

After the test a group of us who had interviews around the same time had lunch in the cafeteria on campus, conducted some business in the AIKOM office, then walked to Shibuya. We couldn't remember the way we took a few days ago, so we just took a little side street through a neighborhood, following the rail, and it was a really lovely walk. I bought some things from a stationary store, but I think I must have lost them later in the day, because I haven't been able to find them. Only a few hundred yen, though.

Later on there was an orientation for using the campus computers, and then eventually dinner in the cafeteria. We were considering buying cellphones, but ultimately decided we needed to do some more research first.

The cafeteria is pretty great. I'm definitely a fan. It's generally quite cheap (usually under 500 yen, for me), and the food is varied and delicious.

Yesterday we had to go to campus for our medical check. I was really surprised at how thorough it was, but apparently these compulsory exams are quite common in Asia. We had to have a chest x-ray, blood work, a cardiogram, urinalysis, and plenty of paperwork. Afterward was another lunch in the cafeteria, then many of us AIKOMsei went and got Pasmo, for unlimited use of the train to school (for three months, in my case). As international students we technically weren't eligible for the student commuter rate, but we all managed to get it.
Excellent because it's a huge savings, but it's also a time-saver. The cards have a chip in them, so you just touch your wallet (which contains the card) to a sensor at the gate and walk through. Ffff So cool. You can also load money onto it and touch it on buses for bus fair, and at some vending machines and fast food restaurants, to pay. Why don't we use this technology more in the states?

Went shopping in Kichijouji for a little while, where I finally got a new umbrella. <# Not only is it not broken, as the one I was using was, but it looks much more Japanese, in that it's like the ones that everyone uses here. Since we were celebrating Di's birthday (which we missed a few days ago), Francesco's (which was actually yesterday), and Sarah's (today, but with the typhoon we didn't think we'd be able to do anything), all the AIKOMsei plus Miriam ate together in a really cool restaurant. It was underground, on Sunroad. I can't for the life of me come up witht he name of the type of restaurant right now, but it was a shoes-off, sitting on tatami place, where your table orders lots of little dishes and passes them around. It was such a blast. XD

We had bought cheap-ish chiffon cakes for the three (cakes are generally, based on our experience trying to buy some yesterday, decadent and beautiful and delicious in Japan, but also extremely expensive), and Sarah showed up with another two cakes for Di and Francesco. XD

I've decided to try anything and try to experience as much as I possibly can while I'm here, so in this case it included Japanese beer, which was my first time drinking at all. I only had about a drink and a half, but it did feel quite strange, though not unpleasant. I got a headache afterward, though. XD+