Let's get placed!

"Sumimasen," meaning something like "excuse me," is definitely the most useful phrase I know in Japanese for living in Japan. Someone walking in your way when biking? Call out, sumimasen! He'll notice you and move to the side of the path. Can't understand what the cashier is offering you? Just say sumimasen, and she'll just let you order. Get lost? Hail someone to ask for directions - "Sumimasen!" Bump into someone? Sumimasen. It's like magic. In a pinch? Sumimasen.

But really, I haven't been in any terrible pinches so far. XD It helps, perhaps that I've mostly been with groups of various size of other AIKOMsei. Between us, even if the time it takes to decide or figure anything out goes up by a factor of the number of people present, squared, with our collective resources and awareness we can usually get by without bothering anyone much.

Yesterday, for example, as I mentioned the plans for previously, a large group of us biked to Mitakadai station to practice the complicated route. We did get a little lost once, and did end up asking directions from　a nice man, but aside from that one intersection, we did it on our own. Then we went back to the hall, then to kichijouji, and from there to Ochanomizu where we changed trains to go to Akihabara (Electric town!), all without the help of any tutors. We pretty much all price-checked denshi jisho (electric dictionary), and between us (a group of fourteen) a computer and camera were actually purchased. Akihabara didn't really floor me in the same way Shibuya did, but I only saw a small area near the station, and there's also the fact that I'd already been to Shibuya. Besides those two things and train/bus fair, though, the only things I know for sure that were bought on the trip were western tea for Sebastian and a coffee float for me.
It's funny, I really never drink coffee normally, but I've done so on two occasions already, here. Like yogurt, I find that the first few sips tend to taste rather bad, but then it sort of settles into your mouth and is enjoyable. Of course, most drinks are made more palatable by putting a scoop of ice cream in them. I am also steered toward ordering it when I can't read/understand half the other options.
I doubt I'll become much of a coffee drinker any time soon, though. Every time I drink some I am hyper-aware of the fact that coffee can stain teeth. It's probably a very slight effect, but I really like my braces-straightened, white-ish teeth.
Which reminds me of something else. There are many people here with crooked teeth. I didn't understand immediately why something seemed to catch my attention, but I realized that it's because adults with crooked teeth are pretty uncommon in the USA now. On the one hand, that there's not such a culture of cosmetic orthodontics seems kind of more healthy. I mean, braces and the like are both expensive and physically painful. On the other hand, I'm kind of glad that it does exist in the USA, since I suppose it's to thank for my teeth that are extra-excellent here in Japan.

Anywho... Today was the first official day of orientation. We met some of the AIKOM staff, got several pounds of documents and things, ate lunch and then had our placement test.
The Japanese courses for AIKOM are said to be very intense, but I think I'll still order a copy of the Tobira textbook (I lost my other one with all my notes written in it a few days before coming here... Hopefully it'll turn up).
I'm absolutely sure that if I were closer to where I should be in my Japanese after third year (that is, if I'd retained more of what I studied) I'd have been placed in the advanced class. As it is... I'm not sure. It'll certainly be either the advanced or the intermediate. Either way, it'll be okay. I'm sure I'll learn a huge amount no matter what, as long as I put in the time.
Ganbarou!

On the way back from campus some of us rode our bikes back from Mitakadai in the rain. It was maybe a bit foolish, and I don't know about the others, but I enjoyed it. XD Getting wet (or completely soaked) on a warm day isn't so bad when you're going home anyway.
This evening a bunch of AIKOMsei (past and present) went to Karaoke, the first time ever for many, including myself (Asian-style karaoke doesn't exist in the mainstream in the US). Oh lawd. Almost no one actually drank, but you wouldn't know it. XD It was really a blast, for me. For now I should probably save my money, but I look forward to going again. I feel like I've really started to bond with some of the AIKOMsei. I'm really glad. XD Of course, hopefully I can make some more Japanese friends, but that'll be easier when classes start and I'm actually on campus more.

Tomorrow is the oral portion of the placement test. Like most of us not raised with kanji, I generally feel much better about speaking and listening than reading and writing when it comes to Japanese, so I'm not as concerned about it as I was for today's portion.