Day 3: The Exchange Student Welcome Party

Today was the first official day of the semester. Since I couldn't make registration last week thanks to my canceled flight, I had to attend late registration today. I also had lunch with my student buddy. We had Japanese food from one of the university's "canteens", which is basically a cafeteria or eatery, from what I gather. I ordered some salmon from there; it came with with white rice, what I assume was coleslaw (it looked and tasted like coleslaw, but it was less creamy), and miso soup. Well, my student buddy told me it was miso soup, but I can't be certain. Anyways, I didn't really like the soup. It had a sweet/tart flavor that for some reason reminded me of apple juice, and I don't like apple juice. My salmon was also coated with the stuff, but it was more tolerable than the soup straight-up. My student buddy ordered a chicken dish that came with the same sides. I got to taste it, and I thought it was pretty good.

The main event of today, however, was the welcome party for the exchange students. On my way to the shuttle station, I took some video of UTown, which is where my residence is. It's a very nice place.

It was peak hours when I got to the shuttle station, so it was standing room only on those things. And I've quickly found that I don't like to stand while riding the buses and shuttles. They jerk all over the place while in movement, and if I don't have a seat I have to hang very tightly onto a poll to avoid being thrown about. Even then, I get jerked around a lot. Fortunately, I was able to snag a seat on this shuttle.

Once I got to the party, I quickly found a VERY long line for the exchange student dragonboat tour. I eventually gave up on that, but I found out about a club that was doing a different tour on the same day at the same time. That one was more money, but I decided to go for it.

There were also some other clubs that caught my interest. There was a Capoeira club, a scuba diving club, and a Silat club. This is a bit embarrassing, but I actually learned about Capoeira from comments on that "It's Not Unusual" video with Hitmontop on Youtube. Hitmontop's Japanese name is Kaporea, and its Pokemon X and Y animation is apparently a very common step movement in Capoeira. Moving on, the Silat club performed some of the live entertainment, and even invited some of the students to join in. I managed to get most of it on film, but I apologize for my wonky camera work and the fact that I kept moving. I was juggling a ton of things in my hands, my arm got tired after a while, and I was trying to get a good view without having my ears blasted by the speakers.

All and all, it was a fulfilling and tiring day. And in case you're wondering, no, this blog won't be updated EVERY day. I'll try to get new things in often, but not every single one of my days here is guaranteed to be something to talk about.