Aaand now we’re current. This morning my host mother kindly made me a very neat map that clearly showed the best route to and from school, which I was able to follow without a hitch. Of course, this morning I also set it down in the hallway at school along with two of the notebooks that I bought yesterday and I have not seen since. As a consequence of this, I became very lost again on my way back to the house, though I did eventually find it again. I think that I was wandering around Ogawa-cho for about an hour before I finally found my way home. I now have a new map, and am thinking that I might need to have it tattooed on my arm. After dinner we drank matcha, the kind of tea used in tea ceremony which comes powdered and is whisked into hot water to make a slightly bitter, frothy tea. I’ve heard that a lot of people do not like it, but I myself find it quite enjoyable. This afternoon we also had a lesson on road rules for riding bikes in Japan from two female police officers. Almost immediately upon leaving the classroom, we saw a whole slew of illegally parked bicycles, a couple of people riding on the wrong part of the street, and a woman riding while carrying an umbrella, which we had been expressly warned against doing.
-When in Japan, walk against traffic and ride with traffic.
-Buy your school supplies at a 100yen store, they are much cheaper.
-If you are in a major city, you probably don’t need to actually purchase tissues, as they are given out as a form of advertising at major street corners, malls and train stations. I have a whole drawer-full already.
-Try not to use your fan during class. I’m not certain that it’s necessarily rude, but it does seem to distract the teacher.