Japan - Part 2

So my sleeping schedule is horrible. I was hoping it would eventually become somewhat normal, but not so much. We are up at crazy hours & sleeping at even crazier ones, but we're making due. 


Monday Craig got all his paperwork signed and we paid the rent and became official. It was nice to know that the power wasn't suddenly going to go out because we hadn't paid the rent! There are a lot of rules to staying at the international house on campus. Toyonaka, the city we are staying in, has crazy rules about trash. You have to separate it into things that can be burned, things that can be recycled, and then everything else. The city provides specific bags and you have to use them. It's different, that is for sure. Recycling is crazy here. There are recycle cans EVERYWHERE. There is no excuse, that is for sure. There are vending machines around every corner that have anything from sparkling water, to coffee, to beer. It's kinda strange. Mostly Japanese drinks, some Coke, even less Pepsi. No Diet Coke to speak of. We did find some grape Mountain Dew. That was cool.


Monday morning we managed to find a grocery store and stock up on some essentials. Grocery shopping is grocery shopping, regardless of the country you are in.


So Monday afternoon, we met up with Craig's professor and saw the lab where Craig will be working. I don't know much about science labs, but it looks cool. It's pretty small, Craig's "office" consists of a desk, but there are some really cool instruments in there that Craig will get to use. Pretty awesome. His professor took us on a tour of Osaka University. It is a really nice campus. There is a lot to do on Campus and it seems like there are tons of students. The campus we are on is only one of 3 in total. They just grew so much, they had to have additional campuses. After touring the university, we headed to the Market Street. It was really cool. Local vendors selling everything from shoes to sushi. It was really neat. I'm excited to go back and check it out more thoroughly before I leave. We took the train to Umeda, which is one of the big cities near where we are. There is a few tourist things to do there and Craig & I are headed back today. We just went with his professor to check it out. The train stations there are HUGE. I couldn't believe it. I have a feeling we might get lost. 


Tuesday ended up being a lazy day because of all the walking we did Monday that we weren't prepared for. We didn't know we where getting a tour so neither of us were prepared for all the walking. I ended up with blisters on my feet and Craig's legs were pretty sore. I had some work to do and we did go check out the cafeteria on campus, but that was about it. Sadly, we keep falling asleep around 6pm and waking up at 2 or 3am. Then the sun comes up around 4:30, so sleeping in isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. 


This morning we got up and got going earlier. We went to check out the cafe on campus that served breakfast and now we are about to head out to Umeda for some fun!