Today was my first day of work, and of course I had to wake up with a cold. It's my yearly pollen-induced early-summer sickness. Somehow happens every year. Annoys me to death. Thank goodness for the packet of tissues that I picked up from a streetside hawker yesterday. Too bad I have to go in for a health check on Friday. I hope that goes all right, because I doubt I'll be better by then. I wish I had brought some vitamin C along with me... I guess I'll make do with orange juice.
Not much happened today. I toured the campus (very pretty with lots of old trees, a pond, a couple of swans, and lots of koi), got new stationery (about 10,000 more pens than I know what to do with), registered for an alien registration card (required if I'm staying in Japan for more than 90 days - I'm here for 94), and got to check email (at last, thank goodness!!!). The real stuff starts tomorrow. Hopefully.
Today during lunch, I met Seto-san and Yui-san, as well as various other office-mates whose names I do not yet know. Setto-san is the only other woman in the room that I'm working in, and after lunch (where everyone praised my Japanese and chopsticks abilities) I went for a walk with her and Yamamoto-san. I got to see the pond once more, both of the swans, and the everpresent koi. A few sports teams were out practicing - "soft tennis" and "catchball". The former is like pickleball, or a larger form of ping pong, and appears to be done only at Hitachi. The latter is pretty much just the catching and pitching part of baseball. I wonder if they have competitions... After work was over, Yamamoto-san took me around to the various supermarkets in the vicinity of the train station, pointing out the good cafes along the way. I wonder if I will ever find any of them again - it's all too easy to lose oneself in the maze of streets.
Jet lag has finally caught up with me. I slept well the first night because I was exhausted, but last night I couldn't sleep at all. Right now, it's all I can do to keep myself awake. This evening I experienced my first earthquake. Everything started shaking - not very much, but enough to make me nervous. I've heard that earthquakes are weekly events around here. Should be, ehm, exciting.
- Flykyr Skysong
Current song: NoppZ - Asterix & Obelix - 3 Ways (get your own copy at OC Remix)
Current mood: Sick and sleepy
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