Oita

Earlier this afternoon I left Mary's house and with the help of Mary and her dad, lugged my baggage to the train station. From Takeo Onsen (the station right near Mary's place), it was a 45 minute ride to Kosu. At Kosu station I bought myself a ticket to Oita, as well as a little bento box of shumai.

(It was tasty)

I enjoyed my little lunch while riding on the train to Oita. This train ride was much longer, but it was on a much nicer train through much nicer countryside. (Granted, I slept through more then half of it.)

(Here's the nice train I was riding)

(And here's some nice mountainous countryside I was riding through)

When I arrived at Oita station, Ayumi and Kengo, (Two of my three tutors) were waiting for me. Kengo has a car, so we were able to load my baggage into the back of his station wagon and he drove us to the international house where I'll be living for the next year. Ayumi got me signed in and handed me my key.

(My apartment for the next year)

After getting my stuff into my room, Kengo and Ayumi took me shopping for anything I might need. I got all the stuff I could think of off the top of my head as far as living necessities. I also got some food to cook over the next few days. Once they brought me back to my room they informed me that I have my placement test tomorrow morning. At this point I would like to point out that I don't really know where I am exactly. I don't yet know how to get to the station from where I am, much less where the university is. Fortunately there were some other students in the lobby who have been here for a while, and were able to give me at least some idea of where to go. Sounds like there will be a group of people going tomorrow, so we'll all be able to go together.

So now it's just a matter of getting myself all unpacked and settled in. I have run into a small problem though. It seems there was some kind of error and my futon and bedding aren't arriving until tomorrow. I found an email in my inbox that basically said, "Sorry we screwed up, please stay warm tonight." So that ought to be fun. Fortunately I've read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and have my beach towel to sleep on tonight.

~Daniel

P.S. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: If you ever want to see a picture better, all you have to do is click on it, and you'll get a bigger version. Enjoy!