...can be a very good thing... yet downright inconvenient at times when it really matter.

+ You get to practice your Japanese in different situations (aka people don't water down their speech for you) 

   ...in convenience stores, in the mall, at the train station, on the street... basically, everywhere. Because of how I look, some of my friends and I are often mistaken by Japanese people as one of their own. It's nice at times to not be taken notice and paid attention to. I've learnt a lot about Japanese cultures just by being an 'invisible' bystander. Not looking foreign is also a really good thing when I'm feeling particular adventurous to test out my Japanese abilities.

It's been over a month since I arrived in Japan and here's my version of things about living in a dorm in Japan... more specifically, things about living in a girl's dorm.

There's thousands of rules. So I might be over-exaggerating on the 'thousand' part but there's literally a rule for every single thing imaginable. I have a curfew at 11:50PM and if I stayed out too late, the door wouldn't open until 4AM (Students who stayed out too late without forewarning will have to write an essay in Japanese to apologize and read it out loud in front of all the residents in the next dorm meeting- something which happens once per month.) We have rules on when we can use the bathtub, hair-dryer, vacuum cleaner, washing machines, and etc. It might sound like a lot (and it is) but once you get a hang of things, it's not that bad...  We have duties to do. This is something I find that is really different from staying in a dorm in America. At the beginning of each month, the residents staying in the same apartment/unit (in this particular dorm, it's 4 Japanese students and 1 international student per apartment. We each have our own individual narrow but neat bedrooms but we share a kitchen, a dining area, and the bathrooms and toilets) decides who gets which week of cleaning duties which basically consists of taking out the trash every morning before 8AM, and the vacuuming and cleaning of the entire apartment unit on the weekend. The cleaning consists of cleaning the electric stove tops, the mirrors and the sinks, the walls and floors and drains of the shower room and bath, the toilets, and so on.  Trash. Let's talk about trash since I'm already on the topic of cleaning. In Japan, they take out different kind of trash(es) on different days of the week. They separate their trash into 3 main kinds: Cans, P.E.T. bottles, and combustibles (which also consists of plastic bags and everything else that doesn't fit into the first two categories.)  Washing machines.  This is how we do our laundry. It's 200 yen for 4.5kg, which is roughly 2USD; it's 300yen for 7kg. I sometimes share a machine with my friends to split the cost.  Dryers.  The dryers costs 100yen/15 minutes but after using it once for 30mins and still was forced to dig out completely undried clothes, I gave up on it and just did the way other students do by hanging it in our own rooms like this. It is suggested that you either turn on the heater or leave your window open for the clothes to dry faster. It usually takes around a day or two if it's sunny. 

I've arrived in Japan for a week and six days and everything had been in constant motion- orientation, hangouts, and seeing more of the city I'm in. It's only after I've arrived that I realize how important it was (and is) to surround myself with people. Unlike how I first was after arriving in the States (reclusive, introverted,depressed, and homesick), I've found myself spending hours and hours in the company of new people, only returning to my dorm room at night to sleep. 

A tiny bit about me and why I want to Study Abroad when I already am I'm an international student of Northern Illinois University, a junior in standing, an English (writing) major with minors in Linguistics and Japanese Studies, and a girl who loves learning new languages and a change in scenery every once a while. Despite dreading plane rides--ironically, seeing as to how I've much I've flown my entire life--I love traveling and visiting new places and cultures, and Japan has simply been at the top of my list of countries to go (and after that comes England, France, and Germany! One mustn't forget the birth places of some of the most amazing composers to have ever graced the earth but let's not go there right now--)