When self-restraint comes in handy

The conversion rate from dollars to yen (円) is about 98 to 1 at the moment, which means basically you cut off the last two zeros from any amount and you've converted to dollars. So when I buy 1048 yen worth of groceries, I’m spending (a tiny bit more than) $10.48. It’s very strange walking into the store and seeing huge numbers on this comparatively tiny amount of food. But instead of making me shy away from buying lunch when it costs 570 because that seems so expensive, my mind seems to have decided that wow, these numbers are so huge, the currency must be really small, so all of this is extremely cheap. Go crazy, you can’t be spending very much!

Welcome to Osaka

Living in a house with 8 people in Aikawa, right next to Osaka proper. Went for a stroll along the river this morning (when jet lag wakes you up at 6:40, might as well take advantage of it, no?), and managed to get lost. Even better, I managed to squeak out some Japanese and refind myself. My roommate, Mizuki, is extremely nice and seems to speak even less English than I speak Japanese. We’re… sort of managing to communicate. Thank goodness Japanese classes start tomorrow.

I started off my arrival in the truly Japanese manner, sleeping on a bed with no mattress. Came with two comforters, one to sleep on and one to sleep under.