Japan - Days 0-1

Hey all
As you may or may not know, I'm spending the next year in the Land of the Rising Sun. First impression - it's going to take some getting used to ^^'
The early morning was alright - I had a power nap in the car on the way to the airport. First flight was fairly uneventful. So uneventful that I can hardly remember it, in fact ^^ I remember I had an aisle seat on the right of the plane though XD. Once we reached Frankfurt, it was on to Narita. Long flight was loooooooong! :-O
[Edit: Crap, I've just realised that, because I was using >< as an emoticon, somehow it's cut out a bunch of my blog post, meaning I skipped most of the journey to Tsukuba. To summarise what I can remember, I watched Shrek 4, some Disney cartoons and a little bit of Alice in Wonderland on the plane, along with the in-flight aerobics video. I couldn't stretch my legs out, so I couldn't get comfy enough to sleep, but I played some DS and listened to some music on the way there too. Once we were at the airport, we went through immigration and were met at the airport by a couple of staff who directed us onto the bus to Tsukuba. When we stepped out of the door of the terminal, there was an immense heatwave - this is the Japanese summer. After the bus to Tsukuba Centre, we got on the bus to the University, where I was met at the bus-stop by my tutor (a guy in my lab). He first of all took me to the wrong accommodation office, before we finally checked in at the correct one and got my room key so I could dump my stuff in my room. As I needed some photos for my paperwork, we walked along to a drug store a little way away, then he left me to my own devices once he'd taken me back to the dorm.]
I then went to check on the toilet and kitchen facilities - the toilet has two urinals and two of those weird stalls which you have to squat to use, and the kitchen has a hob, a sink, and a few cupboards which explicitly say you can't put food in them. No fridge, no freezer, not even a microwave or kettle -_- No wonder the paperwork said to bring so much money to start with.
Well, by now I was so stressed I decided to sleep, or at least try - it was so hot that I was really uncomfortable, and was tossing and turning all night, waking up several times. When I woke up for the last time, it was about 7.30, so I decided to get up.
Today has been a much better day, however. In the morning, I took a shower and went down to the combini again, got a drink and then used the payphone to call my Japanese friend's mum, who seemed very pleased to hear from me. I asked her if she would be able to call my parents to let them know I was okay, which she said she would ^^
As I was heading back to my room to plan my next move, I was called over by one of my other friends from Manchester who, as luck would have it, is in the building next door. He showed me to the International Students' Centre (where I am now) so I was able to send a few e-mails, then we went down to the Library and the Science building, where he and a few friendly ladies in the Science office helped me locate my supervisor. He was very nice, as were all the other students and teachers in his lab. After meeting them, and having a quick meeting with my supervisor, we all went to lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. I still didn't have much of an appetite, but I had some chicken noodles as I realised that I had to eat. As it turns out, my supervisor paid for my lunch, which made me feel a little embarrassed ^^' After this, I took a look around the lab, and one of the other students printed off a scientific paper for me to read for background.
After this, it was around 1pm, so I decided to be productive. I went to my room and sorted out one of the forms which I was unable to complete yesterday because I didn't have a small enough photo. Then, I went to submit it and asked the lady there how I could locate my friend. She directed me to the International Student Centre, where the lady at the desk said she'd call my friend's tutor so we could get back in contact. Then I quickly walked to my room again, grabbed some papers so I could send a few e-mails, then I've been here for the past few hours, abusing the aircon and reading this scientific paper XD
Anyway, that's about it for today. I got my friend's e-mail so we can meet up tomorrow as planned ^^' よかった!
That's about all I can think of to say right now, so I'll update again in a few days to tell you about all the latest goings on ^^
お元気で!