I'm a foreigner and an Immigrant.

 I have to go apply for an alien registration card in order to be legal in Japan. It's so weird to be a foreigner and an immigrant. I have traveled to Europe, Mexico and Canada but in all honesty I never felt like I was a foreigner and never really felt like I was in a foreign land. I do feel like a foreigner in a foreign land here. It's hard to describe in words what it's like to be here. I know I am a strong person and some of you may think I am being a baby by freaking out but how many of you can really say you've been out of your comfort zone 100%? When I have traveled I have always been with people that I knew or when I travel alone I am always going to see someone I know. 

When I got off the plane here, it was so weird not having anyone meet me on the other side. I have no comfort here. No one to call. There are people from all across the world here and I have met some cool folks so far. One thing that I think is interesting is accents. I know in the U.S. you have your Southern accents, East coast, Midwest and so on. Everyone always thinks I am from the east coast because of the way I talk. I used to talk with a Boston accent thanks to my dad but my school made me go to speech class in 3rd and 4th grade and by the end of it my accent was gone. But still, I always get asked if I am from the East or always get told that I have an accent. It comes out more when I get excited cos I talk faster or cuss more but I never really notice it. I met this girl from Australia the other day who told me I had the strongest American accent she had ever heard. I thought that was funny. It's weird that we have accents to other countries because it doesn't seem like we do, I guess maybe cos we're just used to hearing each other talk. 

Today our school is taking us on a tour to Kyoto, which is about 40 minutes away by train. I haven't been out of my school or dorm yet so I am excited to actually see more of Japan. I hear Kyoto is amazing. It is rich in history and I plan to take a lot of pictures. Two of my friends from Portland are in Kyoto till Sunday so after a brief school meeting tomorrow morning I want to try and meet up with them. It will be so nice seeing so familiar faces from home. Oh and I will probably starve here. I'm a vegetarian, well I kind of eat fish sometimes but not often, but I have barely been able to eat anything here yet. I am starving! I am going to drop like 20 pounds or something, which I don't need to lose so I am kind of worried. Hopefully once I become more comfortable with my surroundings I will be able to find more places to find food. 

I might have to have you all send me food, seriously I am not kidding. Since Monday I have only eaten a couple of times. The time difference here still trips me out. For instance right now it's 9:33 a.m. Friday but in Portland it's 4:33 p.m. Thursday. I'm almost a whole day ahead. It's so hard to get used to. I have been going to bed every night so early like 7 and 9 and then sleeping till 5 or 6 in the morning. I hope my jet lag goes away soon. I was also relieved to discover that I don't stand out here at all. People kept telling me that I would because of my blue eyes, red hair and how tall I am but I haven't really received any weird looks. We'll see what happens when I leave my school/dorm area but I think I'll be OK. I feel pretty homesick.It's so weird doing this all alone but I am hanging in there trying to adjust as much as I can. A girl named Maggie who is in the same unit as me has made me feel so much better. She was here last term and knows Japanese so she gave me a tour of the school yesterday and then sat with me last night for hours talking to me about Japan so it helped a lot. I'm going to head out for now. Maybe I will write again after I get back from Kyoto. Peace out!