first week pictures

maya said every good blog has pictures, and i agree. some first week favorites:

heres the first traditional toilet i used. there are buttons to make tinkling noises because its inappropriate to pee loudly haha. i was pretty freaked out as is, and then i opened the door and was face to face with lil bo peep, about 22 yrs old, pictured right. she looks 3x as ridiculous from the front, with her crazy make-up, blond streaked hair, and pink frilly umbrella. wow. all the toilets at school are like this, so im not getting used to it. i think the button on the wall for noise, but what if its an emergency help button?? i can't read it. maybe i'll check someday...

my first day's groceries: grapefruit mentos, a carp charm, eel on rice for dinner, and anything else i could distinguish. since i cant read the 3000 chinese characters, it is quite an adventure trying to figure out what the heck i am buying and how to cook it. so these were safe. ive been more adventurous, of late.

as i love sunrises and sunsets, here is from day 1 in Tsu. i live on the edge of the city, so i have tons of stuff on one side and rice paddies on the

other. the mountains are amazing. one day, i tried to ride my one-speed bike to them. i made it to the trees. i'll try again sometime soon.