Konnichiwa- From Japan/ My first week

The one thing that stinks the most about writing this blog entry actually in Japan, is the site mystically changes into Japanese writing (hiragana/katakana), which makes things difficult to figure out, but it is good practice no?
My first week in Hikone has been every part amazing. This city is so incredibly beautiful, and I still think that I have yet to really come to terms with where exactly I am. I think I've been to the grocery store about 5 days this week, buying Japanese food for myself, and preparing it with the help of my roomate, and still it just feels too much like a dream to be actually living in Japan.

I've done alot in the first week.
On my first day here we had orientation, where we got our bikes and learned crucial things like how to get to the grocery store, how to get to the bank, how to use the telephone, and such notably easy things that are much more difficult in a foreign country when everything is in Kanji. (totemo muzukashii!) Reading Japanese can be an extremely difficult thing and overall comprehension can be more extreme when your too nervous to try to speak Japanese and ask where things are. This is the usual format to ask where something is...

Sumimasen, ________________ wa doko desu ka?
(excuse me) (item) (where)(is) (?)

Asking this question isn't so much the issue. The problem is the response, which is usually fast and too difficult to understand. When people assume you know Japanese, that's what happens. So for our first day getting groceries in Japan, me and my roommate basically walked around with a DS dictionary writing in Kanji on various packages and figuring out what things were. Who ever decided to put pictures on packages, and better yet instructional pictures on the back of packages, is my hero.

The food has been generally good, we can get alot of the same things that are available in the states, it's just that everything is more of the seafood variety. Also I have already succumbed and made the switch from bread to rice, which was alot easier then I thought it would be, and we have been eating alot alot of rice. With some minced garlic, soy sauce, salt, and sesame seeds, rice can be by itself a delicious meal.

Also this week we went and visited Hikone Castle! It was so pretty and it is basically the standout landmark of the city of Hikone. For its 400th anniversary celebration they developed a cute mascot called Hiko-nyan who we were able to get our picture with. Along with the castle we also got to tour the Genkyu-En Gardens, where Ii family lived for periods of time. Again the gardens captivated the qualitative beauty of Japanese culture.

I'm not going to write much more, but instead upload a crap ton of Pictures and study. I promise more will come next week!