Sunday, September 4, 2011

And so, my last day of summer...sigh

It doesn't FEEL like my last day of summer, though. Probably because being in Japan feels like being on a vacation.

I have two important things to talk about this time. First, I got to see my school today! It takes about an hour to get there between walking to the train station, switching trains, and walking from the station to the school, but that's not so bad. I like the exercise.

But it turns out my campus is kind of a joke. We were walking through it and a few minutes in, my host mother was having us turn around, and I was just like, "Whaaaaaat?" It literally takes four minutes to walk from the entrance to the other side of the campus with buildings flanking the sides of the main road. I didn't bring my camera when we went, but I'll bring it tomorrow. It'll take all of three pictures to show you the entirety of the campus.

Like I said, it's kind of a joke. Especially compared to Madison (shout out!), where getting from one end of the campus to another takes a bus to get to class on time. But as it happens, I think I'll like my small campus.

Also, my summer neglecting has finally caused me to crack under stress. My placement test is tomorrow and I've forgotten LOTS O' KANJI! So I got that going for me, which is great. I think I'll be studying tonight. I wanted to go for a jog but it keeps raining on and off so I guess we'll see.

Anyway, the second thing I want to talk about is SQUAT TOILETS. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here is a picture of a squat toilet:

How.

Naturally, if you're a guy, there are fancy-dancy urinals in your bathroom where you don't have to have a care in the world where you pee. But if you're a chick, and you really gotta go, and you're in a shitty (pun not intended, but kept for the jokes) station or park, they have these instead of regular toilets like the rest of the world. 

Now let's take a look at that picture. It seems simple enough. It's like being in the woods. Well, let me tell you something. I HATE being in the woods. As a matter of fact, I hate camping and almost anything to do with nature if I'm not looking through a window. Now you tell me how I'm supposed to pull down my pants to a reasonable height to squat and NOT pee all over myself. Really, the only way to do it is to cheat and take your pants completely off if you don't want to try explaining in Japanese to people that see you that, "No really, I just spilled something, I just spilled something all over my pants while in the bathroom. Seriously. I'm such a klutz." No. 

Squat toilets will forever be a mystery to me. 

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