My first Tokyo earthquake

Oh dear me, such hardship... Here I sit in my electricity, gas and waterless room forced to eat a big tub of cream and cookies icecream for breakfast seeing as the freezer is defrosting.... Such a hard life ;-)

My first opportunity to sleep in proper like was interrupted at 6:40 by my first ever Tokyo earthquake. Interestingly it was quite different from the Icelandic ones I´m used to, might be in part due to the fact that in Iceland I´m normally in a wooden house covered by corrugated iron and here I´m in a concrete box. The difference is that in Iceland I hear this high pitched kinda sound first (might have missed it here because of being fast asleep) then in Iceland it´s kind of a jolt, a forceful wave, followed by a push and then another jolt. Here it was more a sort of a rumbling, like being on the Italian tram, and lasted for probably 30 seconds, just rumbling away... As always during earthquakes I was to lazy to get up or worry.. ;-)

Here things have been incredibly busy. Have applied for my alien registration card, gotten a postal savings account, gotten my student card all of which I needed in order to apply for a mobile phone here which I managed to get Thursday. This may sound simple but when added to a full school schedule, everything being in different places and the local bureaucracy I´m pretty impressed with myself ;-P School has for the large part of the week involved long periods of waiting and listening to ill prepaired introductions and whith all the paperwork that needed to be done as well as the fact that I need to take two trains and a bus just to get there it has at times felt like a waste of time. Then I´ve also been dealing with procuring money for the downpayment on an apartment, as well as all the paperwork involved with that, all of which I´ll tell you about come Monday if all goes well so as to not tempt fate overly ;-)

People here have been incredibly helpful and amiable, with literally bank people getting up and walking me to the next bank where I might get the service I needed. Somehow can´t picture that happening back home ;-) Everyone just really seems to appreciate ones attempts at Japanese..

I had intended to post tons of pictures from school and of newly aquired friends but for some reason my camera won´t interact with my laptop :-( so I´ll have to go find me a card reader..... Again with the oh so hard life ;-) Got myself an electronic dictionary yesterday, a fancy mobile phone the day before and now I need a card reader...wonder what other gadgets I might see once I´m there ;-) I also have to remember to tell you about my cheese exam!