planes (to Japan), trains, and automobiles (teeny tiny ones with names like the LATTE and the NAKED...???)

So... how long has it been? Well, I'd rather not count the days, er, months. :)
I'm in Japan.
Yesterday I went shopping for supplies for my first classes - the kids classes. And I went grocery shopping for the first time in Japan. Not by myself. And bought a bunch of non-perishables... lots of stuff to eat with rice and make it taste a little differently than rice. Not that I don't like rice. I've become increasingly fond of it since I was introduced to Japanese rice by a certain Amy Nordaas and I expect I'll be eating more rice than bread. Mainly because rice is less expensive than bread and lasts a heck-of-a-lot longer. Though not a 'poor college student' anymore, I have a feeling given the occupational-type pursuits I'll be making in the however distant or not-so-distant future, the first word is not likely to leave off describing me. Though, on the otherhand God always seems to provide just enough. So am I really 'poor'? Guess it depends on your standards.
Tomorrow I'll be shopping for veggies and milk and fruit and yogurt and moving into my one(-)room (to use a hyphen or not to use a hyphen?) apartment. I have a little bed a little desk and little table (truly little - Japanese style where you sit on the floor) and a little kitchen and a little, no, tiny toilet room. I think I like its littleness. Less room to get lonely. Wow. The first time I've ever lived on my own. I'm not sure what to think of it yet. 4 years with 2 and 3 other incredible roommates doesn't leave room for much excitement for being completely on my own (or maybe it's more being by myself). It's another transition in life that, like it or not, everyone faces to some extent. I think perhaps in time I'll like having some space, but I'd really much rather share a space with someone and maybe just have a room or a corner or a place in the woods near a quick-moving river with lots of peepers vying to be heard above all the others.
I'm very much in the middle of a bustling city. Another new experience. Thankfully I can at least SEE the mountains and rice fields from my train window. I like standing on the train... because then I can look out both sides.