Day Two - 062106 - Rocking Down to Electric Avenue

On the way out the door I bumped into an Okinawan food restaurant that served all kinds of stuff like Goya Champuru and the like. I'll have to check it out later, as it wasn't open at the time. It's all part of the Okinawa craze that has been sweeping over the country for some time now, especially with Okinawa in the news and the Okinawa diet craze and all. I think you might be able to make out the shisa on the top of the roof. I think this'll be a recurring theme on this trip, considering my research interests. On TV today, there was even a show on the military base problem this morning that was very interesting (from what I could understand). It was quite a long program giving a great deal of attention to the problems there. I will write more on this as time goes on.

Later in the day, I caught the train to Yokohama-eki and went to the nearby Citibank branch to draw out some money. I've been told that withdrawing money through the ATM will get you the best exchange rate, so we'll see how this goes. Also, I looked into possibly opening a Japanese Citibank account but doing so will have to wait until September when I get my Alien Registration Card and requires an insane minimum balance of $5,000 minimum. Geez.

Went to Akihabara, where I found the model of denshi jissho (electronic dictionary) that I had been researching. It's kind of a beast, sizewise, but it has a ton of books loaded in it that should be able to help me with my work. Akihabara was all blinking lights and craziness, but I was able to comparison price at a few different stores, and saved probably 2000 yen (~$20) by doing so.

Been watching the World Cup games a lot but kinda missed the last few days. Tomorrow's Japan-Brazil game should be a trip, though it's a big challenge ahead for the Japanese team. After their last minute blunders with Australia they were able to come back a little in the next game, though they weren't able to get a win. Their passing game is good, they play like a team, but in the last game their defense seemed weak, and they just weren't able to close the deal in the offensive section. Over here World Cup fever is everywhere with advertising and people wearing blue jerseys on TV. Fun.

Well, school starts tomorrow with a placement test. We'll see how that goes. Tired for now.