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Excuses, excuses

I've been busy again.  Still.  Who'dathunk?
I know I've been back in Tokyo for 4 days and that I owe what I promise is a lot of fun Kyoto and Osaka stories.  For the first two days I was back I was relaxing in a clean room (oh, how I missed you, hygiene!) and having to pack.  Then yesterday I moved into my permanent dorm, which I absolutely love.  So, all last night and today I've been getting settled in and meeting people.
Plus, we have been having orientation after orientation after orientation.
I have another excuse, too.  I took so many videos that I need to compile and edit them on a video editing program.  The only one I have is Windows Movie Maker, and of course it doesn't accept the file type that my video camera records in, so I have to figure out how to convert the files.  But after trying three programs and two roundabout methods, I'm taking a break from it, so they won't be up for a little bit longer.
I am now staying in Global House, which will be where I stay for the rest of the year, and I couldn't be happier.  Not that I didn't love Ginkgo House and Dialogue House, but Global House has a great sense of community and a really homey setup.  Ginkgo and Dialogue were both double room styles, but Global is unit style, where each floor has five miniature apartments, with one front door opening into a space with a living room, a kitchen, a laundry/shower room, a toilet room, and four single rooms.  So, I technically have three room mates, but I have my own room.  I love the people I'm living with, too.  The way unit placements work in Global is each unit has two regular students and two international students (Global House is the international dorm, so there are many international students, and this is pretty much possible in all units).  The other international student in my unit's name is Olivia, and she is a lot of fun and we have a lot in common.  The two regular students' names are Emi and Saori.  Emi is incredibly sweet, outgoing, and comfortable to be around.  Saori doesn't come out quite as often, so I don't know her as well, but she is also super nice.  I know that this year is going to be absolutely amazing, largely because of this living situation.  Even though this dorm is one of the older ones, the setup is really homey, not only because we have little apartments, but because the common room is really inviting and used often, and all of the residents are helpful, friendly, outgoing, and a lot of fun.  Also, this is the only dormitory without a curfew and that allows all residents to go wherever they want in the dorm.  This means that we can enjoy our time however we wish, whether it be going out of the dorm at night or hanging out in friends' rooms.  In Ginkgo and Dialogue the curfew wasn't enforced due to it being Summer vacation, and good thing, because curfews and I just don't see eye to eye.  Also, it was frustrating not being allowed to visit friends on other floors, or be in guys' rooms.  I think all of this really helps our sense of community.  We were able to have a party in one of the guys' units last night and it was really enjoyable mingling with the people who will be my family for the next ten months.  I started learning a little about how I can become involved in the dorm, because it is largely student run.
Two of the helpers from Ginkgo House during the Intensive Language Program, Yuya and Yutaka, are in Global House as regular students, and even though Yutaka isn't here yet and isn't very social, it's awesome to have Yuya around and Yutaka if I'm willing to go find him.  Also, Miranda, Na, and Eduardo (the first two I know from the Summer ILP) are all in Global House.  Miranda is in the unit next to mine, and her unit mates are also a lot of fun.  Like I said, this year is going to be a lot of fun.
I'm just having too much fun getting to know people to spend my time blogging.
We have another (this is the fourth in two days) orientation in a few hours, but I will try to get to my Kyoto and Osaka blogs soon.

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