Days 2 and 3

Day 2:

My run started around 9:45. I returned around 12:15. I may or may have gotten lost. Regardless, it was an excellent way to better understand the layout of the city.

My home for the next 3 months

Following my lengthy run, I walked towards Ikebukuro station to find a place for lunch. In my poor Japanese, I asked somewhere which restaurant was good in the area, and I found myself enjoying some sushi, udon, and hijiki. I had no idea what hijiki was at the time, but I ate it anyway. For reference: http://www.justhungry.com/2007/01/seaweed_hijiki_wakame_kombu_no.html.  I had to take my shoes off when I went to my table, which I found out when I embarrassingly tried to enter a no-shoe zone. Lunch was delicious and a perfect way to begin my wanderings around Ikebukuro and Sunshine City. On the way home, I stopped at a convenience store and picked up more sushi & onigiri. Exhausted from the day, I was in bed by 10:30.

Day 3:

Waking up bright and early at 7 am for a run, I got lost yet again. It's not completely bad because it gives me an excuse to ask someone for directions and fail at speaking Japanese. No one ever knows where North is. At noon, I tried to meet up with my friend, Teki. Tried meaning that before I met up with her, I again got lost by going to the wrong station and found myself at a police box or 'Koban'. My attempt at horrible Japanese wasn't unsuccessful, however, as I managed to have the officer call her and direct her to the police box. After being lost like a small child in a department store, we walked around Harajuku and into the many enormous stores, most of which were American companies. She tells me that despite having a huge building, American Eagle isn't very popular because American style doesn't align with Japanese fashion. Walking around I got a much better understanding of what is 'ninki' or popular with Japanese girls.

Harajuku

We also went to a photoboth, which are very popular in Japan. You take a serious of different poses, then are directed to another area where you view and edit your pictures, adding text, smileys, and stars to your heart's content. After a while, we headed off to Softbank to get a pre-paid cell phone, the original purpose of the trip.  Of course the store we went to was sold out; apparently, they have a limited number of pre-paid phones that they sell everyday because the system was abused by illegal activities in the past. We took the train to Shinjuku to go to another one of their locations where we finally had success. Thank goodness Teki was there to speak for me. She has truly been awesome. Not only in helping me get settled in Japan, but in teaching me tons of Japanese.

After I got home, I headed to the convenience store for some another lazy person dinner. I believe it started when I asked an older woman if the onigiri had umeboshi. What happened was this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZzNqmVQMEM&feature=related. She held my hand, telling me that they were cold and hers were warm at one point. All in all, aside from the fact that the encounter was extremely interesting, I learned what the red stickers mean: either reduced price or half-price. Extremely helpful tip. In the end, I was basically forced into buying a meal very similar to what I had for lunch, but I cant complain because it was 200yen.

I don't know how I'm ever going to remember all these new things...
代わり　かわり　second helping
空く　すく　to become less crowded (お腹が空いた　ー  Stomach is empty)
恥ずかしい　はずかしい　embarassed
どこにでも anywhere
人気　にんき　popular
気にする　きにする　to mind/care about
煉瓦　れんが　brick
みたい　similar to (Harry Potterみたい　ー　Looks like Harry Potter)
同じ　おなじ　same
易い　やすい　easy  (安い -  cheap)
重い　おもい　heavy
軽い　かるい　light
外に　ほかに　in addition, besides
量　りょう　quantity/amount
少ない　すくない　little bit
重要　じゅうよう　important
ますぐ　straight (ahead)
曲がる　まがる　to bend, turn, curve
渉る　わたる　to cross over
どうしよう　what to do (道が迷った　(みちがまよった),  どうしよう　ー　I've lost my way, what should I do?)　
大きさ　おおきさ　size, volume
牛乳　ぎゅうにゅう　milk
塩　しお　salt
砂糖　さとう　sugar
簡単　かんたん　easy