Shao Chan's Hokkaido Adventure - シャオちゃんの北海道の旅

(4 days ago)

I haven't moved into the dorms yet, but they said i could yesterday. The thing is, i dont want to because the hostel actually looks better because of its location. If i moved now, i would be away from all of my friends, have no internet, and be 25 minutes away from central sapporo. (vs 1 min) Yesterday I picked out a cellphone, GOD that was an intimidating process. Even with the Japanese I had, it was almost impossible, we had a Japanese friend help us translate. The phone was free, but of course there are many catches. There is a 27$ activation fee, and then the phone -doesn't- come with the charger, but you must pay for it with the phone immediately for 10$ ?? makes alot of sense i know. I chose the 'M' plan which gives me 144 minutes of free talk time a day for 35$ a month, plus 10$ for data services (like ringtones, internet, and email) So my monthly bills will be around 45$ Anyway, my phone is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. It plays free terestrial TV!! It has a media player for music and video, It has a 2.8 inch widescreen, a nice 2 megapixel camera, and it can access the internet. It also does this 'flip' thing where the screen flips around and then locks onto the phone so it looks like one big widescreen tv, and YOU CAN WATCH TV LIKE THAT! So, at least the phone is good right?

Today we are going to open our bank accounts at Hokkaido bank (finally) we didn't do it the first day of registration because it was payday that day and it would have been too crowded. Our placement test is on friday so i'm also trying to prepare for that. Yesterday I had some really good thai curry at this place next door for less than 5$ Usually though i've been eating at convenient stores, they actually have pretty good selections of decent food, my favorites being 'onigiri' or riceballs with stuff inside. I usually like the ones with shrimp and mayonaise, or crab.