My dorm

Here are some views of my dorm room and the views from the building. I am on the third floor - no elevator, so lots of good exercise running up and down. I forgot to add a picture of my lock - it's a combination, so I don't have to worry about a key!

The room is small but nice, although my kitchen is so tiny that it is giving me fits. One burner, next to no counter space, TEENY fridge... I miss the 'tiny' kitchen at the apartment terribly. I'll make do, but I miss my full kitchen. Still, we're making it work, and I have decided that the electric rice cooker may be the most amazing invention ever. I love that thing.

You'll notice in the pictures of the bathroom that the shower and sink run on the same taps. You turn the knob at the base of the faucet to switch back and forth. Bathrooms here are interesting. Every one I have been in so far (aside from public restrooms) is almost like a giant shower stall. There's a plastic floor and a large floor drain, and you have to step up to enter the room. The nice thing is, I can remove the shower head and just hose down my floor! I am loving the deep tub, as well. We've started showering in the morning and then bathing at night... it's great for a nice long soak.

Yesterday we went shopping for the silly kinds of things you forget you will need in a kitchen (and more storage space). In one store, this cute little Japanese boy started starting at us. He couldn't have been older than five, and in this soft little voice with his eyes bugging out, he asked ’外国人ですか？’　(Are you foreigners?). When I told him yes, that we were Americans, I thought his eyes were going to pop right out. It was adorable.

More soon!