Studying

I don't have a lot to report, except I am really enjoying studying Japanese in Okazaki. Here are some pics of my dorm building.

Here is the outside. The first window to the right of the part that sticks out is mine.














You go in under my window (not the garage door), then up stairs to the balcony, and here is the door to my floor.















There will be a fireworks festival on Saturday. Okazaki is famous for fireworks, so this should be quite good. The caretaker of Yamamoto House, Mr. Yamamoto, will have a party on Saturday for everyone here. Then we can watch the fireworks from here.

The weather is hotter here than in Tochigi, but it's less humid, so that's better. It's also sunnier here than in Tochigi. I have a green umbrella, and I have a phone strap that indicates the UV level. I tested using my green umbrella as a parasol, and aparently it wasn't blocking the UV rays much at all. So I bought a black parasol. Japanese ladies use them a lot. They are more comfortable than wearing long sleeves, and easier than reapplying sunscreen. So that's one Japanese habit I've picked up.

Another odd thing I've seen is the light switch for the toilet room is usually outside the room. I can imagine every Japanese child going through a phase of turning the light off when other people are using the toilet!