定期券で一日の冒険One day's adventure, with a commuter pass

I've already mentioned that my homestay is not exactly close to Doshisha University. And it would be nice to live closer to Doshisha. But it does have one perk: my commuter's pass. Okay, yeah, I had to buy it. And at first glance, it costs a fortune: nearly 13 thousand yen for a month-long pass. That little card, though, is perhaps the most useful thing in my wallet, bar none.

日本にいる時、僕の家は同志社大学から遠いね。もっと近い家に住んでいるのはいいかもしれない。でも、一つの恩恵がある：僕の定期券。はい、はい、買った。始めは、「高いよ」と思った、13000円ぐらい。でも、その小さいカードは財布の中で一番便利なものだよ。

Why? Because I can use it to go nearly anywhere in Kyoto. That little card will let me in and out of any station on the subway's Karasuma Line south of Imadegawa, and any station on the Kintetsu line between Takeda and Kutsukawa. That means I can go to Kyoto Station or Shijo (yay shopping!) for free, essentially. "Free" isn't quite right, I suppose. Like I said, 13 thousand yen. But it'll save me money in the end.

なぜ？と言うのは、京都の中で、この定期券を使って、どこでも行けるからだ。そのカードは地下鉄烏丸線の今出川駅の南で、なんでも駅で使えるし、近鉄線で竹田から久津川まで使える。それから、京都駅や四条駅に行く時、お金が要らない。まあ、「無料」はちょっと違う。13000円ね。でも、お金を節約出来るよ。

For example, today... I was particularly indecisive today, and ended up taking the subway a lot. First, the trip I have to take every day: Okubo to Imadegawa in the morning. I'm pretty sure that's about 500 yen. After classes were over today, I went down to Teramachi and the Nishiki market, so Imadegawa to Karasuma Oike... 220 yen, I think?

例えば、今日．．．今日に、僕はちょっと煮え切らないから、地下鉄をたくさん使った。まず、毎日の必要な通い、大久保駅から今出川駅まで。これは、500円ぐらいかかると思う。授業の後で、僕は寺町と錦通りに行ったから、今出川駅から烏丸御池駅まで地下鉄を乗った。220円、と思う。

When I was done there, I wanted to go to the post office, and I knew that there was a post office outside Kyoto Station. I mailed a gift to my twin brother today. But on that first trip to the post office, I forgot my address, so I had to go back to Doshisha to get Internet access. Shijo to Kyoto Station: probably about 250 yen; Kyoto Station to Imadegawa: again, 250 yen or so.

その後、郵便局に行きたかったし、京都駅の近くに郵便局があることは知っていた。今日は双子の兄に贈り物を送った。でも、郵便局に行く時、住所を忘れたから、インターネットを使うために同志社に帰らなくちゃ。四条駅から京都駅まで、250円、京都駅から今出川駅まで、また250円ぐらい。

Once I had looked up my address, I went back to the post office to send my brother's stuff out. That was kind of awkward, actually, because I had to ask the employee about getting an envelope... and because I used the word for "box", he thought I wanted an actual cardboard box rather than the little cushioned envelope. Oh well, I learned a new word today! Imadegawa to Kyoto Station: again, 250.

住所を調べた後で、郵便局にまた行った。今回はちょっと恥ずかしい．．．封筒は要るけど、どこがあるか知らない。郵便局の人を聞いたとき、「箱」を使ったから、段ボールの箱がほしいと思っていた。まあ、今日は新しい言葉を習った！今出川駅から京都駅まで、また、250円。

After my post office adventure, it was about 3 in the afternoon, and the plan was to meet my host mom for dinner at 6:30. It was too early to go back home, so I went back to Doshisha to hang out and play Pokemon Black. Kyoto Station to Imadegawa: really, do I need to repeat myself?

郵便局の冒険の後で、三時ごろだった。お母さんと晩ご飯をレストランで会う予定があるから、早すぎた。だから、また同志社に帰って、ポケモンブラックをした。京都駅から今出川駅まで．．．本当に繰り返すことが要るか。

Finally, it was 5 in the evening and people were starting to leave Doshisha. I decided that, even though it was early, that I should be heading back anyway. So I got on the train for Shin-Tanabe, which I can ride all the way from Imadegawa to Okubo. But, since I was early, I decided to waste time and go one more stop, to Kutsukawa. When the weather's nice, I can walk from Kutsukawa to my home. The bus is cheap, but nothing's cheaper than "free". Imadegawa to Kutsukawa: 500 yen or so, I think.

五時ごろ、同志社でだれもいなくなるから、僕は帰ると決まった。だから、新田辺行きの電車を乗った。その電車は、今出川駅から大久保駅まで乗れる。でも、早いから、久津川駅に行った。天気がいいなら、久津川駅から家まで歩ける。バスは安いけど、無料の方が安いよ。今出川駅から久津川駅まで、500円ぐらいと思う。

... But, I was meeting my host mom at a restaurant closer to Okubo Station. So after staring at the map outside Kutsukawa for about a minute, I got back on the train, one stop, from Kutsukawa to Okubo. Probably a waste, but hey, I have a commuter's pass, right? Kutsukawa to Okubo: ... I don't actually know, so I'll tag it as 130. It's probably more than that.

でも、レストランは大久保駅の方が近い。だから、久津川駅で一分待って、電車をまた乗った、久津川駅から大久保駅まで。まあ、もったいないかもしれないけど、定期券があるでしょ？久津川駅から大久保駅まで．．．知らないから、130円を書く。多分、それ以上だ。

So the total cost for my adventures today: 2350 yen. One. Day. That little card really is convenient, isn't it?

合計：2350円。一日だけ。その小さいカードは本当に便利ね。

城陽市役所と他の用事The Joyo City Office and other errands

While I'm in Japan, I have to have a registration card documenting my status as a foreigner. So today, after classes, I went with my host family to the Joyo city office to turn in the necessary forms.

日本にいる間に、外国人登録証が持っていなくてはいけない。今日は、授業の後で、ホストファミリーと申込書を出しに城陽市役所に行った。

In keeping with government practice, I had to write the exact same thing several times. Is it really so hard to just write important information once? Oh, and one would think that since this was absolutely necessary, that they would be relatively quick about handling it. Nope. I get to wait a full month before it's ready. I can go pick it up on the 6th of October. It would seem that the Joyo city office is a little slow, hmm?

いつも通りの経世だ。同じ事を何度も書かなくてはだめ。大事なことを一つだけ書くことは本当に難しいかな。そして、これは絶対に必要だから、速くした方がいいだと思う。そうだけど、僕は一ヶ月待たなければならない。この登録証は10月6日にもらいます。城陽市役所はちょっと遅いみたいね。

As annoying as the city office was, we did go to what was effectively a mall after that. That was fun. We had ice cream, and then I got to go shopping again! I had less free time for this one, though. Either way, I did go to the bookstore, and picked up a copy of a magazine called Nyantype there. Considering that the chapters of Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force, the newest Nanoha manga, are being released in that magazine, I don't see how I could avoid buying it. Even if it is kinda hard to read.

市役所は面倒くさいけど、その後城陽市にいるショッピングセンターに行った。楽しかった。アイスクリームを食べて、また買い物に行った。まあ、今度はもう少し暇な時間があった。でも、本屋に行って、「娘TYPE」（ニャンタイプ）という雑誌を買った。魔法戦記リリカルなのはForceの新しいマンガがあるから、買わなければならない。でも、ちょっと読みにくい。

始まりThe Beginning

It's still hard to believe that I'm really in Kyoto. (Well, technically, Joyo... I'll explain in a sec.) Let's see, what's happened so far...

京都にいるのがまだ信じにくいね。（まあ、城陽市にいる．．．後で説明する。）何があったんですか．．．

Trains here in Japan are really awesome. I mean, I already knew that, but it's one thing to know that, and entirely another to actually ride them. I took the Haruka train from Kansai International Airport to Kyoto after I arrived. They actually cleaned the train before we could get on, at the airport station. And I've ridden on Kyoto's Karasuma line, which is a subway line that's really useful for getting to Doshisha.

日本の電車はすごいよ。もう分かったけど、分かるとこの電車を乗るのは違う。日本に着いた後に、「はるか」と言う電車を乗った、関西国際空港から京都まで。空港駅で、乗る前に、電車の勤務者は電車を掃除しました。そして京都の烏丸線も乗った。それは同志社大学に行くためにとても便利な地下鉄線だ。

And now, I've been out to Joyo, south of Kyoto. Well, that's where my host family lives. So now I've been out on the Kintetsu Kyoto line, to Okubo Station. I'm sitting in my room as I write this. Later tonight, once I've unpacked, I'll take a few pictures.

そして今、僕は城陽市に行ったことがある。まあ、ホストファミリーは住んでいる場所だ。だから、近鉄京都線に乗ったことがある。これを書きながら、僕の部屋にいる。今夜で、荷解きした後で、写真を撮るつもりだ。

But that's today. I haven't said anything about yesterday. Yesterday was... interesting. We took a placement test in the morning. That was, I think, the single hardest test I've ever taken. I did passably well on the kanji questions, I suppose, but the reading ones were nearly impossible. I don't yet know the results, but I doubt I did all that well, at least on the written portion of the test.

これは今日だ。まだ昨日のことは話していない。昨日は．．．面白い。朝は、プレースメント試験を受けた。それは、受ける試験の中に、一番難しい試験だと思う。漢字の問題はまあまあけど、読むの問題は難しすぎた。まだ成績を知らないけど、成績は悪いだと思う。

There was also an interview portion of the test. That was actually, somehow, fun. Well, since I said that I liked magical girl anime, I ended up explaining Sailor Moon. I've said so many times that the words I learn from anime aren't ever going to be used, but when you have to explain anime...

そして、面接試験があった。それは何だか楽しかった。まあ、魔法少女のアニメが好きって言ったから、セーラームーンを説明した。何度も「アニメから習った言葉は全然使わない」と言ったけど、アニメを説明する時は．．．

The evening was also great fun. Why? I went out with some of my friends to a karaoke place. I've been wanting to do karaoke for a long time now. And it was amazingly fun. I repeatedly sung anime songs, like Hare Hare Yukai and Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis. I also sang some Nana Mizuki songs, and topped it all off with Caramelldansen. (And I did the dance to that last one.) I can't properly express how much fun I had.

夜も楽しかったよ。なぜって？友達とカラオケをしに行った。絶対にカラオケをしたい。そして、すごく楽しかった。僕は何度もアニメの歌を歌った。たとえば、ハレ晴レユカイや残酷な天使のテーゼ。そして、水樹奈々の曲を歌って、Caramelldansenも歌って。そして、Caramelldansenの舞も舞った。うまく言えないけど、すごく楽しかった。

So yeah... this is the start of one hell of an adventure.

これはすごい冒険の始まりですよね。