Author: Katherine

(Official) Day 0/1

Before meeting with the rest of the group, I went to the aquarium with Professor Jacobs and the sign language interpreters. Afterwards, I went to the building where Kojima productions is located. This was one of my top destinations, since their game Death Stranding is one of two games that makes me want to go into the game industry. Obviously I couldn’t go in but I was able to take a photo with the statue out front.

The next day I tried karaoke for the first time ever, which was on my bucket list since I love singing. It was so cool getting a private room and having drinks brought to us. I’ve always loved the idea of karaoke, but was nervous about trying it in public, usually around drunk people that I don’t know; so having a private room with someone I’m more familiar with was ideal.

Then we all took the bullet train to Kyoto where we met with employees from KCG for dinner. Unfortunately for me, I knew eating was going to be an issue because the Japanese diet consists of a lot of fish – something I am physically unable to eat; but I still had a good time getting to talk to my classmates, being in the environment, and trying new things. In the end, I just told everyone I was vegetarian.

Arriving in Japan

I arrived in Japan midday on Thursday the 18th. I didn’t even have to leave the airport before noticing how different it was. Besides the bidet, I didn’t know the toilets would run water to cover up any sounds and would spray perfume when they sensed you. The toilet almost had its own remote control. I also didn’t know that this would be the last water fountain I would ever see in Japan.

After getting briefly stuck in the airport due to a currency exchange issue, I had to figure out how to navigate the subway system since I hardly use them. To my surprise, all of the subway signs were in Japanese as well as in English. I was also taken back by the heat and humidity there, which was 90° with 75% humidity. I got to the hotel eventually and tried to sleep off my jet lag before sightseeing the next day.

The next day, I wanted to get acquainted with the city a bit more so I decided to go to Tokyo tower to get an almost birds eye view of the city. In order to get an achievement card from the tower, I made my way up 600 steps to the top. The next day I visited the park next to my hotel, which seemed to have some sort of festival going on. In the park there were also some shrines and a pond that I walked around before getting dinner at a food truck and heading back to the room.