I survived week one.

 I had the joy of teaching online, going to government offices, wandering streets, shopping with others and on my own, and meeting "the people upstairs."  All said, it was a good week.  I'll do things in sort of a reverse fashion of the last day or so.

This morning I had the foresight to take a picture of the entry flowers I walk past every day.

I never remember the names of particular flowering bushes and shrubs.  This is definitely of the rhododendron genus.  Quite probably azalea.  All I know is they are pretty to see.  For reference, the blue roof belongs to the dental office next to the apartment.  The apartment building (International House) is the three story building just beyond the dental office.  I have an unbearably long commute to and from work.  (To any Japanese people reading this, that was an example of sarcasm.)

Last night, after dinner, I had a dessert provided to me by Susan.  Her neighbor made rice balls filled with red bean paste.  They are sweet by Japanese standards, meaning most Americans would say there is no sugar in them at all.  Susan was wise to remind me to take a picture before I ate it.  Full disclosure, I almost had it in my mouth to take a bite before I remembered.

The powder on the outside is soy and sugar mixed, I think.  Possibly with some black sesame seed.  All I know is it was sticky rice goodness around a wonderful red bean paste.  The bean paste was sort of the consistency of homemade refried beans, but sweeter.  I've looked up how to make them, and will spend some time practicing before I return to Michigan.

Before I ate dinner, I bought a few items at Donki.

 It says on the entry not to take photos while inside, so I didn't.  This vantage is from a pedestrian bridge over a fairly busy road.  The building is 6 stories tall, but I am pretty sure the entire store is on the ground floor.  At least, that's the only level I've been on.  The rest is parking garage.  Paying was a bit of an adventure for me.  I knew I would be asked about bags (they cost 3-5 yen per plastic bag), but I didn't catch the word for bag when the cashier asked me.  After a moment I showed her my bag that I'd brought to use, and she nodded.  I was not ready for the question at the end, which I think was "How will you pay?"  I think this was the question because when I took out my wallet and showed the cash, she again nodded and said "ahh."  Then she directed me to the proper pay stand.

At the grocery stores there is like a halfway self-checkout.  An employee scans the items in your basket, placing them in a new basket.  When it is all complete, your items are placed next to a pay stand.  You select a few things on a screen (Are you a Donki member? - No.  Will you pay by cash or credit card? - Select the right picture.) and your total comes up.  Deposit your cash and coins, take your change and receipt, then move to a bagging station.  It works very well, I think.  I'll have to see how things flow as I'm here longer.

Speaking of coins, I showed these to Malachi the other day.

From top to bottom are 500, 100, 50 (only one of those at the time), 10, 5, and 1 yen coins.  The 1 yen are aluminum, I think.  To get a rough conversion to USD, divide by 100.  It's actually 109 right now, but this is rough.  So, these are like $5, $1, half dollar, dime, nickel, and penny.

The last thing I'll share is my hanko, or personal seal.

This is it inside its case.  The white square on the right is the lid to an inkpad.  They very kindly put a star sticker on it to let me know which way faces away from me when I use it.  My stamp looks like this.

It is used to check in at work and to "sign" official documents.  You have to have this before you can open a bank account.  I carry mine in my pocket along with keys, wallet, and passport.

There we have it.  The fruits of week 1.  This weekend Brooke and her roommate are planning to take me to the German House.  I'll explain that story after I return.