Ok so I've been in Japan for about 4 or 5 days. I'm living here for a year now as part of my university degree. I wasn't scared or worried before I came, just I knew that it would be difficult and tried to prepare myself.
However since it is the first time I've been to Japan and it's not like a tourist holiday, it's living here, sorting out loads of registration forms, household supplies, university etc. I'll happily admit I'm slightly overwhelmed. No amount of book learning or television documentaries prepare you for the culture shock, literally everything is different, from showers to getting on a bus. Everything has a completely different system to what I'm used to and I find myself doing things that make people laugh. Alas, I have inevitabley become "a stupid foreigner".
I've found myself wandering around going "That's so weird", "That's really funny" but then I realise, no I'm weird here, I'm the one who isn't normal. I have to intergrate into their way of working, not think "Why am I buying a lunch ticket from a vending machine to give to the lady who's stood next to the vending machine and therefore knows exactly what I want?"
With that, I'll end it for now, probably upload a photo or 2 when I can get my camera working, and study hard as communicating at the moment is not going well for me. This is one of the hardest things I've ever done.
That said, having already spent a year in Israel as a child, I can only think how lucky I am to get to experience another culture again, and that I really should make the most of every moment.