新宿 Shinjuku

So today was my second day of class and I for sure got into level 2 after taking the hardest Japanese exam of my life (that would be because it was meant for level 4 students I discovered later). My teacher I'm pretty sure is gay and is crazy funny. He sports a mohaw and a pink tie. He's extremely animated. I'm getting excited for actually learning how to speak. The way this immersion program works is my teacher only speaks in Japanese because my class not only has English speakers, but Korean and Chinese as well. Apparently we're supposed to ignore these Korean and Chinese student's talents when they start class with us because they are smarter than us (one of the teachers really said "Don't worry about the Asians, they're too smart" :O!). So far my class is just a review, so I don't have to worry too much about it this weekend, and actually have fun!
Which, speaking of, is what I did tonight. After class (which ended at 4:45pm and started at 9am) a bunch of my classmates and I went exploring the Shinjuku district that's only a 10 minute walk from my school :). It's pretty much what you'd expect Tokyo to look like. Flashing lights everywhere, amazing smelling food, and hundreds and hundreds of Japanese people all dressed in the most up-to-date fashions. The men mostly wear suits it seems, except for the teenage and college boys that get pretty punk-rocked out, and all the girls seem to wear high heels and leggings. The stores and pretty crazy as well. From rumors I've heard, there's a 4 story Forever 21 that sells tanks for 200 yen ($2.oo). That's crazy cheap to me and kinda thrilling. I think a lot of American stores in Tokyo are like that, from what I'm getting. Also a lot of stores in Tokyo are multiple stories, which is really neat. Yesterday I went to a super market that had 3 floors!
Shibuya gets even more crazy, though. There are restaurants not only in basements below other restaurants, but I discovered one that's just in the middle of a road where you'd think cars would be able to drive down, but I suppose they can't because people are too busy eating at their fancy tables! Tonight I actually went to a basement restaurant and ate some dessert while the 3 girls that were with me mostly today had dinner. My dessert was apparently a Chinese one (that's what the waiter said) and it was strawberries with a substance that tasted like ice cream jell-o. I'm really fond of not tipping, which I know sounds pretty bad, but it's nice to know that what you see is the real price and you don't have to think about adding an extra $5 to it.
Tokyo's really fun so far and exciting everywhere I look :). I'm pretty sure the fashion and the subway is so far my favorite thing about the city. Speaking of the subway, the mornings are very much crazy and there's a guy with white gloves that has to push everyone in like we're cattle. It's super busy and hectic. Tomorrow I'm heading off to the world's tallest aquarium that's located near my dorm :)! I'm totally stoked!