Online!

In what should have been very simple, but by all accounts required a few strokes of luck, I am now online from my own humble apartment. Despite breaking post office's very standard operating procedure on non-received packages, this morning I was able to get my hands on the envelope the necessary username and password for connecting to the internet. Multiple forms of identification and documentation proved to be of the utmost value in pleading with the rule abiding counter attendant, as well as politely mentioning I was waiting for "something important". In addition, once said materials were home and safe, actually connecting to the internet was another difficult task. However, as I type now at 11:38 pm, after a long day of lessons, and with a stomach full of pasta and instant miso soup, I can finally say I am connected with all of you in what I hope will be a much more consistent way.
Now now, don't be fooled by the rambling of the first paragraph. I do have some goods to share with all of you tonight. Here are some photos I've managed to take in the last month or so.










This is the outside of training center we stayed at for the first two weeks.











This is the same training center, just the view of the road and Camry.




















This is a shot of the room I shared with two other teachers during my stay there. I'm glad everyone got along so well, or else it would have been tough in such close quarters.


Now, this is where things start to get a little better. This is the view from my porch, from which, on a clear day you can see a few more mountains.


This is a view of the city from a bridge I biked to the other day. My apartment should be on the other side of that brown building, what looks like it could be a parking garage. Below are some more shots I took from the bridge.


The Chikuma River, facing north.


Facing southwest.


Facing south.
As is clear in the pictures, we are situated right where the mountains have started, as they are of a significantly larger to the north, west, and east. I'm sure it was a very strategic location to build Ueda Castle, which Masayuki Sanada's army defended from Ieyasu Tokugawa's army of three times as many more men. I can't wait to go check out the castle, I rode my bike by it this morning on the way to and from the post office, but that's it. That will be another day.
I am a little exhausted, so after posting this I will be forced to pick between going to bed or reading (and finishing) the book I've been hooked on the last few weeks, An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro, a Japanese-English writer. Once I finish it, I will tell you all about it~