So, it's been a little under a week, and I've been living reasonably... except for last night, which was completely nuts.
I don't have a ton of time to write, and I'm a little-hung over, so I'll just break the last half-week into quick summaries:

-Thursday: I attended primary orientation at Keio University. It was my first look at the Mita campus, which as expected is very nice (many trees, and a little hidden shrine area), but very small, especially for someone used to the scale of the University of Maryland. There was a round of self-introductions, so I was able to get a sense of the size and scope of the international program (a couple of hundred people in all). Many of the people at the orientation were from Europe, particularly Germany and Scandinavia. There was also considerable representation for Korea, Taiwan, and China. Americans were comparatively rare, with myself, two students from Texas, and two students from Michigan- that is, until they called the University of California. To be fair, the University of California has ten campuses, but to see nineteen people get up at once for a single school was a little intimidating.
After orientation I traveled by train to Akihabara, known to the cool and lazy as "Akiba," and by reputation as "電気街," or "Electric Town." I had a reason for going there! Was it the multi-story porn stores? The maid cafes? The labyrinthine rows of tiny subterranean stalls filled with assortments of naked electronic parts? No, I needed a watch and an alarm clock, which I acquired. I'll let the pictures speak for the rest, although just so you know, the KFCs in Japan are ridiculously nice. Multi-story, wood paneling, sculpted glass, and heated Japanese super-toilets in the bathroom.

-Friday: There was a secondary housing orientation on Friday which I forgot all about. Whoops. And I was even on campus while it was happening, to turn in some documents. Let us not dwell on the past. So, from the road that runs past the east entrance of the school, one can see Tokyo Tower. As I was exiting the campus, I had a brilliant idea: "Hey, isn't that vague atmosphere-shaded form in the distance Tokyo Tower? I should see Tokyo Tower." So, I started walking. Never mind that it's over a thousand feet tall. Bah. So, an hour and a half later, I arrived there, took a lot of pictures, and left.
After stumbling around the Japanese public transportation grid a little, I arrived in Harajuku for crepes with Maya. Ooh, and crepes were to be had, crepes of great fancy and deliciousness. Harajuku is known for its outrageous fashions, and on a Friday afternoon it was more than evident why. And there was also a watermelon the size of the Titanic on a stoop in front of a pastry store.
After wandering amongst trendy stores for a time, Maya and I set off together for Kinshi, bringing our climbing gear along in the hopes that we could actually locate the climbing gym, the address of which we had both neglected to either write down or remember. Which brings me to Japanese police. In America, when you think "police," you're really thinking "cop." Or at least, I am. Whatever that means for you. The police in Japan are almost universally mild-mannered, polite, helpful, insistent rather than demanding, and disciplined.
I had a slightly frustrating experience, though, when Maya and I visited the police box outside of Kinshi station to ask for directions. Essentially, even though I was the one asking the officer for directions, even though I was the one who was responding to what he was saying (essentially, I was the one he was having the conversation with), every time he would say something, even replying to a question I had asked him directly, he would speak to Maya. I'm not certain why this was- perhaps it's just because Maya's so pretty ^ ^; but my hunch is that he thought she was Japanese, and was suffering from the infuriatingly persistent misconception that some Japanese are prone to that white guys can't speak or understand Japanese. I don't mean to say everyone is like this, but here's a related phenomenon: in Japan if you're speaking to Japanese who know English, and you're white, chances are at some point you'll run across a person who will stubbornly stick to English, despite your best attempts to keep the conversation in Japanese. Sometimes they do so with an air of condescending indulgence, as if to say "it's alright, you don't have to strain yourself- I speak English."

I don't mean to dwell on that, and really the vast majority of Japanese are extremely agreeable, even those (and sometimes especially those) who speak English, but it happens, so I wrote about it.
We were eventually able to find the gym, after about an hour of getting lost and wandering around the vicinity of it. It's pretty nice, but definitely not up to Earth Treks standards. The holds seem older and more worn, and the walls are made of slick, squeaky wood instead of synthetic rock. There's only one top-rope wall, but the bouldering area is extensive. I won't bore you with details, but the system of delineating and categorizing the routes in Japan is very different, and took some figuring out. Anyway, we passed our belay tests with flying colors, climbed for an afternoon, and returned to our individual rooms and our cold beds after a tearful parting :`(

And then, yeah, Saturday: Saturday morning was the placement test. All I shall say about it is that it was three hours of intense effort and I wasn't feeling creative at all while taking the "self-expression" section, so balls and balls again. Although it seemed like the majority of people were more depressed about their respective performances than I was, so we shall see.
After that the rest of the day was spent bundled up in a shroud of translating for fansubs- and then came the night...

Actually, I'll keep you in suspense on that point, since I am to meet Maya at Shinjuku station in an hour and I must leave immediately.

A brief note on monetary matters, mum: The PIN for the account really ought to have arrived by now. Can you check with the bank and let me know what's happening?
I'm rapidly running out of the cash you gave me- of the 65,000 yen or so I came over here with, I'm down to about 27,000 just from ordinary expenses and amusements. So please, the faster I can get at the money in the account, the better.