Following are some of the most frequent questions people have been asking me about my life in Japan so far. Hopefully this answers what you want to know!

Q. What is the area around TUJ like?
A. TUJ is basically located in the middle of downtown Tokyo. It is in the Minato ward, which is about a 15 minute or so walk from Roppongi. According to the TUJ Study Abroad orientation, Minato has the biggest foreigner population of all Tokyo's 23 wards, but you wouldn't know it. The area directly around TUJ is mostly office buildings, with a few apartments scattered about. There also happens to be this awesome family owned fruit shop like 2 minutes from campus where you can buy みかん (mikan: mandarin orange) for super cheap -- and they're absolutely delicious. Despite being in the center of Tokyo, the streets aren't super crowded like you would think. Compared with Shibuya or other high-traffic areas, Minato is pretty laid back.

Q. What are the classes like?!
A. Well, this answer is going to depend on the class really:
 - Risk Management is quite difficult due to the teacher going way outside of Temple's requirements for the course. The teacher is focusing heavily on finance (which I'm psyched about), however he moves extremely quick in order to make sure he fits everything in. This is troublesome because he will not even explain key points and just assume we understand them already. It's still an extremely interesting class though if you're interested in finance.
  - International Trade (Economics) is far too easy for a 3500 level college course. We spent the last 2 weeks reviewing comparative advantage, which is a real bummer since that topic is super simple. I got a perfect score on our first quiz without even studying o.O (pretend you didn't read that last part). I really hope this class gets more interesting since I love economics.
 - Advanced Japanese is very.... very difficult. It is quite a bit more intense than Advanced 1 at main campus. The teacher's vocab quizzes are a hybrid grammar, vocab, knowledge of Japanese sayings quiz, which makes them quite hard. The first test is on Monday (Feb. 1st), and unlike econ, I will be studying a ton. I'm against taking difficult classes though - I'm ready to take on the challenge.
 - Professional Development strategies is a course that all Temple Business majors have to take. You basically learn how to make resumes, cover letters, and act professional. Thanks to all the support I've gotten over the years, especially this last year, this class is really not very mindblowing. You meet for 1 hour a week, once a week. The guy that is teaching it is the head of the MBA program at TUJ though, so it's cool getting to know him. Still going to try and make the best out of it, and try to squeeze some new info out.
- Managerial Accounting is with the same professor as the one who teaches my Risk Mgmt. class... so needless to say it is difficult. However, he is staying more withing the confines of what you are supposed to teach for this course so he isn't flying through the material. I'm really enjoying this class though, which makes me feel like a huge nerd -- who likes accounting?

Q. Is Tokyo really that expensive?
A. Yes and no. It can be as expensive as you want to make it (i.e. going shopping in the Ginza district every weekend; Ginza is like Fifth Avenue in NYC... except an entire ward). You can also spend a lot of money at the vending machines that are all over the place. Japanese money is deceptive since the small 100 yen coins are worth about $1, but they don't feel like it since it's about the size of a dime -- stopping at a vending machine costs 120 yen minimum... this adds up. If you try and eat and do stuff like the locals, you will be okay. You get hit with a lot of expenses at the start of the study abroad program: health care, cell phone, commuter pass, books, etc.. After that though, you can pretty easily keep your costs down. I will do a separate post later about this.

Q. What is the weather like?
A. The weather has been between 40-60, and has only rained 1 or 2 days so far. The weather in Tokyo seems to be slightly warmer than the weather in Chiba (where I live).

Q. How is your host family?
A. They're incredibly nice. It is just the host-mom, dad, and me most of the time; on the weekends though, their grandchildren stay the night. It is a lot of fun having a 6 year old show you up with their Japanese skills. The host mom has cooked every night since I've been here -- all the food is delicious. I also went shopping with my host parent's youngest son, Kohei, the other day. That was a really fun experience since he works in Shibuya, so he loves outrageous clothes. He particularly likes this furry red fedora. I'll get a picture of everyone as quick as possible.

I hope this answers most of the questions I've received over the last couple weeks. If you have any more, just post them in the comments and I'll reply.

P.S. Expect a bunch more pictures after this weekend!

P.P.S. What do you think of the new layout/design?