My guesthouse

I'm staying at a guesthouse now. There are about 20 girls here, mostly Japanese.

I've been here a few days. I can't say I like it overly. The worst, for me, is the bathroom, or lack thereof. The toilets are Japanese-style (eg, a hole in the ground) and not very clean. There's no soap or hand towel in the bathroom. There is no mirror. It feels dirty. The only full-length mirror is on the ground floor. I am on the third floor.

It may be good for exercise; if you want to make a cup of tea or use a Western-style toilet or iron clothes or see your reflection, you have to go down to the ground floor. If you want to wash or hang clothes, you have to go up to the rooftop.

Everything in the house is written in Japanese, and there was no explanation of rules, nobody to take me around the house and show me around. So I am figuring things out bit by bit. (At the time of writing, I just put a load of dirty laundry - with washing powder and all!! - in the dryer. !!! I didn't realise what I'd done until I'd (wasted) my 100 yen coin, and the clothes started flying around and sending powder everywhere...)

On the other hand, the location is extremely convenient and I am meeting up with a lot of people.

(By the way, my farewell party was good. Today I counted the number of presents I had gotten. I have received presents from 37 different people. 37!!!)