Yay for air conditioners. I've spent a fair chunk of the last two days in my room, mostly because outdoors is so hot and humid that it's like walking into a sauna. Yesterday I finished my explorations of the peace park. I didn't check out the museum at all, but I did find a part of the park where all the old men sit and play go and shogi. There were only two go games going on, and I was too shy to go watch, but it was my first go sighting, so still exciting. I actually went and tried to find a cheap go board in this Value Village-esque shop below the bookstore, but they only seemed to have boards, no stones. I've become addicted to this type of candy, which I'd tried before at some conventions, but now I can get it for 80 yen, which is dirt cheap. There's a 7 eleven down the street, and even though it's not all that culture embracing, I've been getting lunch there a lot because I can just buy a sandwich or whatever for 200 yen, which is cheaper than most other things I can find. For my walk this morning, I followed one of the nearby rivers south. I had some food I was going to eat for lunch, and was trying to find an unoccupied bench, but eventually just gave up and found some stairs that descended to the river and sat down to eat there. There I discovered that the rivers here are loaded with crabs. They were crawling all over the stairs and riverbed. I would have taken a picture, but I didn't take my camera today. I'm getting a better feel for the city - well, at least for Naka Ward, which is where I'll be spending almost all my time now anyway. I've been taking different routes home to get a better feel for the surroundings. This evening I'm planning to the north more, and check out the Hiroshima Castle and the big sports complex near it. Orientation begins tomorrow. I have all the paperwork done that I'm supposed to have done, so we'll see how that goes. I don't want to be rude, but it's so tempting to just go in and be like "So - do I really need to do this orientation stuff, or should I just assume I won't get paid anyway, and go enjoy the day doing something else?" Well, I realize this post is pretty disorganized and hops around a lot, but I felt I should write something new.