Kobe Conference Day 1

Yesterday morning, I got up, got dressed, and changed suitcases at the last minute. I took a taxi to the station so I was there like 15 minutes early. The train that came before the one I had planned to take was pulling off as I was coming out of the elevator. I should have moved a little more quickly to take that one because my train was stopped like 2 stations before my transfer to the high speed train…so I missed it. I’m so glad that the public transportation is so efficient here. I was able to catch another high speed train that departed 15 minutes later than my original train.
Our hotel was fabulous, as usual. They really spend a lot of money on our accommodations and I think it’s a little unnecessary. Beautiful island on a man-made island, great room, swanky bathroom, beautiful views of the harbor....YAY! However they should keep up the good work until I’m gone. I like to think of it as reparations for how horrible our apartments are!!! My roommate is someone from my prefecture whom I don’t know, but I guess I know her now. I don’t really anticipate spending much time with her because she talks entirely too much for me. Plus, I like so spend time a way from “home” with people who I don’t get to see…aka my roommate from Tokyo Orientation/Travel buddy!!! So after acting a fool during the ½ day of meetings, we carried it over into the night. We all went to Chinatown for dinner and Harborland to look at….ummmm….the water and stuff. Although I got a bunch of good pictures of scenery and stuff from Chinatown and Harborland, these two were my favorites. I thought they were neat. Then, we followed the sound of fellow foreigners in the street and ended up at a place called Soul Blood for a party called Hip Hop Juice…Sounds all bad right? ER! Wrong…WE HAD A BALL!!! So much so that we were the last people left on the dance floor…Hence our newest slogan…Tiffany and Michelle: Shutting down clubs since 2007!!! Any place that features a before and after portrait of Michael Jackson at the door is indeed the place for me...hehehe. We also went to a place called Second Chance, but there was more drinking than dancing so we didn’t stay there long. Did I mention that I went to bed after 4 am?