絶望した！タイフーンと火事と震災は絶望した！

If you are actually able to read the titles of these posts, then you know that this one is going to be a whopper. If not, stay tuned and find out why.

After I finished yesterday's blog post, I decided to take a walk out to the far side of Ikebukuro Station to see what was beyond the great glimmering neon wall that pervades my side. Long story short - there was another great glimmering neon wall on the other side. Only the business names had changed. Fortunately for me, there was one business name that I was overjoyed to recognize - Marui. This is a department store chain that I visited while I was in Sapporo and really enjoyed - a lot of new designers get their start here, and as a result the prices are actually very reasonable for the style and quality of their merchandise. I picked up a few new things, and decided to head towards home, satisfied with the day's find. I swung through Animate to pick up a few more things that I had had my eye on and headed home for the night.

Today, I had no plans whatsoever, except for stopping by the grocery store. However, I met up with some of my housemates at the breakfast table, and my friend Marie was planning on going out to a place called Honjo Bosai-Kan, or Honjo Life Safety Center. I know it doesn't sound like much at first, but it was incredibly cool. It started with a 3D movie about the possibility of another magnitude 7 earthquake hitting Tokyo. After that, we were split into small groups to go and try out the different simulators in the center - Typhoon, Earthquake, Office Fire, Home Fire, and First Aid. The typhoon simulator is a small room with large fans and water dispensers that recreate 30 MPH rains and typhoon-caliber rain. The earthquake simulator is a small room on a mounted platform that shakes and can recreate up to a magnitude 7 earthquake, during which the people in the room go under a table for cover and wait out the quake. The office fire simulator is a large maze filled with theatrical smoke. Sensors on the walls tell you if you're too high off the ground as you follow the darkened corridors, following the illuminated exit signs. The home fire simulator is basically fire extinguisher target practice. We actually got to pull the pins and fire extinguishers at a digital screen with a pressure sensor that grows or shrinks the fire depending on your performance with the extinguisher. We didn't do the first aid section - we both have CPR certification in our home countries, so we figured we'd do the other things.

After that, we parted ways in Ikebukuro and I came home to crash for a while. I still have to get to the grocery store.

Placement test results tomorrow. Pictures later tonight.

絶望した！