As they reached the front of the last building on their tour of the campus, Laura and Gabe immediately noticed the fact it had three separate entrances. One, located roughly at the center of the building, lead directly to a spiraling staircase surrounded by a glass faced that lead to the two upper floors, and according to the Kanji above it it lead to the library. The others were each a set of glass double doors that lead into the cafeteria. Stepping through the closer of those, they found themselves in a small waiting area, with a couple of monitors showing what would be served for dinner later that day. They couldn't get further in at this time, as the doors leading further into the building were locked.
"Behind these are two lines of counters where staff hands out food to the students. After that there is a large seating area. The other entrance on the other side of the building leads in and out of that area, right next to the dish return, for people to leave the cafeteria by, or if they want to sit inside it during non-meal times for some reason."
With the short explanation done, the local turned around and motioned for the others to follow him. "Now let's go upstairs and get you both your library cards. After that we just need to go back into the main building to let you finalize your schedules and sign a few forms to confirm your arrival and the classes you will take."
"Ah bureaucracy, seems somethings stay the same wherever you go." Laura commented with a thin smile, her accent making it difficult for the other two to tell if she was being sarcastic or not. Seeing the confused look on the guys' faces she rolled her eyes. "That was supposed to be a joke." She mumbled deflated as they all made their way back outside.
Climbing the stairs up to the second floor, Daiki lead the exchange students into a small walkway lined with lockers. "These are for any bags you bring, as they are not allowed inside the library proper, too big a risk of people taking the older books that are not to be checked out out with them, or things that could damage the books, like sodas, into the library."
"Right you are Mr. Okada." came the voice of an older lady from a few meters further down the corridor. Walking on, they found an old lady sitting behind a wooden counter, next to which was the door leading to the library itself. "Showing the Exchange students around like every year I see."
"Ah Yes, let me introduce you all. Mrs. Yurikabe these are Rosenthal Laura and Chumpson Gabe, from Germany and the USA respectively. Laura, Gabe this is Mrs Yurikabe, our head librarian."
"A pleasure to meet you." Laura and Gabe said near simultaneously.
"Indeed it is." The Librarian replied before turning to the filing cabinets behind har and rummaging through them as she continued. "I assume you are here to get your library cards."
"Yes we are." Laura replied quickly just before Mrs. Yurikabe pulled two sheets of paper, each with a plastic card clipped to it, out of the cabinet and placed them on the counter.
"If you could read these and sign at the bottom please. Don't worry, it's just a short recap of the library rules you should have gotten already. If not you can always read up on them on the university's homepage"
Skimming over the paper, it was indeed just a summary of the library rules, what books could be checked out and for how long, that you should be quiet inside, and how to tell which books needed to be treated extra carefully due to age. Signing on the indicated line, Laura handed the sheet of paper to the old lady and got handed her library card in return, which had a photo of the young German, her name and student number on it.
After handing Gabe his card as well the librarian gave them all a smile. "I hope you two will enjoy your stay here at Yamatanuki, if you ever need some help finding a book in the library or what book could help you, don't hesitate to ask."
"I will thank you." Laura said before the group turned to leave the Library.
After going back into the university's main building, Daiki lead them up to the fourth floor, where the deanery was located. After a short knock, they were asked by the secretary to enter, and after seeing the two foreigners, she immediately turned around and grabbed a pair of folders from behind her.
"Hello you two, ah, Ms Rosenthal and Mr Chumpson correct?" She asked the two of them sternly, not looking up from her files.
"Yes, we are here to collect their Student IDs." Daiki said quickly motioning for the two of them to step forward to the secretary's desk.
"Good good, if you each would please sign here first." She said as she pulled an identical piece of paper out of each folder. "To confirm you are aware of the student ID cards function as payment method in the cafeteria and for vending machines on Campus."
After the exchange students had done so, this continued for a couple more forms, that they were aware how to request a new one if lost, that it would function as keycard to various rooms, like workshops, labs or studying rooms, they were allowed to use, and lastly that to confirm they had received them.
"That should have been everything, goodbye." She said, waving them away.
Outside the doors, Daiki lead them a few steps away before speaking up. "I had hoped Mrs Konda wouldn't be the one to handle your IDs, as she is not the nicest person, to foreigners especially, as you might have noticed."
"Wasn't hard to miss it." Gabe grumbled, while Laura just kept silent over it.
"Anyways, now that all the official stuff is done, how about I show you around town as well?" The young japanese man offered his two companions with a grin as they descended the stairs.
"Sure, I can't wait to see that bar you mentioned earlier." Laura said, having cheered up at the prospect of seeing the town.
"At this time?" Gabe asked dumbfounded, after all it was barley afternoon by now.
"We can make it our last stop, it's not far from campus any-" Daiki offered, but was interrupted by Laura.
"Well yeah, I mean what's wrong with wanting a nice cold beer?"
"Well no matter that, it doesn't open till 5 pm anyways, so you would just stand around waiting anyways." Daiki said as he stepped in between the two, trying to stop an argument from breaking out.
"Aww, well can't help that I guess." Laura replied, a tinge of disappointment in her voice. "But even so, seeing the town sounds great. I wanted to look for a store to get supplies for a hiking trip tomorrow as well."
"Well, I don't have anything I am looking for." Gabe responded with a shrug. "But it would definitely free up tomorrow to see about meeting someone from the Rugby team and I have nothing better to do, so sure why not take a tour across town next."