Our Tutors and My Tutor Koki

• "Tutors", which are essentially our first Japanese friends, help us out a lot
• My tutor's name is Koki. He's fun, energetic, and one of my best friends here.
  

So each ryuugakusei got a tutor to help them out assimilating to the Japanese lifestyle. There are two guys, Koki and Hiro, and 8 girls: Kim, Kazu, Mu-chan, Gu-san, Miki, and the rest I forget because they don't come around as often. As one of my friends who studied abroad here last year said, the tutors are basically our first Japanese friends. They're mostly all first or second years who are studying English in some way, shape, or form. Tsuru Bunka Daigaku (Tsuru Culture College) is known for it's English classes and all its iterations, such as comparative culture, linguistics, literature, etc. Also, a lot of the students I've talked to aspire to be elementary school students, so I assume that Tsuru Daigaku is good for that as well. Apparently in Japan being an elementary school teacher is a good way to have a steady job with a standard pay. It is, however, apparently a much more prestigious position than it's considered to be back in the States.

Anyways, they've been a really big help so far. They've taken us to Akihabara to help get out electronic dictionaries, helped us shop, practice our Japanese, teach us how to cook Japanese cuisine, help figure out the best keitai (cellphone) plan, and just hang out with us. When October rolls around and our actual classes in different subjects start, apparently they're supposed to take them with us, though I'm not quite sure how that'll workout since they'll have a full load as well. However, if we ever need anything, they're the go-to people, and they're all awesome.

My tutor's name is Koki, short for Kouki (man, if only a chi was added to the end of that...actually, I'll see if I can nickname him that tomorrow ^_<). He's actually the leader of the tutors, which is surprisingly fitting since sometimes, due to my room (#101, the first on the row, which I'll make an update about later), I'm joked about being the leader (maybe due to the whole first-born-is-the-leader mentality here). He's a smaller guy, maybe about 5'5" or so, with a frail build. His physique and his quick smile attribute a sort of mischievous but kind-hearted personality. Think of him as an elven thief who's chaotic good. Koki's rarely seen without his signature uchiwa (fan). He also has a black yukata he often dons before we go out to some special event. His understanding of English is pretty good, but when he speaks you can't help but to chuckle a bit inside. It sounds very stereotypical, like he's really concentrating on getting out the words. He has a hard time pronouncing some words like "heart" and "hurt".

Koki on the first day we met. Each tutor made their ryuugakusei a fan with their name on it (by gluing a piece of paper with our name on it onto a fan)

Hiro is a very fun-loving guy who fits a lot of funny Japanese stereotypes. He's the signature guy who's always smiling and hitting on women (despite having a girlfriend), often goofing around even in the presence of higher-ups. His bouncy attitude and tonal inflection, along with his unforgettable cheek-to-cheek smile, make him seem like an anime character come to life.

Hiro always wears those crazy Japanese shirts with random buttons in the middle and no sleeves

He and Koki are really good friends and the two most fun and popular tutors amongst the group. I feel a bit bad for the girl tutors, since usually when Koki or Hiro are present, they draw most of the ryuugakusei's attention. However, with the exception of Kim-san, most of the girl tutors are quiet, so it's hard to really tell them apart since we don't know their personalities (I'm just now learning their names after really trying to make a conscious effort).

Koki doing the signature Japanese "mweeeeh" sign. Think of it as the Japanese equivalent to our thumbs-in-ears-an-wiggle-fingers-like-antlers motion.


Hiro with his signature smile. It always looks like he's plotting something behind that giddy facade...

I'm really glad that Koki's my tutor. I couldn't have asked for a cooler, nicer, more helpful person. He's sacrificed a lot of his own time just to help us out. I've already give him (and Hiro) each a UCLA T-shirt, which is pretty special since I only brought 4 for guys (M size, though they're still pretty big on both of them).

Sometimes he reminds me of Tristan, especially with this picture

Koki gives a thumbs up while wearing his "Sunshine Girl" t-shirt. He's often the butt of light-hearted gay jokes due to his disposition to wear pink and his random girly (with American thinking) T-shirts. I have the feeling he was the butt of the same jokes from his Japanese friends before we came, since they do it primarily to him as well. But, despite our teasing, we love him and wouldn't be anywhere without him or the rest of the tutors.