Schoolwork and the Other Ryuugakusei

• Schoolwork load is about equivalent to a high school class
• Until the end of September we take nothing but "intensive Japanese."
• After September we take various classes, such as Japanese politics and culture, all taught in Japanese.
• Our teacher draws hilarious caricatures of us, each with a different anime stereotype aspect.
• The group of other ryuugakusei (exchange students) is awesome

So yes, we do actually have to spend some time in class. Last Monday we took the placement exam. There are two different classes, class A and class B. 6 of us got placed into class B, the more advanced class, and 4 got placed into class A (I'm in B). Our sensei, Shima-sensei, is totemo shinsetsu (very nice). The class is 3 hours long, from 9:30AM to 12:30PM, with a short break in the middle. We usually study kanji the first half and grammar points the second half. A lot of it is review, but a good portion of it is new. One of the other students already used the textbook we're using (which is apparently rare in the US), so he's bored during class. Shima-sensei is thinking of hastening the class so he won't be too bored, though I'm going to reassure her that there are other students in the class that like the pace we're going at now :) I've never made flashcards before, but I just bought about 400 blank cards to use. After making 100 or so, I've found them pretty useful, especially for kanji. It's like what people say, it's not the flashcards necessarily that help, but the act of making them that really reinforces it.

This "intensive Japanese" class lasts until the end of September. After that we get a 2 week break, then we start taking hokano jyugyou (other classes), such as seiji (politics), keizai (economics), bunka (culture), and rekishi (history), all in Japanese.

The workload right now is pretty easy. It's about as much as a high school class. This week we have a script for a small speech and a kanji practice assignment due Wednesday and an essay due Friday.

I feel that my Japanese is improving. When people speak at a normal speed, as long as I understand the words, I can usually follow along just fine. It's when I hear a word that I don't know that throws me off. I know that the people that came back from Tsuru were much more fluent in the end than I am now. We've only had a week of class so I'm not holding myself to their standards yet, but I figure if I really put in the effort I can reach that level. Although I didn't do any studying today (oops), tomorrow (Tuesday) we have off, so I'll be spending a lot of time studying then. This entire week is some kind of special week where people go back home to pay their respects to their ancestors. I'm going to send an email to my first year Japanese TA and my second year sensei to see if they're back in Japan, and if so, if I can take them out to dinner.

The *best* thing about my class, though, is all the drawings that our teacher does. On the handouts are her caricatures of each of us. Each of us has been given a stereotypical role of anime characters based off of her initial impressions of us, though they're pretty accurate. There's John, the most fluent out of all of us, who really likes anime. He's always depicted as the "cool" guy with his wavy blond hair due to his, well, blond hair and excellence in Japanese. There's Aaron, who gets nervous a bit easily, so he's shown as the very worrisome guy. Toby, the only student to be in the B class who only took Japanese for one year, is very studious, always on his deshijisho (electronic dictionary) and constantly reviewing. He's always shown studying really hard, much like the stereotype anime character who practices and trains really hard in order to improve.

Brianna, or "Buri-chan" as Shima-sensei calls her (the Japanese are obsessed with shortening things...I know that the Red Hot Chili Peppers is shortened to something interesting, but I can't remember what right now), is a half-Persian half-white mix that apparently is just Asian enough that she's extremely attractive to the Japanese men. She also fits the body type of a Japanese woman, and she can sometimes be shy. She's usually drawn with one hand in front of the other in front of her waist, like she's being very polite. She usually has a little heart next to her and really intricate pretty clothing. Her stereotype, as you've probably guessed, is the very pretty, shy girl. And, on the opposite side of the spectrum, is Shani, who's usually drawn very active and loud, often yelling at someone. Her attitude is one of a typical American - hence, the loud and active appearance when compared to typical Japanese women ("But I'm not always mad, I'm fun!"). Shani's the anime's tomboy / hell-hath-no-fury-mode woman.

Finally, it's my turn. I'm usually drawn with a happy attitude, guffawing and having a good time. I've also been depicted as somewhat of a rebel / gangster, perhaps due to either my sunglasses or my gristly stubbles when I skip a day of shaving. I'm also shown as more muscular and taller (in one grammar point example my feet stick out beyond the bed and I say "I can't relax."). I'll definitely be keeping and bringing back all the drawings (hopefully I can find a scanner soon...). It's funny that now when we answer we try sometimes think of how she'll perceive it and draw us next. Last week I said that my hobby was playing videogames, so I won't be surprised if next time I'm sitting in front of a TV playing Wii.

Well, those are the 6 people in Class B. To finish off us 10 ryuugakusei we have the 4 Class A students. Todd, or "Kumataro" ("First Bear" as he's just been Christened) is a fun-loving UCSC Slug who, thanks to his years of wrestling, football, and rugby, can probably bench more than I can. Jenny is an extremely energetic and nice person. We did a little Taekwondo sparring the other day and she got the best kick on me I've ever felt; it was so cool to actually be kicked efficiently like that! Danielle is a 5th year who's decided to enjoy her last quarter by studying abroad. She loves to watch anime and play games as well (actually, most of us do. Brianna, the ohter UCLA ryuugakusei, even worked at Blizzard for a while as a GM for WoW!). Finally there's David, a fencer from UCSD who's always laughing and having fun. The UC breakdown is: 3 UCSD, 2 UCLA, 1 Cal, 1 UCSC, 1 UC Davis, 1 UCR, and 1 UCSB. An equal number of Tsuru Bunka Daigaku students are sent to various UC schools to study abroad there for a year (sort of taking our place for a quarter). We got to meet a few of them, adding them to our Facebook friends list for some good practicing parters when we return home.

So yeah. The schoolwork ain't that bad (as long as I force myself to be studious) and the group is diverse, interesting, and fun!

Meeting the Gakushachou (School President)
From left to right, top row ("Tutor" if I forget their name): Kim, Tutor, Toby, Gakushachou, Shani, Aaron, Brianna, David, Hiro
From left to right, bottom row: Tutor, Jenny, Danielle, Me, Todd, John, Koki (my tutor)

A more fun picture of us!