Kouki (Second Semester)

So, tomorrow (Friday) marks the last day of my first week of school! Up until this point it's just been us UC students studying only the Japanese language, with most of the town deserted due to everyone returning home for summer break. Well, now the gloves are off, and we're completely immersed in the school system!

"So, what's that entail?" you might ask. Well, we have 8 classes, with each one meeting once a week for an hour and a half. We are now taking classes with the Chinese and Korean ryuugakusei as well, who clock in at about 6 people total. We all have to take three Japanese language classes (reading and writing, everyday life Japanese (which is really useful), and writing and presenting research papers in Japanese), as well as Japanese society class, history and culture class, and a politics and economy class, all taught in Japanese. Then we have to take two electives, which are, quite literally, two classes we need to take out of the regularly offered classes. Uhhh...yeah...0_0

This week we pretty much just did jikoshoukai, or self-introductions, so I can't really comment yet on how the classes will go, though from the looks of it things should be alright. The new teachers need to have time to adjust their manner of speaking to match our level of comprehension. And by new teachers I mean, of course, the teachers from the 6 core classes; the teachers from the actual class don't hold back any punches.

So, as far as electives go, we didn't have too much to choose from. The school is really focused on comparative culture (between English and Japanese especially), literature, and preparing students to become teachers, especially for elementary school. A lot of the seemingly fun and interesting classes unfortunately have time conflicts with our main classes, so we can't take those. However, a lot of us are taking a shodou (calligraphy) class, which is pretty chill. A lot of us will also be attending a literature class tomorrow morning about reading children's books and then applying the hidden meaning to Japanese society (like if it actually comments on religion or politics or whatnot). Despite being centered around children's books, it's still supposed to be rigorous and tough, even for Japanese students. The teachers will make exceptions for us ryuugakusei, grading a bit easier, but the grade we receive here is the one that transfers over to our respective UC, so we have to really make sure we kick it into gear and try.

Thankfully, due to the Japanese take on colleges, effort is considered in part of your grade. In America your professor couldn't care less if you had "really tried" on your test - that C+ is still a C+. However, here in Japan whether or not you actually tried does get factored in. And two more sidenotes about the Japanese collegiate system (at least for Tsuru Bunka Daigaku): times are separated into 6 slots throughout the day, starting at 9:10 - 10:40, then 10:50 to 12:20, and so on, with an hour break for lunch. This sort of makes the entire thing feel like we're back in high school, where a student will say "I have a 5th period class." Also, the school is only about 3,000 students large, and the campus isn't very big, so the entire thing has a very high school-like atmosphere to it. Already we're beginning to see faces we recognize around campus, which is nice, since it makes it feel like one big family, and there's always the ryuugakusei lounge we can go to in case we need to get help or just relax.

The other thing about the Japanese college system is that there are no grades. Students really just care about passing and getting credit for the class - there's no real reason to get an A versus a B versus a barely-passing C. Admittance into a Daigakuin (graduate school) is based on ningenkankei (human relations); it's all about having one of your teachers you studied under in undergrad to recommend you to another teacher that you want to study under in graduate school. Unfortunately, as our grades to matter, we can't be as leisure with our classes, and actually have to put in the effort :( However, this IS a Japanese college, so the workload is about comparable to a high school class, and we have an entire week to do each assignment, so in actuality the workload isn't that bad. What makes things tough is the fact that most of us are constantly out socializing, joining clubs or hanging out with new friends, that homework time mysteriously vanishes.

So, yeah, that's about it on the school. I'll try to get some pictures up soon, though now that class has started, I really don't want to look like a foreigner and take pictures of the campus...maybe on the weekend I will :P

A few other things to note:

I didn't get to play with the basketball circle this week, nor my host dad, due to random events popping up. However, Friday afternoon another ryuugakusei and I will be going to play soccer with the soccer circle. If things go well I'll probably end up playing with them regularly. Also on the list of clubs/circles-of-interest are rugby and handball. If I join the rugby club, since they only have a club and not a circle, I'd get the perks of joining a club, which means free membership into the gym (instead of paying $1.50 each time) and access to team shirts / jackets, if they make it my size. So, if I can't get that through the soccer circle, I'll probably do that. Also, since we don't have any kind of professional handball league (at least, not to my knowledge) in America, I want to try that out here. I'll keep you posted on those as they progress.

Final note - So, I was running a few days ago when I noticed a store called Shimamura. It looked like your regular small department store...kind of like a Ross. I decided it couldn't hurt to look around. I enter and head to the men's section, where instantly I see a nice looking button down shirt. At first glance it seemed kind of wide...that's odd. I check the tag - 3L. WHAT!? I spin around, looking at the shirts that encompass me. I look up and see a sign - it reads "Ookii fuku", meaning "big clothes". SCORE! They have 3L to 4L shirts, both nice-looking shirts and Engrish T-shirts. I was sweaty at that time and in no condition to try on shirts, so I plan on going back soon with one of the female ryuugakusei to help me pick out some nice clothes. Finding this store made me honto ni ureshii (truly happy) ^_^ They also carry rugs, and they have the most totally awesome (woah hoo, surfer dude language!) Stitch rug. I forget the exact size, but it's pretty big, cute, and comfy...I just might have to get it, even though I can't think of any real good place to put it back home. Mom, Dad, any suggestions? :P