Class Schedule

Hi there!

    The opening ceremony ended up happening, but they kept the Kyoto tour canceled. The ceremony was a usual sort of thing: lots of people telling us how wonderful we are and how lucky we are to be here, etc., etc. Near the end, a student choir came out and sang "A Whole New World" to us in lovely Engrish! :) I also found out that my academic advisor and professor is a mad piano player! He played two short songs that he though represented the journey we have now started. Yeah, I know, it sounds a bit fruity when I say it like that. *shrug* He said it better.

    Speaking of teachers....I got my schedule!! :D I got the classes I wanted! :D I'll be taking Ethics: East and West with my advisor on Tuesdays and Thurdays, and Popular Culture as Social Practice on Wednesdays and Fridays. I placed into Spoken Japanese 2E and Written Japanese 2C. I thought I'd probably get put in level 2, and was sort of hoping for 3, but not really expecting it, so I guess I'm happy with it? I'm not sure what the letters mean. At first I thought we were ranomly placed in different sections, because there are so many of us in the lower levels. But someone said that they split each level up into different level to further place us. This makes sense, but no one has been able to tell us if the sections are A-E, lowest-highest, or highest-lowest. My initial thought was highest-lowest, because A is the best grade, right? But on the placement test, A was the lowest and E the highest. Who knows!

    Here's a break down of my schedule, 'cause it gets complicated.

Monday: 11-11:50am: Spoken Japanese (SPJ)
               12-12:50pm: Reading and Writing Japanese (RWJ)

Tuesday: 10-10:50am: SPJ
                1:15-2:45pm: Ethics

Wednesday: 9-9:50am: SPJ
                    12-12:50pm: RWJ
                    4:40-6:10pm: Popular Culture

Thursday: 11-11:50am: SPJ
                 1:15-2:45pm: Ethics

Friday: 10-10:50am: SPJ
             12-12:50pm: RWJ
             4:40-6:10pm: Popular Culture

    Why do the times for SPJ change? I don't know. But even more annoying than that is that the room for Ethics changes, not just rooms, but buildings! And RWJ is in 3 different rooms! Seriously! They are just trying to confuse me now!! I think I'm going to get to campus every day at the same time, by 9am, so I can have a regular sleep schedule at least. I can use the extra time to study, do homework, read, hang-out, call home, etc.

    In other news, the school canceled all the homestay meetings on Saturday. I'm now meeting my family on Monday at 4pm.Thankfully, I don't have any afternoon classes on Monday! We have been advised not to go out tomorrow. Looks like I get to sleep in and do nothing for a whole day!

    In other, other news, I got my ID today, which means I can get into the library! New favorite hang-out place? Check! I went exploring there today, but didn't get very far. The pretty books distracted me! They kept jumping off the shelve with their colorful covers and fun names! And their knowledge. Their knowledge is very appealing. I feel right at home there, even if most of the books are in a language I can't read very well. Libraries all have the same sort of feel. Quiet and cozy and full of anticipation. They're just waiting for you to find their secrets. I wanted to sit in the middle of the floor and wriggle around in the giant blanket of that feeling. I didn't of course. I don't think the Japanese are quite ready for my special brand of crazy. I've got to give them some time. Eventually though....*evil grin*