Just mentioned this blog on FB

Well, it seems like I'm here so I should try to say something about it. Finally I'm studying abroad in Japan. The gist is that I'm doing a year of intensive Japanese at Waseda University in Tokyo, the 別科日本語専修課程. So I'm called a bekkasei (which means...special course student lol).

Yeah so for those not following along I quit my job back in November for the immediate purpose of going back to school, but also for other reasons. It was a hard decision but I (think?) I'm very happy to be where I am now.

That said, I'm extremely nervous about my homestay which kind of starts next week. I've met them before and even stayed with them before, but I dunno. I'm just nervous like that. I think I'm more suited to living alone, and probably having people are all the time and sharing their space will really stress me out, but I need to force myself to speak Japanese and sitting around alone on the Internet is not a good way to do that.

I'm really stressed out about my part-time job because as much as I love writing I just don't know if I'll have the energy for it. Or more precisely, if I choose to have the energy for it, I could choose to put more energy into my studies, which seems like the correct course of action. Seriously just breaking my head over this one. For multiple reasons.

Let's talk about school, though. I had general orientation on Tuesday and it was boring, but went better than expected, i.e. I met some people who were nice. The act of speaking Japanese to non-native speakers was not as painful as anticipated. I think the challenges for Asian learners are different enough that I don't cringe so much as I do when talking to other white kids, maybe? That's kind of racist, but I can be less judgmental somehow around Asians, sorry :O

Yeah, if I'm going to write here I might as well be honest.

So the orientation went ok and I learned a bunch about MORE PAPERWORK etc haha. I'm still in tax hell as well, so it's just no end to the unpleasant paperwork.

Yesterday I took the Japanese placement test. They use the J-CAT. It was hellish and I guessed a lot, but I came out a Waseda level 5, which means like...upper intermediate. I need to choose classes based on this level, but it's very difficult. I need to take 11 classes because most of the classes are only 1 credit and only meet once a week. The intensive course I tested into is 3 credits and meets twice a week.

Here's the list I have so far, but I may change it:

Intensive Japanese 5
Empathetic Conversation 4-5
Extensive Reading 5-6
Vocab Building 5-6
Honorific Expressions for Communication 5
Reading Comprehension Skills for Intermediate and Advanced Learners 5
Enjoy Short Novels: Reading, Listening & Watching Videos 4-5
Music of Japan: from Nursery Rhymes to Lieder 4-8
Developing Discourse Ability in Japanese 5
Learning Japanese Through Films - Think and Discuss What a Film Appeals to Us 5-6
The Latest Japan on TV News 5
Japanese Sentence Patterns for Communication (1) 5

So that is the total amount of credits I am allowed to take. I could take one less class, but it seems like I should try to take as many as I can? I dunno. Also, I think this will be extremely difficult, but I think I made the mistake of underestimating myself in college so I'd rather work myself to the bone here than waltz through...

Here is my idea of what to take second semester:

Intensive Japanese 6
Japanese Sentence Patterns for Communication (2) 5
Hesitant Expressions, Responding to and Commenting in Japanese 5-6
Kanji Learning Through the Media 5-6
Communication at Workplace 5-6
Learn Japanese Through the World of Hayao Miyazaki 5-6
Contemporary Japanese Through Cinema and News 6
Listening Comprehension: Radio News, Note-taking, and Summarization Exercises 6
Critical Reading 5-6
Japanese Idioms 5-7
Learning Japanese: Reading Out Loud 5-8
Natural Expressions in Japanese 5-6


I kind of feel like it's do or die.