I figure it's been long enough since I last posted something. I really should be sleeping, but...yeah.
Anyway,
April 11th was my first day of Intercultural Faculty classes. In the morning I went to Japanese Studies I, which was an advanced level Japanese class. I discovered that I was way out of my depth with this class, since I lacked the vocabulary to understand everything the teacher was saying. In addition, he had us go and read a website intended for kids, but since I barely knew any kanji, I didn't finish reading even half before it was time to present on what we read. Needless to say, I decided not to take that class.
In the afternoon, I went to 現代文化 (げんだいぶんか Modern Culture), a class for Japanese students. I wanted to try an actual class, but it was intimidating. Fortunately, some other exchange students and Japanese students I had already befriended were also going, so I wasn't alone. When we arrived, the lecture room was packed. Twenty-some rows of tables with seats attached to the fronts, and every seat was filled with Japanese, Japanese, Japanese. I felt very out of place. We managed to find seats in the back. I sat next to a Korean friend who had already been at Kobe University for one semester and had much better Japanese than me. The teacher walked in and began blabbering away, and I understood not a single thing he said. I tried taking notes once he started writing on the board, but between being far in the back and his writing shorthand kanji, which look nothing like the originals, I was completely lost. Then he started referring to a handout that none of my friends or I had picked up, so we had to look off the one the Japanese student next to us had. I didn't bother looking after a while. I gave up. That class was god-level to a novice like me.
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| Umbrella stands full of umbrellas are always a sign of rain. No worries--no one will steal these umbrellas. |
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| Lunch: tea and pork donburi with egg sauce. Donburi means rice with stuff on top (meat). |
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| The population of the cafeteria looks very different from America. It's very crowded at lunchtime. The lighting really makes it feel like a school cafeteria, doesn't it? |
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| It's awkward to sneak a picture in a crowded room with more than a 100 students in it, but I've never seen a pencil case like this before, so yeah. Unzip and fold the back behind and it stands; Americans barely even use pencil cases! |
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| Low-lying cloud sneaking among the sakura blossoms on this rainy day. |
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| I think low-lying clouds are cool. Something about being able to walk through and touch something that's usually miles in the sky and somewhat ephemeral. |
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| The view from the path behind LANS Box, looking toward the ocean. |
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| The view from the path behind LANS Box, following the path leading down to Rokko Station. |
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| The local cat. It gets a lot of pets from enamored students passing by. |
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| Crossing one of the bridges on the way from Kobe University campus to Kokui Dorm. |
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| Closeup on the waterfall. |
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| Refrigerated package delivery truck. |
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| Really blurry picture of an old lady cleaning graves at the tiny cemetery on the way to the dorm. |
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| Entrance to a shrine on the way home. |
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| Closeup |
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| Parking contraption. Still don't know how it works. In front, a postman whizzes by on his motorcycle/moped thing. |
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| It's labeled "Delicious Egg Tea Cake" or something like that. |
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| Kirin is the brand for at least half the drinks in Japan. |
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| Bought dinner from a 7-11 convenience store and brought it home. Karaage (fried chicken), croquette, rice, egg, etc. |
April 12
Tried going to the advanced level Japanese II Grammar. Also didn't end well.
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| Kobe University has 1) a horse-back riding club, and 2) it's on campus! |
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| Lunch at the Intercultural Faculty cafeteria. Fried fish. |
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| Japanese style toilet, a.k.a. squatty potty. Still haven't decided how I feel about them. |
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| Another refrigerated package delivery van. |
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| A bill I received from the university. |
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| The instructions it has to open it. Peel open the front, flip over and peel open the back, and voila! A nice curly official bill. |
Sorry to keep you waiting, and I hope you enjoyed this post~!
