Soka High School Visit

On Saturday we were invited to visit Soka High School in Japan! My university was actually founded in Japan--hence the name Soka University of America. But here, there's an elementary school, a middle school, high school, and a college! So we gathered up some of the students who were studying abroad and went to visit the high school, where we would meet students considering attending SUA.

First Day of Class!

Today I got up bright and early to go take my first day of lessons. I was a bit worried about it but it turned out very well! Our teacher's name is Kido-sensei. She seems very down to earth and friendly, and her Japanese is very easy to understand. I held up fine in conversations and all the lessons were relatively easy!

I assume that we're still just doing review right now, but so far I knew all of the grammar points in the lessons. It's actually the easiest Japanese class I've had in quite some time! This may all change come the next few days but right now I'm feeling very underwhelmed in terms of difficulty, which is a good thing. We had class from 9 AM  to 12 PM, but that will change Tuesday through Thursday depending on the electives we picked.

To celebrate me and some of my classmates went out for some ramen! It was super tasty!

For now I get to rest until tomorrow. We were assigned some homework but it's not much at all, thankfully!

日本の食べ物

I've accumulated quite a few pictures of food I've eaten in Japan, so instead of breaking them up in days (...that I no longer remember well), I thought I'd just post them all at once. So here, my proof that I'm eating! Since I usually just go buy meals at the コンビニ, the meal pictured above was a bit fancier than I usually eat. It was udon and tuna sashimi with rice. Despite it being a pretty big meal, it was really affordable!

Placement Results Are in!

Hey everyone! I'm just gonna talk about today, even though I know I missed a lot. I'll go back and recount those stories later.

Today I got the results of my placement test, and I ended up in N3, which is basically intermediate. The N levels go from 1 to 5, with N5 students knowing next to no Japanese and N1 students being able to take Japanese college level courses.  Most of my friends were placed into N4, but since I've arrived here I've made new friends as well, so thankfully I'm not alone in my struggle! But that means no convenient English translations for me anymore...

Arrival and First Day!

Here is the tale of my long trek to Japan. We arrived at the airport pretty early, but it worked out well since we were one of the first in line at the baggage check. Then we were able to grab breakfast together. From this meal the custom of the CBN was born (aka, the Celebratory Burrito Nub). 

Welcome!

Hello everyone--as promised, I have made a blog specifically for my travels in Japan. I leave tomorrow bright and early, but I wanted to thank everyone who came to our little going away party! I had expected it to be very small so I was surprised at all the people who came to hang out with us. It was tons of fun! It reminded me of a birthday party, something I haven't had in a few years. It was great to see everyone and I hope you guys enjoyed yourselves! I know I did.

The above picture is the only one I took on Friday, which probably surprises no one. That cake was excellent! I would've had a second slice if it didn't go so quickly. Parting is such sweet sorrow... (See what I did there)

Anyway, I'll try my best to update this blog as frequently as I can. I have no idea what to expect, it'll definitely be an adventure over there.