![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wish you could be here
Jun. 30th, 2011 12:36 amIt's four o'clock on a thursday and the rain has just blown in with a crash and a bang and the loud whisper of wind shusshing through the leaves of my garden.
It feels like a cleansing kind of thing - the heat and humidity has been fierce the last week, leaving me and Nicole drenched in sweat every time we had to leave the house. Didn't help that we walk up mountains and back down them both on our way to school and from it.
Now the heavy moisture-laden air has been cut through with a cool rumbling knife and we'll be able to breathe for five or so minutes. That is, until the sun comes out again and all the stuff that fell from the sky tries to get back up into it.
For a first week it wasn't bad - I'm in a class that's just a smidge higher than I was last summer, but much of it is review (not surprising that I need it since I didn't really take Japanese classes last year). It takes up all my time though, from daily kanji and grammar quizzes to the chapter a night homework and daily writing assignments - there's no rest here.
And as lovely as our little garden hide-away accommodation is, it takes 40 minutes to get to school - and that's on the quick route. 20 minutes walking, and there's no way we can run (remember that up hill down hill thing? yeah, still there every day). 20 minutes on the train. Add in stopping for little things like shopping for dinner on the way home and you have my entire schedule. Every day: wake, study, travel, class, travel, shop, study, eat, study, shower, sleep.
Luckily it's in Japan. Nothing like being surrounded by a different world to make working that hard worthwhile. I'm sure I'll go through ups and downs - this week I've been totally jealous of the higher level groups because they're reading about translation or gender studies while we're talking dolphin eco-location and sundials (yes, really, I had readings on both of those this week).
But our Sensei is allowing us to bring in our own texts, so my plan this weekend is to catch up on work, study kanji, write a couple of paper proposals, do some art for big bangs, and find some readings I'd actually care about having read for my class, even if it means going to the damn bookstore and buying them. I'll make plans to go explore things later. This is also because last week I feel as if I was beautifully social with academic and non activities. Besides, supposedly Nicole and I are going drinking with one of the other guys from the program after class on friday, so, you know, I'll have that too. It's like a Japanese tradition or something. :)
It feels like a cleansing kind of thing - the heat and humidity has been fierce the last week, leaving me and Nicole drenched in sweat every time we had to leave the house. Didn't help that we walk up mountains and back down them both on our way to school and from it.
Now the heavy moisture-laden air has been cut through with a cool rumbling knife and we'll be able to breathe for five or so minutes. That is, until the sun comes out again and all the stuff that fell from the sky tries to get back up into it.
For a first week it wasn't bad - I'm in a class that's just a smidge higher than I was last summer, but much of it is review (not surprising that I need it since I didn't really take Japanese classes last year). It takes up all my time though, from daily kanji and grammar quizzes to the chapter a night homework and daily writing assignments - there's no rest here.
And as lovely as our little garden hide-away accommodation is, it takes 40 minutes to get to school - and that's on the quick route. 20 minutes walking, and there's no way we can run (remember that up hill down hill thing? yeah, still there every day). 20 minutes on the train. Add in stopping for little things like shopping for dinner on the way home and you have my entire schedule. Every day: wake, study, travel, class, travel, shop, study, eat, study, shower, sleep.
Luckily it's in Japan. Nothing like being surrounded by a different world to make working that hard worthwhile. I'm sure I'll go through ups and downs - this week I've been totally jealous of the higher level groups because they're reading about translation or gender studies while we're talking dolphin eco-location and sundials (yes, really, I had readings on both of those this week).
But our Sensei is allowing us to bring in our own texts, so my plan this weekend is to catch up on work, study kanji, write a couple of paper proposals, do some art for big bangs, and find some readings I'd actually care about having read for my class, even if it means going to the damn bookstore and buying them. I'll make plans to go explore things later. This is also because last week I feel as if I was beautifully social with academic and non activities. Besides, supposedly Nicole and I are going drinking with one of the other guys from the program after class on friday, so, you know, I'll have that too. It's like a Japanese tradition or something. :)
