Hey all,
So time is winding down here in Japan and it is really sad! I just want to reiterate, if you are considering doing a study abroad program, go for a year! However, I have had such a great time so far...and I still have a month, so its not quite time for reflecting.
Well, over the course of a week, the weather has gone from mediocre and rainy, to unbearably hot and humid. Everyone in Japan knew it was coming, and we were all dreading it. It probably 80 degrees at night, pretty ridiculous. Living in Hawaii has really not even prepared me for this LOL
Speaking of Hawaii, yesterday, a student organization hosted a "Hawaiian Culture Party" or something like that. For the past few weeks they have really been on us UH kids to come and represent. One of the UH students, Kele, even performed a hula dance. I gotta say, it was great! Very elegant, very smooth. Well done Kele.
Also, I am not sure if I mentioned this before, but the school year is ending about 2 weeks early here at Sophia in order to save electricity. A lot of people are happy about this, but I'm not too thrilled. Don't get me wrong, its gonna be great not having to wake up at 7am every morning, but I am gonna miss a lot of the daily interactions with the students here at Sophia. But, it is what it is, and I knew some sacrifices were going to have to be made when I decided to come to Japan during such a hectic time.
And I don't want to forget to mention the Tokyo perspective on the ongoing Fukushima Power Plant issues. Basically, the Fukushima is an afterthought to many of us, at least the students here. However, it is clear that the situation up there is not getting much better. In fact, there is a lot of criticism aimed at the Japanese government for downplaying and even covering up the reality of what is actually going on up there. Its definitely some scary stuff, but as far as I can tell it is not dramatically affecting people's live here in Tokyo.
Anyways, more to come later!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Hey all,
So, anyone who is considering doing study abroad in the future, I highly recommend it, and I also recommend that you go for en entire year. A single semester is just too short! Recently, I've been discussing this with other exchange students who are only here for a semester and they agree. It just feels like you are counting down the days as soon as you get here. Lately, I have been feeling really rushed, and that I just am not going to have enough time to do everything I want to do! In addition to this, my Japanese has been getting a lot better, but by the time I leave it is not going to be at the level I would like. A year here would definitely get me a lot closer to that goal.
Unfortunately, the prospect of staying another semester here in Japan would delay my graduation from UH at least another year, due to the Japanese semester start/finish dates not lining up with schools in the States. And yeah, I am already a super senior so the general line of thought is that I need to go back and finish school. I have been exploring options in which I can come back to Japan for an extended period of time post graduation, for example the JET program. Let's hope it can work out!
On another note, my trip to Nagoya last weekend was a lot of fun! I had some very interesting experiences being the only native English speaker in my group. Needless to say, it was great practice for my Japanese speaking. However, I have noticed lately that my listening/comprehension is very far behind my speaking. This is probably because I will want to practice Japanese, so I will speak to my friends in Japanese, but they want to practice English, so they will end up responding in English. After that, if I say "Nihongo dake kudasai" (Japanese only please) they will speak to me in Japanese, but its hard for me to pick up a lot of what they say, so they explain themselves in English (and then speak in English after that) and thus the whole "nihongo dake" thing goes out the window. I don't blame them, I would probably do the same back in the states.
But, it was a great experience nonetheless!
So, anyone who is considering doing study abroad in the future, I highly recommend it, and I also recommend that you go for en entire year. A single semester is just too short! Recently, I've been discussing this with other exchange students who are only here for a semester and they agree. It just feels like you are counting down the days as soon as you get here. Lately, I have been feeling really rushed, and that I just am not going to have enough time to do everything I want to do! In addition to this, my Japanese has been getting a lot better, but by the time I leave it is not going to be at the level I would like. A year here would definitely get me a lot closer to that goal.
Unfortunately, the prospect of staying another semester here in Japan would delay my graduation from UH at least another year, due to the Japanese semester start/finish dates not lining up with schools in the States. And yeah, I am already a super senior so the general line of thought is that I need to go back and finish school. I have been exploring options in which I can come back to Japan for an extended period of time post graduation, for example the JET program. Let's hope it can work out!
On another note, my trip to Nagoya last weekend was a lot of fun! I had some very interesting experiences being the only native English speaker in my group. Needless to say, it was great practice for my Japanese speaking. However, I have noticed lately that my listening/comprehension is very far behind my speaking. This is probably because I will want to practice Japanese, so I will speak to my friends in Japanese, but they want to practice English, so they will end up responding in English. After that, if I say "Nihongo dake kudasai" (Japanese only please) they will speak to me in Japanese, but its hard for me to pick up a lot of what they say, so they explain themselves in English (and then speak in English after that) and thus the whole "nihongo dake" thing goes out the window. I don't blame them, I would probably do the same back in the states.
But, it was a great experience nonetheless!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Update
So....not too much new stuff going on. Just been super busy with midterms and such.
But, in about an hour I am off to Nagoya for the weekend to play a concert which should be a lot of fun! It should be interesting being up there with what I am assuming will be a good Japanese language experience (aka lack of English being spoken). The event (from what I understand...which is not much) is a weekend long sports competition between Sophia University and another rival school. Apparently there's a long history of a strong rivalry between the 2 schools. Mixed in there will be some festivities, such as food/drink/music etc. It should be quite eventful! Also, going to take the Shinkansen for the first time since I've been here, I am looking forward to it!
But, in about an hour I am off to Nagoya for the weekend to play a concert which should be a lot of fun! It should be interesting being up there with what I am assuming will be a good Japanese language experience (aka lack of English being spoken). The event (from what I understand...which is not much) is a weekend long sports competition between Sophia University and another rival school. Apparently there's a long history of a strong rivalry between the 2 schools. Mixed in there will be some festivities, such as food/drink/music etc. It should be quite eventful! Also, going to take the Shinkansen for the first time since I've been here, I am looking forward to it!
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