A Little Overwhelmed... Again...

Ehh. Okay. Things have been really nice here at Kinjo. But it's really starting to get to me that Chelsea and I are the only two "first semester" English only speakers here. Nat-chan is kind of in the same boat, but has a lot of experience learning different languages (uwa~ she knows Polish, English, French, Russian, German, and learning Japanese. Sugoi desu ne...). Oh and by first semester, I mean not having previously learned Japanese in a.. Japanese environment. At Kinjo.

So... the three of us... mostly Chelsea and I, I suspect... can't really speak Japanese that well.

So we were put into really beginner level Japanese classes. As in, we're re-learning "te-form" and particle usages (such as when to use 'de', when to use 'ni', etc). Which in all fairness is helpful I guess... I am learning some new words as we go along. And we're practicing reading & listening comprehension, which I'm pretty awful at. The conversation teachers also give us hints on how to be informal.

Okay so the language classes are fine. I shouldn't have any trouble at all.

Then there are the Culture classes. The three of us are taking 3 culture classes at the moment. One of them I've already talked about - it's for Japanese students who want to practice their English. The class is in English. Very nice. Not what I'm in Japan for, but whatever.

Today I had my first culture class that is designed for international students, and the only other classes available to us. Unfortunately... it was completely in Japanese. Completely. Because! All the other international students are so good at Japanese already, they follow her pretty easily. And it's fine for them. But I sat there the entire class so entirely lost, trying to write down anything I could catch, anything I slightly understood.

Yes, it's the entire reason I'm in Japan. To be immersed in the language. I understand that. And I'm extremely grateful not all of my classes are taught in English. I wouldn't be able to learn that way. It wouldn't be fair for the Chinese or Korean girls, too.

But when they put me in a class I have no choice in taking, that's in an entirely different language, and expect me to pass it - as in, write 3 page papers about "what I've learned" every 2 weeks - that's when I get a little emotional. And extremely overwhelmed.

I just don't understand why they put us in a Japanese class that doesn't teach us Japanese (exaggeration; I mean to say new material, stuff I don't know), and then put us in another class that's way too advanced for my comprehension.

I'm this close to asking my neighbor for a smoke. I won't. But it's extremely tempting...

Ehhhh I'll get over it eventually! It was my first class, and it's my second week in Japan, I suppose I'm expected to not know what's going on. (My plan to pass this class is to write down what I can in this class, and wiki it for the papers I need to write. Beat that, system!)

No pictures today, which sucks, because there was this gorgeous scene earlier today and I didn't have my camera! Despair. We walked out of the train station and the Sakura was falling like snow~! It was the most beautiful thing...

But that is all. Hope everyone is doing well ^__^ <3