Freshman Year All Over Again

Well, my first week of classes here in Japan has come and gone. Sometimes I feel like it's hard to believe I've only been here for a little more than 2 weeks, and other times it feels like I've been here for such a long time already. I'm sure come December when it's time to leave it'll feel like no time passed at all, but for now it's interesting to sort of be able to take it slowly.

My final schedule for classes this semester is (in order of class times, beginning with Monday morning):
MWF classes-
Psych 1061: Psychology as a Social Science
Japanese 2001: Intermediate Japanese I
Japanese 3000: Special Topics in Japanese I
TR classes-
Asian Studies 2373/Anthropology something: Japanese Culture
Japanese 2003: Intensive Oral Japanese

Whew! Five classes... it sounds like a lot, but classes really are easier here than at Wheaton. Unfortunately Psychology is the only non-Japanese study class of some kind, which means that I'm learning a lot about Japan in my other classes, but also that it's the only class that really has any Japanese students in it. As for the Japanese classes, 2001 is where I'm supposed to be after my intensive study this summer. Japanese 3000 is not really a Japanese class, but more like a class focusing on cultural differences between Japan and America by focusing on language. Finally, Japanese 2003 is one class AHEAD of where I'm supposed to be, but I had the opportunity to move up and decided to take it, even though right now the class is very hard haha (I'm planning to sign up for tutoring on Monday).

Like the title says, coming to Temple as a study abroad student is a lot like being a freshman again--I don't know any of the students, I don't know my way around the school, I don't know what the profs or classes will be like, I don't know my way around the area around the school--all that stuff. Honestly it's not very much fun to be put in that situation, especially when I realize that I only get 3 months to figure everything out and make any lasting friendships. And 3 months sounds so short! I feel like it took longer than that to get settled in at Wheaton, and now I have to do that again, plus I'm in a foreign country. And I'm still feeling the need to speak much better Japanese--English doesn't get you very far here at all, despite all the attempts to teach English to the Japanese.

Still, I am meeting a lot of people, and making some new friends. One thing that seems to be fast becoming a theme here is a need for patience. Language skill doesn't come overnight, and neither do real, deep friendships. Oh, but I wish they would...

I still feel like I can't figure out Japanese people either. I do know a bit more than the average person about Japan and its culture, but being a foreigner (外人ーgaijin) sort of tends to muddle the already hardly clear waters of Japanese culture. It really is sort of a big deal, I feel ... not only because I can't really speak Japanese but because so much is different about what is expected of the foreigner than of a Japanese person, and what the foreigner can expect in return. In the end it's probably a good thing, since obviously I couldn't really function if I had to know every Japanese spoken or unspoken rule, but at the same time it sometimes feels like you only get a watered-down version the culture that you're living in. As for now, I suppose it can't be helped--not unless I stay here for a much longer time than 3 months. There's that patience thing again.

One more thing--I am REALLY looking forward to finally getting a phone here. I'm probably going for this one--the Toshiba 811T which should work back in the states too. It'll serve as an mp3 player and camera (3mp) as well as my phone, which will be very nice. I think it's kind of ugly, and there are totally nicer phones here, but if I want one that will work in the states my options are severely limited. There are 6 colors to chose from, which you can see better if you click on the pictures here. Which one do you guys think I should get?