4/9 - 4/12 Well on Sunday, indeed we went to look at the flowers. Monday I had my first class, yes only one, and it was my Japanese language class. The are only two people in it and boy are we going to get good. The reason that there is only two of us is because we chose to take a less "popular" track that focuses on various other aspects of Japan instead of the actual language itself. I ended up placing into Level 2C and that works out just fine because there are only 3 levels (the next which I [View Full Entry]

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4/3 - 4/8 Ok so Tuesday wasn't all that exciting. There was more all day orientation that started at 9 and went pretty much until 3 or so in the afternoon. We went over rules for the gym, more rules about homestays, etc... and I had lunch with my Japanese Partners. There are two of them (one boy named Hama and one girl named Momo) and they are volunteers that help exchange students make a smooth transition into Japanese society. We will meet once a week to practice Japanese and they are there to help me do whatever I need help [View Full Entry]

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3/30 - 4/2 After saying my goodbyes to everyone at home, it was off to SFO to start my long flight to Japan. After getting on the plane bound for Chicago, the Captain announced that there was a problem with the plane and that it needed about 10 minutes to fix. This of course put everyone on edge and it probably would have been better if he didn't say anything at all. The problem was soon fixed however and it was a quick flight to Ohare International. I got there around 5:30 in the morning and found a nice comfortable padded [View Full Entry]

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So, after having to go twice to the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco, I was finally able to get my student visa that will allow me to study in Japan for a year. It took a while for my new university to get me the required paperwork to even apply for the visa, so I am lucky that I got it this early (*If you can call this early*). 10 days before I ship out, I can finally cross out one of the many important things left to do before going off my checklist. At this point, I still feel exited [View Full Entry]

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Well, I finally received some information from KGU about my host family. It appears that I will be staying in Takarazuka (which is 20km north of Osaka) and will be living with (文男 Fumio, 70) and (千鶴子 Chizuko, 67) 松本 Matsumoto. Takarazuka is known for it's theater and onsen. An added plus is that to get to Osaka's Umeda Station, it takes less than 30 minutes and costs about three dollars. As for the distance to KGU, I don't know if it will be a long commute or not. My host family did not list an e-mail address, so I won't [View Full Entry]

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Dawn, one of my classmates who will attend the same school in Japan as I will, is headed off to Kansai Gakuin University soon. I want to wish her and Lexi, another one of my friends who is studying in Japan, the best of luck as they begin their new journeys. I can't wait to hear about their experiences, hopefully more good than bad, and I can't wait to join them in a few short weeks (8 to be exact). 二人共、いってらしゃい (Both of you, have a safe trip) So, I just bought my plane ticket for Japan and it turns out [View Full Entry]

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My name is Bryan Zen Hiraki and I grew up in Sunnyvale, California. I am currently 20 years old and am double majoring in Global Economic Relations and Japanese at the University of the Pacific. So far, I have visited Japan twice and have loved every second I was there. That is why I plan to study abroad in Osaka for a year. It is official now that I will be studying at a school called 関西学院大学 (Kwansei Gakuin Daigaku) or just KGU for short, and I will start in the beginning of April 2006. The school is located in a [View Full Entry]

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