First Day of Class

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    I took no pictures yesterday, though I was tempted to take some of what I ate.  My homestay family prepared fish, but not the type of fish to which I am accustomed.  The fish was cooked whole, with the skin, head, and all.  Eating things like this will take some adjustment on my part, but it tasted pretty good. Japanese people apparently eat quite a bit of cabbage in their salads, instead of lettuce.  I don't like any green vegetables that I'm aware of, so I just choke it down.  An interesting study showed that a certain type of cancer existed more among people who have more sensitive taste buds.  The subtle link is that those people tast green vegetables as being bitter, and thus avoid them.  Such vegetables have cancer-fighting ingredients.
    Since I've been here, I've walked more at once than I have at any other point in my life -- and it is quite hot and humid.  Japan is easily comparable to a place like Corpus Christi Texas, except it is like this all of the time during the summer.
    Yesterday, in a rather embarassing situation, I spilled some ramen all over my pants in a restaurant.  The people working there were so polite that they apologized to me.  I constantly apologized, and tried to clean some of the mess that I'd made, but they would not allow me to for long.  "Daijoubu desu," they kept saying, which basically means, "It's okay, it's okay."  It was quite embarassing for me to walk around, but apparently it wasn't very noticable and dried very quickly.  I got a strange look from one person, however.
    Apparently, I read my schedule incorrectly and I am not in Japanese 4; I'm in Japanese 1 for both speaking and reading & writing.  I think that I should be in Japanese II, and my professor is giving me the opportunity to prove this.  I almost jumped out of the window today in class, as we went over the most painfully basic things, which are second nature to me now.  I awkwardly attended a level 4 reading and writing class today, and the professor suggested that I take level 3.  I hope that they allow it.  I'm going to study extremely hard tonight, so that I will know anything that I could possibly be asked.
    Last night, I typhoon (taifun) came through the Kansai area.  It was extemely windy and somewhat unnerving.  It's gone now, however.  I also missed one other class, because I misread my schedule.  I think that tomorrow will go more smoothly.  Amusingly, I've started saying "Hai," i.e., "Yes" without thinking about it.  I've inadvertently injected the word into otherwise English conversations.  It seems that I've gotten to know people from a number of different countries, including, Sweeden, Ecuador, France, Japan, China, Taiwan, and others.  It is quite an experience.
    Finally, I think that I will enjoy my "Technology Management in Japan" class.  I don't know too much about it, but it seems that we will have a lot of discussions.  It is the only course at Kansai Gaidai that is even remotely related to my computer science major.  Now, I'm going to study Japanese.  Ja ne.  (Slang for sayounara)

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Comments

[Nick]

Hey
Looks like you\\\\\\\'re having fun =) A lot better than sitting around near Austin where the biggest adventure is the new Wal-mart supercenter. Keep traveling around and taking day trips. I expect to visit Japan vicariously through you.