First Week of Classes

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First week of classes is almost over. I think I'm in for a good time. SILS is really two very distinct halves, Intensive Japanese and everything else. The Japanese classes are very intimidating, They are taught all in Japanese, 9 hours a week plus an 1:30 hour elective that I chose to take. At this point I feel a little over my head but I'm supposed to. Sometime recently I've stopped thinking of Japanese as a class and rather thinking of it as goal. It doesn't matter if I get owned by the class, as long as I learn the language. It's easier going in with that attitude. I've been making more of an effort to find Japanese friends and talk with the family. This week I had lunch twice with some other Japanese students. There is a lot of work, every day I come home with a new sheet of words and kanji I don't know. It seems the consensus is the first 3 months are going to be a haul then it starts to make sense.

The other classes seem like no problem. Native English speakers are the minority in these classes so they kind of have to be a little slower. But like all college classes, they are what you make them so I'm going to go at them like I usually do. They sound interesting, Japanese International and Social Relations, Nissan Case Study, and Communism, Authoritarianism and Democracy. I am looking forward to Communism because the Prof is a new Prof. He did not come from academia but rather was an international journalist for 20 years from the LA Times. I really want to see how he teaches compared to the Phds from Lafayette. There are midterm papers, tests, final projects, but the hw and reading assignments are light (NO TEXTBOOKS!!) Just handouts.

All in all, I'm going to be doing Japanese, lots of it. But thats why I'm here.

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Comments

[mom]

classes
What a spirit and outlook, as usual. you continue to amaze me, just when I think I have seen it all. I am so proud of you. I am glad that you are making Japanese friends, socializing and going with what you say is the consensus, that the first couple of months will be tough. love you soooooooooooo much. xo

[Melissa]

School Days
This sounds like a great adventure. I will be very curious to see how the U.S. is portrayed by your professor from the L.A. Times. STudy hard, we know you will.