Personality Check'd

It's actually a lot lighter now, and I cut it a bit shorter too.

So after about half a year of debating, I finally changed my hair color back to it's natural (or at least what I think is it's natural, it has been a while...12 years a while) color. I also cut it short again to go with the overall change of things. It's a little strange having my eyebrows match my hair color (or is it strange to think that strange?) but otherwise I like it! My host family said that it fits me well and they didn't even notice at first when I came downstairs after drying it because the color looks so natural on me (as well it should, seeing as it is natural).
Now I don't have to waste money on pricey hair dye/bleach and can just let it grow out natural and beautiful. I do wish I hadn't of cut it so short but, oh well.

Nothing much as been happening recently, hence why I haven't updated in a while. The OUS (Oregon University System) program put on a Thanksgiving party last Friday. We (the other Oregon students and some Japanese students) went out to a buffet that the program coordinator (Marie Sato) had reserved and although they had no turkey, stuffing, or cranberry sauce, I was able to eat myself to the point of almost throwing up so; mission Thanksgiving dinner accomplished I think :O. We all gorged ourselves on sushi, pastas, curry, cakes (they had pumpkin cake even!) and ice cream. I missed having my family around me but I'm glade at least our coordinator realized that we'd all be homesick and brought us all together for a nice meal.

And I was shocked to find out that one of the students in my group who did not come to the dinner had actually found a whole turkey somewhere in Tokyo and had a thanksgiving feast with his roommates and some of their friends (hence why he didn't show up to the group dinner). They don't have turkey here as far as I have seen, just chicken. And this lack of turkey in Japan is why Damian's turkey cost him about $70! For one that was pretty small!

BLAAARGH

Anyway, Christmas will be interesting. I will be in Osaka with no one to hang out with. Well, I'm hoping to make some friends in the hostel I'm staying in but if not, maybe i'll go clubbing or something :D. I plan on being in the Kansai area for 6 days (23rd-29th) so if anyone else out there in internet world will be in Osaka or surrounding areas and wouldn't mind hooking up, please let me know! No one likes the spend the holidays by themselves!

I am looking forward to New Years though! They spend New Years here like we spend Christmas; family, food and relaxation. The difference being that the holiday lasts for about 3-4 days and during these 3-4 days no one does anything. Not even cook. They buy special New Years "Obento" enough to last the holiday and everyone just relaxes, which in Tokyo is a foreign concept so I'm excited to see how the city handles this dormant period.

No joke either. This city is bustling 24/7. My host mother is always running around saying how she's so busy and doesn't have enough time for anything. And she literally runs too. Or at least shuffles about at a surprisingly fast past for her age. But I can't help but think that it's not so much that she (and everyone else in this city) has no time, it's just that they don't know how to take a breath and asset the situation. Move through their day at a smooth pace instead of a hurried pace. I wonder how cities get like this? Is it just the ambiance of a city that drives people to crazy self-centered hurriedness (I say self-centered because people here in Tokyo are pretty self-centered)? and if so, where did the ambiance come from? How did it begin? Hmmm???

In other news, I found someone to go to Thailand and Cambodia with me in February! I was a little nervous to go alone but would have even if I hadn't found someone but, yay that I did! It's a girl in my program who I don't really see that often (not that I see any of the other exchange students that often) but she seems really cool and is a photographer so some awesome pictures are in store I think!

oh! I just remembered that my friend Natsuki from Toyama came and visited me this weekend and we went to Disney Sea! But since i'm tired I will write about that in another post.

:D

Waseda and Friends

Long time no write! Sorry my faithful readers for being so quiet.

So I've survived the first two weeks of school!

...don't let me fool you though, wasn't as hard as you might think.

Waseda is considered one of the top schools here in Japan but I am beginning to question that.
I came into this program with the knowledge that the hardest part of Japanese Universities is getting into them. After that it's pretty much a free ride until you start looking for a job (which is something else I wish to discuss, but later).
My Japanese friends in America who come over on study abroad programs always complain about how hard American universities are and that how in Japan they rarely went to class and still managed to pull a B, and that they rarely had homework/ speeches/ or reports to do. Yet, I never really took them seriously because  I would think about how hard all my Japanese high school classmates would study and would never have time for anything because class was so hard to keep up with; the exact opposite of American high schools. But again, "the hardest part of Japanese Universities is getting into them", so naturally the high school students must study to the point of suicide. But knowing this still didn't make me believe that a Japanese university was going to be much different than my university.

After two weeks of classes back in the states I would already be freaking out about the final term projects/reports/ presentations. I would already be scrambling to get as far ahead in my classes as possible in order to not fall behind in other classes. I would be loaded down with books and handouts and my laptop would already be feeling overworked.

After two weeks of classes here at Waseda I have had one reading assignment (a book which we're supposed to finish by the end of the semester but which I am already half way done with), the only homework i'm getting is from my Japanese classes which are also the only classes in which I am being challenged. There are no reports/presentations/end of term projects to think about; only tests which will all be multiple choice/ fill in the blank. My laptop is feeling depressed because I only use him for a quick email check in the morning before I head to class. I only have classes Monday-Wednesday (and one class Saturday morning).

I know what you're thinking though, "that sounds awesome, why you complaining?!?!?".
...Because I'm paying x2 the tuition to study here.

But it's really not all as bad as that. The professors include in their syllabi's extra readings and further studying options so I am taking advantage of that. Oh and perhaps you're wondering how the classes here are taught? Shouldn't it be hard because they're in Japanese?

Well, all my classes are taught in English aside from my Japanese classes. Because I am a one year exchange student I am not allowed to participate in classes that are taught outside of SILS (School of International Liberal Studies). All the staff are very international and all the students are likewise very international. This part doesn't bother me so much. I think the reason that my classes are so easy though might be because of this internationalization. Since it's not only native English speakers taking classes but people from all over the world including Japanese students, the professors have to move at a slower pace. Of course, all the non-native English speakers have to take a test before they are accepted into this school; but still, it takes longer for these students to read and write reports and such (not that there are any reports to write). This is just my theory though and since it sounds like a nice theory I think i'll stick to it. My Japanese friends who are in other departments are always alarmed that I have no homework other than Japanese homework so I believe that my theory is probably close to correct.

Aside from all this though I am really enjoying Waseda and all the different people I am meeting (even if I can't remember half their names by the end of the day). And I am learning a lot in my Japanese class. I tested into the 3rd level (out of 8) because my writing/reading comprehension isn't what it once. That said, all my classes are focused on reading/writing/ and vocabulary. Not so much speaking, but since i'm pretty confident in my speech abilities I have no problem with that. I feel kinda guilty for not keeping up on my Kanji practice back in the state. We learn about 16 new characters every week and are tested on them every week as well!

Oh and that little part about the job searching here. The fourth years are expected to start looking for jobs this month. This includes going to seminars, interviews, etc. But the thing that baffles me is they are expected to do this BEFORE they have even graduated. The Japanese school year ends in April so before they even get their degrees they are expected to have a job lined up. I have yet to decide whether this is better or worse but they have to miss a lot of class so i'm leaning towards the worse.

That was a lot of reading so I'm going to allow you to take a break, go pee, get some coffee and come back in 3 minutes to finish up.

I i'm going to be tutoring my first student in English on Friday! A little extra pocket money is always welcome.
Speaking of money, I should be getting my first scholarship install at the end of the month! And it'll be both September and Octobers portion so $1,600 here I come!

and on the 30th there is going to be a Halloween party put on by one of the circles I said I wasn't going to join but ended up "joining" anyway. They told me that if I come I have to dress up as Lady GaGa which sounds like something I can pull off so I think i'll bite.

Oh! and someone from my past has popped back into my life!! It's very exciting and I'll talk more about it later :D

Pictures!

Ma and Pa Chitose
They are so cute together!

Me and Ma Chitose at the beautiful
Shakuji-Koen

Me and the lovely Kanako at
Karaoke

I'll put the rest of my pictures on FB so check them out there!

Now, bleach the hell outta my roots!

peace
Jambly