After a long hiatus…

Well, well, well. It has been a while. A little over a month, in fact, since the last update.

 

I debated about putting this online where my family can see it, but then decided that if students go looking for reports on experiences in Japan, they may as well find honest recaps rather ones that gloss over all the bad stuff.

So, here is the honest truth: For the past month I have been submerged in work, stressed to the point of near breakdown, and severely depressed.  My closest friends are either halfway across the world in other time zones, or stranded across this country where I can’t get at them. The class I was placed into was initially far too advanced for my level, and my lsitening skill is nowhere near developed enough to cope with the explanations.

This is the result:

BAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW

But yes!
Thankfully, that stage has passed for the most part, but it happened, and the important thing is that it’s perfectly natural for it to happen.
Never let anyone tell you otherwise, potential ryuugakusei; being uprooted from your family and friends and tossed into a land where you barely know the language to live for a year may be a cinch for some people, but for most of us, it takes a while to adjust.

Once I came to terms with that, I was pretty okay!

Now, before I start my general recap, I want to use this picture I drew forever ago of me, Rob, Miles and Naomi (a fellow ICU student) in a park in Kichijouji with a strange man who came up and started taking things like stethoscopes and binoculars out of a bag and making gestures at us.

I am an artistic genius.

So, yes, it’s been an interesting month. Studying at J4 level after one year of serious Japanese courses is a lot like running after a kid on really fast bicycle.
You fall over a lot, and now and again the kid disappears around a corner and you’re like well where the heck do I go now, but eventually you realise if you just suck it up and buy a bicycle you can keep pace with him. Barely.
I’ve gone from an E to a C/B student in a month, and I’m studying furiously to make sure I keep those grades as they are.
My listening skill is still appalling, but I’m hoping exposure will rectify this.

The other thing is Soul Run (so-ran bushi), the circle I joined.
Regardless of how often I practiced, I just didn’t seem to be able to get the hang of it, to my own frustration and that of the poor dudes and ladies trying to teach me the bloody thing in the first place.

But EVENTUALLY I got the hang of it, just in time for the performance.
Which is tomorrow.

Ohhhhh gosh why.

As back-breakingly gruelling and difficult So-ran Bushi is, I’m so going to miss those practices. Everyone in the circle is so friendly and helpful, and the dance itself is a really fun way to get exercise.
I guess I’m just gonna have to bike more.

I love you, Soul Run!

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