Got up around 5 AM today so that I would be ready and fed by 7 AM in order to depart for trains and arrive at school a little before 9:00 AM. Today was basically more orientation information and then the class placement announcements. I decided to go ahead and try level 3, and I think I underestimated myself, because I looked over the material and I should be fine... and even better if I adhere to the recommended 5 - 6 hours of study outside of the classroom.
Halfway through orientation stuff we had a luncheon with the English-speaking staff members at an Udon restaurant and it was delicious and some people thought the food was weird (fried bean curd wrap stuffed with sushi rice (inari-zushi) and little fishies drenched in sauce that are LOOKING AT YOU) so I got to eat a lot of extras from the people around me. So. Good.
Because of my skill level my specific class orientation was given to me entirely in Japanese and it wasn't that hard to understand so I was fairly happy about that. Even when a woman was speaking with me about which level they wanted me to take she didn't use any English. My comprehension is great right now but I wish I could respond more, so that's what I'm planning on working on while I am here.
I was thinking of walking to Shinjuku today but I was like MEH I AM TIRED so I decided to just head back home by myself. One stop before Otemachi a young American man approached me because he saw my Japanese textbooks after he got on the train and talked with me for a little bit and pointed out to me where the Tozai Line was since we were both getting off at Otemachi. Then I got on my connecting train and on the loudspeaker I overheard that it was an express. This meant that after a certain stop it was going to skip around five stops, including mine. So I listened to the loudspeaker for a bit (announcements of the stops are in English and Japanese, but announcements from the train guy are usually only in Japanese) and I heard that Toyochou would be the last stop before it skipped a bunch so I got off there and waited for another train and it was awesome because I am awesome.
So I stopped by Lawson's on the way home to pick up some food for tomorrow morning... and a tall-can of Grapefruit Chu-hi. Just because I can. In a can.
Time to take a nap and studyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
Great news about your language level! You traveled just in time - we've continued to have snow (and threats of snow) since you left. Schools are closed today, the library is opening late.
ReplyDeleteHas your meal plan kicked in? How does that work?