Konbanwa gakusei. Kore wa Doctor Bronner no Nihongo Daigaku. Hajimemashou!
Watashiwhats up my tomodachimigos! The dam has officially broken!
And out pours all of this time, gone in the blink of an eye. Last week, a single day here lasted an eternity… And “Last week” was only three beats of my heart ago… Classes, homework and extracurriculars have kept me busy… Almost scarily so… And I almost forgot that I was 5,000 miles from home all along… Homesickness comes in ebbs and flows, but generally there isn’t enough time to fit it in my schedule.
And the classes keep coming! This week begins new “conversation classes”, which allow for immersive language practice. Pleasantly freeform, it's a great time to chat with grad students and peers-- Just, in Japanese. That's the kicker. Today we had a long talk about different kinds of fish, Christmas traditions, and Hatsune Miku (“Is Miku really famous in America?” our instructor pondered). I am beginning to feel out the edges of my brain in Japanese-- An entirely different brain from my English one. Or, maybe, it’s a different method of feeling it. If communication is as much a tool of understanding yourself as a tool of understanding others, there's a glimmer of hope for me yet.
And the places keep coming! If the reaches of my brain sound small (Talking only about nouns in the present tense), the reaches of my world are now even smaller. My campus is compact enough to run into ten people I know on a five minute walk. Outside of campus, my reach is limited further still… The mall, the station, the shrine, the konbini. Public transit is an unwieldy beast which I’ve learned to respect-- Else I am left out in the humid summer rain, waiting eternally for a bus that never comes. But much, much more experience is needed.
And the experiences keep coming! Pleasantly surprising is the amount of activity on my little campus. I’ve never been let down by just walking around, looking for something going on. Local music is incredibly diverse, to match a unique, diverse school. Local drinks are even more lively, like a big playground for gaijin to be themselves. Local shopping is worlds ahead of America… Contactless payments everywhere, a total lack of queue lines, amazing prices (Most treats are less than a dollar!), and a kind of spatial efficiency found nowhere back home. The Mall Culture is alive and well in Japan.
It all keeps pouring out. Everyday is new and surprising, always keeping me on my toes. Things are moving fast, and I say keep them coming. I already dread the ending of my program like my innate fear of death. I say that’s a good sign.