Second Semester Has Begun

Due to my infrequent posting of new blog entries, it is probably easy to tell that I am quite busy right now. This is due to the start of my spring semester here in Japan. Everyone keeps telling the foreign exchange students how quickly the year is going by and how much we need to savor every moment of it, but I'm well aware of this and I'm doing my best. However, it's difficult now that Japanese classes are in full swing. It's the same weekly schedule (two hour classes every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, three hour classes every Wednesday and Friday), but I'm trying to be extra diligent this semester and really stay on top of all my class work. I went out and bought an electronic dictionary today that I can use when studying kanji. This means I don't need to ask a Japanese person for the proper kanji reading every time I encounter a new kanji. However, the machine is designed for use by a Japanese person, so all the labels, directions, and explanations are in Japanese. I'm going to need some serious help figuring out how to work my new toy.

I'm also enrolled in a Japanese literature class, which begins this coming Wednesday, and a class called Japanese Society and Law, which has already met three times. So far we've been assigned parts of the Japanese Constitution to read (in English) for homework, and we've discussed the role the Emperor has played and does play in ruling Japan. We also did a little comparison between how the legislative branches of government function in Japan versus our home countries (we have students from France, Germany, the U.S., Canada, and England in our class).