(Note: this is more of a personal ramble than anything else. If that sounds boring, don’t bother with this one)

I left Hirosaki at a fairly critical juncture when I went to Korea. I left during the middle weeks of the month of August, after the end of the semester and as such, many people have left, especially people from the western countries. In particular, one of my good friends here has left to go back to the U.S., Hojin. I definitely spent a lot of my free time over at Shimoda hanging out with him and the other guys there, many of whom have now gone like I said. The good old kaikan here feels much more empty, too. Sure, I talk with some of my friends from Korea who will be here for a year, but besides that it feels like no one else is around. The experience of the first semester is quite over now.

However, I’m not taking this as a bad thing. I’ve found that over the past semester I’ve done an incredible amount of socialization. Now that’s certainly all well and good, but I feel now, going into the second semester, that I should really begin to study Japanese much more in-depth outside of the classroom. For one thing, my parents are coming in a couple weeks like I’ve mentioned before on the blog here. I definitely want to impress them. I feel like my skills could be so much higher than they are now, and that if one semester went this quick, then there is no reason another couldn’t go by as fast. With the passing of summer into fall and the exodus of students from Hirosaki, conditions are right for me to start tackling Japanese head on with the time I have left. I suppose I can take what I’m saying and convert it into advice for all you potential exchange students out there: try to strike a balance as early as possible. You will probably find yourself being sucked into the social circle of the other foreign students and the natives who like to hang around them for language practice. If you like to party and so-so grades are fine with you, then this will be right up your alley. But, if you really do go into foreign exchange wanting to learn the language, you will have to learn real fast how to strike a balance between socializing and studying.

Now, this is not to say I think I have regrets about last semester, quite the contrary – I had a blast and a half and I think that came through on my blog. I’m just waxing poetic right now because I feel that this transitional period brings with it many things: a new season, a different group of students at school, but also a more even view of Japan. I think now I’m past Japan being a magical land of constant fascination. It’s more like just another place, at least Hirosaki is. Because of this, too, I think this semester may just be a bit more somber in tone. Of course, I’ll still go out, meet up with people, perhaps travel a bit (I know I will when my parents come) and generally have fun, but it’s not going to the rose-tinted experience it was just a few months ago.

So what am I trying to say with all this rambling? Well, I felt like writing something here for one thing. But going to Korea and coming back and the changes that have happened have definitely changed the landscape both here in Hirosaki and in my psyche, kind of like a switch being flipped. I guess we’ll see if it lasts.

Phew! That was a bit of a ramble. I hope I haven’t turned anyone off whose read this. I just felt that it would be a good opportunity to lay out how I’m feeling about the days and months to come. Well, I’ll see you next time!

One Response to “A Fresh Start on School, Life and Japanese”

1. Trog says:

   August 30, 2008 at 8:23 pm

   Good luck Joe, I think you have good insight into yourself with this one. I think the path that you took in your first semester is common to many foreigners in Japan – and the key is to enjoy it for a bit and then move on. I was always sad to see people staying in the same rut months/years later. There is quite a different Japan to experience with greater language competency and moving out of the socialising-with-gaijin-and gaijin-junkies sphere.

   Enjoy your parents visit too – I will be interested to see how it goes (a couple of parental visits I had were “interesting” to say the least, with parent-child role reversal being the salient feature)

   Reply