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By Joe, December 11, 2008 6:56 pm

Hard to believe, but this little blog here has been alive and kicking on the Internet for a full year now. It all started with this little post, letting the world know why I’m here. It’s been a great time so far. I originally created this blog not only as a way to keep track of my experiences for myself and my family, but also as a way to share with interested people the experience of being a foreign exchange student. If my blog has helped even one person to decide to study abroad or made their experience of preparing to study abroad a little bit easier then I am satisfied.

Here’s to another great year!

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By Joe, December 10, 2008 6:14 pm

If you’ve been following my Twitter then you know that last weekend I went out to Morioka in Iwate prefecture to take the Japanese Language Placement Test. Even though I was going to take a test, the group of us who went down to Morioka had a really good time (don’t let Lim’s face in the above photo tell you otherwise) and I thought I would take a moment to let you know all about how it went down.

Continue reading 'My Trip to Morioka and the JLPT'»

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By Joe, December 8, 2008 6:33 pm

It’s been about a month and a half since I first got my first job here in Japan: teaching English at a “juku,” or “cram school” as it might be translated into English. The name of the place is A+ English School and they actually have a website. Yes, that’s me in that video on the front page. No, it’s not that embarrassing. :P Clicking around the site, you might notice it’s primarily a school for young children. We have students as young as 3 years old, all the way up to about 11 years old. In the course of working there, I’d had chances to teach and play with all of them. If you’re curious about teaching in Japan, or what kind of opportunities there will be for you to work as a foreign exchange student, then this post is for you!

Continue reading 'Concerning Every American Foreign Exchange Student’s Favorite Part-Time Job: English Juku'»

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By Joe, November 17, 2008 11:23 am

The day was unsually sunny and warm for this time of year, so I decided to get out the camera and do what I’ve been putting off for a while: a video of my daily bike ride to school!

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By Joe, November 2, 2008 5:17 pm

I thought I would take some time out and write a bit about how my Japanese has come and where I hope it will go. I thought I’d also talk about what I’ve found that works when it comes to studying Japanese and what hasn’t. Well, without further ado, let’s go!

Continue reading 'My Progress in Japanese Halfway Through the Year'»

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By Joe, October 13, 2008 9:19 pm

Now that fall is here and all the new students have arrived, the new semester is very much underway. I thought I would throw up a quick post on what classes I’m taking and what I’ve been up to around here in good old Hirosaki. Hit up the link below to read all about it!

Continue reading 'The Start of the Fall Semester'»

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By Joe, October 7, 2008 9:11 pm

It was a long time coming, but here it is! I think I’m going to leave it at the video, pictures and twittering in terms of talking about my trip with my parents. I haven’t been able to devote a lot of time to writing lately because of how busy I am with studying Japanese and the start of the new semester. Besides, with Twitter, photos and video, what more could I really say? I think down the road, this blog is going to shift to more cerebral topics instead of journaling day-to-day things. Like I said earlier, I’m past the stage where Japan is a happy wonderland and now in the getting-down-to-business stage. My Japanese class this semester is going to test my skills, I’m taking a literature course which has a decent load of books to read and the JLPT is coming up December (I’m going for level 3). Not that I’m complaining though. I’m getting real comfortable with day-to-day conversation and the sky’s the limit for how good I can get before I go back home. Time’s a wasting, back to studying!