12 May 2006
THE CRACK, part 1
A month has already passed, and I am still settling down in Kyoto, Japan - a city that I have known and loved for over five years now. It has been a month of heartfelt reunions, formidable challenges, financial acrobats and wanton fun. I arrived the first week of April. By the end of the first week I was enrolled in not just Japanese language classes, but graduate level seminars (refferred to as ゼミ, or "zemi") which are all in Japanese. I also was introduced to my advisor, Murata Kouji, a very accomadating and friendly political science professor at Doshisha University. I am enrolled in two of his classes and am struggling to keep up, but enjoying them nonetheless.
My living situation is less than idyllic, however. Not only have I just recently gotten internet access in my room, the location is closer to "Of Mice and Men" than "Lost in Translation". Not only is the university campus over an hour away by train, downtown Kyoto is not conviently accessible and the night life in Mukaijima consists of youth street gangs (according to my former host mother), and crickets (according to my ears). Dries Durnez, an affable Belgian who has become a good friend of mine over the last month, and I are considering moving out, and finding some place closer to both the city center and our school.
End Part 1
My living situation is less than idyllic, however. Not only have I just recently gotten internet access in my room, the location is closer to "Of Mice and Men" than "Lost in Translation". Not only is the university campus over an hour away by train, downtown Kyoto is not conviently accessible and the night life in Mukaijima consists of youth street gangs (according to my former host mother), and crickets (according to my ears). Dries Durnez, an affable Belgian who has become a good friend of mine over the last month, and I are considering moving out, and finding some place closer to both the city center and our school.
End Part 1
