And classes begin again....

Well...classes started last week. I had orgionally registered for five classes again, only because so many appealed to me and I just couldn't help myself, but in the end I dropped one.

The classes I am registered for are as follows:

Japanese (the next level up)-
The japanese class seems to have increased drastically in intensity. We are now learning to read and write 50 kanji per lesson and then to just read another 50 per lesson. We learn about the same amount of grammar but focuz a lot more on reading and conversational speech than we used. There is lots of scenario type work. All in all, I like the change. I feel more challenged and I can tell I'm definatly going to learn a lot.

Modern Japanese Fiction-
This class is with my favorite teacher from last semester (the one from Cinema). It looks to be a good class, as good as the last one with her, and we've already read a few interesting modern stories. After reading so much classical Japanese literature it will be very interesting to compare.

Literature in Film-
This class is different from the Japanese cinema class for several reasons. The focus is equally spread between lit and film (usually relating the two) and also doesn't necessarily focus on only Japanese lit and film. Also, the teacher doesn't seem as confident as my other teacher though I find his stammering endearing and usually I end up speaking up more because I feel so bad as he stutters along. I mean this in the kindest way, because he's a super nice teacher (from what I can tell) and seems passionate about what he is teaching.

Japanese Religions-
This class is going to be really great. We're going to be talking alot about religion in Japan today and how it has grown and changed and where you can find it and that sort of thing. We've already talked about a lot of interesting stuff-for example: most people in Japan will claim they have no religion but still go and pray at shrines and participate in events like the new year's celebration I went to. Of course, they may go to these things without much belief and more out of social tradition but still..they are religious actions. In any case, I could talk about it for hours...what I hope we sort of get into, but which we probably won't since it's a bit too specfic and, well...hard to define, is Japanese tradition and religion versus Japanese spirituality. those who know me know I distinguish a lot between spirituality and religion, though I feel the two can obviously, and usually the results are better, go hand in hand. ha ha...I could spend many entries writing about this sort of stuff but I'll move on.

In any case, those are my classes and I'm quite happy with them.
I'm also still int he art club though I havn't had a chance to go yet this semester (I'm going tomorrow and friday though!).

Part of the reason I've been so busy is because I also joined a new club-Kyudo!
That's right, I finally found the traditional archery club at school!

And here's the thing, not only is the archery very Japanese, but so is the club. What I mean by this is basically the rules are very strict. As a first year, at all the regular practices I clean and fetch arrows and bow and call the elder students "sempai". I absolutely adore it.
In order to actually learn kyudo I have to email the older students and get them to teach me in my spare time. I havt to do about 15-20 solo practices before I'll even be considered for the test, which I have to pass if I want to hold a real bow and wear a hakama. Chances are, I won't pass till sometime in late June. But I'm okay with that.
I also have to buy a navy blue suit. This is the only part that worries me...suits aren't cheap here and I've been trying to figure out where to get a good cheap one but I'm not having much luck. I asked manami and she doesnt really know either. I'm sure I'll figure it out though.
In any case...I'lll write more later about the specfics of kyudo.

I'll also do my best to keep the entires coming regularly (one a day) from now on.

Much Love!
Jessica