Online Registration

Today I finally completed the online registration for the university - something I've been dreading for since we've been told that it has to be done. I'm not the best person when it comes to completing any weird internet-based procedures, I always manage to either delete everything that I've been meticulously inputting for hours by accidentally moving a mouse and thoughtlessly clicking on something, or in the end forget to click a special little button that confirms/saves/starts/whatever-it-does, which results in more or less the same effect = unnecessary stress and wasted time. (Recently my 恋人, koibito, special person, got me some program that is retrieving the lost input information, it's called Lazarus and it really helpful, if you have the same problem.)

And this registration was additionally all in Japanese! Even my rikaichan (the Japanese dictionary add-on to Firefox; if you're studying Japanese and by any chance not have it, please consider getting it, it's a life saver! you can get it here: http://rikaichan.mozdev.org/) was sweating with stress after seeing the student manual with details on how to do that:

The student manual in its full glory (A3 format, including all the instructions for registering and the entire timetable for 2011, spring and autumn semester, with already decided classrooms and teachers and descriptions of the courses... what a far cry from the problematic timetable issue in Polish schools, which ALWAYS end up full of clashes anyway!)

The step-by-step guide to the online registration (with pictures, thank goodness)

The list of classes for foreign students (obligatory and faculty)

But I was firm and I managed (or so I think...) Plus I didn't have much choice, as the deadline for online registration is tomorrow 8 pm. It wasn't that bad, once I understood what to click in what order, and how to add subjects. Oh, and after I consulted with my rikaichan which button is safe to click, because every single button there was full of the weirdest possible kanji combinations I've ever seen.

As exchange students, we are obliged to take 10 units of Japanese per term (10 x 1.5h= 15hrs/week), and then a minimum of 5 units extra classes. I chose 7 classes worth 9 units together, as I figured that I don't have anything better to do in that time anyway, I could as well attend some extra classes. That gives 7 x 1.5 hrs = 10.5hrs/week. Plus part time job, 3 hours a week. That means that in the long term I'm going to be pretty tired, but hey, that's what the year abroad is for, right?

To make the most of it.

留学生's long way to Japan... no falling asleep, please!

Japan has always been my dream. It's hard to point when it all started, and when exactly I felt that Japanese is 'the one'. It might have been because of some rather old Japanese cartoons with first Italian, then Polish dubbing (that is why most Polish people are convinced that 'aiuto' is the Japanese word for 'help'; as we all know, Japanese anime characters like to shout 助けて, tasukete, A LOT). It might have been because of martial arts fascination. Or it might have been because I always wanted to study something original. And because I always loved languages and art, and kanji were just... well, not only beautiful, but also perfect for combining the two.

Anyway, what can be difficult about it? You just go to university and study, mostly losing your interest in the first 1-2 years, right? Well, it wasn't that easy. In this country of mine that I particularly dislike, Poland, not only was the major very exclusive - there were only 3 universities that offered it to average 12-15 candidates per year. That combined with 28 希望者(kiboosha, wishful people) per place and this lovely misleading information from bureaucratic university offices made me rejected so many times that I stopped to count them. But you know what? I didn't let go. I applied to a British university, where they welcomed me with their arms wide open, and am now studying in one of three best places in the world you can actually study Japanese outside Japan, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. With all my teachers being native Japanese, with all of them having a solid degree and courses in teaching, and the greatest entire year abroad in Japan scheme, believe me, I'm thanking goodness every. single. day I didn't end up in this Polish toxic 'Japanese clique' after all! (It was inevitable that I encountered some of them at some point... With one honourable exception - I've never met more pompous, self-centered and weird people in my life. I'm pretty sure it's the university that made them so convinced of their grandeur. Most of the time talking to them is just an upsetting waste of time.)

So anyway, I ended up in Kyoto for my year abroad, which I'm very happy about! I'm studying at 京都外国語大学, Kyooto Gaikokugo Daigaku, also known in short as just 京都外大, Kyooto Gaidai. I'm staying in one of the University student residences, which is really conveniently located and comfortable to live at, with a great dose of privacy and freedom. People are mostly nice too, all of them from different paths of university life and different language learning background, not to mention different home countries, so I'm really happy. This is what I wanted! And this is what I worked hard for!

So far saying that I'm enjoying it a lot is an underestimation! I'm so excited! I can't wait for the classes to start tomorrow, when I will become a real 留学生(ryuugakusei, exchange student; proper full name: 交換プログラム留学生 kookan puroguramu ryuugakusei)! 

(I will probably change my mind with the amount of homework I will be getting soon, but shhh about that for now! ;-) )

I'm in the middle of organizing my photos, but once I'm done, I will not fail to put some here :-)

Teramachi, Kyoto, Japan.