Back to School

The lectures in university officially started on Monday the 23rd September. It was a pretty chaotic and busy week, but nevertheless I enjoy being back in university and going to lectures I am actually interested in (looking at you, mandatory statistics courses, no one fucking likes you). This week I am going over all the courses I am going to take in my exchange semester.

Language Courses

I have in total 3 language courses: Essential Japanese, Spoken Communication and Written Communication. In this case, the latter two are mainly just practice classes for the former one, where we learn new grammar and vocabulary. We are using the same Japanese textbook here as I did back at home making the transition of learning Japanese back at home and learning Japanese in Tokyo smoother. The class here starts at a slightly higher level then I currently am, however I am easily gonna catch up to the current lesson (at least that is what I tell myself since three weeks without doing anything…the classic).

The main thing I want to focus on when it comes to my Japanese language study here in Japan is learning to speak Japanese. I can learn the grammar, the vocabulary and the kanji on my own and it doesn’t matter if I’m in Japan, Germany or in the deadly cold of Antarctica. I won’t deny the fact that having a teacher who knows what their are doing can be beneficial for a student eager to learn a new language and will probably speed up the whole process. However, I think it is way more important for me to use the opportunity of actually living in Japan and being surrounded by native Japanese speakers and develop my verbal communication skills and get to a confident speaking level.

Up until last week I tried to avoid speaking Japanese with people. You know, for the obvious reasons someone doesn’t speak in a language their not good in. You sound like an idiot. But then again, everyone starts as an idiot and works themselves up to the top. So I’m gonna stop wasting my time by awkwardly staring at the cashier while they ask me if I want a plastic bag. Instead, I’m gonna break into people’s homes at night and hold them hostage until they help me improve my Japanese…haha, just kidding…ahem…

High-Tech Toilets for Old People

The majority of the exchange students in my study program are from a history, economic or language background. I am one of the few people with an engineering background. As such, the selection of technology related courses offered by the university are very scarce. In fact, for this fall semester there is only one course at my campus. There are some more graduate courses at another campus, but I am not gonna do the 50 minute commute between two campuses for just a few damn courses.

The one technology related course I am gonna take is called “Innovative Technologies for Japan’s Aging Society”. It’s basically a deep dive into how technology can help the growing old people generation and what is currently available as well as what is currently developed. This includes areas of everyday life like transportation, communication and housing. We are also gonna visit the sales floor of a company called “Toto”. They are most known for developing the so called “Washlet”. You know, the super high-tech toilet seat with a seat heater, air freshener and integrated bidet functions. Yes, it shoots a jet of water towards your ass and then blow drys it. I fucking love Japan and its weirdness.

The Legend

There are always some teachers or professors who are really into what they are teaching. Normally that shows itself in their enthusiasm or their vast knowledge about the topic. Well, my professor for Otaku culture took that enthusiasm to the next level. Yes, that guy in the image below is actually my professor. He has a PhD, is a professor and likes to cosplay. A lot. He said he has over 800 outfits where half of them are made by himself. Also, he is going to wear a different outfit every week he holds the lecture. This is gonna be a fucking ride. I am really looking forward to what we are gonna learn in the lecture.

Damn, what a legend…

The Backup

The last few courses I have are introduction courses in history, culture and development of Japan and East-Asia in general. I am mildly interested in most of the topics of these courses. However, I mainly took them because I had to get to my minimum number of 7 courses for this semester. Maybe I am actually a hardcore historian and don’t know it yet. Or maybe not, we’ll see.

That was basically my whole week. From now on its gonna be less travel and more university. Well, I still have plenty of time on weekends to travel around, but I should probably start thinking of how I’m gonna fill this blog every week. Ah, fuck it, my future-self can handle that shit. As for university, I am really looking forward to the next few weeks of lectures and I am, for once in my university student career, eager to learn something. Let’s see how long this enthusiasm lasts.

Thank you for reading :)
Ash