4 Days In

Konbanwa, minnasan!

Haha, aren`t you impressed by my Japanese?  ^^  But, really, it is getting better.  My understanding seems to grow exponentially each day.  If people are talking about a subject I know about (like school), I can pretty much understand all of it.  Demo, there aren`t many topics I know about in Japanese.  Nonetheless, it`s getting better!  Okaasan tells me I`m doing very well, and when I met my English teacher today, he seemed impressed, so YAY.

So!  This is a post I know some of you have been waiting for- School schedule!!  It`s tentative, but most of it is going to stay the same.  And, if you guys are wondering, I`ll be an ichinensei, or a 1st year student.  It`s sorta the equivalent of 10th grade, but not really.  Everyone in it are 16-17 year olds.  And it`s Japanese, so you know it`s not the equivalent of American 10th grade :)

Here you are:

Monday-

1: Biology 1 (is going to change to Chem 1, btw)

2: Math A

3: English 1 :)

4: World History

5: Japanese B

6: Eng. Grammar

7: (Empty)

Tuesday-

1: Health NO NOT AGAIN!

2: Bio (Chem) 1

3: Science B (I have no idea what this means if I already have Bio/Chem)

4: World History

5: Math A

6: Eng. Grammar

7: (Empty)

Wednesday-

1: Japanese A

2: PE

3: Science B

4: Japanese B

5: Music

6: Music

7: (Empty)

Thursday-

1: Geography

2: PE

3: English 1

4: Japanese A

5: Bio (Chem) 1

6: Math 1

7: LHR (I don`t know what this means, it`s presumably a homeroom)

Friday-

1: Japanese B

2: Math 1

3: Math 1

4: English 1

5: PE

6: Eng. Grammar

7: (Empty)

Saturday-

1: Geography

2: `School Hour`  (No idea)

3: English 1

4: Japanese A

There you have it.  Remember, this is only a general idea, but yeah.  I`m definitely switching to Chem, for one, and supposedly, the `Empty` 7th periods I have will be one-on-one Japanese lessons.  I find all of this out next week.  And if it is going to change dramatically, it will in the next 2-3 weeks.  

On to another topic: homesickness.  It`s gotten dramatically better now that I`m settling in.  One of the big isolating factors that makes me feel homesick is the language barrier, and that`s getting better.  So, to all of you future exchangers, the pain is not permanent!!!  It doesn`t really go away, per say, but it gets better.  I really like Japan.  It`s very different from America, and this is SUCH a great experience, so it`s worth it!

And on a random note: My host family has 2 daughters and 1 son, but all but 1 of the daughters have moved out.  Yesterday, I met the other daughter!  I call her Oneesan, of course :)  She has the C-U-T-E-S-T little son EVER!!!  I call him Akachan, which means `baby`.  We went shopping today and yesterday, which was quite an experience because Masami (other sister) stayed home, leaving me without a translator.  It wasn`t bad at all :)  Go immersion!!!

Okay, that`s all for now.  As always, I miss you all dearly back home!!!  Send me a facebook message or something, haha ;)

Mata ne!