Back at ICU

So today was my first day of the Winter term! And goodness was it cold...about a week ago or so the temperature suddenly plummeted from pleasantly mild (for late November, at least) to bloody freezing! It was about 6 degrees and windy, but for some reason it felt so much colder than I remember that sort of weather feeling back in the UK...maybe it's because I'd got used to the humid subtropical climate here since Summer.  Whatever the reason for it seeming so cold, I still can't feel my fingers after the bike ride back from university.

I had my first J4 class this morning, and the level has stepped up from J3 considerably. We went over the first kanji (Chinese characters) to learn, and there are so many! I will be spending a lot more time at my desk this term I imagine. After 35 minutes of lunchtime, I had my first Japan: History, Art and Literature lecture. The professor said that the name was misleading, and we'd be studying more the modernity and relevance of Japan from an anthropological viewpoint, and using history, art and literature to see how those aspects were founded, which to be honest interests me more than I had expected the course to do so, based on it's title.

So that was my first day, and now it's the weekend! I've not really been blogging as much recently, but I'm going to make an effort to do it more from now on, starting with a proper post about Kichijoji, as well as a proper one about ICU, too. These are the two places where I spend pretty much all of my time when I'm not in my room, yet I've only mentioned them in passing so far in this blog, so I thought it was about time to write some dedicated posts. The Autumnal colours on campus at ICU are beautiful at the moment, so I'll take my camera in on Monday. I'll be doing the Kichijoji one very soon as I am in fact going there tonight! Stay tuned :)

James

Photo of the Day

People have been asking me what I cook in Japan so there you go; my standard meal