Registration for my Third and Final Term at ICU & Cherry Blossom Viewing

Yesterday I cycled into ICU for the first time in what felt like ages to register for my spring term classes. Having taken Japanese level 4 last term, I took level 5 for this one. I was originally planning to take Intensive 3, which combines levels 5 and 6, and takes up twice the amount of time, but as I need as much time as possible to study for my upcoming Leeds exam on May 7th, I opted to take level 5 instead. This also has the advantage of meaning that I'll be able to resume my job after the Leeds exam, as I would have finished too late every day to have made it to Shibuya in time for work, had I picked Intensive 3.

I had to take another course in order to have the required number of credits for my student visa, so I decided to study Middle English! This was the language spoken in England between roughly 1100 and 1500, and the precursor to early Modern English. It's something I've had an interest in for a while now, so it's great to finally get a chance to study it properly! It looks really interesting in its grammar and structure, and you can definitely see more Anglo-Saxon and Norse influences than are left in the language now. Below is a sample of Middle English, from Wikipedia.

Forrþrihht anan se time comm
  þatt ure Drihhtin wollde
ben borenn i þiss middellærd
  forr all mannkinne nede
he chæs himm sone kinnessmenn
  all swillke summ he wollde
and whær he wollde borenn ben
  he chæs all att hiss wille.

So I should have some fun with that! Another thing worth mentioning about going into ICU to register for courses yesterday is that we are currently slap bang in the middle of the cherry blossom season, so yesterday was a great opportunity to take loads of photos on campus, as there are hundreds of sakura trees on ICU's grounds. I've put the best ones below. Today I start my last term at ICU...wish me luck!

James

Another Term, Another Course Registration

Wow, December already!

This morning I cycled into ICU to register for this term's modules.  Having passed Japanese level 3 last term, I enrolled in J4 (I'm now officially an intermediate!), as well as Japan Studies: History, Art and Literature, which should be really good.  I've got the same hours as last term; Japanese for periods 2 and 3 (10:10-12:40) every morning, and then my other module takes up a super 4th period (1:15-3:00) on Wednesdays and Fridays.  This means that I can keep the shifts my job exactly the same!

Speaking of my job, I FINALLY opened a bank account with Mitsubishi UFJ in Musashi Sakai today, with the help of Ayaka.  I'm looking forward to getting paid within the next two weeks!  

Tomorrow I start my Winter term!  A blog post will be sure to follow over the weekend.

James

Picture of the Day

Me working hard in my new job

ICU Course Registration

Today I cycled into university to register for the modules which I'll take this term.  Just before leaving the house this morning I got a call from Ayaka, an ICU student who was in Leeds last year on her year abroad, saying that she and her boyfriend Shunyo would be getting to the university to register for their courses at about the same time as me and that we should meet up.  I'm so glad we did!  The whole registration procedure seemed a bit pointlessly overcomplicated, but with their help I got there in the end!  I picked Japanese level 3, and then my other module was English as an International Language, which isn't, as some people thought, me taking the easy option of 'learning English'; that would be English as a Foreign Language.  Tsch.  It's more of a linguistic/anthropological course than just learning a language.

After registering on the campus computers for those courses, I had to print off a form to take to my advisor, who has the same role as a personal tutor, to approve of my selection and sign it, before taking the form to another room to make the whole thing official!  

By 12 o'clock we were all finished, so the three of us went off to an Italian restaurant nearby for lunch.  Shunyo had オムライス, or omrice, which is an omelette made with fried rice, whilst Ayaka had spaghetti and seafood bolognese, and I had a pizza.  It was delicious and really did taste authentically Italian!

Tomorrow I start my first day at ICU!  I have two periods of Japanese 3, from 10:10 until 12:40!

James