"Completely" Settled

I'm now "completely" settled. Why the quotations you ask? With a lifestyle as fast paced as the Japanese spur, its no surprise that everyday something new hits you like an old brick falling off of Doshisha's ancient buildings.

Lots to say since my last post. And finally...pictures!

Doshisha Imadegawa is a beautiful campus, I'm not sure exactly how "high-level" the university is, but definately attractive. At least for the 5 minutes it takes to walk across from one end of the campus to another. I'm still used to the enormous campus that is UVic, and let's not even talk about UBC City. It's not like there's less here, its just cramped closer together. Buildings are practically brushing up against each other as if to huddle from the cold winter to come. And yes, it gets damn cold here during the wee hours, easily matching Vancouver. I havn't yet had a chance to pay a visit to the much larger and apparently more active Kyotanabe Campus. And for good reason, its about an hour away by train and costly. Soon though...

Nearby the Imadegawa campus are Shinmachi Campus (literally translated to "new city" campus) and Kanbaikan which isn't really a campus as much as it is a hangout spot with some conference/party rooms. Entering Shinmachi or Kanbaikan truly feels like walking into an advanced research facility or a high-tech operation of sorts. Walking into Imadegawa (literally means "the now exiting river") campus is more of a "whoops, when did I accidently stumble into England?" sort of feeling.

In Japan, if you ever see a really fancy looking shrine, next door might be a convenience store or a parking lot. Things often seem out of place here and you are left wondering who the heck designs the cities here. Zoning rules seem to be thrown out the window, and the idea of 'fit what you can where you can' seems to play a large role. So walking down one street, you may see a residential expensive apartment tower, a convenience store, a bread shop, a liqour factor, a university, a zoo, an internet cafe, some old lady's house which is older than Japan itself, and probably a lot of convenience stores. Yes I mentioned convenience store twice. Theres just that many.

I've stopped using the subway since it costs an arm, a leg, and a bit more. That meant walking, since the bus happens to cost more than the train and takes about 8 times longer. No joke. As good a feeling as it is walking around Kyoto, it totals 3 hours of commuting on foot per day. Remember how our parents always say "In my day, I used to walk 10km to school uphill both ways...", well I actually was doing that. So when I tell my not so tall tales to my kids they have to believe me. I must say though, Kyoto is absolutely a gorgeous place to be walking around.

In a week I have classes Monday to Friday from 9am to 12:15pm. These are the basis language classes which are really the core of the program. For those of you familiar with UVic's ELPI program, its really the same thing with Japanese being the focus. Each day, the lessons are taught by a different instructor to give students as wide an exposure to Japanese speakers as possible. Which is a rather perfect situation, since its nearly impossible to tire of the professors themselves. Afternoon classes are dependant on the students. Some are registered in Japanese Law, some in Culture, Ikebana (flower arrangement), Japanese Society, and so on. The selection isn't exactly gripping but its enough to keep students relatively busy for the two semesters here.

Following the morning classes, the international students pour into the Cafeteria commons and build their little ant hills in the lounge. The Japanese students occupy most of the main seating area leaving the lounge for the outsiders. Its not really so great since as an international student you pretty much sit with only others like you. Meeting Japanese students is rather difficult since the situations rarely lend themselves. I have yet to join up with any clubs or circles and despite lugging my rackets here with me, no tennis yet. The clubs usually congregate down at Kyotanabe Campus I'm told, so the commute will become avoidable.

Down below are some pictures of Doshisha University's Imadegawa Campus, so have a look!