I did it again
Apr. 11th, 2003 05:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melredcap*whuff* I know, I know, it's been ages with no updates... I'm sorry! I was finishing my exams and all those papers, and then I just went *flop* for a little while, and then I was getting all excited over my boyfriend coming to visit, and then he was HERE, and now... he's gone home again (*sniff*). Spring semester started yesterday. So, basically, I spent all haruyasumi (spring vacation) enjoying myself, leaving everyone who actually reads this to wonder what the heck was going on.
Really, except when Yuri was here (hi honey! Has your cat forgiven you for putting her in the cattery yet?), not a lot WAS going on. Well, I relaxed a lot, but that's only to be expected! When Yuri got here, however, we went buzzing all over Kanazawa, visiting places like a traditional sweet shop (I am now addicted to their products), the Higashiyama geisha district (no geisha there, but neat old houses and tearooms, including yummy tea sweets), the old samurai house district, museums, a gold leaf store/gallery, lots of great (and cheap!) restaurants... yes, food and sweets occupied a decent amount of our time. Went to Hiroshima via the Thunderbird express train and Shinkansen, saw all the mandatory shrines and peace museum stuff, a manga museum/library, AND a baseball game (in which the Hiroshima Carp beat the Hanshin Tigers in a knuckle-biting last-minute finish, yay!). Then Osaka, for the aquarium, castle, giant merry-go-round, Umeda Sky Building (not recommended if you're really afraid of heights) and general wandering. (Then Kansai airport for Yuri to go home, darn it!)
I now regard myself as able to navigate my way around the JR train system without TOO much chance of getting lost. Good practice for when my parents visit later this year!
So... this semester... Would you believe I don't have LAST semester's results yet?! I'm pretty sure I got decent marks, because I know I got 80% in one final exam, and the other exams/papers/etc didn't seem too hard... and I know I PASSED, because I turned up to Japanese D class and the teacher had my paperwork... but we aren't getting told our final marks until next week. Sheesh. And I thought my university in Australia was pushing things by giving out the first semester's marks a week BEFORE the second semester gets underway!
*sigh* Annnnyway, I'm in Japanese D class like I said, which looks like it's going to be (a) interesting and (b) rather more intense than C2 class was. (Heh. We have essays and speeches coming up... one of them's going to be on 'a famous person from your home country'. I plan to do mine on Steve Irwin! *snicker*) I'm also doing Kanji D class (of course), Composition (MORE essays, one a week!), Experiences in Japanese Culture (again! but we're doing different things), Budo II (whee! fun!), and Independent Research. Yes, they're letting me translate manga for credit!
If anyone looks at my list of classes and goes 'hang on, you aren't doing as many as you did last semester', you're right -- but that's because I did more than I had to last time. Lots of interesting things were offered in first semester! Over the whole year, we have to do at least 20 credit points worth of classes (the way the Japanese count credit points, don't ask me how it compares to American or Australian methods because I *don't* know), and last semester I did 13. This semester I'm doing 11. And if you think my Independent Research is going to be a 'gimme' class with no effort involved, think again! I am actually going to try for a proper translation; I've picked a manga where the different characters all refer to themselves and other people in wildly different ways, and I want to try to show that in English. It's harder than it sounds! Ways of saying 'I' range from polite through to arrogant: 'watashi', 'boku', 'ore', and 'kono ore-sama' are just a few. Ways of saying 'you' range from 'xxx-san' and 'anata' through 'kimi', 'omae', 'temee', 'kisama' and worse... I want to try to show the shades of meaning and emotional impact in English without resorting to footnotes or anything that sounds weird! So, I *am* approaching this class seriously... even if the manga itself is very definitely NOT serious. *hehheh*
*phew* Okay, that's it for today. I had my first Budo II class today and I'm tired out! Happy, though. More later... probably after I get my marks.
Really, except when Yuri was here (hi honey! Has your cat forgiven you for putting her in the cattery yet?), not a lot WAS going on. Well, I relaxed a lot, but that's only to be expected! When Yuri got here, however, we went buzzing all over Kanazawa, visiting places like a traditional sweet shop (I am now addicted to their products), the Higashiyama geisha district (no geisha there, but neat old houses and tearooms, including yummy tea sweets), the old samurai house district, museums, a gold leaf store/gallery, lots of great (and cheap!) restaurants... yes, food and sweets occupied a decent amount of our time. Went to Hiroshima via the Thunderbird express train and Shinkansen, saw all the mandatory shrines and peace museum stuff, a manga museum/library, AND a baseball game (in which the Hiroshima Carp beat the Hanshin Tigers in a knuckle-biting last-minute finish, yay!). Then Osaka, for the aquarium, castle, giant merry-go-round, Umeda Sky Building (not recommended if you're really afraid of heights) and general wandering. (Then Kansai airport for Yuri to go home, darn it!)
I now regard myself as able to navigate my way around the JR train system without TOO much chance of getting lost. Good practice for when my parents visit later this year!
So... this semester... Would you believe I don't have LAST semester's results yet?! I'm pretty sure I got decent marks, because I know I got 80% in one final exam, and the other exams/papers/etc didn't seem too hard... and I know I PASSED, because I turned up to Japanese D class and the teacher had my paperwork... but we aren't getting told our final marks until next week. Sheesh. And I thought my university in Australia was pushing things by giving out the first semester's marks a week BEFORE the second semester gets underway!
*sigh* Annnnyway, I'm in Japanese D class like I said, which looks like it's going to be (a) interesting and (b) rather more intense than C2 class was. (Heh. We have essays and speeches coming up... one of them's going to be on 'a famous person from your home country'. I plan to do mine on Steve Irwin! *snicker*) I'm also doing Kanji D class (of course), Composition (MORE essays, one a week!), Experiences in Japanese Culture (again! but we're doing different things), Budo II (whee! fun!), and Independent Research. Yes, they're letting me translate manga for credit!
If anyone looks at my list of classes and goes 'hang on, you aren't doing as many as you did last semester', you're right -- but that's because I did more than I had to last time. Lots of interesting things were offered in first semester! Over the whole year, we have to do at least 20 credit points worth of classes (the way the Japanese count credit points, don't ask me how it compares to American or Australian methods because I *don't* know), and last semester I did 13. This semester I'm doing 11. And if you think my Independent Research is going to be a 'gimme' class with no effort involved, think again! I am actually going to try for a proper translation; I've picked a manga where the different characters all refer to themselves and other people in wildly different ways, and I want to try to show that in English. It's harder than it sounds! Ways of saying 'I' range from polite through to arrogant: 'watashi', 'boku', 'ore', and 'kono ore-sama' are just a few. Ways of saying 'you' range from 'xxx-san' and 'anata' through 'kimi', 'omae', 'temee', 'kisama' and worse... I want to try to show the shades of meaning and emotional impact in English without resorting to footnotes or anything that sounds weird! So, I *am* approaching this class seriously... even if the manga itself is very definitely NOT serious. *hehheh*
*phew* Okay, that's it for today. I had my first Budo II class today and I'm tired out! Happy, though. More later... probably after I get my marks.
I'm sooo Jealous!
Date: 2003-04-18 11:01 pm (UTC)Ja ne,
Cat