How are you feeling, Jamie?
Well, I will tell you. Right... now.
School has been really good. That feeling of being really behind everyone else faded after a couple of days. Of course, there are still a lot of people that are better than me, but I am not the lowest. I feel pretty much the perfect amount prepared. That being said... it's hard! I think one of the most difficult parts is switching from everyday conversation Japanese to formal Japanese. The teachers at the center encourage us to speak in as formal a way as possible in class, which for me is pretty difficult, just because I'm not used to it. I can use slang like no other, but when it comes to using keigo... it's hard for me. That just means that I'll have to work HARDER. It is also a little bit weird to speak with the other students in Japanese still. Mostly because I have to think longer to word things in Japanese, and the kind of humor that I want to use may not translate into Japanese, and so on. But no big.
Other than studying, though, I have been spending a lot of time around the school area, and also around my neighborhood, just getting to know the area. I really like Minato Mirai, where the school is. It reminds me of the Jetsons; all futuristic. Maybe I'm just not used to big buildings. But see for yourself!
Don't you except to see, like, a hovercraft floating by?
This might not be the best picture to describe it, but it really is nice. I've been around town more than this, but I just keep forgetting to take pictures. This weekend my friend JULIE is coming to visit, though, so I will take some pictures while being her tourguide.
I also have gone to a couple of concerts, which I love doing in any country. I went with a friend of mine that I made from YouTube named James to a show in Shibuya the first week of school; it was an all-girl group night, so about four girl bands played their music. It was really great. And there, there was a band from Portland in the audience named Kleveland, and they were paying a show in Yokohama the next week and invited me. So I went to that last night, and they were really fun. Shows in Japan are so funny sometimes; it is either everyone is really jacked up and all dancing and having fun (like most small shows in America), or everyone just stands there... and maybe nod their heads to the beat. I don't really like dancing, so it is totally fine with me, but it is just an interesting difference.
So all in all, I am feeling good. As the title suggests, I am getting into the groove. More pictures later (I know I promised that before but this time really because we finally have internet at our apartment!)
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