First week of university (until 11.04.)

After our trip to Kyoto, the university started on Thursday. We had chosen courses in advance, but the Japanese courses are mandatory for everyone. I was lucky that my course, which takes place Monday through Thursday for one and a half hours, is in the second hour. That means I don't have to be at the university until 10:40 am. Yay! That means I can leisurely leave the dorm at 10 o'clock, walk through the park and to the train station. Since we now have the 'Commuter-Pass', which cost us 4000 yen (about 30 euros), but takes us to the university for free, the cost of taking the train is not that high anymore. However, it is still more expensive to go to the city than to Kyoto, strangely enough. The Japanese courses are harder than I had hoped, the senseis (teachers) only speak Japanese, in the first hour all facial features probably slipped away when the lecturer asked us a question after a ten-minute monologue. In each session, we have a different lecturer, but they all speak 95% Japanese. I can even understand them now. Most of the time, at least, when they speak slowly enough. Three new kanji characters are introduced every day, which are all tested in a so-called quiz that is supposed to take place every week. In plain language, this means that I can't cram my studying at the last minute like in Göttingen, but have to do something regularly. Terrible thought. But the others are in the same boat, so we study together in the common room, it works. Overall, the university is very structured, sometimes it really feels like being back in high school at the age of 15, but that seems to be the norm here. But luckily, I could skip Friday completely, as the courses weren't that great anyway and I clearly prefer traveling. Since I'm already in my master's program, I'm lucky not to be tied to the seven mandatory courses like the bachelor students for some reason. Yes! And the remaining courses are, on the one hand, the four Japanese courses, then a kendo course, which I think will be super cool (the lecturer is such a cool dude from New Zealand and lives for kendo), a course on Japanese culture, one that discusses World War II based on eight films (we won't do anything in this course except watch movies, three of which are anime movies. And the lecturer is just super cute, looks like 17 and is terribly excited about our interest 'Yes, and this movie actually has nothing to do with the topic, but we're still watching it just because it's my favorite movie'). After that, there is a course on pop culture, which will literally be about Hello Kitty. I am very satisfied with my selection. One thing that is a bit impractical is that everyone has lunch at the same time, which means that the cafeteria is unbelievably crowded. But this way, I quickly make new Japanese friends. Several times we have already been approached in line by Japanese people who found us blondies interesting. I would never have expected that, especially since all the guidebooks said that the Japanese are very shy and reserved. I can't confirm that, after one week of university, I have already made 5 of these cafeteria friendships, which really makes me happy, as international friendships are very valuable and also because I can experience Japan with Japanese people who are also interested in our culture. After lunch, we either go back to the university, go to the city or back to the dorm. Even though the cherry blossoms are over, the campus is still beautiful. It is also interesting to see the sense of community at this university, many people wear T-shirts and sweaters from the university or their sports teams at the university. I took this as an opportunity to treat myself to a pullover from the 'Kaisers', the Kandai football team, especially since I left my cozy pullover at home and it is also a great memory. Everyday life has also settled in a bit, I did the laundry for the first time and went jogging with a buddy (well, okay, we got lost, but next time we know the route). It's incredible how time flies. On Monday, we made plans to go shopping because I actually wanted to buy a pullover (I only bought the Kaisers pullover on Wednesday) and I wanted a pair of shoes because I hadn't considered that it might rain while packing (especially during the rainy season, haha...). So we wandered off to Namba and from there to the clothing stores. I quickly realized that there apparently are only two styles here: one is the trashy and shady hipster who wears shabby clothes with terrible colors and the most bizarre cuts (got a lot from the 70s/80s style) and the mainstream style, which I don't have to say much about. So at first it was impossible for me to find a decent pullover that wasn't cropped above the belly button, had a Mickey Mouse with a middle finger, or ruffles at the cuffs. So I initially gave up on that, as even in the mainstream stores, summer was announced. This means that there were only cropped pullovers here as well. Nevertheless, it's amazing how many stores there are. If there is one store on the ground floor, there are usually one or two more stores on the following floors. But I did find a pair of sneakers that seem relatively sturdy and should withstand rain. Originally, I wanted dark ones, but I liked a pair in old rose better. And that, even though I also doubted that I would find shoes since we found a huge number of shoe stores lined up, but they were all for men! I thought I was going crazy, but no, they were all really for men, no wonder my friends were so successful in shoe shopping! Things like shoes and clothes are relatively cheap here, so I didn't feel so bad about it. In the stores themselves, it's usually quite exhausting because loud music is playing everywhere, I suspect they want to drown each other out with their music, resulting in a mishmash of loud music in the ears of customers strolling on the street. In the big stores, there is not only loud (usually extremely annoying techno) music, but also literal barkers, whose purpose is still a mystery to me, as people are already inside the store and therefore already bombarded from all sides. But the salespeople are very helpful, if a bit pushy, but thanks to them my buddy also got a pair of sneakers. So my two friends were also happy with their new shoes, jackets, and a backpack. To end this day properly and to be able to go home completely happy, we settled in a ramen restaurant, after all, we wanted to try the proper version of instant noodles. And it's really good! First, you order at a machine what ingredients and side dishes you want or whether you want a noodle refill and you pay at the machine. Then you go into a very long, dark room where you eat. This room is probably 20 meters long and one meter wide, which means that all guests sit next to each other, but are separated by a small wooden wall on both sides, so you sit in your own little box and wait for your food. On the other side of the table, chefs hustle and bustle, but you only see them when they lift a small bamboo curtain and push the bowl of noodles towards you. It's a really funny system, but it also illustrates a bit of Japanese culture, that everyone is for themselves and eats alone, which is widely established in the working population. The ramen, however, was really great, albeit quite expensive. But because you get free water everywhere (in this case from a tap), I think it balances out. We will visit Kobe and go to Himeji this weekend, where we will visit a castle.