(dis)orientation

Well, hello! Today was my first day at the university. Actual school won't start until the 1st of October but before that, all the new students have to attend the orientation period. I know it's supposed to ease us into the beginning semester but right now I feel everything but orientated. I've got a bunch of information leaflets all stating pretty much the same things but in a slightly different manner so that you can never be quite sure whether it's actually just the same information twice or if the other paper includes a bit of something very important so that throwing it out would be a bad decision. Most of it is in English, as well, but as it doesn't really help clarify anything, and I want to learn to read Japanese as well as to speak it, of course I try to read everything in Japanese. So it goes without saying that hours and hours will be spent trying to figure out which paper is important and which is less so.

Campus view from the 4th floor. This is actually from last night, I was just too eager to wait until the next day...

Placement test about to begin! Eek!

Campus in daylight

So in the morning we only had the placement test to see how badly we can Japanese (in my case, pretty badly), and in the afternoon there was an orientation lecture where we received the aforementioned bunch of papers that's giving me a headache already. Nevertheless, it was a fun day, because it's so thrilling to find yourself listening to a lecture in Japanese and realizing that here you are now, about to begin studying Japanese in Japan! Amazes me every time I think of it.

On the way back home, tired but happy!

As I got home and checked the mailbox, I found this! A photo taken on the first day of Hawaii House residents.

As I went through some of the stuff I was given in the orientation, I got a bit worried, though... Nevertheless, let's hope that it all works out without too much trouble!

Manga to illustrate how dangerous student life here can be.