More new classes and Typhoon Jangmi

Today, I had my first sessions of my Japanese conversation and Japanese calligraphy, along with the second session of my Japanese grammar class with a different teacher (I have four different teachers for the grammar class). Apparently the homework that I was trying to do for so much of yesterday wasn't due today, it was to be started today. The schedule sheet didn't specify whether it was listing due dates or "do" dates, so I assumed the path of more work. I imagine it would have been much easier after today's class, but who knows. It might not be a bad thing to prove myself serious about things; I may wind up needing some slack later on.

Anyway, so far, I'm liking my language classes a lot. I got more speaking practice in my classes today than I usually got in a months' time back home. It actually does seem possible that I could hold a decently fluid-sounding conversation in a month or two. I will have to stop acting so shy about things outside of class though. But, an exciting thing that may help even more, even with that last bit: we can get free Japanese tutors! We just have to sign up for it and say when we're free, and the International Center will try to match us up with a tutor on-campus during class periods we have off. Awesome.

In other news, Jangmi has done its damage to Taiwan. Even now, I can't find any reliable news on the storm's effects. There are such conflicts of information as "Torrential rains and strong winds have detroyed more than 86 thousands households" vs another news source saying 86 thousand homes are without power. I can't find any two English sources that say the same thing as far as what effects there are, except that they all agree there are a lot of mudslides due to the island still being saturated from Sinlaku.

Apparently Jangmi is only the fourth most powerful storm to hit Taiwan this year. I'm starting to realize the extent to which American media sources keep us in the dark at home. If anybody reading this actually heard anything at all about Jangmi besides on my blog, please drop a comment and let me know. I'm curious.

edit: proving the news sources writing Jangmi articles in English are crap, the 4th most powerful storm thing should actually just be 4th storm. July 13th Kalmaegi as a tropical storm, July 23rd Fung-Wong and September 13th Sinlaku as category 2 typhoons, and September 28th Jangmi as a category 4.

By Wikipedia's stats, which sadly enough seem far more consistent and reliable than the general media's, the 2008 Pacific typhoon season has claimed at least 1612 human lives and "1.366 billion USD." The Atlantic season has done in 944 and "~52 billion USD." I guess that's the real reason the US media is ignoring the Pacific; they just don't know how to blow things out of proportion and defraud insurance companies over here yet.

Lazy Sunday

I woke up this morning and eagerly checked my mailbox for news of my new toy, not really expecting anything since we're not supposed to have a manager in on Sundays. But, the manager was here, as was a note saying that I had a package waiting for me in the office.

My first internet order in Japan! Somehow that makes it seem more exciting.

There it is, the ultimate quick reference for learning a foreign language. A writing pad for characters, variable speed text-to-speech, and tons of other useful things will make it a worthy replacement for the two dictionaries I've been toting around.

The only snag is that the interface is entirely in Japanese. This is Japan, after all; these toys are made for the Japanese to more easily learn and understand English, Chinese, Korean, etc. Still, it contains all the information I need to know, it's just slightly more difficult to learn how to use it.

With that in hand, I finally felt some motivation to do some homework. Even with the help of my new gadget, it's slow-going and difficult. There are a couple of new grammar items in there, and trying to figure them out with the usual English narration I'm used to was difficult. The guided compositions are also significantly harder than what I've been doing in Albuquerque, requiring a lot more creativity to do without sounding completely amateur. I have been surprised and pleased to run into and be able to use a lot of the new kanji I learned last weekend. Being able to remember them was also surprising, since I haven't been reviewing like I should since last Monday. I think that says a lot about the spaced approach Anki uses.

I took a break from my homework due to hunger, and fixed up some curry and rice. As an experiment, I sautéed an onion and added it to the beef curry sauce, then decided to throw in a healthy portion of crushed red pepper to give it some kick. The idea was sound, but the execution was flawed... I cooked way too much rice, and added way too much pepper. I really need to get these basic cooking things down so I can move on to learning how to make awesome Japanese things.

In other news, Typhoon Jangmi's position as of about 2 hours and 20 minutes before this post was about 100 miles southeast of Taipei, moving NNW at just shy of 14 mph--the eye is going to hit within a few hours of now, and the storm is already over the island. It's been 17 days since Typhoon Sinlaku hit Taiwan as a much weaker category 2, and caused massive flooding, moodslides, and agricultural damage from over 5 feet of rain. I doubt they've recovered from that one yet. This one is expected to hit as a category 4 and currently has waves around 30 feet. This is not going to be good.

Typhoon Jangmi

Typhoon Jangmi is about to nail Taiwan. I know Pacific Storms get no coverage whatsoever in the US, so I thought I'd call attention to it. Currently it's on the border of a category 4 or 5 storm; winds at 155 with gusts to 190. Its appearance on satellite is as flawless as Hurricane Andrew was. The current computer model shows that the storm might do a funny U-turn and hit Japan, but that it would be a tropical depression by that point. Meanwhile, Taiwan is about to get smashed, and I doubt too many people in the US will hear a single thing about it.

Bike hunting

Today I went out for a bit to see if I could find a bike that's the right size for me. While I appreciate my freebie bike, it is about six sizes too small for me. As comical as it looks, it's not too much fun to use, and it's unbalanced enough that quick manoeuvres are pretty difficult to pull off. Plus it's got some mechanical issues. I didn't have any intention of buying today. I just wanted to see what my options are.

So far, I have yet to find any options. I asked to see the biggest bikes in two stores, and while they were better than the one I've got, they were still very small for me. After paying attention to what brands the stores had, I came home and checked on their websites to see what the biggest sizes I can order are. The longest top tube I could find on a bike is between the lengths of an XS and a Small of the mountain bike I've got; I ride a large.

The bikes I've found that I can get in the right size are all being imported from the US (despite being made in Taiwan for the most part), and are priced around $200 higher than what they're worth. Generally speaking, they're at minimum almost the same cost as it would be to ship my bike over and mostly a lot higher, and I already know that one fits me.

It might take a while to figure this one out.

Potluck party and first day of class

Last night after the whole orientation and registration stuff, we residents of the I-House II had a potluck dinner party. I was looking forward to it as soon as I heard about it; we have students from something like 14 different countries here, and it seems like all but a few of us US students know how to cook pretty well. It took quite a while for everyone to get ready, as there are quite a few more of us than there are stove surfaces, and some people's dishes needed two or more burners at a time. We wound up started an hour and a half later than the proposed time, so by the time we could start digging in, I was starving. Generally speaking the food was amazing. I didn't get seconds on anything or even try everything... there were just too many choices, and I got full before I could try it all. The green chile stew I made turned out to be quite a hit.

A lot of us wound up staying up pretty late playing cards and chatting, which of course was completely stupid since today was the first day of class. I managed to drag myself out of bed in time, but not in time for such niceties as breakfast. Opening my curtains revealed it was pooring rain. I grabbed my rain jacket and headed off for class in style. I wasn't the only one to ride in the rain, but I was the only one (that I saw) doing it at normal speed instead of slowly with an umbrella. I got to the right building, changed, and then made it into class about one minute late because I was looking for the classroom on the wrong floor. Room 730 is on the 3rd floor, apparently indicated by the three. I have no idea what the seven signifies.

I attended the Japanese Economy and North-South relations classes. I'll keep the Japanese Economy class, but the other didn't spark my interest. After North-South relations, it was lunch time. I had already eaten, but Ritsumeikan uses a block schedule, and there simply are no classes from 12:10 to 13:00. After so many times running through UNM's student union trying to grab a meal in the 15 minutes I had between classes, or having to change what classes I was going to take for a semester because their times overlapped by 15 minutes, I have to say that this school got it right. Also during this time, the campus PA system got switched over to the college radio station. Relaxation time with music provided is cool.

After that, it was the class I came here for: Japanese language. As I entered the room I thought I was in the wrong place. The classroom was three rows of chairs deep and about 20 or so chairs wide, but at first I saw only empty desks, as my five classmates were sitting in the center of the room. A class of six! That's wonderful for a language class.

During class, not a single word of English was spoken. The only English words in or on our textbook are part of the publisher's mark.

We had to take another placement test just to make sure they got the first placement right. Between the test and the entirely Japanese dialog, I walked out feeling wiped out and pretty intimidated. I had been wondering before whether or not this program would be intensive enough for my liking. With a name like "Intensive Language Track" it seemed like it should be, but the general description of Japanese college difficulty tends toward "really easy," so I wasn't sure. Based on the program information during the application process, I certainly wasn't expecting that the classes would have a non-English basis, so I wondered how intensive it could actually be. Now I can worry about keeping my head above the water instead.

One thing our teacher said (and put on the syllabus) was that since there are no definitions in the book, just vocab lists, we should always have a dictionary with us. I was the only one in there who did not have an electronic dictionary. After seeing enough models of them, particularly the new ones the other I-House students have been getting, I decided I needed to get one. The feature that sold me, which I hadn't seen previously, is a writing pad and stylus so you can just write a kanji or word and get the meaning and pronunciation. If I'm going to have to look things up even to understand the class itself, I certainly need something faster than a standard paper kanji dictionary.

So tonight I went onto Amazon and started shopping for one. I had a baseline: most of the students were paying between $300 and $400. I ordered a Sharp Papyrus PW-AT770, which has all the features that I wanted or even thought were minorly nifty, with expedited shipping so it'll get here Sunday, for $167.43. The shipping was $3.23. The best part is that I was able to just use my Visa, which I can pay off directly from my bank account online, instead of dealing with cash or any complicated stuff. I'm excited... it should help with my homework that's due Monday. :)

Placement results

Today started with a big group of us new students going to the recommended bank, 中央信用金庫 (Chuu-ou shinyou kinko) to open up accounts. This particular bank is recommended because it qualifies us for a monthly rebate on the national health insurance. We started filing in, and I got to see something I rarely see, but find amusing every time: some of the poker-faced bank employees slipped and showed emotion. I can't say I blame them, as the customer count went from 2 to 50-something within a minute. They all quickly regained their composure, and then it was the waiting and paperwork game. I had prepared my paperwork ahead of time, but had to redo all of it, as I goofed up and wrote my name in the standard western order, instead of last name first as my alien registration and school id showed. But, mostly it was just waiting, and after two hours I finally got everything. Now I just need to figure out how to transfer money from my account at home, and quickly, because rent is due on Wednesday.

After eating lunch it was time for class registration and placement test results... meaning more paperwork. There was a lottery for the Shamisen class, and I didn't make the cut, so my only traditional arts course will be calligraphy. As far as placement goes, there are six different levels of classes, Seiki and from A to E. Seiki students get to choose classes from the general catalog, alongside the normal Ritsumeikan students. I was expecting, based on my impression of the test, that I would be placed in C for the general class, and D or maybe even E for the speaking and listening class. I got placed into C for both, which is really surprising. After I asked around and found out who some of my classmates for the conversation portion will be--especially after having heard them speaking, and knowing how I sound--I was even more surprised.

I should probably be happy about my placement, since I actually did better than I thought, but I can't help feeling a bit disappointed. Perhaps it's just because I'm tired from repeatedly staying awake far too late, or perhaps it's because the letters feel like a grade and I hate C's. The program's expectation is that students move up one level after one semester, so I can expect to get to B for the spring, but depending on the workload and pace of the classes, I might try to learn enough to get to A.

Today: More orientation

Today was the welcome ceremony for the Study in Kyoto program, which we were all dreading as it sounded like it would be painfully boring. We were pleasantly surprised when the day's schedule was passed out, and the ceremony itself only took up half an hour of it. It was survivable.

Directly after the ceremony was a crime and safety presentation, which was an hour. Again, we were all instantly dreading it, because it sounded like it would be an utterly boring bit about how to avoid getting your stuff snatched and getting told the laws for biking around and whatnot. That's actually exactly what it was, but some women from a volunteer group took the majority of the time up on the first part, modelling different ways of being dumb and smart for us. It was a presentation fit for a kindergarten class, except it was presented very enthusiastically, and I think seriously. I was having a very hard time keeping a straight face through it, but I was doing ok. Then I realized that sitting between two Irish people is a bad thing when you need to keep a straight face; John on my right lost it and keeled over laughing, hiding his face and shaking with laughter. That was all it took to push me over, and I wound up laughing enough to cry. Even through the police address on bike theft and safety I was still trying to stifle my laughter. We all agreed afterwards that it was an hour well-spent, generally described by the UK students as "brilliant."

Next on the agenda was lunch. The cafeteria once again exceeded all expectations I could possibly have for a cafeteria, let alone at a school. I had two types of fish, some potato-cake-like thing, soup, and a bowl of rice with a little bit of flavoring ingredients thrown in. It was all superb, with one of the fish items standing out as spectacularly good. I really need to learn the names of all the dishes.

After lunch, we met back up for the earthquake simulator. This is a truck belonging to the Kyoto fire department, which opens up and has a little kitchen setup and seating for four. After a bit of talk, they had us go in in groups and get a simulation of an earthquake of the same magnitude as the one that hit Kobe in the 90s and killed over six thousand people. All I can say is holy crap. The simulator itself was incredibly cool and impressive, but thinking about that kind of movement from the earth itself is mind-boggling and frightening.

Then, the orientation stuff was over, and for me and a lot of other students, it was off to the ward office to pick up the certificate proven we started the alien registration process, which we need to open bank accounts and register with the immigration bureau to work part-time. From there, I went on about a six-mile detour with Pernilla to a kendo store. She's a self-proclaimed kendo nerd, and had ordered some stuff which was ready to pick up. She's in the Japan World Perspectives course and can only speak and understand a small sliver of Japanese, so she wanted me to come along in case she needed language assistance. One of the staff members there was much better at English than I am with Japanese, so thankfully I didn't have to do too much--past saying she was there to pick up her stuff, all the dialog would have been way beyond my vocabulary level. I looked around and got an idea of how much material cost would be involved in starting with kendo; expensive, but not horrific.

Then it was homeward bound once more, and the end of the day. I've spent my time since playing with pictures. Unfortunately, Windows Vista has sinned once more, and this time instead of just annoying me with crappy performance or crippled and bloated interfaces it has made me furious. It decided to go screwball on my SD card when I deleted some of yesterday's pictures off of it, before I had pulled today's off. The files that I told it to delete remained with a file size of zero, so I pulled and reseated the card and ran scandisk on it to repair the file system. This had the effect of deleting everything on the card. I had pictures of the ceremony, the presentations, the cafeteria and its food, pictures and video of the earthquake simulator, and pictures of stuff in the Kendo store. All gone. I'm changing operating systems as soon as I can get some external storage to back up my stuff.