Orientation Week

Okay I know this entry is a tad overdue but oh wells. So much has been happening these days... Firstly recount of orientation week which was 3 weeks ago.

So moved into my host family's house on the 11th Sept. It was a bit awkward at first... meeting a middle aged Japanese man who was struggling with helping me carry my large suitcase... but yeah... that awkwardness has eroded somewhat and I'm feeling a lot more comfortable staying with them now.

So recap of orientation week...

Day 1 (13/09/2010)
Placement test day!
Had to attempt 3 exams in the morning. First was the grammar and reading paper, then listening. Afterwards it was speaking exam in the form of an interview, and while people were waiting to go for their interview, we had the writing paper to complete. Then afterwards, we went to the Fujita Lounge room and had lunch and some introductions. And then we met our nihongo partners.

Day 2 - 4
yeah... mind's a bit fuzzy atm. I think we had a bunch of orientation talks about life in Japan and such. Perhaps a campus tour to the library and computer room... We also received our placement exam results. I got placed into Level 3 with a side note that my grammar level is lower than required (><') So yeah had to e-mail Iida-sensei and get my subjects sorted again. The one part of orientation I remembered distinctly was the one on what do to in the situation of an earthquake. During this segment you could really feel that they've never forgotten the Hanshin Earthquake in 1995 whereupon Nishinomiya, where the uni campus is, all the way to Sannomiya went down. My host mum told me that the Sogo in Sannomiya used to be much taller before the earthquake and how unexpected it was. But looking at the Hanshin area and Kobe, it's been rebuilt so well that it looks like it never happened though.

Day 5
Field Trip!
... to NARA!!!! Even though I just went to Nara to see the Daibutsu like just a week before it was still heaps of fun. Had to get to KGU at 8.30am (eurgh +__+... soo early!) and caught the bus to Nara. We saw the Daibutsu, then we went to some Japanese restaurant and had lunch there (超うまかた！） and then to Kasuga Taisho, which was some famous shrine of love or something =S.