Earthquaaaake

Friday morning I was awoken around 5:30 to a slight shaking of my bed. This is nothing new, as I’ve felt small earthquakes in the middle of the night before. I went back to sleep.

During the second half of class we learned about procedures and what to do during an earthquake. Cover your head, immediately open a door so that the frame doesn’t become warped leaving the door stuck closed, where our school’s evacuation center is, etc.

Then around 5:30 p.m. after class, there was a real earthquake, and definitely the strongest I’ve felt since being here. I was on the third floor having dinner with someone from my class, and I immediately felt it. A second later everyone else there did, looked around, became quiet, and immediately began checking their phones. What was a bit worrisome about this one was the strength of it and the duration. It honestly felt like 45 seconds to a minute of swaying.

Turns out it was near Miyagi-ken. Last I heard, there were some injuries in that area. Here in Tokyo and Yokohama, everyone is fine, the last time I checked.

Just a quick update to let everyone know I’m OK.

Also, finals this week! Listening, reading, writing, speaking, pronunciation and I hear an essay will be required. Oh, and a speech. Sooo, probably won’t post for a week or so!

I hiked a mountain in class; what did you do today?

Most people know that I’m not really an outdoors type of person. The only camping I’ve done was in Rainman’s backyard back in middle school one night… and later on we ended up going back inside. So, it’s a bit of a surprise both to myself and maybe others that I voted to go on a field trip to Japan’s Takaosan (高尾山).

This was my first time seeing Mt. Fuji in person. I’m glad we climbed 高尾山 and not Fuji.

Located about an hour away from Shibuya Station, on a clear day you can see Mt. Fuji from this mountain. And that’s just what we did. A selection of pictures follows, but for ALL of the pictures, visit my smugmug. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the white balance set correctly on my camera, so I had to correct in post. And I was lazy, so a lot of it still looks way too blue. Continue reading I hiked a mountain in class; what did you do today?

Promised update about the YouTube party

Here’s the promised video, along with some pics, from the 2012 Tokyo YouTube meet-up in Shibuya, Nov. 3, 2012. There were two “rooms.” One was what you see in the video above, then there was another room where various acts (many musical) performed on stage. Sadly, I didn’t get any footage of that. =(

I was on the fence about going up until I walked out the door, mostly because of the cost of going, but it was well worth it.

Continue reading Promised update about the YouTube party

First week at an immersive Japanese language school completed

Sakuragicho Station, Yokohama. I’m cheating… this picture is one I took August 2010.

In March of this year for admission into ARC Academy. I visited the school for a few hours during a weeklong trip here to Japan, and the school looked promising. An immersive environment with promises of students becoming conversational in about three months’ time.

Oct. 9 – 12, 2012, I had my first week of class at ARC Academy in Shibuya. I’m proud to say I think that goal is perfectly attainable.

The school has eight levels. I’m in level 2, or second lowest. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I’d say the most difficult part for me at the moment is my lack of vocabulary. One day this week, there were about 40 words mentioned or in the homework I did not know.

Every day we learn some grammar concepts, 2 to 6 kanji, and do lots of practice (oral, aural, reading and writing).

But it’s working. I feel like I’m actually learning. I think the last time I was as excited as I am now about class was back in high school when I was taking theatre and computer science classes.

In fact, it’s the first time I can remember where I actually did homework the same night it was assigned. I’m not waiting until the next morning to do it.

So class is 3 hours Monday through Friday with a 15-minute break in the middle. And no English. All Japanese, all the time. As I’ve told some people, my brain is mush after class now.

Bringing the word to the people, rain or shine