1 month has passed!

Hi there! Long time no see everyone! Haha

Has autumn come in Japan? Do you see red leaves? Yakiimo stand on the street? Chestnuts on the road? I often miss beautiful autumn scenery in Japan, especially in Nara. 

In Leicester, I feel that winter has already come😂 It's too cold here for me though many natives said that it isn't. I always wear scarf and warm hoodie when I go to school. 

Btw, the classes for this semester have started last week! The sociology  lecture classes are so exciting! It is sometimes hard for me to listen to and completely understand what my tutor says though. Some tutors have strong British accent and I haven't got used to it yet.

Seminar classes are much more difficult than lectures. It is really tough for me to discuss some topics related to sociology with my classmates in English... There are no study abroad students except me in the class. Native students speak so fast x(( I must develop my listening and speaking skills to discuss effectively in seminar. I'll practice harder and I hope my English will be better!  

I've met lots of people here. I have many Chinese friends and some Tiwanese and Korean friends. They're all so kind! I learned some of Chinese culture from them. One of my flatmates is from Sri Lanka and she is good at cooking. One day I found she cooked Sri Lanka curry and asked how many spices she used. She answered she used more than 5 seasonings and the curry looked delicious! And I have some friends from other European countries. One boy is from Romania. He is really friendly and smart. One day, he asked me how I think about prime minister Abe. I was surprised that he knew our prime minister and Abe's policy. I had my idea about it and tried to explain it. I'm not sure if he understood because of my poor English but he listened curiously. I have few opportunities to discuss about politics with my friends in Japan because talking about it is a little bit awkward. So I was happy to have had such conversation with foreign student.

I also talked with friends from Germany, Italy, Austlia, Spain, Fizzy and so on. They spoke English very well so when I talk to them, I'm always disappointed with my English.... I enjoy exchanging our culture each other though. 

I met some local people at the Leicester Japanese club! Most of the members are very interested in Japan and some of them are Japanese who live in Leicester. I joined the meeting of this club last week. I talked about anime with Daniel who loved Japanese cartoon. Japanese anime is very popular in the uk! I should have watched much more anime in japan.haha And Sam-san is a man who study Japanese at the uni of Leicester. His Japanese was so nice! We chatted both in Japanese and English at that time. 

And then today, I joined Advanced Japanese class as a volunteer student. All of the students of this class spoke Japanese very very well!! I was really impressed by them. I'm already looking forward to next lesson! 

なんか長くなってしまった〜

悔しい思いをすることも多いけど、まあまあ楽しいです(^^)言葉の壁を乗り越えられたらもっと楽しくなるかな！まずはstep out of my comfort zoneを胸にいろんなことに挑戦していくしかないね！

So far, So good

Two weeks have passed since I came to Leicester. I've settled in there and had busy days so far.

I joined study skills course until Friday. It was very intensive and hard for me! I had to write 1500-words academic essay within a week.

The essay topic was depends on our department. My essay topic was 'multiculturalism' because my major is sociology. Though I retain a special interest in multicultural society, discussing about it was sooooo tough😱😱 I didn't  believe that I was able to finish writing my essay at first.

I read many books, chapter and articles and spent a lot of time on writing my paper. Sometimes, I was frustrated with my lack of knowledge and academic words. 

My classmates were so smart and educated. This also made me nervous.

But they were very friendly and cheerful so I could get along with them and enjoyed every classes!! 

I finally was able to finish and submit my essay before the deadline but I was not satisfied with it. 'I am freed from my essay!!', I felt at the time😂

My tutor checked and corrected my paper. And I collect it the next day. 

Surprisinglly, I got good grade😳 I had 9 Good and just 1 Average. Well done, Saku😂

But I also found my weak points. The most important thing is to do 'reflection'. I'll have to make action plan for my future essay.

If I were asked whether study skills was worth joining, I would answer 'Definitely!!'. 

I really really want to recommend that future exchange students take this course😊

2週間のスタディスキルズも終わって少し落ち着いてきました！と思ったら10月からは本格的に授業が始まる！！

もっともっとしんどいことが待ってるだろうけど、そのぶん楽しいこともあると信じているので、１つ１つコツコツとこなしていきたいです😊

24, Sep 2016