I think I'm learning Japanese,I think I'm learning Japanese,I really think so.

I've come to the end of my first week of Japanese 101 at Santa Barbara City College, and I have to say it has been almost everything and somehow absolutely nothing like I expected it to be! Surprisingly though, I'm already getting the hang of writing and reading hiragana (one "alphabet" of Japanese characters), and I even find it refreshing and relaxing to practice the different strokes of the characters. What's so shocking to me is not only how difficult it is to memorize the characters and be able to translate them into the syllables that make up a word, but then on top of that having to be able to memorize what that word actually means (and I'm only learning ONE of the alphabets so far! There's still katakana to learn!). I've definitely got my work cut out for me.

My professor is pretty great. She's a middle-aged woman from Japan who has definitely had a lot of life experience, and she's got some funny little quirks about her (like the fanny pack she wears while teaching and the Pokemon pencil pouch she leaves on the table in front of the class). She makes us sing songs about little bears rivaling against fried shrimp (?) and watch those oh so entertaining beginning language videos from the 80s. Class is always pretty amusing.

So I'm thinking about taking an additional 2 unit course that lasts 4 days (but all day long each day). It's almost like a full Japanese culture and language immersion workshop. The days include hands-on experience practicing and watching presentations about speech synthesis, origami, chigiri-e art, calligraphy, anime, tea ceremony, kimonos, flower arrangement, sushi making (and eating!), Japanese music and theater, and so much more! It's four full days of almost everything Japanese I've wanted to experience and try, so I'm hoping this will be a cool introduction to the culture before I go to Tokyo (and also that it's not too much fun so that it's spoiled for when I get finally there!).

Anyway, here's a few "fun facts" I learned this first week:
*The number 4 and the number 9 are the unlucky numbers (like 13 is to us). The reasons? The word for 4 can also mean dying, and the word for 9 can also mean suffering. Don't stay on either of those floors in a hotel!
*My name pronounced in a Japanese accent is cherushi raian. Ha!
*Santa Barbara City College is pronounced Santa Barbara Shitti College. Hehe.

We'll see how much I can actually keep stored in my long-term memory to bring with me to Japan, but I know even this little bit is going to make my transition so much smoother! I'm getting more excited now than ever!