study abroadって

it's been a full six months since i've arrived in japan.

i've wanted to write this post for a while now.
but it has always seemed daunting, an impossible task.

"my thoughts on this study abroad experience"
"what i want this year to mean", "what has it for me meant so far", etc

where do i even begin?

the easiest: academics.
i'm disappointed with my relatively flat rate of progress. i wanted to get exponentially better at japanese, but that didn't happen. i suppose a lot of that was under my control. the worst part is, when motivation is at nearly zero, it's incredibly difficult to push yourself forward. i can't say that i've learned nothing from my japanese classes, but (here we go again...) compared to middlebury, the pace is just sooo slow. akp isn't middlebury. i've accepted that in late september, but it doesn't make it any easier.

writing: a lot better
speaking: down from the summer
listening: better
reading: about the same?

fall term electives: japanese language in popular media, japanese animation
there was potential for these classes to be great, but they wound up being just okay.

spring term electives: japanese religion, conservation & ecology of japan
i love both classes. minus a few people.
but they're not enough to ruin the classes :)

harder: personal growth, friendship, love&relationships

i'll tackle those later on
^_^