Somehow, it seems that wherever I go, cliques of four work best. I'm coming to know more and more Koreans in Japan rather than Japanese, but I can't help it, it seems that they're everywhere! At the SILS welcome reception last night, I finally got to meet more Singaporeans. Albert's on exchange from Beijing University, while Yue is a 2nd year SILS student, and apparently there's a Singapore Students' Association that's going to throw a welcome party for Singaporeans. About time, I'd say! ;p

Whenever I try to find pictures of Waseda University, I keep coming across pictures of the clock tower. It's probably the most prominent symbol, and I'd seen it a couple of times when I wandered around school in the day. However, when I saw it at night for the first time yesterday, I couldn't help but wonder why those websites don't put up night shots. It has more 'wow' factor, and made me stand there and do nothing but look for a while:

Tuesday. Second day of lessons. First class starts at 9am. Teacher wants us there at 8.50am. Friends supposed to walk over together at 8.35am. My alarm rang at 7.30am. I woke up at 8.33am. I don't think I've ever dressed and rushed downstairs in about 5 minutes! Given that being late 3 times = counted as 1 absence, and absences of more than 1/3 the total number of classes leads to an immediate F, I didn't want to chance it. Maybe I should get my friends to call to make sure I'm awake next time.

It's rather strange that Japan, being so advanced technologically, still employs the use of chalkboards even at the university level. There are no lecture theatres here; Lectures are conducted in big classrooms, with the professor standing at an elevated podium in front, while the students are on flat ground, unlike the sloping LTs that I'm used to in NUS. And some of the seats here are really, really cramped; It'll be a wonder if the big-sized people manage to slide along the row and squeeze into a seat. Besides that, the seats are uncomfortable. So far most of the classrooms I've been in have wooden benches, sometimes there isn't even anything you can lean back on, or if you do, the wooden table behind pokes into your back painfully. Interesting to see all these, nonetheless. Japanese classes are like tutorials, and today's class was rather challenging, but good - I think. I just don't know how I'm going to remember all that tough new vocab for the quiz on Thursday. And to prepare a speech for a subsequent lesson. Oh oh! Soon we'll be going to Ikebukuro to go through an earthquake and fire simulation exercise, and we'll learn to put out the fire and what not, I think! Looking forward to that. :)

I've been productive since I returned from lessons. I disposed my rubbish at the garbage disposal cum recycling corner (Japanese are big on recycling, you have to separate the combustibles and non-combustibles, plastic cans, glass bottles, newspapers...), returned the fan, vacuumed the room, did the laundry, updated my blog... Now it's time to write my Japanese essay. Till next time, please pray that there are no more earthquakes anytime soon!