Kudan Gakusee

Today was the first day of class at Kudan Nihongo Gakuin, and wow was it great! Of course, I was put into the beginner course (as much of my entrance interview questions garnered a lot of wakarimasen`s - I don`t understand). There are only twelve people in my individual class, although there are about 120 students in this particular session. Half of the class are people from America, but others students are from Russia, Taiwan, England and other parts of the world, making Japanese our real only major common bond except for those that, of course, know English.

Our sensei, Ide-sensei, is a wonderful teacher. She spoke to us entirely in Japanese (it is an intensive course after all) but it was more like some type of Japanese charades than just monotonously speaking to us for four hours. She was creative, animate and very aware of our diction and mannerisms. All in all, the first class was excellent and a real joy to be a part of. I`m excited at the prospect that I get to attend these types of classes for an entire month.

After a little running around Chiyoda-ku for some lunch (real ramen - I cannot possibly detail how insanely delicious this truly was) and a cup of coffee, I decided to spend most of the day riding around the Tokyo Metro.

The Metro system is an exceptionally complex system (see the entry for the photo link to a map of the system) but fairly easy for a gaijin like myself to navigate. Many of the stops are in English as well as hiragana and kanji symbols. There are convenient vending machines for a quick drink of snack. However, the most convenient feature is the Suica / PASMO system. In my case, I purchased (a significantly student discounted) monthly pass between two stops on my route which I use the most and then preloaded the money onto the card. I simply wave my wallet over the sensor (no need to take the card physically out) and go, making the commute easy. In my case, I take the train on the Yurakucho line from Chikatetsu-Narimasu twelve stops out to Ichigaya, then transfer onto the Toei-Shinjuku line to Kudanshita with a total travel time of about 40 minutes. But, with trains departing precisely every two minutes with distance between stops taking exactly two minutes, it`s precisely calculated. The crowding in the train cars, especially when I go during morning rush hour at 8:00am, is exactly as all the stories that you`ve heard. I`ll try and snap a photo sometime.

I went to visit Shinjuku and Shibuya today - mostly just to glance around and check things out. Of particular note, Tokyu Hands in Shinjuku - which is about 12 floors of all outdoor wares and fun items, and the Krispy Kreme, which has an average wait time of one hour for Tokyoites to get their hands on the glazed delicacies. There were some interesting reactions to be had when I mentioned to some at the first house that, in America, you can drive through for your doughnuts.

Tomorrow, I get my summer kimono (Yukata) and I`ll have even more time for new sightseeing. Ja ne!