KCJS

I guess I should start by talking about my study abroad program here in Japan. The full name is the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (KCJS for short). This group consists of 49 students from various schools throughout the US. There are two other students from Washington University here, so I wasn't completely alone.

About classes: we all have around two hours of Japanese language classes in the morning. There are five levels of language classes, A being the lowest and E being the highest. All the students took an exam at the beginning of the semester to determine our placement. I'm currently in the C class. The language classes are quite a lot of work, but that's to be expected. I'm also taking two non-language classes - one is a survey course of pre-modern Japanese literature, and the other is a intro to the Japanese economy. To be honest, these classes aren't *nearly* as hard or intensive as the classes at Wash U. I'm really thankful for that, not just because I'm lazy and hate work - it gives me more time to explore the city, hang out, and try some activities. And I came to Japan mainly for the novel experience, not to spend more time in a classroom or at home reading/writing papers. Not to mention, I don't think I could handle a Wash U-level workload along with the stress of living in a foreign country. I guess my main complain would be that my classes run for 3 hours straight, which is a looooooooong time regardless of how interesting the lecturer or the discussion may be.

Another *really* nice thing about our schedule - we don't have classes on Fridays. Fridays are usually used for field trips, guest speakers, special exams, etc., but we never have regular classes. Obviously, I think this schedule should be implemented by every school. Also, for a country with such an emphasis on work ethic, there are lots of Monday holidays (pretty random holidays too - Respect for the Aged Day? Seriously?). I still have the non-language class on Monday, but not having the morning language classes on holidays is still a nice break. Again, this is a pretty big contrast from Wash U which doesn't ever give us Mondays off, even for the major holidays that the rest of the country celebrates.