3 weeks have been passed by now and I had so many good experiences and memories from the past 3 weeks. However, one of experience from last week was kind of scary because we had a 6.1 magnitude earthquake and our girl’s dorm was at the epicenter of the earthquake. So we all felt that the earthquake was really strong. And actually, it was just 30 minutes after I got up, and I went down to the dining room to have breakfast. I was almost about to finished, then I felt the shake, and it was so strong. Everything was shaking. I didn’t realize the very first second. I thought it was some kind of joke and I don’t even know why I thought that. But then, I realized that it was real. Everybody was screaming and the people who work in the kitchen ran out and told us to get under the desk. Fortunately, the earthquake stopped several seconds after. But because it was so strong, it destroys the station nearby, so we couldn’t go to school that day. Although it was a scary experience, I learned so much from this experience. Not just about the information of how to protect yourself during an earthquake or what is earthquake like and what damages can it cause, but I also am happy to see that everyone in our program are so union. We encourage each other to be brave and strong and we think of ways together to protect ourselves. These are precious memories that I will never forget.

And I have perfectly getting used to the dormitory life here. The dorm here is actually really comfortable. It has all the facilities that you need to access and people here are very sweet. You don’t need to worry about safety or anything else. Although the people who work here only speak Japanese, body language is always a good tool to show people what you are trying to say. The expression is universal. And also, I have became familiar with the transportation here because I have been doing a lot of traveling since the past 3 weeks by using the trains. As I starting to use it more, I find out that it is actually very convenient. And if you can’t figure out which train you supposed to take, just show the destination name to the people at the station, they will be very glad to help you. Also, every station has a information center with several people sitting there for answering people’s questions. You can always go there for help.

On the behalf of classes, we have two classes which are language and culture class and business class. These are both very interesting class that teach us a lot about Japanese culture and interesting aspect of Japanese behavior and language. So, the language part mainly focuses on teaching us the basic conversation when we order in the restaurant or asking for directions etc. These are useful because we are using it everyday. Also, this class talks about the various aspects of Japanese culture, from the food, entertainment, manga, anime and infrastrutures point of view. These are all some unique and fun things to learn while we are in the Japan. So, overall, I had a very good time in both studying the culture and exlporing the area and I think everybody else in the program feel the same as me.