First Reflection

Time is really strange here, I feel like I've been in Japan a long time and yet I also can't believe it's already been more than two weeks. I'm feeling really comfortable in Nagasaki, the buses are really handy, the scenery is beautiful and the city is interesting. Most of the time people ignore us, gawk at us or are really friendly, we haven't had any negative experiences with the locals yet.

School is a little more trying, I was pretty sure when we arrived that both of us would be in the level 2 language class. We've learned a lot but we haven't had much practice with speaking or listening and we really need to review. I was shocked when the placement test put me in level 3 and Brian in level 2. Naturally we want to be in the same class, we are at the same level despite what the test said. But I assumed that if I got into lvl 3 than Brian should take the lvl 3 challenge exam. But after a week of studying and frustration they refused to let him move up (he missed it by 1 point..). So today I was faced with a dilemma, I've been going to lvl 3 classes all last week and it is definitely the level I should be in, but I've decided to take a hit to my pride and drop down so I can be with him. It wouldn't have been so bad but they made me have a meeting with one of the ladies in charge so I could answer questions about why I was moving down, and if I was sure I wanted to do this. I essentially had to lie about needing to be in that level, although I will still learn new things either way. Needless to say, both of us feel like crap about the whole situation. Hopefully we will get used to this class and it will give us the opportunity to really understand all the things we've learned up to this point.

ANYWAY, everything else is wonderful. Our other classes are Culture, History, Cinema and Literature and we are really excited about all the great things we are learning. There is so much to see and do here that I know that we will have a great experience no matter what.