Over the weekend a couple other people from EWU, who are living in Iburaki, came to Tokyo. I met them along with a few Japanese AUAP student and we explored Shinjuku together and eventually met up with one more AUAP student. Toward the end of the night we went to an Izakaya (Japanese all you can drink bar thing) and after a few hours, we went to Karaoke. The night was a lot of fun and alcohol made it much easier to feel comfortable speaking Japanese publicly.
On monday was seiji no hi which is the coming of age celebration for 20 year olds. I didn't bother exploring too much, but every girl who had recently turned 20 or was about to was wearing a Kimono or equally formal outfit with done up hair and as out enjoying the town. Guys on the other hand wore suits. It seemed exciting for those involved, but not much really went on in regards to it.
Today we had the first day of classes. The classes are small and there are obvious level differences within the class. Some of the students had already taken the class before, but missed too many days, others seemed to be able to speak very well, but likely hadn't practiced writing sufficiently. I found myself to be in the upper edge of the class and was able to help out students who were less exposed to the language. It's pretty easy at the start, and I'm not complaining, but I hope it starts to get more involved shortly.
After class I suggested getting lunch to a group of students and though a couple dropped out at the last moment, I ended up getting lunch with a very nice Italian guy and a Swedish guy. It's nice to be able to go out and socialize with people I've never met and not feel awkward about it. Because of our situations we always have something to talk about with the other students even if we have nothing else in common, so it's not hard tostart up a conversation and FIND something else we have in common.
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