Class has not been much different though a teacher or two had been changed. I've been having a hard time keeping track of my teachers here though their names are posted along with the class schedule in the classroom. Since my time is tight, I've been looking to improve my study habits. I have all my tools now, but I've been finding lately that maybe I could use a better Japanese-English dictionary. The one I brought with me I've had for a long time but it actually was written for a Japanese user.
I've also been curious to learn more kanji during my stay but it's not happening yet, at least not formally. They said beforehand that kanji would not be a focal point in the SILAC program and given the amount of material covered already, I can see why.
As for the work, there's just as much, or even more, to learn. I've now learned a sufficient amount of basic web site coding to do a lot on my own but I've been slow in feeling out the writing style required for the website's needs. Part of the challenge in writing the text for a website like this is looking for opportunities to provide links to other parts of the website to draw people further in to what the school offers. Not doing a good job with this journal page so far.
The great part about this work, I'm finding out, is that a lot of it will involve the touring destination pages. Declan wants to update the travel information in the website including the destinations we visited on the Discovery Tours on the weekend. I always wanted to know what it felt like to be a travel writer though I wish Declan told me about this before we visited Lake Biwa and Iga Ueno. Otherwise, I would have paid more attention and taken more pictures.
All this doesn't give me much of a life outside of the school which I hope will change once my classes are done. I've been finding out a few little things, like the morning street market west of the school on dates that end in 4 or 9. I've been getting a tonne of cheap mikan from there. I haven't had much time to run either but I've still been able to see much of the city that way so far. I think I found a small sumo stable in the southeast part of the town.
I also finally got hold of a used radio, this one coming with a CD player, which I paid 2,000 yen for. The CD player wasn't apparently working before so it didn't help that I dropped it trying to secure it to my bike for the trip home. It still worked when I set it up in my room though the CD player needs some persuading to play. The FM radio needed an antenna, which I picked up at Eiden, but I had to pin the thing on the ceiling to get decent reception. As it is, I was able to get two FM and one or two AM stations on the radio. Just in time for some Christmas music.
And while I haven't had the chance to do a lot of extra-curricular activity so far, at least I've found a chess partner. Roger, in my office, likes chess too so we've been playing a few games after work. We're pretty evenly matched, it seems, but he's ahead two games to one so far.
With the holidays approaching, more students have been leaving the student village but one good thing about it is that it's allowed me to change rooms. I never felt comfortable about opening the drapes to my room since it was located right next to the entrance with the convenience store close by as well. Didn't mind the noise but the room was small enough without being able to see some outdoor space. At first, the student services office thought it would take a few days but it actually only took a day for them to make the change.
I guess I've moved from settling down now to making adjustments as I go along.