Ry in Wonderland
After my first whole half-week of classes, I feel odd. These past few days have been some of the most surreal of my life. My first class, Japanese, was on Wednesday afternoon, and I decided to walk because I wasn't sure what the parking situation would be like. My walk took basically the same route that I always took to Japanese class back in my undergrad days, because my new apartment is just a couple of blocks away from my old one. But as similar as the route is, everything looks different now: Bryant Drive is currently destroyed due to a streetscaping project; the stadium is big, white, shiny and new; and instead of kicking rotting lemons and crawfish shells out of my way behind the old frat house I used to walk behind, I'm now able to tip my hat to a statue of Bear Bryant. Everything's the same, and yet, it's not.
I was joyous at the prospect of returning to Japanese class. I've missed studying Japanese for a long time, and I couldn't wait to get back. But when I got to the same classroom in B.B. Comer, it was a little disappointing. All my old friends weren't there--they were replaced by younger people, including a GUY NAMED 'RY'! He was the first person who spoke to me and he asked for my name. I told him, and he just gave me a puzzled look. I thought he just didn't understand my name, like everyone else doesn't, so I went into my routine of spelling it out--R-Y--, but he still didn't seem to get it. Then, he told me his name was Ry, too, and it was like the universe had just exploded.
My classmates all seem very nice, but they started what has become a major theme for me this week: I feel old. Very old. I don't know what I was expecting before I came down here, but I think I secretly wished that all my friends would be back as though they were cryogenically (sp?) frozen the moment I graduated. Of course, that's not the case. But there is one person who might as well have been frozen in time...
Arizumi sensei. He walked in, and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. It was like no time had passed at all. Everything just fell into place. Now, Japanese class is my comfort time away from the insecurities I have in my English courses. I'm kinda behind in kanji, but luckily, my speaking ability has remained in tact while living with Itsumi.
My English classes are okay, but I can't help but feeling insecure and self-conscious in them. Maybe that's good, because it will push me to work harder, but it's also a little scary. I try to tell myself that everyone else feels the same way as I do, but it's still tough. I also have an enormous work load, especially when my job at the registrar starts on Monday. I'll be reading 2-3 books each week, on top of studying for Japanese every night, which is very time-consuming, and papers, reports, assignments and whatnot. But I guess that's par for the course.
I was joyous at the prospect of returning to Japanese class. I've missed studying Japanese for a long time, and I couldn't wait to get back. But when I got to the same classroom in B.B. Comer, it was a little disappointing. All my old friends weren't there--they were replaced by younger people, including a GUY NAMED 'RY'! He was the first person who spoke to me and he asked for my name. I told him, and he just gave me a puzzled look. I thought he just didn't understand my name, like everyone else doesn't, so I went into my routine of spelling it out--R-Y--, but he still didn't seem to get it. Then, he told me his name was Ry, too, and it was like the universe had just exploded.
My classmates all seem very nice, but they started what has become a major theme for me this week: I feel old. Very old. I don't know what I was expecting before I came down here, but I think I secretly wished that all my friends would be back as though they were cryogenically (sp?) frozen the moment I graduated. Of course, that's not the case. But there is one person who might as well have been frozen in time...
Arizumi sensei. He walked in, and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. It was like no time had passed at all. Everything just fell into place. Now, Japanese class is my comfort time away from the insecurities I have in my English courses. I'm kinda behind in kanji, but luckily, my speaking ability has remained in tact while living with Itsumi.
My English classes are okay, but I can't help but feeling insecure and self-conscious in them. Maybe that's good, because it will push me to work harder, but it's also a little scary. I try to tell myself that everyone else feels the same way as I do, but it's still tough. I also have an enormous work load, especially when my job at the registrar starts on Monday. I'll be reading 2-3 books each week, on top of studying for Japanese every night, which is very time-consuming, and papers, reports, assignments and whatnot. But I guess that's par for the course.