This week has been crazy for me. I've spent the last couple of days frantically registering for my classes and getting some of my needed documents together. So unfortunately I don't have a lot of pictures and my update will probably be quite short this week.
Sophia Orientation & Getting my Document's Together
Sophia Orientation
For Sophia University, our orientation day was on Monday April 3rd. It started at 9:00 am and went until about 12:00 pm. It was very helpful and informative but to be honest I felt a bit overwhelmed as well. It was just a lot of information at one time, and on top of that the Japanese Language test was right after, starting at 1:30pm and went until about 3:30pm. As soon as I got home that day, I promptly fell asleep. The Japanese test was very difficult and I felt defeated after completing it because I think I only understood about 1/3 of the material.
The next day I quickly went to the nearest government office in the morning because for Sophia University we had to get a certificate of residence and sign up for the Japanese National Health Insurance. It was a very long and difficult process for me because I couldn't understand everything and the documents I had to fill out where all in Japanese. Thankfully I had my grandma with me and she was able to explain what I couldn't understand.
The next few days I spent registering for classes and commuting to Sophia most days to get answers to some questions I had about classes and the registration procedures. One fun thing I did though this week was on Thursday night, Sophia had a Welcome Reception for the exchange students. It was a lot of fun and they even had a quiz activity for all of us and some performances by clubs like the Hula club. I even made a friend at the Welcome Reception who I plan to hang out with soon.
Second Guessing Myself
On Friday, everyone that took the Japanese Language test got their results back. I got into Intensive Japanese 3. Which I wasn't expecting and am very nervous about. You see at Sophia, they have regular Japanese classes and Intensive Japanese classes. The intensive classes are very difficult and I'm worried how this class will transfer back to UH Manoa. I have already taken a lot of Japanese language courses at UH Manoa so I worry that this intensive class's equivalent at UH Manoa is a class I already took and have credit for. This is a big problem for me because I have to transfer back 12 credits to UH Manoa from my time abroad and since this class is so time-consuming and worth 8 credits I can only take two business classes (both worth 4 credits each) at the same time as this Japanese course.
This means that if this Japanese course isn't worth anything, I have only 8 credits to transfer back. I've contacted the University of Hawaii at Manoa EALL department to see what Intensive Japanese 3's UH equivalent is and am waiting on a reply.
Another reason I'm second guessing myself is I'm worried about the class level. I worry I'm not prepared for this class's intensity or knowledgeable about Japanese enough to be at this level. I'm second guessing myself but I don't want any regrets and I'd rather give it a try than never try at all (Kind cliche sorry).
Which is why next week I'm going to give this Intensive Japanese 3 class a try. If I think I can handle it and it transfers back to UH Manoa to a class I don't already have credit for, then I'll give this class my all. But if I get overwhelmed or this class isn't worth any credit at UH Manoa, I'll switch to a regular Japanese class and add another business class to my schedule. Thankfully I can do this because even though course registration ends on Sunday April 9th, we will still have one week from April 11 to April 17 to adjust our course schedules.
McDonald's & Strawberries
Since I don't want to end this post on a negative note, I did do two fun things for myself this week that I'd like to share. First, I went to try McDonald's after the Japanese test was over on Monday and it was delicious. I got the チーズてりたま (cheese teritama) set and いちご大福パイ(strawberry daifuku pie). The cheese teritama was a teriyaki burger with an egg and the strawberry daifuku pie is like an apple pie except the outside pastry has a strawberry flavor and on the inside is azuki (sweetened red bean paste) and mochi.
 |  My cheese teritama burger with fries, a drink, and the strawberry daifuku pie. |
On Friday, while I was awaiting my Japanese test results I went to a store nearby where I'm staying that sells freshly picked strawberries from a nearby strawberry farm. It was so much fun and as soon as you enter the store you immediately smell strawberries and it made me very hungry. At the store I was also able to try two different types of strawberries they sell. The employee I talked to also told me that the strawberries for sale were picked at the last possible moment to make sure they are the ripest and sweetest possible but also makes them spoil very fast so to eat them quickly. This is different from the strawberries sold at regular supermarkets because those strawberries are actually picked early so that they don't spoil which results in them being less sweet.
I ended up buying their newest type of strawberries for sale called the ほしうらら (hoshi urara) which they only started selling this year. The strawberries were the sweetest I've very eaten and only 600円 for a small box which according to today's exchange rate is about $4.54. I think it is well worth the price and I plan to buy from this strawberry store until the season of strawberries is over.
 |  |  Both types of strawberries were very sweet but I felt the ほしうらら(hoshi urara) which are on the right side had a softer bite to them. |
 I forgot to take a picture until I was about halfway finished eating the strawberries |  | |
This week's post isn't as carefree as last week's post but I thought I'd show you some of the nervousness and unknown I'm currently facing while studying abroad.
Hopefully next week I have some more fun stuff to share and I'll let you all know what happens with my classes.
Until Next Week...😊
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