Incommunicado
.
Lectures have started again as of yesterday and together with Alex, Kim, Mads and Pim (who only received 4 credits out of the 7 needed in the 1st semester) we have to try and get another 10 this semester. Seems like an impossible task but we choose the subjects without tests ( where ever possible) and one hour where you get 2 credits instead of one. The latter should also be the most interesting one since it's about Rangaku 蘭学 , Dutch studies. The study of the dutch physicians, astronomers and the like that came here in the 17th century and introduced new revolutionary techniques to operate on people, draw new celestial charts etc. Up till then everything was based on Chinese "science". A new generation of Japanese scientists came to be and a lot of dutch publications were translated into Japanese. We will follow lectures on the campus but also in museums and other interesting places around Nagasaki.
Today is the first day (after 4 days) that I am actually able to update my weblog since the traffic is so immense at the moment. Gijs has a new computer and together with everybody else downloading anime and god knows what else 24 hours a day, at least for me in the corner creates a breakdown in the system and therefore I am not able to Skype, open my mail or get on the internet. I hope it will improve soon as this is highly annoying.
On top of that it has been pouring down for the last couple of days and I mean continously. Got totally soaked yesterday coming home from the University.
O yeah... the good thing is I have wednesdays off. So a nice interlude to do something else than hang around the campus.
My friend Saul has started conversation class, Kaiwa, in our centre and he was very pleased to get in on a intermediate level but after yesterday's first hour he seemed rather dissapointed:
quote
"It wasn't quite kaiwa. I think I'm going to be subjected to gaijin japanese for 3 months. This is much worse than bad english. One participant spent five minutes introducing herself, and was totally unintelligible. And we applauded!"
unquote
Well that's what Japanese people do......... applaud the effort. Wake up and smell the coffee!!
Lectures have started again as of yesterday and together with Alex, Kim, Mads and Pim (who only received 4 credits out of the 7 needed in the 1st semester) we have to try and get another 10 this semester. Seems like an impossible task but we choose the subjects without tests ( where ever possible) and one hour where you get 2 credits instead of one. The latter should also be the most interesting one since it's about Rangaku 蘭学 , Dutch studies. The study of the dutch physicians, astronomers and the like that came here in the 17th century and introduced new revolutionary techniques to operate on people, draw new celestial charts etc. Up till then everything was based on Chinese "science". A new generation of Japanese scientists came to be and a lot of dutch publications were translated into Japanese. We will follow lectures on the campus but also in museums and other interesting places around Nagasaki.
Today is the first day (after 4 days) that I am actually able to update my weblog since the traffic is so immense at the moment. Gijs has a new computer and together with everybody else downloading anime and god knows what else 24 hours a day, at least for me in the corner creates a breakdown in the system and therefore I am not able to Skype, open my mail or get on the internet. I hope it will improve soon as this is highly annoying.
On top of that it has been pouring down for the last couple of days and I mean continously. Got totally soaked yesterday coming home from the University.
O yeah... the good thing is I have wednesdays off. So a nice interlude to do something else than hang around the campus.
My friend Saul has started conversation class, Kaiwa, in our centre and he was very pleased to get in on a intermediate level but after yesterday's first hour he seemed rather dissapointed:
quote"It wasn't quite kaiwa. I think I'm going to be subjected to gaijin japanese for 3 months. This is much worse than bad english. One participant spent five minutes introducing herself, and was totally unintelligible. And we applauded!"
unquote
Well that's what Japanese people do......... applaud the effort. Wake up and smell the coffee!!
posted by 狩人 (Hunter in Japanese) @ 4/11/2006 09:07:00 am
1 Comments:
At 6:08 pm,
Anonymous said…
Paul without on-line access is like bread without butter. Hopefully the situation has improved dramatically and you are now in touch with the world again.
I like the tactics for gaining credits. Worthy of Machiavelli. Hope it works well for you all.
Working hard on Dean's tribunal case which is being heard on Tuesday and Wednesday just after the Easter break. Getting very nervous now. Our adviser met us yesterday and prepared the questions to ask their witnesses. The case looks good but you can never tell how these things will go. Am off to XXL on Saturday night with Dean and Simon. It's a "bear" party but is a mix of everything and it should be a hoot. Just the relaxation we need before the case. If you want to see what Simon looks like go to www.bearpride.co.uk and go to the gallery. Second row - middle picture - he's the slim shaved head one at the front. He's also in the pic to the left. He's absolutley horrified that his pic has been published on the site. I love it.
Right I'm off.
Take care
Happy Easter. Hope you get loads of chocolate eggs.
Chris
xxx
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