Post the Ninth: Changing my Mind

Heeey~! In keeping with my trend I'm posting in the early hours of the following day. -_-; I need to stop doing that.

So today I had a bit of a change of mind with my schedule. I was looking at Japanese with some despair. First off, I'm not sure if I can even enroll in this class. It's a 200-level class, and although I've taken 4 years of Japanese in high school, I don't think they care. You're supposed to take a placement exam before enrolling in anything but the intro course, and... well, course registration is in 5 (4 now) days. There's no time goddamnit! Plus, I hear the teacher is a biiiitch. Plus, it's at a very awkward time in my schedule. There's a class right after it, and in order to get to it on time I'd have to pretty much run across campus. I'm not a big fan of running. So I went, "Well, what could I take instead of Japanese?" I started to look through the SFU course schedule... Anthropology? Hmm, yeah, but that doesn't fit well with my schedule. Linguistics? No, that's at an awkward spot too. German? ...German!

So, yeah, I'm seriously considering taking Introductory German I in the fall now.

Why?

-It's at a better spot in my timetable. It's still in the faraway building that Japanese was in, but now I have an hour-long break to mosey on over to my class.

-It has a better teacher. The German teacher has gotten nothing but rave reviews at RateMyProf, while the Japanese teacher has... not.

-I don't have to take a placement exam. This is highly appealing.

-I'm exposed to a new language. I don't mean to boast (yes I do) but I'm pretty good at Japanese. I mean, I'm far from fluent, but I can watch dramas, anime, etc with understanding most of it (unless it's a sci-fi, then it's more like 50% understanding). I got 96% in Japanese 12 without trying very hard. One of my ultimate life goals is to be near-fluent or at least familiar with several languages, not just be a crazy master of 1. German is a language that has always interested me, and... Well, you're supposed to expand your horizons in university.

So, yeah, I'm seriously considering it. I'm not ruling out Japanese as an option at this point. I emailed the head of the languages department today and asked if I could be placed without an exam based upon my grade received in Japanese 12. If I can enroll in JAPN200, I probably will. I'd be MUCH more comfortable in a Japanese class -- familiar environment, I know basic grammar, it's not totally new to me. It'll be a less jarring experience probably. I can always take German 2nd year -- there's only 2 courses of Japanese I can take anyways at SFU. If I can't, I'll probably go ahead and enroll in German.

And, as far as having to run to class... Well, I've got a friend who is taking the class afterwards with me and on Thursdays she's going to be in a similar situation to me (her classroom is in West Mall Centre like mine) so we'll freak out and sprint together on Thursdays.

For some reason I don't want to give specific details about my schedule yet here. Maybe I feel like I'll be jinxing it?? I don't know. You'll find out the specifics soon enough.

So, yeah, today I went back up to SFU and explored the West Mall Centre, where the language classrooms are. They're teeeny. The language classes only have room for 25 students, so the rooms are pretty small.

As I was walking around SFU, I got the familiar feeling of not belonging. I still feel like a kid, and everyone there's an adult. I mean, I caught sight of my reflection in a window and I physically look like I belong, but I still don't feel it. It'll fade with time, I know.

I'm at least becoming more familiar with the layout of SFU. It's a pretty simple school to get around in -- all roads lead back to the AQ. When in doubt, go to the AQ and wander around until you see a sign.

So, today (yesterday) being Day 7, I'm supposed to post a photograph that makes me happy.



It's a picture at my graduation with my mom and sister. I think this encapsulates my family pretty well. It makes me smile whenever I see it. :)

Anyways, with that, I bid thee good night.

お休みなさいみんな！
ほらぁ、私は日本語の授業を要らないよ！もう上手だ！