Well here it is! The big scary final year. I can't believe that I've only got one year left. But more than that, I can't believe how busy I am!
My brother asked me over summer what was more work, A-level or University, and I said that up to third year, I still hadn't worked as hard as I worked for my A-levels. They have now been far surpassed! Final year (fourth year for me because of my year abroad) is so full of work I'm looking back to last year and wishing I had as much free time, even though it didn't feel like it at the time.
The things that are making me so busy are not only the work, which is comprised of a lot of Japanese readings to do for homework, including some really heavy stuff on theories of environmental governance (which is very interesting, but difficult), dissertation research, Japanese speeches, Japanese homework etc., but also the things I have to do outside of studying.
I'm doing a lot of extra-curricular activities this year, not just for my CV, but also because I really want to do them while I still have the chance. I'm School Rep for Non-European Languages, which means I attend meetings at all levels of the Uni (including the University Senate, which is incredible to be a part of) and fight for changes that students want to see. I'm also an Intercultural Ambassador, which involves event planning and management, and PR, for international events.
Then there's that horribly scary word - jobhunting. The advice I want to give to any penultimate year students - start thinking about what you want to do NOW! You won't have time in final year to think through it all properly, so do research as early as possible (going to career talks and your careers centre is really helpful), and try to get summer internships or something similar, and also try to do extra-curricular activities before final year, because the time constraints are tight!
Anyway, that's my busy life at the moment. Thankfully there haven't been any essays yet, but the first one will be set this week, so looking forward to that! But it's reading week next week, so I'll be able to work without interruption, or at least that's the plan!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Third Year Easter Holiday
This next post is on a much lighter note than the previous one about the March 2011 tsunami. This one is about my life! So probably a much less interesting post...
But basically my life over the last four months since the Christmas break has comprised of essays and deadlines! Third year is definitely a lot more work, and the level of dedication and intelligence required of us is higher. But I'm still enjoying it so that's got to be a good thing!
I had a Modern Japanese History essay about the role of the West in Japan's modernisation process in for last week, and that went okay, I think! This Easter I have a Creative Writing (my elective subject) portfolio to submit for my final piece, and a Critical Approaches to East Asian Studies essay about missionaries. So the topics I'm studying cover a wide range of information, which is good. Variety definitely helps when you're studying a subject in depth.
The problem is that I'm working at Cadbury World again this Easter, so I have very little free time! And two weeks after the essay deadlines I have three final exams, which will be tough.
But after that I'm free for the summer from the end of May! I'm hoping to do a bit of travel before working over the summer holiday. I want to see some places closer to home while I have the free time without commitments, otherwise I might never see them! I still haven't been to Ireland, and it's right next to me! Places I'm hoping to visit include Amsterdam and Greece, but we'll see if those plans come to fruition. It all depends on money I suppose.
Anyway, I suppose I should get back to my Creative Writing piece! Wish me luck...
But basically my life over the last four months since the Christmas break has comprised of essays and deadlines! Third year is definitely a lot more work, and the level of dedication and intelligence required of us is higher. But I'm still enjoying it so that's got to be a good thing!
I had a Modern Japanese History essay about the role of the West in Japan's modernisation process in for last week, and that went okay, I think! This Easter I have a Creative Writing (my elective subject) portfolio to submit for my final piece, and a Critical Approaches to East Asian Studies essay about missionaries. So the topics I'm studying cover a wide range of information, which is good. Variety definitely helps when you're studying a subject in depth.
The problem is that I'm working at Cadbury World again this Easter, so I have very little free time! And two weeks after the essay deadlines I have three final exams, which will be tough.
But after that I'm free for the summer from the end of May! I'm hoping to do a bit of travel before working over the summer holiday. I want to see some places closer to home while I have the free time without commitments, otherwise I might never see them! I still haven't been to Ireland, and it's right next to me! Places I'm hoping to visit include Amsterdam and Greece, but we'll see if those plans come to fruition. It all depends on money I suppose.
Anyway, I suppose I should get back to my Creative Writing piece! Wish me luck...
The March 2011 Tōhoku Tsunami & Earthquake: An Outsider's Perspective
The 11th March 2011 earthquake disaster occurred at 14:46 off the coast of Sendai. It was the biggest earthquake to hit Japan in recorded history, with a magnitude of 8.9. The last big earthquake to hit Japan was the 1995 Kobe earthquake, which did nothing like the damage Japan has seen in the last month.
I found out about it just before I went into a Listening class and, just like everyone else, I had no idea just how enormous the effects of it would be. I followed the news coverage closely, seeing each new video as it was released, and watched the death toll climb.
In the end I couldn't keep it up. I was torn between my interest in the event and the geography behind it (as long-term readers of this blog will know that I'm really interested in) and how sad it made me feel. Usually when I see terrible things on the news I'm quite emotionally unattached, so I was surprised when I realised just how affected I'd been. One video left me literally speechless after watching it. I couldn't imagine how powerful water could be before seeing this. In Britain we're so far removed from natural disasters, except for floods, that it's difficult to think about it.
Everything seemed to be getting so much worse over the days following the disaster; with the initial earthquake, then the devastating tsunami, followed by aftershocks and then the harrowing nuclear meltdown fears. I never thought that the Fukushima plant would meltdown, but of course the news played the worries up as much as it could.
I was in touch with my friends in Japan as soon as possible after I heard about it, and I got replies from all of them fairly quickly. I had a couple of friends who couldn't contact their families in the stricken areas for several days. I could not imagine how awful those days must have been, just waiting for any news about them. They were all fine in the end; it was the lack of communication that led to the lack of contact.
The death toll is difficult to find online, because all of the past articles with old figures are still there, but the last figure I heard was 27,000 people. My mind can't fathom that many people dying in just a few weeks.
Even Tokyo, quite far from the epicentre, will be suffering from planned blackouts into the summer, which will tough. Not least because of the heat and humidity.
It's difficult to find English news articles on it now, which is actually pretty disgusting, that it's dropped out of the public eye so quickly. It certainly hasn't dropped out of the minds of the Japanese people.
Japanese students studying abroad at Leeds have been really great, organising a stall raising money and managing it all day every day (they earned over £3,000 for the Red Cross appeal), and arranging lantern nights with food and drink stalls. It was a fantastic effort on everyone's part.
It's definitely an event that will not be forgotten for decades, and I don't think it should be. People need to be reminded of just how powerful nature is, and the nuclear repercussions will hopefully lead to increased safety procedures worldwide.
I found out about it just before I went into a Listening class and, just like everyone else, I had no idea just how enormous the effects of it would be. I followed the news coverage closely, seeing each new video as it was released, and watched the death toll climb.
In the end I couldn't keep it up. I was torn between my interest in the event and the geography behind it (as long-term readers of this blog will know that I'm really interested in) and how sad it made me feel. Usually when I see terrible things on the news I'm quite emotionally unattached, so I was surprised when I realised just how affected I'd been. One video left me literally speechless after watching it. I couldn't imagine how powerful water could be before seeing this. In Britain we're so far removed from natural disasters, except for floods, that it's difficult to think about it.
Everything seemed to be getting so much worse over the days following the disaster; with the initial earthquake, then the devastating tsunami, followed by aftershocks and then the harrowing nuclear meltdown fears. I never thought that the Fukushima plant would meltdown, but of course the news played the worries up as much as it could.
I was in touch with my friends in Japan as soon as possible after I heard about it, and I got replies from all of them fairly quickly. I had a couple of friends who couldn't contact their families in the stricken areas for several days. I could not imagine how awful those days must have been, just waiting for any news about them. They were all fine in the end; it was the lack of communication that led to the lack of contact.
The death toll is difficult to find online, because all of the past articles with old figures are still there, but the last figure I heard was 27,000 people. My mind can't fathom that many people dying in just a few weeks.
Even Tokyo, quite far from the epicentre, will be suffering from planned blackouts into the summer, which will tough. Not least because of the heat and humidity.
It's difficult to find English news articles on it now, which is actually pretty disgusting, that it's dropped out of the public eye so quickly. It certainly hasn't dropped out of the minds of the Japanese people.
Japanese students studying abroad at Leeds have been really great, organising a stall raising money and managing it all day every day (they earned over £3,000 for the Red Cross appeal), and arranging lantern nights with food and drink stalls. It was a fantastic effort on everyone's part.
It's definitely an event that will not be forgotten for decades, and I don't think it should be. People need to be reminded of just how powerful nature is, and the nuclear repercussions will hopefully lead to increased safety procedures worldwide.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Third Year; Semester One
It's Christmas! Or, nearly Christmas... It's the Winter Solstice, so I'm sitting here at 4pm watching the sun disappear behind the snowy buildings. And snowy it is! The UK's winters seem to get more severe with each year.
But anyway, the point of this post is to say that I've finished Semester One of my third year back at Leeds. I still have exams and essay deadlines in January when I go back, so there's no rest for the wicked, but teaching has finished until late January when Semester Two officially starts.
The first Semester has gone well overall, with lots of work! It's definitely a step up from first year, which seems like a fluffy carefree dream right now.
It's not even the Japanese side of the course which is causing the stress, although it is hard work of course, it's that coupled with the pressure of exams and essays for other modules. I'm certainly finding it difficult to balance everything.
In terms of Japanese, we have been doing listening, discussion and reading exercises aimed at improving our general Japanese ability and confidence.
The biggest problem that students seem to be facing is the range of abilities that people have come back from Japan with. Some people are finding the grammar etc. too difficult, and others too easy. I myself think it's the right level for me. It's a blend of revision ('review', for American English speakers!) and new things, so I'm finding it useful.
It's great being back at Leeds in general, being able to see my friends around campus is a great feeling, and I love the atmosphere of studying at a British Uni, even if it is freezing!
Well, I better get back to my essay! I'm looking forward to Christmas - I need an excuse to stop for a bit!
Merry Christmas to everyone!! Have a wonderful festive season!
But anyway, the point of this post is to say that I've finished Semester One of my third year back at Leeds. I still have exams and essay deadlines in January when I go back, so there's no rest for the wicked, but teaching has finished until late January when Semester Two officially starts.
The first Semester has gone well overall, with lots of work! It's definitely a step up from first year, which seems like a fluffy carefree dream right now.
It's not even the Japanese side of the course which is causing the stress, although it is hard work of course, it's that coupled with the pressure of exams and essays for other modules. I'm certainly finding it difficult to balance everything.
In terms of Japanese, we have been doing listening, discussion and reading exercises aimed at improving our general Japanese ability and confidence.
The biggest problem that students seem to be facing is the range of abilities that people have come back from Japan with. Some people are finding the grammar etc. too difficult, and others too easy. I myself think it's the right level for me. It's a blend of revision ('review', for American English speakers!) and new things, so I'm finding it useful.
It's great being back at Leeds in general, being able to see my friends around campus is a great feeling, and I love the atmosphere of studying at a British Uni, even if it is freezing!
Well, I better get back to my essay! I'm looking forward to Christmas - I need an excuse to stop for a bit!
Merry Christmas to everyone!! Have a wonderful festive season!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Back to Third Year
Wow it's been a long time since I updated my blog! The whole summer has disappeared in a flash! I was very busy at Cadbury World while I was in Birmingham, and that was a really good time, as it always is! I earned around £2,000, so that will really help me out this year. But I'm still searching for a part-time job here in Leeds to keep me going.
I've just done my first week of lectures, which went by in a bit of blur. I finished work at Cadbury World last Friday and then came up to Leeds on Saturday morning, then my first lecture was 9am on Monday, so I haven't had a lot of time to adjust.
It has been really lovely to see everyone again. So many people I haven't seen for months, or a year in some cases! It's been quite a week of reunions.
But so far lectures have been good. They've been mostly introductory, telling us what we'll be doing over the next year. The grammar seems to be mainly stuff I studied at ICU last year, so there will be quite a lot of revision this year. Which is good and bad I suppose. I should know those points pretty well by next summer!
I have my first kanji test tomorrow, so I've been working through them over the last few days. There were only two new ones, so the rest were just making sure I could remember how to write and read them.
There's a lot of work on the way, so fingers crossed it all goes well over this semester!
I've just done my first week of lectures, which went by in a bit of blur. I finished work at Cadbury World last Friday and then came up to Leeds on Saturday morning, then my first lecture was 9am on Monday, so I haven't had a lot of time to adjust.
It has been really lovely to see everyone again. So many people I haven't seen for months, or a year in some cases! It's been quite a week of reunions.
But so far lectures have been good. They've been mostly introductory, telling us what we'll be doing over the next year. The grammar seems to be mainly stuff I studied at ICU last year, so there will be quite a lot of revision this year. Which is good and bad I suppose. I should know those points pretty well by next summer!
I have my first kanji test tomorrow, so I've been working through them over the last few days. There were only two new ones, so the rest were just making sure I could remember how to write and read them.
There's a lot of work on the way, so fingers crossed it all goes well over this semester!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Home In Britain
I'm back in Britain! It's so strange to be back! But of course it's lovely. I arrived at Heathrow yesterday and my family picked me up. It was such a nice reunion. We went to a restaurant and had a British roast dinner, which was amazing. It was exactly what I'd been craving - oven cooked food! And despite what the world may say, traditional British food is amazing.
Pretty much everything went smoothly for my last day, except for the beginning and the end. I got up at 5am to leave in time for my 6.30am bus from Kichijoji, which is 10 minutes by train. Wynne, Katy and Hime-chan came with me, and Rob got up to wave me off from the guesthouse. But when we got to the station, we found that there was a 55 minute delay on trains going into Tokyo! It said "Accident", but it's common knowledge that that usually means suicide.
So I had to get a taxi to Kichijoji station, and had a quick but sad goodbye to the girls. It really didn't hit me that I was leaving them. It took about 15 minutes to get to Kichijoji, but cost Y3,000 (£20) so I was very unimpressed!
I met Rei, the leader of Soul Run who had come to wave me off, at the station. He waited until my bus was out of sight to stop waving, which was really nice of him. It hit me then how much I'm going to miss everyone.
It took about an hour and 40 minutes to get to Narita Airport, and there I paid the rebooking charge for my flight. It was very easy to do, I just went to the JAL Ticketing Counter and showed them my e-ticket, and then paid the Y15,000 for it. After that I could check straight in at the check-in counter, and that went smoothly as well. Even though I had two pieces of hand baggage, and my suitcase was 3.5kg overweight, the woman who checked me in didn't say anything about it, and just chatted to me about my time in Japan and about ICU. I was really grateful, she must have known I'd have more luggage than the average passenger, having been in Japan for nearly a year. Even though I sent stuff home with my brother when he visited I still had a lot of things to bring back.
Then the flight went fine, until we were coming into land at Heathrow, and were about to touch down when the plane pulled up suddenly and started to circle the airport! They announced that there had been a plane on the runway that hadn't moved yet, so that could have been nasty! But we landed safely 10 minutes later.
Then immigration and baggage claim went very smoothly, and I was reunited with my family at arrivals. It was so nice!
We drove to a nearby pub and had our roast dinner, and then drove back to Birmingham. Everything was exactly as I remember it, and it was a very nice feeling when my house came into view.
It's weird being back, because everything is the same, and everything feels the same. Seeing my local area isn't special now, because I've come and gone so many times it just feels normal. Which is good - I suppose that means I'm growing up!
I haven't really reflected back on my time in Japan yet, I'm too tired! But it's already nostalgic, and I miss my friends and just being in Japan. I have lovely memories of that trip to Japan, and I know that it was one of the best times in my life so far. Let's hope that there are many more in the future!
Pretty much everything went smoothly for my last day, except for the beginning and the end. I got up at 5am to leave in time for my 6.30am bus from Kichijoji, which is 10 minutes by train. Wynne, Katy and Hime-chan came with me, and Rob got up to wave me off from the guesthouse. But when we got to the station, we found that there was a 55 minute delay on trains going into Tokyo! It said "Accident", but it's common knowledge that that usually means suicide.
So I had to get a taxi to Kichijoji station, and had a quick but sad goodbye to the girls. It really didn't hit me that I was leaving them. It took about 15 minutes to get to Kichijoji, but cost Y3,000 (£20) so I was very unimpressed!
I met Rei, the leader of Soul Run who had come to wave me off, at the station. He waited until my bus was out of sight to stop waving, which was really nice of him. It hit me then how much I'm going to miss everyone.
It took about an hour and 40 minutes to get to Narita Airport, and there I paid the rebooking charge for my flight. It was very easy to do, I just went to the JAL Ticketing Counter and showed them my e-ticket, and then paid the Y15,000 for it. After that I could check straight in at the check-in counter, and that went smoothly as well. Even though I had two pieces of hand baggage, and my suitcase was 3.5kg overweight, the woman who checked me in didn't say anything about it, and just chatted to me about my time in Japan and about ICU. I was really grateful, she must have known I'd have more luggage than the average passenger, having been in Japan for nearly a year. Even though I sent stuff home with my brother when he visited I still had a lot of things to bring back.
Then the flight went fine, until we were coming into land at Heathrow, and were about to touch down when the plane pulled up suddenly and started to circle the airport! They announced that there had been a plane on the runway that hadn't moved yet, so that could have been nasty! But we landed safely 10 minutes later.
Then immigration and baggage claim went very smoothly, and I was reunited with my family at arrivals. It was so nice!
We drove to a nearby pub and had our roast dinner, and then drove back to Birmingham. Everything was exactly as I remember it, and it was a very nice feeling when my house came into view.
It's weird being back, because everything is the same, and everything feels the same. Seeing my local area isn't special now, because I've come and gone so many times it just feels normal. Which is good - I suppose that means I'm growing up!
I haven't really reflected back on my time in Japan yet, I'm too tired! But it's already nostalgic, and I miss my friends and just being in Japan. I have lovely memories of that trip to Japan, and I know that it was one of the best times in my life so far. Let's hope that there are many more in the future!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Ready To Go!
I'm pretty much all packed and ready now. My suitcase and everything is on my bed, my room is spotless and sparkling (kind of...) and almost empty!
It really hasn't hit home yet that I'm leaving tomorrow, but it definitely will when my alarm goes off at 5am tomorrow morning and I have to get to Narita Airport. Some friends are going to come with me to my bus and wave me off, which I keep telling them there's no need to do, but they're adamant they want to come. I'll take a pack of tissues, just in case.
This is the end of an incredible year and I will never ever forget it. I definitely need some time to reflect on everything and let it all sink in. Maybe the 12 and a half hour plane journey will help!
My next post will be from Britain, so this is goodbye to Japan for the second time. Goodbye and see you again soon!!
It really hasn't hit home yet that I'm leaving tomorrow, but it definitely will when my alarm goes off at 5am tomorrow morning and I have to get to Narita Airport. Some friends are going to come with me to my bus and wave me off, which I keep telling them there's no need to do, but they're adamant they want to come. I'll take a pack of tissues, just in case.
This is the end of an incredible year and I will never ever forget it. I definitely need some time to reflect on everything and let it all sink in. Maybe the 12 and a half hour plane journey will help!
My next post will be from Britain, so this is goodbye to Japan for the second time. Goodbye and see you again soon!!
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