Mokuyou, desu ne

Today, it was sunny in the morning as if no typhoon had passed at all. Of course, once it was time for me to go to class around 2:30, it starts to rain.

At 4:30 I went in to the Intermediate Composition II class to see how it was. I actually thought it wasn't that bad. Like all the other classes, except my level 7 Japanese course, it only meets once a week, so there's a composition of about 400 characters each week. The theme is given in the beginning of class, there's a few minutes to talk about it and write a few bullets, and then we're given about 40 minutes to write the essay in class. Then, the teacher checks over the essays, hands them back the next class, and then we have to fix it up so that it's a clean final draft at home. So...all essays are done in class. I think actually that it's better that way. I'll learn to write faster probably. Also, while you're writing the essay, you're allowed to ask the teacher any questions like "How do you write this word?" or "How can you phrase this sentence better?" Today we had a short surprise essay already. The theme was: "My favorite store". I felt like I was in elementary school writing about that haha but it was fun. I wrote about Le Pain Quotidien--a french restaurant in Bethesda♪ I even used some new grammar that I learned from my level 7 class homework, so I felt pretty accomplished~ I think Composition II will be just fine, and maybe I don't need to be in Composition I. Plus, Stephanie was there! I hope she chooses to take that class too! It would be nice to take a class together.

After, I had my art class. There seem to be lots of exciting field trips! The teacher is a bit awkward and the class is pretty late (6:10-7:45) but the trips and the projects seem to be pretty fun! I'm looking forward to more classes. It's a class open to both Japanese and International students, but there are only 2 Japanese girls. Luckily, I was able to talk to one. Her name was Eriko and we walked to the station together after class. She seemed pretty nice.

Tomorrow, is a holiday because it's the autumnal equinox. According to my level 7 teacher, Ikeda sensei, people often go visit graves ("hakamairi") on this day. Since I don't have school, I am meeting Hiroko-san in Nakameguro at 12pm for lunch! She called me yesterday all worried about me because of the typhoon. It was nice to have someone worry about me here. I'm looking forward to it!