First Day of Class

I have been to Japan twice before.  Once for a homestay in a small town city called Anjo, and another time for a tour/volunteer program all over Japan.  During these two trips I was a visitor to Japan, my primary concern during these visits to Japan was to experience the most exciting and interesting things about Japan in the limited amount of time that I had.

Recently, the past week and a half have felt just like those visits to Japan years ago.  It was like I was on vacation, I had tried to make the most out of my time before classes started and had an amazing week experiencing Tokyo without anything obligations of homework or long classes.  However, after sitting through 7 hours of classes today, the fact that I am no longer a visitor to Japan has become quite clear. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the way I am experiencing Japan now differs greatly from the feelings I had in Japan during my visits years prior.  My life as a study abroad student has now formally begun!

Today I went for a ride in Mitaka with my camera and took this shot.  Mitaka is a relatively small ward in Tokyo, but it's slower pace of life is something that I am taking a liking to.