A copy of an email I sent Mom

This is basically what I would have otherwise written about today:

Dear Mom,

I am quite good. The first couple days of classes (friday and monday) were more than a little overwhelming, as I have the least Nihongo (Japanese) experience of all of the students in my class, so I have been working overtime to catch up. I have my head around hiragana now, next weekend (thanks be to the gods of Nihon it is a long weekend) I will teach myself katakana, the other set of basic Nihongo characters.

Today, classes were a big improvement. We have had 3 teachers so far, and then one we had this morning, Kawashima sensee, is my favorite. She also taught our very first class. I feel she makes it easiest to absorb the material. I also become more adept at hearing the language each day, making it easier to learn, absorb, and retain, so that even Yamada sensee's (who is the hardest teacher so far in my opinion, and who taught this afternoon) class became easier to survive. I finished today feeling much more confident and positive than yesterday. I am hoping the learning curve continues in this fashion.

Okay, now I must study tomorrow's vocabulary and go to bed. Tomorrow I think I will teach the readers of my blog how to count to 999999 in Nihongo (or higher, if we learn so tomorrow). Oyasuminasai (good night) and I love you,

James.