Up until this point, I would say the classes outside of the intensive language course at Nanzan are quite fundamental. They are not too demanding, most are in English and all are once a week. This is probably out of consideration for the language component of the program, but I still find myself with enough spare time to miss that colorful clash; the burning friction that courses back home make. 

Today in literature, however, my professor said something interesting. He’s been saying a lot of interesting things since the semester started, actually. What he said today, though, was this: “Don’t sit there so leisurely. Look at your essays, criticize my criticism of your paper. You students pay all this money and go to school and just stare at the teacher, waiting for them to give you something. Think!” 

It’s been so long since a teacher gave a class I was in a sort of “tough love” speech. I felt so inspired because he was right and his words are universally applicable. I knew at that moment that this man isn’t going to merely direct discussions and then assign a final paper before we say goodbye. He’s going to give me the class I’ve been looking for: a class where I can use Japanese to do something and learn something academic in Japanese as opposed to just drilling grammar. 

This is not to say I know at all what he’s on about, but that’s all part of the challenge. As much as his love of the question “but why?!” and attention to odd details leave me feeling like I’m chasing my tail, I can’t help but feel like if I really try, I’ll catch it.