Hello everyone! I had a really good first week of settling into the program and adjusting to life in Kyoto. It was really great getting to walk around the city and use the train for the first time amongst other things, I really enjoyed adapting to city life. I’ve tried to do a lot in the last few days, such as visiting the Imperial Palace, shopping at a mall, going to eat out a lot, and moving into the new house where I’m living now. As for coursework, we move quite quickly but I am grateful that Williams Japanese has prepared us so well for the program. It feels like in terms of conversational ability, I am doing quite well relative to my peers, which is always a nice feeling. I am particularly excited to see how much my Japanese will grow by the end of the summer–it has been exciting to talk with Japanese students at Doshisha University, and I think it will be quite wonderful indeed to see just how much more I will be able to talk about by the end of the summer. As for now, since orientation is over, the first real week of classes has almost begun, and I’ll report back after a week of studying.