Starting today, I write a weekly college journal. I wrote a daily journal while I was at San Jose State University (SJSU) from 1992-1997. I'm taking three classes and I feel it's not worth my time writing a journal daily. Here we go:
Spring Quarter '09. I'm back in school. The last college class I took was Business Plan at De Anza Winter Quarter '06. My friend suggested I take Cantonese. Beginning Cantonese is not offered for Spring '09 and I choose Japanese. I'm taking beginning Japanese , Social Dance Part II, and Strength Development. My goal is to find a second major before Fall '09. My top choices are nursing, accounting, and finance.
I attend classes four days a week. I have Strength Development Mon and Wed, Japanese Tues and Thurs, and Social Dance Part II on Wed. All classes are afternoon and evening. Japanese is held off site.
Mon Apr 6
I arrived at De Anza at 2pm on Mon to get a parking space. There were plenty. Next, I walked around campus to re-familiarize myself the campus. Next I got my student body card. I went to the Campus Center to drink water and watch anime on my laptop. The day was warm. I attended the Strength Development class. The instructor explained the class including a glitch in the system. The system allowed regular students like me and student athletes to register. The problem was the system forgot to cap the number of students. Regardless, the instructor accepted everyone.
I went back to the Campus Center after Strength Development. I ate Chinese for a snack. The food was bland. I eat a hamburger next time. Then I went to the library and read Full Metal Alchemist chapters 83 and 84. The reason I stayed on campus was to add Social Dance Part I.
Social Dance Part I took place in the visual arts center. Everyone danced on the stage. The instructor said Part I and Part II are beginners. Part I had too many students. I said to myself, "I take my chances on Part II." I exited the visual arts center and went to the bookstore to purchase the Japanese textbook.
Times have changed on my first day. My undergraduate years at SJSU only a few had cell phones the size of today's cordless phones or bigger. Only a few had laptops. There were no wireless. If anyone wanted internet, they must go to a computer lab. Everyone with cell phones either talked or texted. Everyone with laptops browsed the internet, did homework, or chatted.
Tue Apr 7
Tue night was Japanese. It was a full class. We learned the greetings in Japanese. Lots of drills and the instructor made everyone participated. The class was diverse including high school students, full time students, students just taking Japanese for personal reasons, and the unemployed. After Japanese, I went to Borders to purchase a Japanese dictionary with a 30% off coupon. Then I went back to the bookstore to purchase a Japanese workbook and a physical ed book for Social Dance and Strength Development.
Wed Apr 8
On Wed, I signed up for a locker in the men's locker room. Before class, I jogged two laps in the track. Next class, I jog three laps. The instructor introduced most of the machines and some free weights. Then he let us try the machines. Fortunately, I workout and I know most of the machines. I workout on my legs. After class, I took a shower and changed to appropriate clothing for Social Dance Part II. I wear my workout shirt and workout shorts before I leave the house Mon and Wed. I bring my change of clothes and soap on Wed only.
After showering, I went to the Campus Center to eat a hamburger and curly fries. The curly fries were spicy. Next time, I order the hamburger only. I watched anime while eating. Then Social Dance Part II. The Wed class had much less people. The instructor went through the course requirements. After questions were answered, everyone got on the stage. The instructor taught the cha cha cha. I had problems learning because the instructor went fast and I could not see her feet. During the dancing with partners, I watched one of her assistants.
I went home and told my sister we learned the cha cha cha first. She disapproved because it's a harder dance to learn. My sister dances competitively. She teaches me the cha cha cha before the next class meeting.
Thur Apr 9
Thur night in Japanese, we reviewed the basic greetings in Japanese and we started working in the textbook. We started learning katakana and hiragana. The first homework assignment is due Tue.
Next week I'm going to be more stable and do what I need to do. The first journal was a detailed walk through adjusting myself to my classes. My next journal I'm not going to detailed what I did such as going to the bookstore; rather the highlights, observations, and lessons I learned.
I'm growing up Finding Raymond Mar
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