08 Apr The First Week of the Spring Semester

Written By: Riko Saito

           During the first week of spring semester, I was so nervous and before I went to a classroom for the first time, I always had butterflies in my stomach. I take five classes and I guess this semester will be busier than the last semester. It is because I took four classes in the semester and two of them were for students who were not native speakers. This semester I do not take classes like these, so I am kind of nervous and worried about whether I can catch up with classes. 

           On Monday in the first week of the semester, I had two classes. One is about Asian American Studies, and the other is about communication studies. In these classes, professors explained the contents of the syllabus and there were also activities to get to know each other. I was really nervous in classrooms at first but through these activities, I talked to some classmates and gradually I got used to these classes. The best thing about today was that I could make new friends in these classes. I am super shy and usually it is so hard to talk to someone. However, I will go back to Japan in less than four months, so I want to make many friends and then talk and hang out with them. Therefore, I gathered the courage to start a conversation with classmates after classes ended. They were much nicer than I imagined, and I talked with them a lot. Then I realized that it was so fun to talk with people from different cultures and backgrounds.

            On Tuesday, I had two classes, the same as Monday. One of the classes is about the history of Asian American. At the class, my professor explained what we would learn through this semester. In addition, since he is a musician, he played the trumpet. I was surprised at that a little bit because I had never met professors playing instruments during classes, but it was amazing and I felt like going to his concerts. We had some activities to get to know each other and I talked to many students. I was so glad because, when I told them “I’m an exchange student from Japan.”, they seemed to be interested and asked me many questions about Japan. One of them who likes anime asked me about anime, but actually I am not into it, so we could not get immersed in conversation. At that time, I wished I had watched some anime before I came to the US. The other class is about plant-based food. I was surprised that the professor has experience as a chef and a trainer for many years. In addition, the place the class was held was a lab including a professional kitchen. For me it was the first time to enter there and be taught by an actual chef so I was excited. He mentioned that we would cook some plant-based dishes every week and it was better to bring our own container to take food home. I was looking forward to joining the rest of the classes because I had never taken classes like that and also, I really like to cook.

            On Wednesday, I had only one class which was about communication studies. After that, I went to a library with my friend and studied for two hours. When I study in my dorm, I often can not concentrate on my study somehow, so I often go to the library and study. For me, the library is really comfortable.

I have stayed there for 8 hours before.

            On Thursday, I have only one class which is about Asian Americans. In the class, there were many activities to get to know each other. Since I am shy and introverted it was hard to talk to new people just a little bit. However, I met and talked with many people and they were so nice and kind. I really enjoyed the interaction. Compared with the last semester, I came to be able to talk to new people and have a lively conversation.

            On Friday, there was a movie night on campus so I joined it with my friend. We watched a movie called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Before watching it, I thought it was for kids but actually it was much more hilarious and exciting than I had expected. I really enjoyed watching it.

            On Saturday, my friends and I went to a Korean restaurant near SFSU. I thought I loved spicy food so I ordered a spicy dish. However, when I ate it, it was much spicier than I had expected and I almost cried. It was embarrassing. Maybe my taste buds changed because I have not eaten spicy food since I came here. When I go to Korean restaurants next time, I will definitely not order too spicy dishes. It has been a while since I met them so I was excited and I enjoyed spending time with them. After I went back to my dorm, I joined a potluck party in my dorm. There were around 20 people and I met many new people, especially exchange students from South Korea. I was so glad because I made some friends. At the party, we all brought Korean food such as Kimchi fried rice, Korean cheese balls and so on. I love Korean food so I really enjoyed the party.

            As I wrote above, during the week I met many new people and talked with them a lot. It was fun and I really enjoyed it but I felt tired as well. Since it was the first week of the semester, fortunately I did not have that many assignments. Therefore, after I went back to my room, I watched YouTube to refresh and went to bed much earlier than usual. For me, this semester is the last semester in SFSU so I want to interact with new friends, hang out with my friends, explore San Francisco, travel to other states and learn many things from both classes and usual life and then I want to make my study abroad memorable.