Final Study Abroad Meeting

The Study Abroad meeting in Leeds last Thursday went really well - we were given lots of new information about the stay in Japan, and it helped settle a lot of things in my mind. I was voted 'group leader' for the people going to ICU, which means that I have to send monthly emails to the University of Leeds letting them know how everything is going, and updating them on the progress of our personal study.

A big thing happened there too. I found out that I passed Japanese! I was really happy, but I still have to wait until early July to find out if I've passed English, so I don't know if I can go to Japan or not!

One thing that worried me slightly is that we are meant to work through a textbook called 'Kanji in Context' for the Leeds exam while we are there, and should know around 1,200 kanji by the third year. That's a lot of kanji! But it'll be good to work through the textbook properly and get them settled in my head, and then start expanding my vocabulary through kanji compounds, which is apparently the best way to do it.

I'm off to Ibiza in six days, and then when I get back I should have my results! Fingers crossed!

End of Year One

I'm at home in Birmingham now, after finishing my three weeks of exams in Leeds last week. I started at Cadbury World on Saturday, and intend to work there for the summer.

I'm going back to Leeds on Wednesday evening for a compulsory Study Abroad meeting at Uni on Thursday, where I might find out if I've passed Level One and can go to Japan. It is still "might" because I'm a Joint Honours student and while the Japanese half knows it has to mark the papers before the 18th, English is not under the same constraint. If I don't find out this week, I should do by early July.

I'm on holiday with my flatmates from Uni in Ibiza for 11 days starting next Saturday, so it'll be lovely to have a nice break from everything. And above all, I need some sun!