does he get married??

I know, seriously ... that was abrupt!

LMAO, MEPK ... this made my day (sadly!)

maybe there'll be reruns

that's exactly what our japanese friend takako told us. so i just have to find out when those will be.

Hello, as a Connecticut College alumnus, I was wondering if you wouls be willing to answer some questions for me. I'm looking at applying there as a major in Japanese language/culture. I would be very appreciative.

sure, ask away! i was an east asian studies major, but i took all the same courses as a lang/culture major.

Oh wonderful! Here is the part of my long list of questions that I can remember at the moment:

What are the Asian studies classes like? Are they very full? How are they taught? Are they difficult, do they involve a lot of outside research? How are the professors? Are there other activities to do outside of the classroom?

Regarding CC in general: What is the student body like? Is there a sense of community? What do people do in their free time? Are students very academic? What's New London like? Did you enjoy your time there?

Sorry if that's a lot, but I'm very curious! Thank you so very much. To show my appreciation:

http://www.engrish.com/recent_detail.php?imagename=hard-times.jpg&category=Engrish%20from%20Other%20Countries&date=2006-09-07

That was me by the way. Just makin' sure.

okay. here goes to the best of my ability.

the EAS classes really vary. language classes are hard, no matter if it's chinese or japanese, that's just a given. the size of the class will slowly dwindle, but more and more people have started to take them at Conn, which is good. Kobayashi-sensei is the main teacher of japanese, and does the first two years of language. she is hard-core. a very strict and serious professor, she's still willing to to the extra mile and give 100% to any of her students. she's not easy, but her respect is definately worth obtaining. as terrified as i was of her some days, she will demand the best from you, and you will thank her for it in the end. prof. silver teaches japanese language and literature. while his own japanese is very good, he is not the greatest teacher. his intentions are good, but he can be lazy about really doing what he needs to get done, and can be a little..unhelpful. when he's in his own element of japanese literature is when he's at his best, and his class on japanese crime and punishment was his best class. out of his element though, teaching about chinese lit. for example, his ability drops off significantly. he's very demanding on your written work, but if you understand the formula he always wants you to uses, super easy to get straight A's. unless things have changed, these two will be your primary teachers for the language element, and a fair part of the literature element, of a Japanese major in the first few years.

most classes for strictly EAS or Japanese or Chinese majors are not very full, though classes that cater to both groups (like EAS 101) will have the most people. history classes on asia will also be more full than those on literature or language. the history classes are some of the harder non-language courses, and if you're lucky, you'll have a lot of them with Prof. Dudden, who is hands down one of the best teachers at Conn. these do require more work and research sometimes than the other classes, but they are also some of the most interesting. history classes will also be larger that other asian classes.

outside of class, there are 2 organizations that are asian studies related. that's the east asian stundent advisory board and ccasa. the latter is the more popular one. they kind of compete with each other. you also are going to want to eat lunch with the language professors in the international dorm dining hall. not sure if the asian film club is still up and running, but that was a fun club full of dorks, hehe.

overall, the Conn College EAS program is small, but attentive, and working on growing. while some classes are better than others, i enjoyed my education.

the CC community was not really to MY personal liking. it's a lot of drinking, a lot of partying, and a lot of dorm damage to pay for. and most of the people there party thrus-sunday. some of the clubs and sports are good, and it has some really nice organizations for volunteer work and things, but the surrounding area is pretty dead for going outside of conn to do anything on the weekends. i lived in waterford, so i was used to not much to do, but a lot of people find it very very dull. i didn't think the student body was PARTICULARLY academic, but that's not to say there weren't alot of academic people, it's just that wasn't to me the pervasive feel of the place. i had some very good friends i hung out with most of the time in my dorm (which you are almost guaranteed to have a single after youf freshman year), but i rarely went to the parties or activities. i'm sure others would tell you differently based on their preferences though, so don't just listen to me on that one.

so yeah, i'd say i liked conn, but it would not have been my only choice given a second go. pluses and minuses for sure.

i should also add that Conn has great study-abroad programs. nearly everyone goes away for a semester or a full year. this was the reason i actually chose to go to Conn, but circumstances ended up keeping me from going to Japan during my time at school. most people go abroad their junior year, and that's the best time to do it if you're in Japanese, because that's after 2 years of Kobayashi-sensei learnin'. if you want to go to another country while you're in college, Conn's a great choice.