Hajimaru!

Today was the first day of normal Kansai Gaidai. The start of normal classes. It makes me feel almost like a student. I went to the minzokugaku class with the normal students this morning. It is an anthropology class conducted entirely in Japanese (being for Japanese students and not foriegnors). Its hard to read of course, but I came out feeling way more capable of understanding Japanese. And came out shuddering with excitement of actually having to see/speak/communicate in Japanese and not this half assed english we use in the foriegnor's classes.
The professor seemed to want to wake students up to the fact that there is folklore all around them. That anything can be seen from various perspectives at any time. He used the symbolism of baseball as an example. There are certain things we expect from a pitch, that we recognize as baseball. However, only someone familiar with baseball would be able to read a sports newspaper and understand what they are talking about. He analyzed how the sentence "I have a dog" in english can actually be interpreted differently and in different language to people of different ages although they all are speaking Japanese. He expects his students to do fieldwork and interview people.
I had the realization that sadly, for Japanese students, Japan is entirely normal. It is easy for them to think they understand it all. For me however, I am reminded 24 hours a day that I dont know hardly anything. Which is really a good thing. Its like sakura constantly lighting up the landscape, always something to look for on the hillsides, of experience.

And the blossoms, falling. Hanazuku (?) blowing flowers. They blow through a grove sandwiched between apartment blocks with fields beyond. It is early evening as I bycycle back to the homestay.