I am now starting the second semester of the 2nd year of my degree here in Sheffield and suffice to say is not an understatement in saying that I am being worked to the bone. Monday's are an official pain in the arse, as I have four lectures and all of them are pretty hardcore. First off I have a Japanese translation class at 10am, then a lecture on Japanese society at 12pm, and then straight after that I have back to back Japanese grammar and Classic Japanese classes.

The thing is, there is so much work given out and so much work to do; today, as you've seen in my previous post, I had to learn a lot of honorific/humble Japanese, I was thus given my mammoth reading list for Contemporary society, was given my translation (which I understand a little bit of) and I sat there struggling with Classical Japanese, as my teacher bursts through it and the rest of the class (aka the smart-arse bastards) are well versed in this.

As I pass the mid-point of my degree, I am safe in the knowledge that everyone, bar one person doing the degree has passed the first semester. (Sensei usually informs us privately if we messed up.) I know one person dropped out, but that is neither here nor there. The amount of work given plus the increasing complexity of the work as well as attempting to build on what we have already have done in semster one is starting to take a strain already. However there is something tangible in the sense that Japan is merely 6 months away and that all this work will pay off for something. I would hate to get to this stage in my degree and simply give up. Not now, when I look back at all this hard work I have done. In many ways, I am fired up for this degree, ready to rise to the challenge and really push myself to the limit.

But whilst the mind is willing - even I have my limits and perhaps its asking too much of me. However given the fact that today is my official 'life is a bitch day' - I think its normal to feel a little overwhelmed. Especially after 7 weeks of not being in classes. Luckily for us, the easter break arrives after week 7, which is probably the stage most people will be crying out for a break. Right now, I'm just geared up for this hellish ride of 18 weeks or so.

So much classical Japanese grammar to learn, so many kanji compounds to remember, so many new words to remember, so much new grammar to use, so much old grammar to remember, so much old kanji to remember, so much stuff about contemporary society to remember...

Oh and I have to start writing my personal statement for Seijo this week.

But do I regret all this hard work and stress? Do I hell...! Bring it on!

Its now 5.30pm and I'm off to the library after the Simpsons to read some of my readings for Contemporary Society this week. ^^

Tomorrow is slightly less stressful, as I have a nice writing class in the morning and a little 3 hour break to catch up all my work before my speaking class (which I have signed up to a smaller group to get more practice in.)