You're a hard man to find.

Something that most of you probably don't know about is the nightmare that was registration. See, regular Kansai Gaidai students (native to Japan) register for classes like you'd expect most students to: by computer.

However, the staff has a super special way for us foreign students to do so. It involves lining up at a designated time the day before registration, and pulling a random number out of a box. This number is the order in which you are allowed to register.

Now, there are about 440 exchange students at the school.


I drew number 411.

This meant that the next day, as I was waiting in line for registration, the longer I waited, the more classes that I wanted to sign up for were full. I started out with a list of six classes I wanted. By the time I got to register, there were only two left--and they were held at the same time.

Extremely frustrated, I put my name on the waitlist for three other classes and registered for my spoken japanese, written japanese, the one class I wanted (Popular Culture as Social Practice), and Ceramics, which I was very glad I had already paid the fee for (otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten in.)

The first day of one of the classes on my waitist, Culture and Everyday Life in Japan, I got a note in my mailbox from the techer telling me to go ahead and come to class, because I would probably be able to get in. So, I did.

I would have gone to the other two classes on my waitlist, but they were both scheduled during my Ceramics class (Which lasted for four hours one day!).

A few days later, I got notes from the other two professors that if I was still interested in their classes, I should let them know, and try to register for them. I also talked to the professor whos class I actually attended, and he also told me I could go ahead and register for his class.

Well, I figured, since I had already missed the first day of the other two classes, and the class I HAD attended (culture and everyday life) seemed a bit more useful to be learning about than Japanese History or Cultural Globalization, I decided to stick with that one.

Still, I didn't want to just ignore the other two professors. I would still like to take their courses next semester, if I'm still here. So I figured it would be best to try to contact them, as they requested.

My first attempt, I just showed up at their offices. No one was there.

Well, I figured, no big deal. I'll look up their email adresses online and shoot them a mail.

So, I go home, and look up the staff directory.

There are no email adresses on it.

Which brings me to today, when I have a rather generous break between my classes.

I go to hunt down their offices again, and again they are not there. Then I try their classrooms. Also not there.

So I head down to the main office, and ask for their email adresses. The guy says that they're not allowed to disclose that information.

A bit paranoid, eh?

Well, how am I supposed to contact them, then? He told me that I should go back to their offices and check their posted office hours. I asked him if they had a mailbox I could leave a note for them in. He said yes, but "It would be better to go to their office." Which is Japanese-talk for "No. You can't do that. Go to their offices."

So, I checked again. The first guy's office hours were on Monday and Tuesday. Today is Friday, the day that he just happens to not be on campus.

So I checked the history professor's office. No office hours whatsoever. I start looking at the bulletin board next to his office, and a female proffessor approaches me, and asks if I'm interested in Ceramics (the subject of most of the posts on the board.) I answer "Well, yeah, a bit," which is the truth--I just happen to be more interested in Japanese culture, which is why I dropped my ceramics course-- but told her i was really looking for the professor's office hours. At which point she told me he usually doesn't post them.

You know, politeness only goes so far. If you want me to have the courtesy to contact you back, you really aught to have the courtesy to make that POSSIBLE.

I give up. Chances are, neither of them will remember who I am next semester, anyway.

Today's evaluation: Miserable Failure.