Morning at Port

June 11, 6:40 AM, Hakodate Kokusai Hotel

I woke up at 4:45 yesterday morning in Tokyo and piled with other students onto a plane at Haneda airport. We flew from Tokyo to Hakodate, and once landed, piled once more onto a bus which drove us to the HIF (Hokkaido International Institute). We then sat for the three hour total placement exam. Like other placement tests I’ve taken, each section starts out easy, and gradually gets more difficult until it exceeds the test-taker’s ability. The exam is designed such that it is able to place students in any one of five levels, from absolute novice to high-advanced. Thus, one tends to leave the exam feeling throttled. The results come out on the first day of classes, on Monday; I am keeping my hopes up.
The quasi-quarantine is turning out less onerous than I had expected. I am roomed with a Cal Berkeley senior named Jacob Rogers, and after the exam we found a cheap, delicious ramen shop down the street from our hotel. HIF gave us a six thousand yen (around $60 USD) allowance for dinners, in lieu of host-family-made food, for the first week, and my large bowl of ramen only cost me around six dollars, so I feel very economical. This morning we have another battery of tests, and afterwards Jacob and I are planning to explore the city, and perhaps go to Mt. Hakodate this evening for the famous night view of the city. Cheers.