On Friday (the start of another long weekend) I left the house at 11am. I was going to meet up with my friend Kolla at the Seminar House and hang out for the afternoon. We figured how to order night bus tickets (for our trip to Tokyo the next weekend), listened to Big Bang music, watched a few parody videos, and generally had fun!
Her roommate Erin showed up around 3 and asked us if we wanted to go to dinner with her and her speaking parnter. After checking in with my host family, I agreed, thankful for the extra time out of the house.
We walked to the bus stop around 5, and met up with some other people she invited. I got to learn how the bus system works, which is sure to be useful. There are two doors, one at the front of the bus and one in the middle. You get on in the middle, and sit as far back as possible in narrow seats or stand in the even narrower aisle. Then you get off at the front of the bus, and that's where you pay. For this particular bus line, there's a flat fee, no matter how which stop you get on or get off, of 220 yen. We got off at the Hirakata-shi station stop, where we met up with the speaking partner and her friend. All together, there were 7 of us, quite a group.
We wandered through Kiddyland, which is a large store full of everything cute! (and more!) Then we went to a department store across the street, rode escalator after escalator up to the top floor and took purikura (photo booth photos, プリクラ).
Then we walked back to the station and took a train to Goten-yama station. We walked aways from the station to a Shabashaba resturant. (しゃばしゃば）Shabushabu is a form of food where there's a pot of water on a heater in the middle of the table. You boil the water, and then put strips of meat and vegetables into the pot, and they cook very quickly. Yummy!
The rest of the weekend was pretty boring, but next weekend will be much better! Next weekend, Kolla and I are going to Tokyo to see a 2ne1 concert! For those who don't know, 2ne1 is a Korean pop girl band. We will also get to explore Tokyo before the concert with a friend from home: Victoria!! I can't wait!!!!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Short Week
I can say with certainty that this week has been the shortest school week ever. It was supposed to be a three day week, with Monday and Friday being national holidays. (Respect for the Aged Day and the Autumnal Equinox, respectively) But, see, the typhoon had other ideas. It has rained off and on since last Friday, and through the weekend, but I woke up on Wednesday to a torrential downpour and high winds. There was a storm warning, which meant school was cancelled.
Kansai's policy when it comes to severe storms (and train strikes, which is odd, but helpful for all of us homestays) is that if the storm/strike is not resolved before 10am, classes won't start until 1pm, and if it's not resolved by noon, all classes are cancelled. So I woke up on Wednesday morning, ate breakfast, then went back to bed for a couple of hours. I got up at 10 to see if I would have my afternoon class, and stayed downstairs till noon, when Okaasan informed me the storm warning was still in effect, giving me a free day or yasumi (休み、やすみ).
She had to go into work that morning, but stayed home after lunch. She brought McDonald's for us. She had a chicken thing, but brought Kayoko and I tsukimi burgers (つきみ). Tsukimi burgers have a patty of some sort (I'm not sure if it's hamburger or vegetable or what and I don't really care). On top of the patty is a fried egg, then a slice of bacon, and for a condiment there is this gingery mayonnaise stuff. All together it's pretty good. A bit of breakfast for lunch sort of thing. And of course there were fries, which I like even if I shouldn't.
It has cooled down here these past few days. I haven't turned on the air conditioner in my room since sometime on Sunday. And I've had the best sleep! I put it down to it being cool enough for me to cuddle under the blanket and the rain. Two things guaranteed to make me sleep well! The clouds spit at me on my walk to school this morning, but the sun has come out of the clouds now. So much for the cool down! It's not too bad yet, today, but I'm expecting the temperatures to go back up soon.
I don't really have any plans for this 2nd long weekend. My speaking partner wants to show me around Kyoto sometime, but I haven't heard from her in a week now. Hopefully she'll respond soon, and I can get out of the house this weekend and take advantage of the extra time!
Until next time, my friends!
Kansai's policy when it comes to severe storms (and train strikes, which is odd, but helpful for all of us homestays) is that if the storm/strike is not resolved before 10am, classes won't start until 1pm, and if it's not resolved by noon, all classes are cancelled. So I woke up on Wednesday morning, ate breakfast, then went back to bed for a couple of hours. I got up at 10 to see if I would have my afternoon class, and stayed downstairs till noon, when Okaasan informed me the storm warning was still in effect, giving me a free day or yasumi (休み、やすみ).
She had to go into work that morning, but stayed home after lunch. She brought McDonald's for us. She had a chicken thing, but brought Kayoko and I tsukimi burgers (つきみ). Tsukimi burgers have a patty of some sort (I'm not sure if it's hamburger or vegetable or what and I don't really care). On top of the patty is a fried egg, then a slice of bacon, and for a condiment there is this gingery mayonnaise stuff. All together it's pretty good. A bit of breakfast for lunch sort of thing. And of course there were fries, which I like even if I shouldn't.
It has cooled down here these past few days. I haven't turned on the air conditioner in my room since sometime on Sunday. And I've had the best sleep! I put it down to it being cool enough for me to cuddle under the blanket and the rain. Two things guaranteed to make me sleep well! The clouds spit at me on my walk to school this morning, but the sun has come out of the clouds now. So much for the cool down! It's not too bad yet, today, but I'm expecting the temperatures to go back up soon.
I don't really have any plans for this 2nd long weekend. My speaking partner wants to show me around Kyoto sometime, but I haven't heard from her in a week now. Hopefully she'll respond soon, and I can get out of the house this weekend and take advantage of the extra time!
Until next time, my friends!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Computer problems
Friday was a bit of a sucky day for me. First there were woman troubles, then my computer decided it didn't want to work anymore, then the sunny skies turned to rain and I got soaked. Sucky start to a three day weekend.
My computer has a history of screen problems. For most of last year, there was some sort of loose connection which made the colors go all wonky, but I could still SEE things on the screen. I could read and send emails, write papers, surf the internet, etc. Now all I have is a black screen of doom! And the computer isn't dead, just a black screen. When I turned it on Friday morning, it made the normal starting up and log in page sounds, but there was no log in screen showing up. I typed in my password anyway. After hitting enter it made the now-showing-your-desktop sound, but still nothing but a black screen.
So, my three day weekend (Monday was respect for the aged day, a national holiday here in Japan) was spent curled up on the couch or my bed, reading. Which, as most of you know, I love. But after 4.5 books in 3 days, even I'm a little weary of it. An internet surfing break is good every once in a while, not to mention the youtube videos I could have watched. *sigh*
I did make it to school on Saturday afternoon (through more rain) to meet up with my speaking partner. She spent the last week in Korea so we had a fun time talking about our favorite k-pop bands. And on Monday evening, my host family and I went to one of the huge department stores near us and spent a few hours looking around and getting groceries. So I didn't spend the entire weekend inside, but I didn't mind the enforced insideness as much as the zero chance to interat with the outside world. Heck, to interact with people besides myself! My host mom and dad had to work for part of both Saturday and Sunday.
Now that you're all caught up, I have to get to class. See ya!
My computer has a history of screen problems. For most of last year, there was some sort of loose connection which made the colors go all wonky, but I could still SEE things on the screen. I could read and send emails, write papers, surf the internet, etc. Now all I have is a black screen of doom! And the computer isn't dead, just a black screen. When I turned it on Friday morning, it made the normal starting up and log in page sounds, but there was no log in screen showing up. I typed in my password anyway. After hitting enter it made the now-showing-your-desktop sound, but still nothing but a black screen.
So, my three day weekend (Monday was respect for the aged day, a national holiday here in Japan) was spent curled up on the couch or my bed, reading. Which, as most of you know, I love. But after 4.5 books in 3 days, even I'm a little weary of it. An internet surfing break is good every once in a while, not to mention the youtube videos I could have watched. *sigh*
I did make it to school on Saturday afternoon (through more rain) to meet up with my speaking partner. She spent the last week in Korea so we had a fun time talking about our favorite k-pop bands. And on Monday evening, my host family and I went to one of the huge department stores near us and spent a few hours looking around and getting groceries. So I didn't spend the entire weekend inside, but I didn't mind the enforced insideness as much as the zero chance to interat with the outside world. Heck, to interact with people besides myself! My host mom and dad had to work for part of both Saturday and Sunday.
Now that you're all caught up, I have to get to class. See ya!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
The Gaijin Walk Among Us
I was on the train this afternoon, headed home from school. A bunch of people got off at the Hirakata-shi station, which meant that I got to sit down. I had been standing near the door, and there was a girl sitting at the end of the row there, but a large, newly empty space next to her. So, I sat down with a 'stranger space' between us. You know, not quite enough room for another person, because you don't want them to think they smell, but not very close because you don't want to crowd them either. As soon as all the people got off the train, a ton of other people started getting on, normal thing for trains. This group of people included three older women. There was some space on my other side, but not enough for three, so I scouted over, and made room.
They sat down, and then one next to me was very close! We kept brushing shoulders, and I was freaking out, because I'd heard tons of stories of Japanese people on trains, not wanting to sit next to gaijin (foreigners, がいじん、外人). And I didn't want her to think I was being rude or something, I had scouted over as much as I could, but I tried to scoot over a littler further, to give her plenty of room. The motion of scooting over caused us to brush elbows again and she turned to me and apologized! And then I was thinking, oh no, now she definitely thinks I'm rude, trying to scoot away from her! Ah! (Side note: Why do I care what a random Japanese woman thinks of me? Because I'm trying to be a good example of foreign culture. Because I'm trying to adapt to the culture here; trying to be more Japanese; trying to incorporate the local customs and all that jazz. Because I do, okay?)
I end up sitting there for the rest of the ride to my stop, listening to the three of them chat, not that I understood a word, and worrying that I was being labeled as yet another rude gaijin. Well, when we get to my stop, the lady nearest me turns, looks out the window, and asks, "Doko..." (Where [are we]?, どこ？). It being my stop, I know what station we're at so I say, "Korien eki" (Korien station, こりえんえき). She looks at me with a bit of a surprised look on my face and asks if I speak Japanese, and I say I do, a little. Then she asks if I'm from/go to Kansai Gaidai, and again I answer yes. Then she compliments my Japanese, which is a bit silly since I've said all of three words to her, all basic communication things. I do the Japanese thing and deny my ability and thank her profusely, "ii, ii, arigatogozaimasu." (no, not really, thank you very much, いいいいありがとございます) Being humble=very Japanese. She and her friends smiled and waved as I got off the train and I skipped up the stairs to the exit.
I wanted to share this story to show that not all non-internationally affiliated Japanese dislike foreigners. I was told many times not to worry if I sat down on a train seat and the Japanese person I sat next to got up and moved, or if I ended up sitting alone while the rest of the car stood. Some Japanese just don't like the gaijin, it's not your fault. Well, actually I think it is, a bit. The fault of a number of gaijin over the years, who haven't respected the culture they've stepped into. Who have acted like they would in their home countries, especially Americans, being loud and drinking/eating on the trains, and taking up an inordinate amount of space with their large backpacks, all of these behaviors are seen as rude and offensive to the Japanese.
I don't know if the women I met today had met other foreigners or heard about their stereotyped behavior. I don't know what they thought of foreigners before they sat next to me. But they did sit next to me, and I tried to adapt to their culture. I was polite and tried to give them some space. I kept my large, American style backpack on my lap, taking up as little space as possible. I spoke enough Japanese to be helpful and polite. I didn't try to join their conversation, but I answered their questions. At the very least, I hope I left them with the sense that not all gaijin were rude. And I encourage you, traveling in any country, to not be too afraid of what the locals think of you, but to be polite and try to adapt to the local culture as best you can. I learned in Girl Scouts to leave the campsite cleaner than when I found it. And I've adopted this motto to a lot of things over the years, but most importantly: To leave the reputation of foreigners better (cleaner, more respectful, nicer) than it was when I came.
They sat down, and then one next to me was very close! We kept brushing shoulders, and I was freaking out, because I'd heard tons of stories of Japanese people on trains, not wanting to sit next to gaijin (foreigners, がいじん、外人). And I didn't want her to think I was being rude or something, I had scouted over as much as I could, but I tried to scoot over a littler further, to give her plenty of room. The motion of scooting over caused us to brush elbows again and she turned to me and apologized! And then I was thinking, oh no, now she definitely thinks I'm rude, trying to scoot away from her! Ah! (Side note: Why do I care what a random Japanese woman thinks of me? Because I'm trying to be a good example of foreign culture. Because I'm trying to adapt to the culture here; trying to be more Japanese; trying to incorporate the local customs and all that jazz. Because I do, okay?)
I end up sitting there for the rest of the ride to my stop, listening to the three of them chat, not that I understood a word, and worrying that I was being labeled as yet another rude gaijin. Well, when we get to my stop, the lady nearest me turns, looks out the window, and asks, "Doko..." (Where [are we]?, どこ？). It being my stop, I know what station we're at so I say, "Korien eki" (Korien station, こりえんえき). She looks at me with a bit of a surprised look on my face and asks if I speak Japanese, and I say I do, a little. Then she asks if I'm from/go to Kansai Gaidai, and again I answer yes. Then she compliments my Japanese, which is a bit silly since I've said all of three words to her, all basic communication things. I do the Japanese thing and deny my ability and thank her profusely, "ii, ii, arigatogozaimasu." (no, not really, thank you very much, いいいいありがとございます) Being humble=very Japanese. She and her friends smiled and waved as I got off the train and I skipped up the stairs to the exit.
I wanted to share this story to show that not all non-internationally affiliated Japanese dislike foreigners. I was told many times not to worry if I sat down on a train seat and the Japanese person I sat next to got up and moved, or if I ended up sitting alone while the rest of the car stood. Some Japanese just don't like the gaijin, it's not your fault. Well, actually I think it is, a bit. The fault of a number of gaijin over the years, who haven't respected the culture they've stepped into. Who have acted like they would in their home countries, especially Americans, being loud and drinking/eating on the trains, and taking up an inordinate amount of space with their large backpacks, all of these behaviors are seen as rude and offensive to the Japanese.
I don't know if the women I met today had met other foreigners or heard about their stereotyped behavior. I don't know what they thought of foreigners before they sat next to me. But they did sit next to me, and I tried to adapt to their culture. I was polite and tried to give them some space. I kept my large, American style backpack on my lap, taking up as little space as possible. I spoke enough Japanese to be helpful and polite. I didn't try to join their conversation, but I answered their questions. At the very least, I hope I left them with the sense that not all gaijin were rude. And I encourage you, traveling in any country, to not be too afraid of what the locals think of you, but to be polite and try to adapt to the local culture as best you can. I learned in Girl Scouts to leave the campsite cleaner than when I found it. And I've adopted this motto to a lot of things over the years, but most importantly: To leave the reputation of foreigners better (cleaner, more respectful, nicer) than it was when I came.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Food
Today's theme is food. Yummy, yummy food. There might be some other things thrown in to add some contrast, but mostly food.
Friday night we had what I'm starting to think of as a typical meal. There was tofu, rice (of course!), fish, and an assortment of vegetables. Okaasan had to leave in the middle of making dinner to go pick up Kayoko from school. So, Otoosan finished up and I helped him set the table. He put the extra bowl of rice in front of the small wooden shrine box, by the table, as he does whenever rice is on the menu. He must have noticed me watching him do so, and he explained that he (they?) is/are Buddhist. The nightly ritual of leaving some food in front of the shrine is a way to honor their ancestors. I've also noticed that they leave pieces of fruit there too, usually whatever we have for desert. A couple nights ago we had frozen bananas, and there was an extra banana set up there. They don't leave the food up there indefinitely. For example, Okaasan adds the extra rice to her bowl, usually part of the way through dinner.
I slept in a bit on Saturday, and only had an orange for breakfast. Lunch was just Okaasan and I, she was home from work for a while, but Otoosan was still at work, and Kayoko was at cram school. She made 'instant' ramen, and apologized for the 'bland' favor. The noodles were just like the instant ramen I've eaten in the states, but she added carrots and lettuce and ham to it! There was also an entire hard-boiled egg, split in half, floating around! It was the best instant ramen I have ever had!
After lunch on Saturday, I headed off to school. There was a welcome party for any students that spoke French. There were 5 other international students there, 3 from France, 1 from Quebec, and 1 from England. There were also about 10 Kansai students who have been studying French. We ate Japanese snacks-I didn't catch most of the names, but there was some mochi and these things called milk balls. The milk balls are tiny (like bead on a bracelet) slightly crunchy balls made of egg, milk, and sugar, and were quite addicting! Mochi (もち) is a doughy desert made of rice and other things. It's usually got something else on top, like sugar. It was a fun couple of hours, hanging out and practicing my French as well as my Japanese skills.
For dinner that night we had karaage tori (からあげ鳥、からあげとりあ, fried chicken), cabbage, tofu, and rice. The fried chicken wasn't like KFC, or picnic chicken, it was closer to chicken nuggets, except home made, and delicious! It was a close tie between this meal and the udon meal for my favorite meal in Japan so far.
At least until today's lunch! I slept in a lot longer this morning (Sunday), and then I stayed in bed for even longer, reading. :D When I finally got dressed and made my way downstairs, I found the house empty. Actually, Kayoko was in the shower, but I couldn't hear that from the second floor. It was almost lunch time though, so I just sat on the couch, read, and pet the cat. Otoosan and Okaasan came back pretty soon and Okaasan started cooking lunch. We had yakisoba (やきそば, fried soba noodles). First, Okaasan chopped up all the ingredients, then she brought this big electric skillet out to the table, which Kayoko had already covered with newspaper. She plugged it in, add some oil and waited for it to get hot. Then she added the meet, then the vegetables (carrots, onions, cabbage). After that had cooked for a while, she added the noodles, and on top of everything drizzled this brown sauce. This sauce has made an appearance at meals before. It was put on our hamburgers the one night, and Otoosan's potatoes another night, but I never seem to catch the name, and the bottle doesn't have the label.
After everything was cooked, we were called to the table, and Okaasan filled our plates with the first serving. We each had too platefuls of it, and there was still some left over. Okaasan said something about yakisoba pan, a yakisoba sandwich. It sounds like it would be very difficult to eat, but yummy all the same. But we weren't done yet! She brought out four eggs, and fried them in the skillet too, one for each of us. I was instructed to pour the brown sauce over my egg as well, and it tasted a bit odd with the egg, but not bad. Currently, today's lunch wins the number one spot on my favorite meals in Japan list, but we'll see what dinner brings, huh?
Friday night we had what I'm starting to think of as a typical meal. There was tofu, rice (of course!), fish, and an assortment of vegetables. Okaasan had to leave in the middle of making dinner to go pick up Kayoko from school. So, Otoosan finished up and I helped him set the table. He put the extra bowl of rice in front of the small wooden shrine box, by the table, as he does whenever rice is on the menu. He must have noticed me watching him do so, and he explained that he (they?) is/are Buddhist. The nightly ritual of leaving some food in front of the shrine is a way to honor their ancestors. I've also noticed that they leave pieces of fruit there too, usually whatever we have for desert. A couple nights ago we had frozen bananas, and there was an extra banana set up there. They don't leave the food up there indefinitely. For example, Okaasan adds the extra rice to her bowl, usually part of the way through dinner.
I slept in a bit on Saturday, and only had an orange for breakfast. Lunch was just Okaasan and I, she was home from work for a while, but Otoosan was still at work, and Kayoko was at cram school. She made 'instant' ramen, and apologized for the 'bland' favor. The noodles were just like the instant ramen I've eaten in the states, but she added carrots and lettuce and ham to it! There was also an entire hard-boiled egg, split in half, floating around! It was the best instant ramen I have ever had!
After lunch on Saturday, I headed off to school. There was a welcome party for any students that spoke French. There were 5 other international students there, 3 from France, 1 from Quebec, and 1 from England. There were also about 10 Kansai students who have been studying French. We ate Japanese snacks-I didn't catch most of the names, but there was some mochi and these things called milk balls. The milk balls are tiny (like bead on a bracelet) slightly crunchy balls made of egg, milk, and sugar, and were quite addicting! Mochi (もち) is a doughy desert made of rice and other things. It's usually got something else on top, like sugar. It was a fun couple of hours, hanging out and practicing my French as well as my Japanese skills.
For dinner that night we had karaage tori (からあげ鳥、からあげとりあ, fried chicken), cabbage, tofu, and rice. The fried chicken wasn't like KFC, or picnic chicken, it was closer to chicken nuggets, except home made, and delicious! It was a close tie between this meal and the udon meal for my favorite meal in Japan so far.
At least until today's lunch! I slept in a lot longer this morning (Sunday), and then I stayed in bed for even longer, reading. :D When I finally got dressed and made my way downstairs, I found the house empty. Actually, Kayoko was in the shower, but I couldn't hear that from the second floor. It was almost lunch time though, so I just sat on the couch, read, and pet the cat. Otoosan and Okaasan came back pretty soon and Okaasan started cooking lunch. We had yakisoba (やきそば, fried soba noodles). First, Okaasan chopped up all the ingredients, then she brought this big electric skillet out to the table, which Kayoko had already covered with newspaper. She plugged it in, add some oil and waited for it to get hot. Then she added the meet, then the vegetables (carrots, onions, cabbage). After that had cooked for a while, she added the noodles, and on top of everything drizzled this brown sauce. This sauce has made an appearance at meals before. It was put on our hamburgers the one night, and Otoosan's potatoes another night, but I never seem to catch the name, and the bottle doesn't have the label.
After everything was cooked, we were called to the table, and Okaasan filled our plates with the first serving. We each had too platefuls of it, and there was still some left over. Okaasan said something about yakisoba pan, a yakisoba sandwich. It sounds like it would be very difficult to eat, but yummy all the same. But we weren't done yet! She brought out four eggs, and fried them in the skillet too, one for each of us. I was instructed to pour the brown sauce over my egg as well, and it tasted a bit odd with the egg, but not bad. Currently, today's lunch wins the number one spot on my favorite meals in Japan list, but we'll see what dinner brings, huh?
Friday, September 9, 2011
Catching up
I've been very busy the last few days, sorry for not writing! I've basically crashed into bed as soon as my homework was done each night.
Here’s a brief run-down of the last few days:Wednesday, September 7th:
Okaasan made me onigiri (おにぎり) for breakfast. Yummy!
I made it to school on time for class, without any mishaps! Today was my first day of Reading and Writing Japanese. The review test for this class in on Monday, and will cover lessons 1-7.
I went to the conbini at 1pm, after my writing class. The shelves of food were almost completely empty! I shall have to remember to eat lunch before writing class, not after. I managed to find a sandwich pack thing. It had three half sandwiches in it. Two were lettuce, ham, and mayo, pretty normal. The other half was egg salad with cheese, a slice of tomato, and cucumber pieces. WHY? Why would someone put a gross tomato on a wonderful egg salad sandwich?? The cheese and cucumbers were odd also, but at least they taste good! (Sorry to any tomato lovers, I’m not one, clearly.)
Then I got to wait for THREE HOURS until my next class started at 4:40pm. Thankfully I headed to the CIE lounge and met up with some friends. A large group was quickly gathered, as happens all the time there, and we commenced talking about whatever popped into our heads for hours on end.
Finally I got to class: Popular Culture as Social Practice. Nothing much happened. We went over the syllabus and the teacher talked at length about the goals and objectives of the class.
Class got out at 6:10 and the sun was already setting. It made a pretty picture out of the window. However, it was not so fun to walk home in the dark. I got home around 7:30 and dinner was getting put on the table.
Dinner was absolutely delicious!!! Otoosan was working late, so it was only the three of us. Okaasan and I had two types of udon, but Kayoko doesn’t like curry sauce, so she had one big bowl of the other kind. The udon with curry sauce (うどん and カレーサウス) was a bit spicy for me, so I ate that first, and then attacked the other kind. It had tons of stuff in it! It had fried tofu, tori (とり, chicken), hijiki (ひじき, a type of seaweed), and some sort of paste thing, all of it yummy, yummy, yummy!
Thursday, September 8th:
I had toast with the cheese spread again. It’s growing on me. I also had yogurt. Okaasan said that I should put jam on it and I thought that was an odd condiment for yogurt. I’ve had plain yogurt before and it’s not bad. After the first taste of the non-jammed yogurt, I quickly revised my phrasing. American plain yogurt is not bad. Japanese plain yogurt NEEDS jam. I added a couple of big spoonfuls of the strawberry jam, which much improved the taste.
I only had Spoken Japanese, in which we reviewed for the test on Friday, and Ethic: East and West today. In Ethics we talked about Christianity: the Sermon on the Mount, an essay called the Power of Love, which was really interesting, and some excerpts of Nietzsche. My comments: Nietzsche was a very angry man, but he made some good points. The Power of Love essay was about nonviolence and violence and my favorite line from it is this: “...the similarity between us is a willingness to die for our beliefs. The difference, however, is whether we will also kill for them.” The ‘us’ being peace activists and soldiers. The other important point made, was that maybe the world needs both kinds of people.
After that class, I hung out at school for a bit, then headed home to study, eat dinner (hamburger patties, carrots, potatoes, and rice), study some more, and finally go to sleep.
Friday, September 9th:
Well, the day isn’t over yet, but here’s what happened so far. Breakfast was the same as yesterday-toast and jam-yogurt-and lunch was the same as Wednesday-sandwiches.
I think I did alright on my review test. I didn’t get all of the listening comprehension, but I got most of it. And I know I did well on the translation of dialogue from English to Japanese. I also did pretty well on the verb conjugation table, although I know I got at least one verb wrong. I couldn’t remember the word for ‘to use’. I knew it started with a ‘tsu’ (つ), so I just made up the rest of the word, and conjugated it that way, so the teacher would know that I could conjugate, but I didn’t know that word.
Then I had writing and reading Japanese, in which we reviewed for the review test on Monday. Fun times, fun times. And right now I’m waiting for my Culture class, which starts at 4:40pm. I’m looking forward to getting some of the reading explained. I read it, but I don’t think I grasped most of it. Last night’s reading was full of references to other works and studies, and I’ve never taken any cultural studies or anthropological classes before, so most of it went over my head. The teacher seemed nice on Tuesday, though, so hopefully he will be able to interpret it for those of us without prior knowledge of the subject.
That’s all for now folks!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The Third Adventure: Rice Fields and Philosophy
Long story short: I got lost.
But I suspect you want to here the long version. It is more interesting, if I do say so myself, but then again, they usually are.
It starts with me waking up around 7:00am. I get up, get dressed, go to the bathroom, etc., and make it into the kitchen by 7:30am. My goal is to leave by 8am. I don't have class today until 10am, but it's about an hour commute, and I do have class tomorrow at 9am, so I'm giving it a trial run. Thank you disaster survival training! (AKA: being a Conover) My Okaasan is still here, but she leaves, just as I'm sitting down to apple juice and toast with cheese. There's this odd cheese, which is squeezed out of a bottle and looks a bit like mayonnaise. You spread it on your bread before you toast it (toaster oven, not toaster) and it spreads and tastes a bit like grilled cheese. Different, but yummy. After I finish eating, I brush my teeth and take pictures of the main areas of the house (see Facebook). Then I head out of the door, map in hand.
My Okaasan adn Otoosan (oh-toh-oh-sah-n, おとおさん) drew me a map with reference points to get me from their house to the station. It worked perfectly! It had reasonable close distances, reference points (shop names, etc.), streets clearly defined, in a word: Awesome. I got to the station, and on the right-ish train. I accidentally got on an express train, which meant it didn't stop at my stop. However, I realized this soon enough that I got off at Hirakata-shi station, which was one stop before mine. There, I asked one of the station managers which train would go to my station, Gotenyama. He pointed me in the direction of the local trains, which stop at every stop. So, I got to the station alright.
That was where the trouble began. See, the map that Kansai Gaidai gave me to get from Gotenyama to the school, wasn't marked with a compass rose, or very many reference points. I was swept off the train and through one of the exits in a crowd of people. Many of these people where high school students. I could tell, because they all dressed the same. Well, there was a high school marked on my map-a ways from the station, and they were walking in that general direction, so I followed some of them. Follow the locals, because they know where they're going, was my thinking. Well, someway or another, they all dispersed, and I found myself in a quiet residential area. These are quite common, though, I had to walk through one on my way from the Seminar House to the school, so I wasn't worried. Then the houses disappeared, and suddenly, I was surrounded by rice paddies.
There were some blank spaces on the map, so I though maybe they were representing the fields, so I kept walking. The fields ended in that direction (a few city blocks, maybe) so I turned right and kept walking. I could see some buildings that looked like civilization, so I wasn't too worried. When I got near the buildings, I saw it was a school, a middle school. There weren't any middle schools marked on my map, only a few high schools, and an elementary school. So I walked past the school, and finally found another road that took me back in the direction of the station. The rice fields disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared and I was once more surrounded by buildings. I went into the nearest conbini and asked for directions and a girl pointed me in the direction of the station. I got back there and tried another street, but I soon saw that it was headed back to the rice fields. I kept asking people, but no one could find where we were on the map; they just pointed me back towards the station, since that was the only thing they recognized. Finally, a shop owner figured out that I needed to go back to the station, and cross the tracks. I had been on the wrong side the entire time! No wonder no one could figure out the map! They weren't on it! The other side of the tracks shows about three roads, and thankfully the shop I asked at was on one of those roads.
I could have smacked myself! I had been wandering around in the hot sun for an hour, getting nowhere, all because I was on the wrong side of the tracks. I cried again for a bit at that. Oh, yeah, did I mention that I was so freaked out and lost and frustrated that I started crying? Well, I did. My only saving grace is that I didn't give up, sit down in the road, and cry in despair. I cried in despair as I walked around, trying to find a landmark besides the station. As soon as I crossed the tracks, I was able to find the first reference point (a conbini called the Family Mart) pretty easily. And from there I found the elementary and high school, and finally, the blessed sight of the Kansai Gaidai gate! I had finally reached my destination, an hour later than I had planned, and just in time for class.
My class was Spoken Japanese, and it was pretty simple. We did basic introductions, went over the syllabus, and other first day of class things. We got a review packet, covering the first 8 lessons in the book, to study for a review test on Friday. We will be learning lesson 9-16 in the Genki textbooks. That's the last half of the first one and the first half of the second one. It's a very short class, only 50 minutes, because we meet everyday.
My other class today was Ethics: East and West. It was another syllabus day, but this class only meets twice a week. It's an hour and a half long, which means we actually started learning some things. The main thing we talked about was Plato's cave. To sum up the arguement in as few words as possible: we are all sitting in the deep, dark parts of our minds, staring at a shadow of the real world. We must turn around and climb out of the cave of our illusions and face reality as it is, not how we would have it.
As I walked home, (no mishaps this time) I was thinking about Plato's cave, and trying to figure out what I thought was reality and why I thought that. And my morning adventure came to mind. I assumed that following the students would help me get to where I was going, and I assumed that I was on the right side of the tracks. I know my mother is going to say, "You know what they say about assume. It makes and ASS out of U and ME." In this case, that holds true. Those assumptions I made were completely wrong. However, if I had assumed the top of the map was north and that Kansai Gaidai was therefore east of the tracks (there were no directions marked on the map, so it would have been an assumption), then I would have been fine, because I would have ended up on the correct side of the tracks, headed in the right direction. Those assumptions would have gotten me where I needed to go, so they would have been good to assume right? Why didn't I assume those things? Because the directions weren't marked on the map, that was the first thing I looked for after I got off the train. And knowing my mother's saying, I wouldn't want to assume anything about the map. So, instead I used my knowledge of humans, to figure that the locals would know where they were going. And in my hometown, where there is only one high school, or even in Springfield, where there are a few, I would have been alright doing that. But in Hirakata there are more than just a few high schools.
The part that really gets me though, is that I was so focused on not assuming one thing (the directions on the map) that I assumed an entirely different thing (I was on the correct side of the tracks). I had no basis what-so-ever for this assumption! I just decided it! And, thinking back, I don't know why! So, I leave you with these questions: Are assumptions useful? Why do we make them? What assumptions do you make without thinking?
But I suspect you want to here the long version. It is more interesting, if I do say so myself, but then again, they usually are.
It starts with me waking up around 7:00am. I get up, get dressed, go to the bathroom, etc., and make it into the kitchen by 7:30am. My goal is to leave by 8am. I don't have class today until 10am, but it's about an hour commute, and I do have class tomorrow at 9am, so I'm giving it a trial run. Thank you disaster survival training! (AKA: being a Conover) My Okaasan is still here, but she leaves, just as I'm sitting down to apple juice and toast with cheese. There's this odd cheese, which is squeezed out of a bottle and looks a bit like mayonnaise. You spread it on your bread before you toast it (toaster oven, not toaster) and it spreads and tastes a bit like grilled cheese. Different, but yummy. After I finish eating, I brush my teeth and take pictures of the main areas of the house (see Facebook). Then I head out of the door, map in hand.
My Okaasan adn Otoosan (oh-toh-oh-sah-n, おとおさん) drew me a map with reference points to get me from their house to the station. It worked perfectly! It had reasonable close distances, reference points (shop names, etc.), streets clearly defined, in a word: Awesome. I got to the station, and on the right-ish train. I accidentally got on an express train, which meant it didn't stop at my stop. However, I realized this soon enough that I got off at Hirakata-shi station, which was one stop before mine. There, I asked one of the station managers which train would go to my station, Gotenyama. He pointed me in the direction of the local trains, which stop at every stop. So, I got to the station alright.
That was where the trouble began. See, the map that Kansai Gaidai gave me to get from Gotenyama to the school, wasn't marked with a compass rose, or very many reference points. I was swept off the train and through one of the exits in a crowd of people. Many of these people where high school students. I could tell, because they all dressed the same. Well, there was a high school marked on my map-a ways from the station, and they were walking in that general direction, so I followed some of them. Follow the locals, because they know where they're going, was my thinking. Well, someway or another, they all dispersed, and I found myself in a quiet residential area. These are quite common, though, I had to walk through one on my way from the Seminar House to the school, so I wasn't worried. Then the houses disappeared, and suddenly, I was surrounded by rice paddies.
There were some blank spaces on the map, so I though maybe they were representing the fields, so I kept walking. The fields ended in that direction (a few city blocks, maybe) so I turned right and kept walking. I could see some buildings that looked like civilization, so I wasn't too worried. When I got near the buildings, I saw it was a school, a middle school. There weren't any middle schools marked on my map, only a few high schools, and an elementary school. So I walked past the school, and finally found another road that took me back in the direction of the station. The rice fields disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared and I was once more surrounded by buildings. I went into the nearest conbini and asked for directions and a girl pointed me in the direction of the station. I got back there and tried another street, but I soon saw that it was headed back to the rice fields. I kept asking people, but no one could find where we were on the map; they just pointed me back towards the station, since that was the only thing they recognized. Finally, a shop owner figured out that I needed to go back to the station, and cross the tracks. I had been on the wrong side the entire time! No wonder no one could figure out the map! They weren't on it! The other side of the tracks shows about three roads, and thankfully the shop I asked at was on one of those roads.
I could have smacked myself! I had been wandering around in the hot sun for an hour, getting nowhere, all because I was on the wrong side of the tracks. I cried again for a bit at that. Oh, yeah, did I mention that I was so freaked out and lost and frustrated that I started crying? Well, I did. My only saving grace is that I didn't give up, sit down in the road, and cry in despair. I cried in despair as I walked around, trying to find a landmark besides the station. As soon as I crossed the tracks, I was able to find the first reference point (a conbini called the Family Mart) pretty easily. And from there I found the elementary and high school, and finally, the blessed sight of the Kansai Gaidai gate! I had finally reached my destination, an hour later than I had planned, and just in time for class.
My class was Spoken Japanese, and it was pretty simple. We did basic introductions, went over the syllabus, and other first day of class things. We got a review packet, covering the first 8 lessons in the book, to study for a review test on Friday. We will be learning lesson 9-16 in the Genki textbooks. That's the last half of the first one and the first half of the second one. It's a very short class, only 50 minutes, because we meet everyday.
My other class today was Ethics: East and West. It was another syllabus day, but this class only meets twice a week. It's an hour and a half long, which means we actually started learning some things. The main thing we talked about was Plato's cave. To sum up the arguement in as few words as possible: we are all sitting in the deep, dark parts of our minds, staring at a shadow of the real world. We must turn around and climb out of the cave of our illusions and face reality as it is, not how we would have it.
As I walked home, (no mishaps this time) I was thinking about Plato's cave, and trying to figure out what I thought was reality and why I thought that. And my morning adventure came to mind. I assumed that following the students would help me get to where I was going, and I assumed that I was on the right side of the tracks. I know my mother is going to say, "You know what they say about assume. It makes and ASS out of U and ME." In this case, that holds true. Those assumptions I made were completely wrong. However, if I had assumed the top of the map was north and that Kansai Gaidai was therefore east of the tracks (there were no directions marked on the map, so it would have been an assumption), then I would have been fine, because I would have ended up on the correct side of the tracks, headed in the right direction. Those assumptions would have gotten me where I needed to go, so they would have been good to assume right? Why didn't I assume those things? Because the directions weren't marked on the map, that was the first thing I looked for after I got off the train. And knowing my mother's saying, I wouldn't want to assume anything about the map. So, instead I used my knowledge of humans, to figure that the locals would know where they were going. And in my hometown, where there is only one high school, or even in Springfield, where there are a few, I would have been alright doing that. But in Hirakata there are more than just a few high schools.
The part that really gets me though, is that I was so focused on not assuming one thing (the directions on the map) that I assumed an entirely different thing (I was on the correct side of the tracks). I had no basis what-so-ever for this assumption! I just decided it! And, thinking back, I don't know why! So, I leave you with these questions: Are assumptions useful? Why do we make them? What assumptions do you make without thinking?
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The Second Adventure: Meeting the Homestay Famliy
Monday, September 5th, 2011
I haven't written to you all in a few days, and I'm sort of sorry about that. Honestly, though, there wasn't much going on. We weren't allowed outside on Saturday. Of course that didn't stop us. I read most of the day. I did go out in the late afternoon. We found a very close by 100 yen (pronounced he-yah-ku-eh-n, 百円、ひゃくえん) store, basically a dollar store, where we bought gift wrapping supplies for our host family gifts. Then it started raining. It rained most of Sunday too, so once again, I stayed inside and read. One measly paragraph sums it up, so trust me when I say there wasn't anything to talk about.
Now, back to today:
Waiting. That's what today was about. I got up early, finished packing, folded my futon, and walked out of the seminar house around 10am. I went to the library first. I wanted to absorb some of that wonderful atmosphere I talked about before. I brought my computer and opened it up to check my email, when lo and behold! My father was on Facebook! The whole family was home apparently, and not having seen me in a while, wanted to Skype. So I went to a corner with no one else around, plugged in my headphones, and spoke softly. About five minutes later a student came up to me and said we weren't allowed to Skype in the library. I made many apologies, and continued my conversation with my family via Facebook chat, because they didn't know how to find/work the Skype chat.
After that, I went over to the CIE building and hung out for a while in the lounge. One o'clock finally rolled around, and I had a session in the Language Lab (LL) to show us how to work the programs on those computers to help us complete our Japanese class homework. That took all of 15 minutes, and then it was back to waiting. I sat and talked to various people in the CIE lounge until 3:30pm. At that point, I went to the CIE office and sat and waited for my host family to arrive.
My Okaasan (mother, pronounced oh-kah-ah-sah-n, おかあさん) came, and we went to a private room with a translator who helped us go over some rules and such. Things like household chores, curfews, meal times, laundry, etc. were discussed and agreed upon. Then she drove me to the Seminar House, where my luggage was waiting, and then we drove to my new home.
Let me pause here for a second and say this. I was scared when I was a pedestrian and had cars, bikes, and scooters coming at me on those narrow streets. I was terrified being in one of those said cars, not because I would have been hurt by a crash, but because of the bikers and pedestrians we seemed sure to run over. And I never, NEVER, want to have to ride a bike here. EVER! Bikes are both like pedestrians and cars, because they can ride on the sidewalk or on the street (usually in a special lane, but not always). But cars will survive a crash with a bike, and pedestrians have more flexibility and can jump out of the way or squeeze against a wall to avoid being hit. A bicycle just has to catch a wheel wrong, brush it against something, or go over a big enough bump...or crash into a car, and then it's all over for the rider. And the bikes are constantly trying to race the cars!!! It's insane! And that's the mini version of my traffic-in-Japan rant.
So, yeah, my family is nice. The cat is called Nihango (ne(as in neat)-hah-n-go, にはんご). The house is very narrow. There are three floors: The first is the entrance way, the washing machine, and the bath/shower room. Then comes a flight of stairs, narrow, but with steps of a normal length (the size of my foot). The second floor is the kitchen, dining, and living rooms. They have a Western style table and chair, and a very comfy couch. The toilet is on this floor too. Then comes the second set of stairs, which is going to, at the very least, injure me one of these days! The steps are barely the length of my hand!!! And most of you should know my history with stairs...
Once, I'm up this potential death trap, I come to the bedrooms. OooooO! Mine is so nice!! I have a window, which opens out to a small balcony where the clothes are hung, with the bed against that wall. There are a couple of sets of plastic drawers, which my clothes have all fit. (Including my winter sweaters!) There is a rack on one side where I've hung my skirts, dresses, and coats. The closet holds my shoes, suitcase, and a vacuum cleaner. I also have a small (under a desk style) fridge. This is because the last exchange student the had would buy juice and leave half full bottles in the main fridge, and the family didn't know what to do with them. My Okaasan bought me some juice already (apple and grape) and told me to put them up there.
They all leave really early in the morning, so I've been told to prepare my own breakfast. My plan is to get to school a bit early some days, even if I don't have class, so I suspect I'll actually see more of them than they think.
So far, so good! And that's about it. They have wireless internet, but I'm not set-up for it yet-a project for tomorrow! So, I'll be posting this then! Sorry! Gomen-nasai! (goh-meh-n-nah-sah-e, ごめんあさい！)
I haven't written to you all in a few days, and I'm sort of sorry about that. Honestly, though, there wasn't much going on. We weren't allowed outside on Saturday. Of course that didn't stop us. I read most of the day. I did go out in the late afternoon. We found a very close by 100 yen (pronounced he-yah-ku-eh-n, 百円、ひゃくえん) store, basically a dollar store, where we bought gift wrapping supplies for our host family gifts. Then it started raining. It rained most of Sunday too, so once again, I stayed inside and read. One measly paragraph sums it up, so trust me when I say there wasn't anything to talk about.
Now, back to today:
Waiting. That's what today was about. I got up early, finished packing, folded my futon, and walked out of the seminar house around 10am. I went to the library first. I wanted to absorb some of that wonderful atmosphere I talked about before. I brought my computer and opened it up to check my email, when lo and behold! My father was on Facebook! The whole family was home apparently, and not having seen me in a while, wanted to Skype. So I went to a corner with no one else around, plugged in my headphones, and spoke softly. About five minutes later a student came up to me and said we weren't allowed to Skype in the library. I made many apologies, and continued my conversation with my family via Facebook chat, because they didn't know how to find/work the Skype chat.
After that, I went over to the CIE building and hung out for a while in the lounge. One o'clock finally rolled around, and I had a session in the Language Lab (LL) to show us how to work the programs on those computers to help us complete our Japanese class homework. That took all of 15 minutes, and then it was back to waiting. I sat and talked to various people in the CIE lounge until 3:30pm. At that point, I went to the CIE office and sat and waited for my host family to arrive.
My Okaasan (mother, pronounced oh-kah-ah-sah-n, おかあさん) came, and we went to a private room with a translator who helped us go over some rules and such. Things like household chores, curfews, meal times, laundry, etc. were discussed and agreed upon. Then she drove me to the Seminar House, where my luggage was waiting, and then we drove to my new home.
Let me pause here for a second and say this. I was scared when I was a pedestrian and had cars, bikes, and scooters coming at me on those narrow streets. I was terrified being in one of those said cars, not because I would have been hurt by a crash, but because of the bikers and pedestrians we seemed sure to run over. And I never, NEVER, want to have to ride a bike here. EVER! Bikes are both like pedestrians and cars, because they can ride on the sidewalk or on the street (usually in a special lane, but not always). But cars will survive a crash with a bike, and pedestrians have more flexibility and can jump out of the way or squeeze against a wall to avoid being hit. A bicycle just has to catch a wheel wrong, brush it against something, or go over a big enough bump...or crash into a car, and then it's all over for the rider. And the bikes are constantly trying to race the cars!!! It's insane! And that's the mini version of my traffic-in-Japan rant.
So, yeah, my family is nice. The cat is called Nihango (ne(as in neat)-hah-n-go, にはんご). The house is very narrow. There are three floors: The first is the entrance way, the washing machine, and the bath/shower room. Then comes a flight of stairs, narrow, but with steps of a normal length (the size of my foot). The second floor is the kitchen, dining, and living rooms. They have a Western style table and chair, and a very comfy couch. The toilet is on this floor too. Then comes the second set of stairs, which is going to, at the very least, injure me one of these days! The steps are barely the length of my hand!!! And most of you should know my history with stairs...
Once, I'm up this potential death trap, I come to the bedrooms. OooooO! Mine is so nice!! I have a window, which opens out to a small balcony where the clothes are hung, with the bed against that wall. There are a couple of sets of plastic drawers, which my clothes have all fit. (Including my winter sweaters!) There is a rack on one side where I've hung my skirts, dresses, and coats. The closet holds my shoes, suitcase, and a vacuum cleaner. I also have a small (under a desk style) fridge. This is because the last exchange student the had would buy juice and leave half full bottles in the main fridge, and the family didn't know what to do with them. My Okaasan bought me some juice already (apple and grape) and told me to put them up there.
They all leave really early in the morning, so I've been told to prepare my own breakfast. My plan is to get to school a bit early some days, even if I don't have class, so I suspect I'll actually see more of them than they think.
So far, so good! And that's about it. They have wireless internet, but I'm not set-up for it yet-a project for tomorrow! So, I'll be posting this then! Sorry! Gomen-nasai! (goh-meh-n-nah-sah-e, ごめんあさい！)
Friday, September 2, 2011
Class Schedule
Hi there!
The opening ceremony ended up happening, but they kept the Kyoto tour canceled. The ceremony was a usual sort of thing: lots of people telling us how wonderful we are and how lucky we are to be here, etc., etc. Near the end, a student choir came out and sang "A Whole New World" to us in lovely Engrish! :) I also found out that my academic advisor and professor is a mad piano player! He played two short songs that he though represented the journey we have now started. Yeah, I know, it sounds a bit fruity when I say it like that. *shrug* He said it better.
Speaking of teachers....I got my schedule!! :D I got the classes I wanted! :D I'll be taking Ethics: East and West with my advisor on Tuesdays and Thurdays, and Popular Culture as Social Practice on Wednesdays and Fridays. I placed into Spoken Japanese 2E and Written Japanese 2C. I thought I'd probably get put in level 2, and was sort of hoping for 3, but not really expecting it, so I guess I'm happy with it? I'm not sure what the letters mean. At first I thought we were ranomly placed in different sections, because there are so many of us in the lower levels. But someone said that they split each level up into different level to further place us. This makes sense, but no one has been able to tell us if the sections are A-E, lowest-highest, or highest-lowest. My initial thought was highest-lowest, because A is the best grade, right? But on the placement test, A was the lowest and E the highest. Who knows!
Here's a break down of my schedule, 'cause it gets complicated.
Monday: 11-11:50am: Spoken Japanese (SPJ)
12-12:50pm: Reading and Writing Japanese (RWJ)
Tuesday: 10-10:50am: SPJ
1:15-2:45pm: Ethics
Wednesday: 9-9:50am: SPJ
12-12:50pm: RWJ
4:40-6:10pm: Popular Culture
Thursday: 11-11:50am: SPJ
1:15-2:45pm: Ethics
Friday: 10-10:50am: SPJ
12-12:50pm: RWJ
4:40-6:10pm: Popular Culture
Why do the times for SPJ change? I don't know. But even more annoying than that is that the room for Ethics changes, not just rooms, but buildings! And RWJ is in 3 different rooms! Seriously! They are just trying to confuse me now!! I think I'm going to get to campus every day at the same time, by 9am, so I can have a regular sleep schedule at least. I can use the extra time to study, do homework, read, hang-out, call home, etc.
In other news, the school canceled all the homestay meetings on Saturday. I'm now meeting my family on Monday at 4pm.Thankfully, I don't have any afternoon classes on Monday! We have been advised not to go out tomorrow. Looks like I get to sleep in and do nothing for a whole day!
In other, other news, I got my ID today, which means I can get into the library! New favorite hang-out place? Check! I went exploring there today, but didn't get very far. The pretty books distracted me! They kept jumping off the shelve with their colorful covers and fun names! And their knowledge. Their knowledge is very appealing. I feel right at home there, even if most of the books are in a language I can't read very well. Libraries all have the same sort of feel. Quiet and cozy and full of anticipation. They're just waiting for you to find their secrets. I wanted to sit in the middle of the floor and wriggle around in the giant blanket of that feeling. I didn't of course. I don't think the Japanese are quite ready for my special brand of crazy. I've got to give them some time. Eventually though....*evil grin*
The opening ceremony ended up happening, but they kept the Kyoto tour canceled. The ceremony was a usual sort of thing: lots of people telling us how wonderful we are and how lucky we are to be here, etc., etc. Near the end, a student choir came out and sang "A Whole New World" to us in lovely Engrish! :) I also found out that my academic advisor and professor is a mad piano player! He played two short songs that he though represented the journey we have now started. Yeah, I know, it sounds a bit fruity when I say it like that. *shrug* He said it better.
Speaking of teachers....I got my schedule!! :D I got the classes I wanted! :D I'll be taking Ethics: East and West with my advisor on Tuesdays and Thurdays, and Popular Culture as Social Practice on Wednesdays and Fridays. I placed into Spoken Japanese 2E and Written Japanese 2C. I thought I'd probably get put in level 2, and was sort of hoping for 3, but not really expecting it, so I guess I'm happy with it? I'm not sure what the letters mean. At first I thought we were ranomly placed in different sections, because there are so many of us in the lower levels. But someone said that they split each level up into different level to further place us. This makes sense, but no one has been able to tell us if the sections are A-E, lowest-highest, or highest-lowest. My initial thought was highest-lowest, because A is the best grade, right? But on the placement test, A was the lowest and E the highest. Who knows!
Here's a break down of my schedule, 'cause it gets complicated.
Monday: 11-11:50am: Spoken Japanese (SPJ)
12-12:50pm: Reading and Writing Japanese (RWJ)
Tuesday: 10-10:50am: SPJ
1:15-2:45pm: Ethics
Wednesday: 9-9:50am: SPJ
12-12:50pm: RWJ
4:40-6:10pm: Popular Culture
Thursday: 11-11:50am: SPJ
1:15-2:45pm: Ethics
Friday: 10-10:50am: SPJ
12-12:50pm: RWJ
4:40-6:10pm: Popular Culture
Why do the times for SPJ change? I don't know. But even more annoying than that is that the room for Ethics changes, not just rooms, but buildings! And RWJ is in 3 different rooms! Seriously! They are just trying to confuse me now!! I think I'm going to get to campus every day at the same time, by 9am, so I can have a regular sleep schedule at least. I can use the extra time to study, do homework, read, hang-out, call home, etc.
In other news, the school canceled all the homestay meetings on Saturday. I'm now meeting my family on Monday at 4pm.Thankfully, I don't have any afternoon classes on Monday! We have been advised not to go out tomorrow. Looks like I get to sleep in and do nothing for a whole day!
In other, other news, I got my ID today, which means I can get into the library! New favorite hang-out place? Check! I went exploring there today, but didn't get very far. The pretty books distracted me! They kept jumping off the shelve with their colorful covers and fun names! And their knowledge. Their knowledge is very appealing. I feel right at home there, even if most of the books are in a language I can't read very well. Libraries all have the same sort of feel. Quiet and cozy and full of anticipation. They're just waiting for you to find their secrets. I wanted to sit in the middle of the floor and wriggle around in the giant blanket of that feeling. I didn't of course. I don't think the Japanese are quite ready for my special brand of crazy. I've got to give them some time. Eventually though....*evil grin*
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Typhoon?
Soooo, there...might be...a...typhoon. Headed this way. It's already hit the Philippines, and parts of Taiwan and China, according to the online news sites I found last night. We've got typhoon-by-product-rain here, and more is supposed to come, especially Saturday. Our opening ceremony, which is tomorrow, might get canceled, as well as the Kyoto tour. :( I was looking forward to learning how to work the train system and see some historical sites, but safety first! Also, homestay meetings on Saturday might have to get rescheduled depending on how much rain we get. However, multiple staff have assured us that, besides being wet, we will be okay!
Speaking of homestays.... I GOT MY HOST FAMILY INFO!! We got the notices in our mailbox, and everyone (I was with a group with 4 other girls) started jumping excitedly, reading our papers, and talking over each other to tell about our familys. My family has one daughter. She's sixteen and in high school, and they want my to teach her English. The famiy says they don't speak any English. They have hosted a foreign student before, so they should be familar with making themselves understood through complicated hand gestures, etc. And They have a KITTY! I hope it's a friendly cat! :D My Otosan (father, お父さん、おとさん, pronounced o-toe-sah-n is an office worker, and Okaasan (mother, お母さん, おかあさん, pronounced o-kah-ah-sah-n)is a part-time worker. It's a 50 minute commute from the campus, a 25 min. walk from their house to the train statioin, a 13 min. train ride and then a 15 min. walk to campus. I'm so excited to meet them!!!!
We had a really long meeting about the homestay agreement and how to interact with your host family. They basically went over things that most of us knew already. For example, most Japanese familys take showers at night and then take a hot soak in a tub. Quite a long time was spent on this topic, because lots of Westerners like to take showers in the morning and find it annoying to not be able to. I've always preferred to take my showers in the evening, right before bed. Also, they explained the shower/bath arrangement in great detail, which is good if people don't know about it already. But I already knew about it and I think most of us did. I mean, for the most part we have studied some Japanese culture already. The different bath set-up is one of the main differences discussed with foreigners, so I think the staff was over zealous in going over some of the minute details of the interactions we'll have with our host familys.
On a brighter note, I met up with one of my Japanese friends, Aiko, and she taught me and the other students we were hanging out with some Kansai-ben. Kansai-ben (かんさいべん, pronounced con-sah-e-beh-n) is the dialect of Japanese that's spoken in this area. She taught us two words.
1. English: Thank you
Regular Japanese: arigato (ありがと)
Kansai-ben: ookini (おおきに) pronounced: o-o-key-ne(as in neat)
2. English: Yes
Regular Japanese: hai (はい) pronounced: sort of like Hi!
Kansai-ben: soyane (そやね) pronounced: so-yah-neigh
How are my explanations of the Japanese words working? Some people asked to see the Japanese writing systems, and others wanted to see pronunciations of the lesser known words, so I'm trying to do both.
Speaking of homestays.... I GOT MY HOST FAMILY INFO!! We got the notices in our mailbox, and everyone (I was with a group with 4 other girls) started jumping excitedly, reading our papers, and talking over each other to tell about our familys. My family has one daughter. She's sixteen and in high school, and they want my to teach her English. The famiy says they don't speak any English. They have hosted a foreign student before, so they should be familar with making themselves understood through complicated hand gestures, etc. And They have a KITTY! I hope it's a friendly cat! :D My Otosan (father, お父さん、おとさん, pronounced o-toe-sah-n is an office worker, and Okaasan (mother, お母さん, おかあさん, pronounced o-kah-ah-sah-n)is a part-time worker. It's a 50 minute commute from the campus, a 25 min. walk from their house to the train statioin, a 13 min. train ride and then a 15 min. walk to campus. I'm so excited to meet them!!!!
We had a really long meeting about the homestay agreement and how to interact with your host family. They basically went over things that most of us knew already. For example, most Japanese familys take showers at night and then take a hot soak in a tub. Quite a long time was spent on this topic, because lots of Westerners like to take showers in the morning and find it annoying to not be able to. I've always preferred to take my showers in the evening, right before bed. Also, they explained the shower/bath arrangement in great detail, which is good if people don't know about it already. But I already knew about it and I think most of us did. I mean, for the most part we have studied some Japanese culture already. The different bath set-up is one of the main differences discussed with foreigners, so I think the staff was over zealous in going over some of the minute details of the interactions we'll have with our host familys.
On a brighter note, I met up with one of my Japanese friends, Aiko, and she taught me and the other students we were hanging out with some Kansai-ben. Kansai-ben (かんさいべん, pronounced con-sah-e-beh-n) is the dialect of Japanese that's spoken in this area. She taught us two words.
1. English: Thank you
Regular Japanese: arigato (ありがと)
Kansai-ben: ookini (おおきに) pronounced: o-o-key-ne(as in neat)
2. English: Yes
Regular Japanese: hai (はい) pronounced: sort of like Hi!
Kansai-ben: soyane (そやね) pronounced: so-yah-neigh
How are my explanations of the Japanese words working? Some people asked to see the Japanese writing systems, and others wanted to see pronunciations of the lesser known words, so I'm trying to do both.
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