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[Jun. 23rd, 2007|02:17 pm] |
6/18/07
It's amazing how excited japanese girls get when they see a gaijin (foreigner). Ever since i have arrived at school, i have been absolutely swarmed by girls waving at me and screaming KAWAII!! (cute!!). I know its a compliment, but after a few hours of girls screaming about how cute you are, you tend to get a somewhat of a headache. Its a very strange situation to be in. i dont think ive ever gotten so much attention in my life.
Alot of people have also been coming up to me and introducing themselves. I feel kind of bad though because the only names i remember so far are those of my family, principal Nishimura, Sato sensei (my homeroom teacher), and a really nice girl who sits next to me, Tomomi.
Apparently Tomomi went to the Los Angeles/San Diego area on exchange last year, so her english is noticably better from the rest of her classmates'. It's very convenient sitting next to her because she helps translate things for me. She was even nice enough to write me a note my first day introducing herself. I was very pleased about that because i dont usually remember names or words very well unless i see them written down on paper. I guess that would make me a visual learner.
Some of the questions that the girls here ask are really quite funny. In fact, the first question that they asked me after I introduced myself to the class was if i had a boyfriend.
Ew... so i had to use one of those sqwatting toilets today. Thats all they have at my school. It was the most grotesque thing ever. God forbid if you had to do more than just go pee.
I've had a hard time translating alot of things, and to tell you the truth, its kind of giving me a headache. Tomorrow i have to give a speech introducing myself to the entire school in japanese. eek... not too excited about that.
Well, i better get started on that...
my school.
our classroom
6/20/07
Yesterday i had to give a speech introducing myself to the entire school. I stuttered a little on a couple of words, but other than that, i think it went pretty well. Everybody was very impressed with me, so im quite happy about that.
I have only been attending school for less than three days and i found out that i have to give a speech at english camp tomorrow as well. My host sister, Rie, will be in Tokyo for her interview for YFU to go to America this summer, so i have to take her place. Also, i am going to be singing in my class' chorus competition for the school festival which is coming up soon. I really didnt want to join, but they were all so eager and i didnt want to be rude and refuse. I mean, they even had a costume all made for me and everything. oh well, if they want a bad singer in their group then so be it.
Its just really hard jumping into an entirely different world with a different language and different culture and being expected to do all of these things. I'm still working on trying to understand even the simplest linguistics used when people talk to me.
I sort of wish that i had someone who i could talk to fluently in English and not have to worry about whether they understand me or not. I feel like my English-speaking skills have regressed because i am constantly trying to think of simple sentences to say in Japanese like; "I am hungry", "I am tired", "delicious", "hard; difficult." The simplicity of this mindset i have to be in is really starting to annoy me.
During most of my classes i just stare off into space or look at pictures in my text books because i cant understand a thing the teacher is saying. Most of the time they talk to fast, or too quietly, or use vocabulary that i dont know. As for the text books and worksheets... i might as well hand them back to the teacher as soon as they are given to me because i cant read what it says because over half of the text in in kanji (which i know very little of). Ughh.. i feel so useless.
So obviously i'm having a little bit of a bad day. But dont take it the wrong way. I love Japan, i'm just a little frustrated right now, thats all.
This morning wasnt so bad though... I got to help principal Nishimura teach English to the 3rd years during second period. I have found that the methods of teaching a language here are very different than in America. I would say its less effective, but maybe i just havent seen enough yet to make a fair judgement. Some of the teachers here, though, i cannot believe actually teach english. Some of them could barely even talk to me. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope that they were just nervous. Nishimura san is pretty good at speaking English. He can translate most things, but his pronunciation of things is a little off on some words.
I'm not sure how i feel about my situtaion right now... a little frustrated, a little anxious, little homesick, a little excited, a little concerned. I just hope that i will be able to handle 5 more weeks.
Hopefully this weekend will be fun. School here if too boring and serious. The only part i really enjoy about it is getting to ride the train because i get to watch all of the different people and stare off into space/ look at the scenery. Ugh.. i have to go practice that stupid gospel song for chorus now....
(later the same day)
Well, I'm happy to say that my mood got somewhat better. After lunch, i helped the principal teacher English to the 3rd years again. We really didnt do much teach, though. The students spent the entire time asking me questions, and of course, the first one was "do you have a boyfriend?" Some of the things that they asked me where just ridiculous though. Like; "Do you have a gun?" Apparently they think that everybody in America has a gun? Wow, what a fantastic image... I also had some girls ask me if they could touch my cheek. Now that was interesting. I was then swarmed by girls wanting to poke my face. I even had a couple girls pull a sneak-attack touch on my hair. Its so weird how they act around me. They treat me like i'm some sort of celebrity or something.
6/23/07
English camp was actually really fun. My class and i took a charter bus to Akita city and got to stay in a traditional Japanese-style hotel. The rooms were very simple, but nice. Thats one of the things that i like about Japan. Things are can be so simple and organic here and still look elegant. Oh, and tatami mats are really cool, too. I like the smell of them.
Anyway, it was nice getting to talk to some of the ALT's (english speaking teachers) from around the area. Most of them were british and were very funny. I love british humor. The speech that i gave went very well, it was sort of just me talking about war. I wrote it the day before, so it wasnt very good, but oh well. After speeches, we did lots of fun activities and games geared towards teaching the students about conversational skills and about American culture. I'm happy that i got to go on the trip with my class because i got to know alot of my classmates alot better. Ive even become pretty good friends with my roomate for the trip,Rie (no, not my host sister, a different Rie). It was a good experience because now my classmates are starting to treat me like a normal person instead of a celebrity, which is very relaxing.
English camp, basically.
hahaha. Fear and Loathing in Japan?
our hotel lobby.
Tsugichi! (Trust me, I'm just as confused as you are.)
our traditional japanese-style rooms.
Shino, only the most adorable room mate ever.
I love my ice cream.
After camp yesterday, my host father drove me to my YFU representative's house to stay with his family for the weekend, due to the fact that my host mom and Rie are still out of town, and also because my host dad cannot cook. Unlike the Kobayashi's, the Sato's have a very traditional Japanese-style house. I sleep on a futon at night, and we have to wear slippers in the house, but there's like 3 different types of slippers for different rooms which is a little confusing at times. The doors are all paper, which makes it a little difficult to sleep in the morning when Sato's wife is up early cooking breakfast. But all in all, its very beautiful here.
Today Sato san and i went hiking around the area. First, we explored the black sand beach a little bit. We found some interesting stuff down there. I picked up a couple of really pretty sea shells, someones old fishing pole made from bamboo, a straw doll used for some sort of festival, and a bottle washed up on shore to put the black sand i got in.
After the we were done at the beach, we came back up to the house to eat a snack and change clothes because we decided that we would also do some hiking in the mountains. Oh my god, it was the most beautiful thing ever. Everything is so lush and green. We hiked down to a river where there was a cave with a Shinto shrine in it. The steps to get down to the river were all covered in moss, and the pathways were all very narrow. I took a bunch of pictures, so maybe when i have more time i can edit this entry and post them.
I have noticed that the people out here in the country really make use of their natural surroundings. For example, today at the beach, Sato san picked up a bunch of nori (seaweed) to use in miso soup and whatnot. When we were hiking in the mountains, he also picked up some sort of vegetable that apparently we are going to eat tonight for dinner. I helped peel bamboo shoots as well as the mountain vegetables in preparationg for dinner. I hope that it will taste good.
I have been on the computer for way too long now, updating this journal. With that said, ive got to get going.
I MISS YOU ALL!!
keep checking back for more entries or pictures!
Black sand beach
some weird doll thing that they use in a festival.. washed up on the beach.
what a Japanese cemetary looks like.
Sato san and his family tomb stone.. thing.
On the trail down to the shrine.
Down narrow, rusted stairs...
Along the side of a hill...
Made it! Yay!
A shinto shrine
I didnt have the appropriate clothing (or shoes) for the occasion, so i had to borrow. And just so you know, yes, those are mens shoes and yes, that is a man's shirt. So pretty much, i'm as big as a man in Japan. Wonderful.
this bridge got destroyed in an earthquake decades ago
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street_spirit90's journal
drained
the vending machines here are SO cool. and they are practically everywhere.
some strange dinosaur park, but i took this picture for matt. hahah.
Tokyo River, maybe? I dont know... but it looked pretty cool to me.
