Nothing really of awesome significance is going on.
I did write a paper on the differences between how men and women speak in Japanese for my partially useless Nihongaku class. There are certain speech patterns and certain words that are supposedly reserved for men (making them sound more assertive, direct, and sometimes almost rude) and women (making them sound polite, submissive, and indirect) and it's sort of a big deal if you use words that don't match your gender. For example, I couldn't get away with saying things like "Ikuze!" because the "ze" at the end of that phrase (which means, "Let's go!") is reserved for boys and men. Lame. Because I REALLY like male speech patterns and words. It sounds cool. I clearly watch and read too many shounen (young boys) anime and manga. I blame my brother for my tomboyish ways. With love.
Anyway! In regards to the limitations of how to speak depending on one's gender, things like that are changing, so that's not necessarily set in stone anymore. But sometimes, it is. It's very complicated...but very fun to research.
It's just about June. Crazy, isn't it? In almost two months exactly, I'll be home for a long time. I'll be (hopefully) finishing up my undergrad degree. Then off to graduate school. Yikes. Every time I think about it, I remember how much I don't want to talk about it, so I move on. Just like I will right now.
The other day I went to 7-11 with Elizabeth (we hang out too much, haha, we know, but we always have so much fun!) and as we were passing Fit Care Depot (sort of like a CVS...they often play really random music, ranging from Spice Girls, N*Sync and other 90s gems. I've walked in to hear some sort of hardcore gangster rap...also "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas once. That place is awesome. And the stuff there is cheap too!), a 10 -12 year old boy and his grandma walked out of the store.
They took a gander at the foreigners (that's us :p ) and moved on. Well, at least the grandma did. The boy had no qualms about looking over his shoulder every now and then to look at us. Several times. We laughed about it. We reached a point where we had to wait to cross the street and while we did, we noticed the boy and his grandma walking away along the street. Even as he was leaving, the boy every now and then turned to glance at us.
"If he does it one more time, I'm just going to wave at him," I told Elizabeth, almost hoping he would do it, just so I could do my thing. Elizabeth approved. And sure enough, he did. The moment he did, I smiled and waved and he quickly turned back around. I didn't catch him look at us again - so much shame. Silly boy.
Now that summer is coming, so are the bugs. Whomp whomp. Living in Maryland, interestingly, I've never had too much experience with cockroaches. Unfortunately, they are quite popular here. Elizabeth and I managed to use our Japanese skills and common sense to find some bug spray and we share it between us. It's supposed to keep roaches out specifically. I'm not excited for the giant death spiders to return (please refer to my first album in Japan to see what I'm talking about: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017965&id=1230390045&l=fe935f12ae ) Another friend has showed me the camel cricket that he found in his apartment. Not happy, not happy, not happy one bit. I hate those things. But the thing I hate the most, the very most, are centipedes. Their freakish limbs, their speed....just thinking about them makes me shiver. I will be praying that none come near me, my room, or the ENTIRE dorm (haha, I know I'm going a little overboard). And considering it's Japan, I know they are probably horribly large.
I'm going to stop talking about that too now, considering how uneasy it makes me feel. Isn't it sad that I'm the one that brought up the topic?
Here, enjoy some pictures to take out the horrible images I put in your heads. Or go play some Tetris. It helps, this proves it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8587000/8587211.stm
Silly things abound in this country
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038860&id=1230390045&l=c202a2f738
Covering a variety of sights in one day
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037709&id=1230390045&l=88436beb0c
Another collection of miscellaneous adventures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037709&id=1230390045&l=88436beb0c
By the way, for all of my readers, thank you caring enough about me to read my ramblings about this lovely fascinating I-will-never-fully-understand-it-ever country. I'll be soon home soon enough. :)
<3
ReplyDelete