I have been taking it easy since coming back from America.
This isn't much of an update, but there are pictures involved. :)
I went with my friends to the river that we always pass on our way to school on the Den-en-toshi Line. The stop is Futako-shinchi and it's the most beautiful when it's a bright and sunny day - like it was when we decided to have a picnic. At first, it was just three of us, my friends Sam, Wonnie and I, but it was incredible. More friends came and we had an even more wonderful time.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032913&id=1230390045&l=c561cbf4f8
The dorm has been very quiet...well, from other girls anyway. There has been tons of maintenance work going on lately. It's awkward because there are a lot of strange men wandering around. I feel like this wouldn't surprise me so much if guys actually lived in the dorm in the first place and it wouldn't be as odd to see someone of the opposite gender in the dorm.
I met the new RAs...unfortunately, it was around 11:00 pm and my brain wasn't really on correctly then. My Japanese was pretty rough. But they liked my Obama shirt my friend Carrie bought for me from Ireland so it was all smiles and nods...it would have been that way without the shirt, but it made things funnier.
Nothing else really going on that I can think of - ever since I've been back in Japan, I've been kicking myself for only now realizing more of the things I should have brought home that I'm not using very much. Oh well.
Showing posts with label break. Show all posts
Showing posts with label break. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
I Love You Langenscheidt
(Recent) Pictures Pictures Pictures!
My time with Midori and Ben :D
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027095&id=1230390045&l=d6749b940e
The following are just more pictures of random times in Japan.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024618&id=1230390045&l=bf2794838a
----
So, I'm almost done with school. Things haven't changed in terms of my "I'll-do-this-at-the-last-minute" practice. It's not something I'm proud of, but neither is it habit I've been able to effectively break...as of yet. I'm currently writing a paper (in Japanese) about my Mobile Culture class' group project about a cellphone website. The obvious disadvantage of attending a class in which the language is too advanced is that you don't know what the teacher is saying....
Depending on fellow students to translate the things covered in class is not a comfortable way to get by, considering that they are not perfect in their Japanese either. Lesson learned. I hate depending on people so much because my level is not where I'd like it to be right now. Things like this make me wonder whether I'll take another class all in Japanese like this again. I know the "correct" answer is to take the challenging route. I have a few months to consider.
But fortunately, these friends still come through and have helped me figure out where I need to go with this paper. It has to be two pages, single space - I haven't written anything in single space since probably middle school. Seeing a paper crammed in single space with Japanese is headache inducing. I'm ganbaru-ing as hard as I can, but I don't believe two pages will be achieved. I figure he'll have mercy on me - he's a really cool guy, as far as my friends tell me and from what I've been able to deduce myself.
I only get excited about this paper when I see how much I've written. It's satisfying to know I can convey ideas. I've been using every resource - notes and handouts from Japanese class, online translators (to get rough ideas, I know they're aren't perfect in the slightest), my Japanese dictionary on my Nintendo DS and my Langenscheidt Pocket Dictionary I got some many Christmases ago. All these things are saving my life right now!
As the school semester is ending, exchange students are starting to leave/have already left. It's sad. But we will soon have a new crop of fresh faced foreigners! :)
Because students are leaving, they have tons of things they want to give and/or sell. I'll be buying a refrigerator from my friend who is going back home to Canada. It's more exciting than it should be - it means I can make my own breakfast sometimes when I can't be bothered to wake up at 7:00 am to get it from the dorm ladies.
----
I blame living in the country of Pokemon's origin for this sudden and intense regression to my childhood days. Cat and Elizabeth have recently purchased the HeartGold and SoulSilver editions of the games. I think I will have to purchase HeartGold before I come home (for good - I'm still working my way through LeafGreen....leveling up my team for the Elite Four! I have guaranteed thrills for the ride home and back!)
This last segment was for my nerdy friends who I love dearly and am glad we can be children together.
My time with Midori and Ben :D
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027095&id=1230390045&l=d6749b940e
The following are just more pictures of random times in Japan.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024618&id=1230390045&l=bf2794838a
----
So, I'm almost done with school. Things haven't changed in terms of my "I'll-do-this-at-the-last-minute" practice. It's not something I'm proud of, but neither is it habit I've been able to effectively break...as of yet. I'm currently writing a paper (in Japanese) about my Mobile Culture class' group project about a cellphone website. The obvious disadvantage of attending a class in which the language is too advanced is that you don't know what the teacher is saying....
Depending on fellow students to translate the things covered in class is not a comfortable way to get by, considering that they are not perfect in their Japanese either. Lesson learned. I hate depending on people so much because my level is not where I'd like it to be right now. Things like this make me wonder whether I'll take another class all in Japanese like this again. I know the "correct" answer is to take the challenging route. I have a few months to consider.
But fortunately, these friends still come through and have helped me figure out where I need to go with this paper. It has to be two pages, single space - I haven't written anything in single space since probably middle school. Seeing a paper crammed in single space with Japanese is headache inducing. I'm ganbaru-ing as hard as I can, but I don't believe two pages will be achieved. I figure he'll have mercy on me - he's a really cool guy, as far as my friends tell me and from what I've been able to deduce myself.
I only get excited about this paper when I see how much I've written. It's satisfying to know I can convey ideas. I've been using every resource - notes and handouts from Japanese class, online translators (to get rough ideas, I know they're aren't perfect in the slightest), my Japanese dictionary on my Nintendo DS and my Langenscheidt Pocket Dictionary I got some many Christmases ago. All these things are saving my life right now!
As the school semester is ending, exchange students are starting to leave/have already left. It's sad. But we will soon have a new crop of fresh faced foreigners! :)
Because students are leaving, they have tons of things they want to give and/or sell. I'll be buying a refrigerator from my friend who is going back home to Canada. It's more exciting than it should be - it means I can make my own breakfast sometimes when I can't be bothered to wake up at 7:00 am to get it from the dorm ladies.
----
I blame living in the country of Pokemon's origin for this sudden and intense regression to my childhood days. Cat and Elizabeth have recently purchased the HeartGold and SoulSilver editions of the games. I think I will have to purchase HeartGold before I come home (for good - I'm still working my way through LeafGreen....leveling up my team for the Elite Four! I have guaranteed thrills for the ride home and back!)
This last segment was for my nerdy friends who I love dearly and am glad we can be children together.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Wheeeeeeee, I'm Back.
Heeeeey, unintentional hiatus is no longer in session.
Sorry. Again. *looks down at the ground in shame*
First things first: Pictures!
Recently, my friend Midori and her son Ben came to Japan for three weeks. When I was fourteen years old, my mom signed me up for classes at the Japan America Society in Washington D.C. and Midori was my very first Japanese teacher. Then, I started taking private lessons with her and my friend Kamille. Although we didn't keep up Japanese with her for the longest time, we still kept contact with each other, and we became more like friends than just a student-teacher relationship. I also became the babysitter :)
In short, I'm super happy we were able to meet with each other in Japan. She always made learning Japanese fun, with watching TV, eating snacks, and fun activities. I owe a lot to her for where I am today.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027095&id=1230390045&l=d6749b940e
The following are just more pictures of random times in Japan.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024618&id=1230390045&l=bf2794838a
So basically, I've finished the semester....except for a paper, which I'm in the midst of writing. It's due on the 30th, so just a few more days!
The last day of classes was celebrated with karaoke and eating out at a nice Italian restaurant.
I'm eagerly awaiting my Paramore concert on February 13th. Once I see them, I will have seen my top three favorite bands EVER. I can't express how much glee this brings me.
And three days after that, I'm heading home for a break! I need to figure out also whether I'm going anywhere else, namely Hong Kong and/or Korea. I hate planning things.
Oh, and thanks to Midori/my mom, I have been able to enjoy the classy cuisine of Easy Mac right here in my own dorm. I have yet to find macaroni and cheese in this country, so despite it not being anything as good as my mother's, it was delicious. I also now have my special chai tea and Swiss Miss hot chocolate. Things are doing pretty swell right now.
I have to go to the Immigration Bureau and apply for a re-entry permit so I can come back here after I go home during the break. That's my mission on Monday. It's been sort of like this for the last few days - missions. Friday was getting medicine. I learned a while ago that sending 3 months of prescription medicine is illegal (oops) so my medicine was confiscated. After sending in a thousand forms and only getting a little piece of paper saying that I did something wrong, try again later (thanks for playing), I tried again. No response.
Sooooooooo, I had to go to a clinic to get some medicine. Fortunately, again thanks to my mother, I was able to get to a clinic where the staff and doctor speak English. This was the sort of thing I didn't want to be struggling in Japanese, so it went well....expensive, but I got what I needed.
Saturday's mission was getting my hair taken care of long after it needed it. As usual, my hairdresser Ikko was friendly, happy to see me and eager to talk to me in both English and Japanese. He told me that he recently ordered two volumes of One Piece manga in English so he could practice reading. I told him I do the same thing! A while ago, I bought three volumes of "Yostuba&!" manga (much cheaper here than in the US) and was able to understand about 90% of it. It was satisfying. I think I'll pick up a volume of One Piece for him when I go home.
And so far my break has consisted of re-watching the first season of Pokemon episodes with Elizabeth every night. The cheesiness is beyond overwhelming but it brings back good memories and other parts of it somehow more hilarious than before. We talked about how amazing the human brain is and how it can recall things that haven't been brought up, watched, or listened to in years. Like the PokeRap. Yeah. I remember parts of it still.
We're tempted to watch it in Japanese after we finish watching the English dub. We've also noticed how much Japanese culture is in that show that we weren't aware of when we were kids and how some things didn't translate well (for example, onigiri turned into donuts....ehhh? Not even close 4Kids!).
I live a simple life.
Sorry. Again. *looks down at the ground in shame*
First things first: Pictures!
Recently, my friend Midori and her son Ben came to Japan for three weeks. When I was fourteen years old, my mom signed me up for classes at the Japan America Society in Washington D.C. and Midori was my very first Japanese teacher. Then, I started taking private lessons with her and my friend Kamille. Although we didn't keep up Japanese with her for the longest time, we still kept contact with each other, and we became more like friends than just a student-teacher relationship. I also became the babysitter :)
In short, I'm super happy we were able to meet with each other in Japan. She always made learning Japanese fun, with watching TV, eating snacks, and fun activities. I owe a lot to her for where I am today.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027095&id=1230390045&l=d6749b940e
The following are just more pictures of random times in Japan.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024618&id=1230390045&l=bf2794838a
So basically, I've finished the semester....except for a paper, which I'm in the midst of writing. It's due on the 30th, so just a few more days!
The last day of classes was celebrated with karaoke and eating out at a nice Italian restaurant.
I'm eagerly awaiting my Paramore concert on February 13th. Once I see them, I will have seen my top three favorite bands EVER. I can't express how much glee this brings me.
And three days after that, I'm heading home for a break! I need to figure out also whether I'm going anywhere else, namely Hong Kong and/or Korea. I hate planning things.
Oh, and thanks to Midori/my mom, I have been able to enjoy the classy cuisine of Easy Mac right here in my own dorm. I have yet to find macaroni and cheese in this country, so despite it not being anything as good as my mother's, it was delicious. I also now have my special chai tea and Swiss Miss hot chocolate. Things are doing pretty swell right now.
I have to go to the Immigration Bureau and apply for a re-entry permit so I can come back here after I go home during the break. That's my mission on Monday. It's been sort of like this for the last few days - missions. Friday was getting medicine. I learned a while ago that sending 3 months of prescription medicine is illegal (oops) so my medicine was confiscated. After sending in a thousand forms and only getting a little piece of paper saying that I did something wrong, try again later (thanks for playing), I tried again. No response.
Sooooooooo, I had to go to a clinic to get some medicine. Fortunately, again thanks to my mother, I was able to get to a clinic where the staff and doctor speak English. This was the sort of thing I didn't want to be struggling in Japanese, so it went well....expensive, but I got what I needed.
Saturday's mission was getting my hair taken care of long after it needed it. As usual, my hairdresser Ikko was friendly, happy to see me and eager to talk to me in both English and Japanese. He told me that he recently ordered two volumes of One Piece manga in English so he could practice reading. I told him I do the same thing! A while ago, I bought three volumes of "Yostuba&!" manga (much cheaper here than in the US) and was able to understand about 90% of it. It was satisfying. I think I'll pick up a volume of One Piece for him when I go home.
And so far my break has consisted of re-watching the first season of Pokemon episodes with Elizabeth every night. The cheesiness is beyond overwhelming but it brings back good memories and other parts of it somehow more hilarious than before. We talked about how amazing the human brain is and how it can recall things that haven't been brought up, watched, or listened to in years. Like the PokeRap. Yeah. I remember parts of it still.
We're tempted to watch it in Japanese after we finish watching the English dub. We've also noticed how much Japanese culture is in that show that we weren't aware of when we were kids and how some things didn't translate well (for example, onigiri turned into donuts....ehhh? Not even close 4Kids!).
I live a simple life.
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