the humanity

dorm room - nice and cool today

Had language and writing class today. Went to work. Saw a cockroach in my room. O_O WHY ME???? One of the dorm manangers and I sprayed and searched like crazy but we didn't fine the sucker. So now I'm convinced I'm going to catch a horrible disease from it or something. Hopefully it dies from the spray though. But my room wasn't even dirty!!!! ;....( the humanity.

not much to report yet again

dorm room post dinner - today was delightfully cool and cloudy.

I had language and translation class. I had aikido practice. Not much else to report.

rainy day!!!

dorm room post dinner - It was a beautiful cloudy and rainy day!!!! :D

I went to language class, talked to my parents on skype, worked on a project with my classmate and friend, went to Aikido practice. I am tired, but happy!

too much work

dorm room - cool and rainy today. I went to work and came back and studied. Test tomorrow. I didn't get half done with weekend that I wanted to... I am beginning to wonder if working all weekend is going to be possible for me.

time

dorm room - fairly sunny today but cooler in the evenings. I went to work today and we were pretty busy the whole day. I am so tired and no studying is getting done for the test I have Monday... :( Money... Grades... Sleep... Is it impossible to balance these three necessities? Well, technically grades aren't a necessity but as a student they are supposed to be a priority. I wish I didn't need to sleep.

at last! summer ends!

dorm room - cool and rainy! XD

Today I went to language and politics class and then I went to work. It was my kind of weather today!! I think it is safe to say summer is officially over!!

break spent working :P but finally a cool day!!

dorm room - post dinner - cool and rainy today!!! :D It's finally starting to feel like fall.

Today was a day off from classes because it is autumnal equinox day. I went to work and had a good and fairly busy day.

fire practice and goya champuru

dorm room post dinner - It's been pretty hot... again...

Tuesday I went to language class and translation class. Today I went to language class and writing class. We had emergency drill practice at my dorm in the afternoon. We all got a turn at using a fire extinguisher!! They were filled with water for practice and we shot at a target painted like fire. :) I then went to work. I made goya champuru which is the newest Japanese dish I have learned how to make. It is really good for you and if you treat the goya properly it isn't too bitter. It was my third time making and all the customers that had some said it was delicious. :D I really like goya champuru; I don't mind the bitterness and it tastes so good stir fried with pork, egg, and tofu. :D I don't have classes tomorrow b/c it is the autumnal equinox and a national holiday in Japan. I will go to work instead.

the writing of a skit

dorm room post dinner - Today was not too hot. I went to language class and felt the kanji test went ok. I talked to my parents and sister via skype. I worked with my partner for language class. We had to write the rough draft of our skit. I have done skits for Japanese class before and they always felt so hard and daunting back in America. Now as we were writing it felt so so easy to come up with things to say. :D It makes me feel I have become much more comfortable with Japanese!

I also ate at my favorite pasta place b/c I hadn't been in a while. Now I will study and go to bed.

Kanazawa trip

dorm room - post dinner - It has been not too hot the past two days.

The trip was really fun. I met at the appointed time and soon we were off in our chartered bus. We made a couple of rest stops before finally arriving at a huge fish market. It was a five story structure selling anything you could imagine with an emphasis on fish. I bought two goya and some matcha ice cream with a friend.

Then we went to this gold leaf museum place. Kanazawa is famous for gold leaf and produces like 99% of the gold leaf in Japan. The name 'Kanazawa' literally means gold marsh or marsh of gold. Everyone decorated their own box at the gold leaf place with the gold and silver leaf. My box has my Japanese name on it!

Then we went to the Japanese inn. It was huge and had three different kinds of public bathing areas. Two of the areas were outdoors and the scenery was awesome. The other bath was indoor with a sauna! It was my first sauna experience! After all the bathing fun I took a turn in one of the massage beds. It was a pretty good night. :D Dinner had been amazing too.

The next day we had another awesome meal at breakfast served by the inn staff. Then we went to a large garden and then to a teahouse and old district of the city. Then we headed back to Nagoya. I'm pretty exhausted from all the festivities and the long bus ride but it was such a fun trip and I got to spend a lot of time with my fellow IES students.

Tomorrow is Monday and I have a kanji quiz. DX I have already done my homework and studied so I am looking forward to going to bed tonight! Back to reality.

just a bit of luck

dorm room post dinner - This entry is for the second day of classes that I am just now getting around to writing. >_> It is about linguistics class.

So I arrived at the classroom for the first day of linguistics. I sat down in the room and the professor came along soon after. He explained that the class was an "open" class meaning both Japanese and foreign students could take it. He also said that the Japanese students would return from their break the following week. And then he dropped a bombshell on us. Unfortunately, he explained, this class has a limit of only 10 students (foreign students). All of us looked around at each other. There are currently 16 of you, he went on to say. (I'm paraphrasing.) So I'm very sorry but 6 of you will have to drop the class. After class an office worker is going to come and decide which of you will drop he said. We couldn't believe it!! Japan is usually better run than this! I couldn't believe this was being addressed NOW on the first day of class as opposed to, oh I don't know, BEFORE the class started?? I wasn't able to dwell of the unfairness and sloppiness of this for long b/c the professor immediately started class. The lecture was FASCINATING. I discovered that day how much of an interest I have in linguistics!

At the end of the lecture there was a knock on the door and one of the office worker came in. She was holding a round canister in her hands. My heart sank as I remembered that somehow 6 of us were going to be forced to drop the class. How would it be done? Number of credits? Japanese level? The office worker explained that she had written on ten slips of paper the word "lucky" and on 6 slips nothing was written. She didn't need to explain further. But she did anyway. We are going to draw to see who stays in the class. WHAT??? I thought. This was being decided by dumb luck?? I felt that I never win anything based on luck. What if I wasn't allowed to take the class? What if I got booted out? I REALLY wanted to take the class now!! It was so MEAN of them to let us hear the first lecture and then tell us 6 of us had to leave!!

Suddenly a few students raised their hands and said they needed this course in order to graduate from their home universities. (I thought that that was a convenient thing to SAY and if it was true than they sure were irresponsible to leave it up to one class when they went abroad!) I realize now my thoughts were a bit harsh at the time b/c I was so worried I would get kicked out. I watched in horror as four (yeah FOUR) students each got to be GIVEN a slip with 'lucky' on it!!!! My odds had just decreased significantly (so had everyone else's of course). And then it was do or die. Time to draw. Who wants to draw first the office worker asked. My hand shot up in the air. I figured I might as well draw when I knew for certain the highest possible number of "lucky" slips were still in the canister. It was the only thing I could do to seize the best odds I figured. With six "lucky"s and six nothings it was a 50/50 shot. I braced myself and reached into the canister. I pulled out the first slip I felt. The office worker immediately moved on to the girl behind me. I looked down at the folded slip in my hand. I opened it quickly. Behind me I heard a disappointed sign. I turned and looked at a girl whom I know from my dorm. She looked at me and smiled ruefully and held up a blank piece of paper flipping it over to show it had nothing on it. I automatically held up mine to show her. She congratulated me. Yep, there written in orange colored pencil was:

Lucky!

friends!!! :O (of the foreign variety)

dorm room post dinner - It wasn't so hot today!!!! XD I went to language class (took a test) and politics class. I also went to work in the evening. But the best part of my day was having lunch with a classmate of mine. She is from China and we have been talking a lot in and out of class. We even exchanged emails. I really like her and I hope we can become good friends. ^_^ I also exchanged email with my whole politics class b/c we are working on a debate together and have to meet outside of class. I also met some Japanese students in the elevator and one of them asked me where I was from and turns out she lived for a while in St. Louis so of course we had to exchange emails! I before thought I didn't have that many foreign friends but now I don't know what to do with them all! XD

I hope the weather stays cool for the trip tomorrow. IES students are going to Kanazawa. I have to meet the group near Nagoya station at 8:45 tomorrow morning so I got to get some sleep. Hopefully there will be internet access at the hotel but if not I'll write again in a couple days!

typical Thursday

dorm room morning post breakfast - It was rainy again yesterday! I went to language, linguistics, and flower arranging class. I am still really enjoying my classes especially linguistics. After class I came back to the dorm and cleaned/did homework for a while. Today I have a quiz and I hope I do well. This weekend is an IES group trip to Kanazawa. I'm looking forward to it.

rain! victory!

dorm room night - RAINY!!!! XD

I am so happy it was rainy and COOL today! I went to language class and then writing class. Then there was a social hour with Japanese students that I attended and we played a quiz game. All the students were grouped up according to their birth month. I was with the Decembers and we won the game!! We actually destroyed all the other teams! I answered a question about anime!!! XD Then I had to go to work. Now I am going to try to get to bed early.

quick catch-up

dorm room midday - sunny :(

Last Friday I went to my second day of classes. I had language in the morning and then linguistics and flower arranging in the afternoon. Then I went to work. I worked all weekend too. On Sunday I read to little kids which was fun. We read Harold and the Purple Crayon. Monday I went to class in the morning and it finished at 11:50 and I was done with classes for the day! I went to a Nanzan gym orientation later that evening. The guy explains the equipment and makes sure you are healthy enough to use it. Apparently the high score for heart strength was a 6 and I got a 5! When I was stretching the guy was super impressed b/c since I do yoga I am pretty flexible! :D Today I went to language class and then France and Japan class and translation class in the afternoon. I plan to go to aikido tonight. That is my very quick account of the last few days.

so tired...

dorm room - Hot, but not as hot as has been.

Today was the second day of classes and I also went to work. So once again I am too exhausted to write a proper post. Tomorrow is Saturday so I will try to get Thursday and Friday written up tomorrow.

so much to tell! so little energy...

dorm room late / early (depending on the point of view...) Hot today.

Today was the first day of classes!!!! xD It was an awesome day and I plan to describe it in detail... but not right now. It is past midnight and I just finished homework. Yep school year starting off with a bang to say the least. Full report soon! (I hope...)

busy days, classes begin tomorrow

dorm room late night - Today was rainy!!! xD

Yesterday evening I went to Aikido practice and got a great workout! Today I got my locker key, my textbook, and the kit I need for flower arrangement class. My classes are:

Language

writing II

History of Cultural exchange between France and Japan

American and Japanese Politics

Intermediate translation

Flower arranging

Japanese linguistics

^w^ I'm excited to take them! After I got all that stuff I went on a field trip with other students to the Tokugawa Museam and Nagoya castle. It was my second time to go to the museum b/c my host mom took me once during a miniature doll set special display. At that time my host mom and I ate at the restaurant inside the museum. So this time around a couple of my classmates and I ate there as well. I had the matcha set which was a cup of matcha tea and a rice cake sweet. It was yummy!

My host mom also took me to Nagoya castle but we didn't go inside. This time I got to go inside and it was really cool. The inside has been converted into a museum type set up.

Then after the field trip was officially over the group disbanded at the castle. I went straight to work. I made molasses cookies.

When I got back to my dorm everyone was setting off fireworks in one of the courtyards. I stayed and watched for a bit but then headed up to my room. Tomorrow is the first day of classes so I should review a bit and then get to bed early.

A combination of Aikido and walking around like crazy today (not to mention climbing up a 6 story castle) has left me sore and exhausted. A bit of yoga stretches before bed will feel wonderful!

orientations galore

dorm room - It has been hot.

I haven't had a lot of free time so I got behind again on the entries.

The rest of IES orientation was really fun.

We went to Japanese classes in the morning. We saw Inuyama Castle, a marionette museum, a tea ceremony, and some traditional Japanese fishing. I ate a lot of delicious food and visited the awesome baths the inn had.

Then when we got back to Nanzan we started Nanzan orientation. I took a placement test. But I am not satisfied with the results so I am going to take another test to try to get into a higher Japanese level. Orientation events continue and I have met a ton of new people, signed up for classes, and went to a cool welcome party. I also have been working at my job. I plan to go to Aikido practice tonight. With any luck at all I won't die of heat...

Anyway I am going to really try to squeeze in a daily entry from now on... We'll see how that goes...