break continues

dorm room late night - Cool day. Friday was the first day of my 6 day break from classes. I organized a lot and went to work in the evening. On Saturday I went to work and today I went to work as well. Tomorrow I will go visit my host mom from last semester.

break begins

dorm room post dinner - Chilly. Today I had language, linguistics, and flower arranging class. I also met with my linguistics class and ate at a restaurant with them and our professor. It was great food and really fun. Today is the start of a 6 day break from classes. I think I need a break too; I'm tired.

chill in the air and encouragement from an unexpected place

dorm room post lunch - chilly. :D Yesterday I went to language and translation class. Today I went to language and kanji class. Last night I went to Pastel, a near-by place that serves pasta. I was studying a bit after my meal at the table. All of a sudden a Japanese older woman came up to me and wished me good luck with my studies!! I was surprised but managed to stammer a response. It's nice to get encouraged! It has been chilly so I now have a blanket on my bed at night and have made the transition to long sleeves. I also had to wear my jacket today. Nagoya is windy during this time of year. I have work tonight.

weekend trip and Monday to follow

dorm room - cool days

Over the weekend was the IES trip to Shirakawa and Takayama. It was a super fun trip filled with exploring scenic villages and spending the night at a traditional Japanese inn. I had a delicious dinner and part took of the public baths they had. We also helped make wax food displays (a huge industry in Japan). When we arrived back at our dorm on Sunday night our dorm was having a sushi party and I ate a lot of yummy sushi. Today I went to class and skyped with my parents. I have been studying as well.

party and trip tomorrow

dorm room late night - cool weather. I had language and politics class today. Then in the evening my dorm had a halloween party. I took a shift at bartender since for my job I have experience with that. People were surprised when I told them I don't drink. I talked with some people I knew but "left" ie went up to my room early. Our IES trip is tomorrow. We are going to Shirakawa village and Takayama. I have already been to Takayama but I'm still excited for the trip.

classes, office hours, job (I feel as though I am in a game of tug of war, and I'm the rope)

dorm room post lunch - Yesterday and today were cloudy and cool. Yesterday I had language and translation class. I worked on stuff the rest of the night. Today I had language and writing class and visited office hours. I have my job tonight so I want to get some things done before I go.

Sunday and Monday

dorm room pre lunch - Yesterday and today have been nice and cool. Yesterday I went to work and after work went with my co-worker to a department store. We looked around for a bit and found a French foods event on one floor. Then we each went our separate ways. I got back to my dorm and did homework. This morning I went to language class and now I am back in my room. I plan to do a lot of homework and organization today.

summer dissipates, some Hokkaido cuisine followed by Philippines cuisine

dorm room post dinner - Today was cool and somewhat cloudy so nice for me. :D I went to a department store which was having a special event featuring Hokkaido foods. It was yummy. After that I went to work. After work I went with a couple of co workers and some regular customers to a restaurant. It was a Philippines restaurant and it was the first time I'd ever had that kind of food before. It was really delicious. Now I am tired but of course, I have work tomorrow as well. At least it isn't as hot here anymore.

this post brought to you by the word "wicked"

dorm room post dinner - Today was a bit cooler. Fall is crawling towards Nagoya. I had language class today and after a wicked midterm we all straggled into our next section's classroom. I was eating my snacks and talking to my good friend. When class started a new project was announced. We are going to form groups of 2 or 3 and go to Kakuozan. Kakuozan is an area of the city near Nanzan that is famous for tons of quaint little shops and fun touristy things like that. Each group will go to a specific shop and interview the owners. There are 17 or 18 shops participating and we have to come up with good interview questions and then present our findings in class. This will all take place over the course of a few weeks but it sounds like wicked fun to me! :D My group is my good friend and a girl I know pretty well from my dorm. We are interviewing a shop that sells cheese and honey. We chose it from its picture because it has a really cool red spiral staircase in front of it. :o Wicked staircases are always good! We brainstormed our topics and questions before class ended and then I had to get back to my dorm to finish up some homework. I am really looking forward to the project though. I had been to Kakuozan once before just out of curiosity and I had explored for a little while before getting back on the subway and heading to work. It is a cool neighborhood.

After class I finished up some homework (a presentation for politics class). Then I went to politics class and gave said presentation! :P It went well b/c the class had a good long discussion about my article that I summarized. So I was pleased. I then went to work. Actually yesterday I worked it out with a fellow employee that she will take some of my shifts. You see she had been away for a month visiting home in America. Now she is back and will be taking my Thursday and Friday shifts. I am so relieved b/c working 22 hours a week was killing me. :P Anyway I wanted to go into work anyway just to visit with her b/c we grew pretty close over the summer and I wanted to catch up. Before going to MER (My English Room) I visited Kakuozan for the second time ever and actually found the shop my group and I will interview!! The neighborhood is fairly small and I was also going off what I remembered from the maps we were given in class today. The wicked cool red spiral staircase was what helped me find it so quickly. I could see it a ways off! The shop is adorable really. And true to its description it sells cheese and honey almost exclusively. I have never before thought of that combination but hey, it works for me! I explored a little more and took note of a pretty nice pink sunset before getting back on the subway. Two department stores and a café later I finally arrived at work and talked with my friend and customers until closing. I also shared some of the food I had bought at one of the department stores. (I had bought and eaten a chocolate cake thingy, bought some cheese and olives, went to a cafe and ordered ice tea and toast, read material for politics class in the cafe, and then finally went to MER.) I took my time getting to MER but I was having a pretty good time. I mean hey, it IS Friday.

Now I have been back in my dorm room for a while and will probably crash soon. It was a great day and hopefully I can have a great and productive weekend.

an oral test followed by a busy day

dorm room post dinner - Today was cooler than yesterday! I had my oral exam today which meant after my 5 minute testing slot was finished I got the rest of the morning off. I spent it in the library. I helped pass out flyers for my dorm's halloween party and then had linguistics and flower arrangement class. I went to work. Tomorrow I have a midterm in Japanese class.

warm weather persists

dorm room post dinner - today was warm. I had language and writing class. I spent time at the library and went to work.

still warm and clocking library time

dorm room post dinner - today was sunny and warm. I am still waiting for autumn to really get here. I had language and translation class and spent more time in the library.

no skype but I try to catch up

dorm room pre dinner - Today was sunny and warm. Yucky. Anyway I had language class. I couldn't talk with my parents on skype b/c something came up at home. Hopefully we can reschedule. I studied at the library for a while and then came back to my room and have been trying to get things done.

a fun packed weekend :D

dorm room post dinner - Yesterday was super cold and rainy all day long!!! XD I loved it!!! I went to see Phantom of the Opera with all the IES students. It was a really good performance. I know the story so even though the words were hard to follow in Japanese I still basically knew what was going on. After the musical I went to a department store in search of a gift for a friend. While there I stubbled upon a fashion show going on there in the store. I had never seen a fashion show in real life before so I stopped and watched and took some pictures. Then I looked around the store but didn't really find what I was looking for. I had to get to work by that point. I spent the rest of the evening at work and on the way home went to the grocery store.

Today I went to Yatomi which is another city in Aichi prefecture (Nagoya is the capitol of Aichi). It was the first time I had been there and the first time riding the kintetsu rail line. I also bought a drink out of a Japanese vending machine for the first time! I went with three other people from my job and we helped out with an English school halloween party. Our boss has connections to the school and was there too helping out. We helped judge a costume contest and helped give out treats and prizes. It was fun but a bit tiring. The pay was worth it though. I got 15,000 yen for about four hours work. :D When I got back to my dorm room I napped. Then I messed around online. Then I did homework and now I think I will go to sleep. It was a really fun weekend. I just wish I could have gotten more work done for classes... Can't have everything I guess.

a good friday and a busy weekend begins

dorm room cool and sprinkly today. (I think I made up the word "sprinkly". :P I had language and politics class today. I went to work with my friend from politics class and we practiced speaking in Japanese. She gave me a present! They were sweets from the shop she works at. She is so nice! I have a busy weekend ahead... I am going to a concert and work on Saturday. I am helping with an event on Sunday. And I have much class work to do as well. I hope I have time to study AND sleep...

skits

dorm room late night - Yesterday was cool and so was today. Yesterday I had language and writing class. Today I had language, linguistics, and flower arrangement. I worked yesterday night and tonight.

Today in language class we performed our skits with our groups. My partner and I did well. She was really nervous on stage and omitted one of her lines but otherwise we did well. Watching all the skits was really fun too. Some were super funny.

Tuesday :D

dorm room post dinner - Today was cool and pleasant. I had language and translation class. I did studying the rest of the day with breaks for eating and other goofing off activities. :D

busy day Monday

dorm room post dinner - Today was rainy! I had language class, talked with my parents on skype, gave my friend her birthday cake, went to the gym and went to Aikido practice. At practice there was someone there whom I know from my home dojo in Rochester. He came to Japan on business and trained a few nights at the dojo. It was good to see someone from my college city! Now I will go to sleep.

training and birthday cake

dorm room - It was cloudy and rainy today!! I explored a bit this morning and then went to work and trained a new employee. I made a birthday cake for a friend of mine to give to her tomorrow. Now I must study.

work and play

dorm room - fairly sunny but not overly hot today.

I slept in and went to work. I had a fun day and afterwards some of us went out to eat at a restaurant. It was delish.

conversations

dorm room post dinner - It was sunny today... but not unpleasantly hot.

I had language and politics class today. In language class we practiced our dialogs and made up our own conversations with a partner. Then we practiced our skit projects so more conversation. In politics class we debated whale hunting, cigarettes, and affirmative action. I also went to work and had some fun conversations with the customers! I rode the subway with a girl from my politics glass. She is Japanese and we have a ritual to ride to our respective part time jobs (until our paths split) together and alternate practicing English and Japanese. ^_^ Last week we spoke in Japanese so I got practice. Today we spoke in English so she got practice! I am so happy to be making Japanese friends and to be having so many great conversations!! I'm happy it's Friday too; this week was exhausting.

an entry for yesterday

dorm room early morning - It was cloudy and chilly yesterday. But it felt really good to me. :) I was tired last night so I am writing the entry this morning.

I had language, linguistics, and flower arrangement class. I am loving linguistics more and more and of course ikebana is a pleasure. I went to work last night too.