Oh dear lord.... I wonder if I sold my soul or something.
It seems I tested into basic Japanese like most of the students who came with me. However the advisor suggested I take Japanese Culture in Japanese (in addition to the culture course I was taking in English) And a report writing class in Japanese. I don't know if I am ready for either of those. As of now I am taking:
5 Japanese Courses (Basic)
1 Japanese nocredit Course (basic)
Tutoring (Not a class)
American Society
Japanese Culture and Society
Japanese Affairs (In Japanese... I dunno if I will keep this class)
Comparative Culture
Japanese Report Writing (Basically 3201 in America but I dunno if it will be harder than America's... It is in Japanese and I am semi-worried about this course)
But I can always change. I might do it and join Badminton. Oh and the Judo and Kendo classes are only offered in the fall and it costs about 1200 yen to go to the Toyota campus. Soooo I want to see how my finances turn out?
I guess I am just super worried about my classes. Will I really be able to test into the JLPT- 3 Level? Cause right now I am worried I cannot... and if I don't then I won't be able to graduate with my major in Japanese. I'll have just a minor. I just feel like my class schedule is turned wayyy upside down. We later went to the arcade. And that was fun! I won two plushies and I gave one to a girl who was going to help me.
We all went shopping afterwards. We got a Pot and Pan on sale for about 782 yen I think. And a knife for 382 yen. Cutting boards and the like. AND A PILLOW! A very soft, comfy pillow. And some hangers. <3
After shopping I came back and I went back out with Michael. We went to a store called Disc Olive. And there was an elderly Japanese Man playing awesome music. Most of it was American and he was in love with Elvis. It made me really happy to be in that small store.
Well I'm going to get ready to go out. See if I can like... find the 100 yen store.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
The First Day in Japan is a sick Day in Japan- Pictures to Come
And no I do not mean in the WOW THIS IS AWESOME! Cause despite it being awesome and all it is kinda hard to enjoy the awesome when your whole stomach and lower body feel like they want to kill you. With a vengeance.
Today was very important and I was surprised by how much Japanese I knew for the situation at hand.
今はびょきです。すみません。ちょっと。いいえ、いいえ、だいじょうぶ。
Basically I kept saying all day. I feel fine, I'm a little sick. Sorry. No, No I'm fine. Thank you so much! No I cannot eat, I'll just drink. Ect. (not all those phrases are above in Japanese and I don't even know if they are spelled right.）
At first I was gonna go and just hold out but even at the beginning where the owner of the apartment was explaining trash policies I started feeling queasy again so I told the people leading the group who made me sit down.
A note about garbage, if you thought America garbage schedules or dorm garbage schedules were hard? Do not move to Japan. Their system is very very very complex. And I am very very serious about that. They have at least 5 categories... I think more.
The students went outside but the people who were heading the group made me stay inside. The owner's wife was so sweet. She picked up on what was wrong and soon was rushing around like no tomorrow. She turned on the heat, made me move to a different couch to lie down, brought me a blanket, brought me water and a sports drink. All the while asking if I was ok. Even if I tried to refuse she still did it. I later went to orientation (which wasn't too much later) Overall I was miserable and had to leave the lunch session cause the smell of food was making me queasy. It wasn't even seafood. So I went downstairs to rest. At that point I began to feel dizzy. Which is a fantastic feeling. I got my own seal to stamp with that says - ドレル which is Doreru (Dorrell) I think it is snazzy. I got my stipend in cash which was surprising, I thought it would be in a bank or something so a new thing added to my list is a piggy bank! Unless my Mom and Dad wanna send one.
After Orientation I took the Placement Test. Overall I was surprised with how much I knew. However as I was doing my interview the sickness realllly began to get to me. So while my responses were slow and she would have to rephrase occasionally. I was able to communicate what I wanted. She seemed pleased with my answers.
The written test I did well on the first part... sorta. The Kanji will kill me. I knew more than I thought I did. The second part was a multiple choice. And had tons of Kanji in it that I couldn't read. Soooo after a while of trying to get as much as I can and narrowing down the answers I guessed. >.>
I am the first to register for classes tomorrow and Michael was nice enough to walk me back to the apartments. We stopped in a 7-11. It was nice to see what it was like. He was going exploring today and he checked on me earlier. And since the time I came back I've been sleeping. Which I think I will do now.
By the way more pictures to come, I am just not in the mood to upload and organize them.
Today was very important and I was surprised by how much Japanese I knew for the situation at hand.
今はびょきです。すみません。ちょっと。いいえ、いいえ、だいじょうぶ。
Basically I kept saying all day. I feel fine, I'm a little sick. Sorry. No, No I'm fine. Thank you so much! No I cannot eat, I'll just drink. Ect. (not all those phrases are above in Japanese and I don't even know if they are spelled right.）
At first I was gonna go and just hold out but even at the beginning where the owner of the apartment was explaining trash policies I started feeling queasy again so I told the people leading the group who made me sit down.
A note about garbage, if you thought America garbage schedules or dorm garbage schedules were hard? Do not move to Japan. Their system is very very very complex. And I am very very serious about that. They have at least 5 categories... I think more.
The students went outside but the people who were heading the group made me stay inside. The owner's wife was so sweet. She picked up on what was wrong and soon was rushing around like no tomorrow. She turned on the heat, made me move to a different couch to lie down, brought me a blanket, brought me water and a sports drink. All the while asking if I was ok. Even if I tried to refuse she still did it. I later went to orientation (which wasn't too much later) Overall I was miserable and had to leave the lunch session cause the smell of food was making me queasy. It wasn't even seafood. So I went downstairs to rest. At that point I began to feel dizzy. Which is a fantastic feeling. I got my own seal to stamp with that says - ドレル which is Doreru (Dorrell) I think it is snazzy. I got my stipend in cash which was surprising, I thought it would be in a bank or something so a new thing added to my list is a piggy bank! Unless my Mom and Dad wanna send one.
After Orientation I took the Placement Test. Overall I was surprised with how much I knew. However as I was doing my interview the sickness realllly began to get to me. So while my responses were slow and she would have to rephrase occasionally. I was able to communicate what I wanted. She seemed pleased with my answers.
The written test I did well on the first part... sorta. The Kanji will kill me. I knew more than I thought I did. The second part was a multiple choice. And had tons of Kanji in it that I couldn't read. Soooo after a while of trying to get as much as I can and narrowing down the answers I guessed. >.>
I am the first to register for classes tomorrow and Michael was nice enough to walk me back to the apartments. We stopped in a 7-11. It was nice to see what it was like. He was going exploring today and he checked on me earlier. And since the time I came back I've been sleeping. Which I think I will do now.
By the way more pictures to come, I am just not in the mood to upload and organize them.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
The Flight and Being in Japan
Ok! So that flight. Agh... what a flight! It was ridiculous in terms of length. And just boring. I read all of The Last Olympian so there went that book. Overall it was just a long long long long and did I mention long flight.
Usually I don't get motion sickness. At all. I love flying I could do it all day. NOT ON THIS PLANE. I really do still feel a bit wonky after the flight and I don't know if it was the turbulence or the food or a combination thereof...
Seriously that stuff was nasty. I only ate the salad and the green beans. I couldn't touch the chicken. At all. Even when they gave me nicer looking food later I couldn't bear to touch it.
Out of the above I only touched the fruit and the potatoes I ate an apple before that though. Yea this picky eater thing is gonna have to end with the whole Japan thing. Just saying.
I fell asleep on the way here, and after a while of getting this sick feeling with the shivers and the stomach turning-ness... I began to listen to Vitas and Pogo and that worked for a bit. I then began to take pictures of outside. There was a lot to see. At one point we could see white dots on the wave crests of the ocean.
So after I arrived there was luggage stuff and I met Kana who took me to the apartment via train and taxi. As we were going in we met up with Michael the guy from my school who is also going to Chukyo. We went to a convenience store where everything was around 100 yen I bought some onigiri and water for breakfast. We later got some food and now we are unpacking!
Also- Thanks Mom and Dad for packing that green poinsettia fleece blanket. A beheaded beetle just fell out. (Either way it is still warm tho!)
Usually I don't get motion sickness. At all. I love flying I could do it all day. NOT ON THIS PLANE. I really do still feel a bit wonky after the flight and I don't know if it was the turbulence or the food or a combination thereof...
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| Yum... I think..... The Shrimp went to the nice Japanese guy next to me |
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| IT WILL EAT YOU AND YOUR SOUL |
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| I don't care how good you look you aren't being eaten. |
I fell asleep on the way here, and after a while of getting this sick feeling with the shivers and the stomach turning-ness... I began to listen to Vitas and Pogo and that worked for a bit. I then began to take pictures of outside. There was a lot to see. At one point we could see white dots on the wave crests of the ocean.
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| Clouds <3 <3 |
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| Pacific Ocean you can't see the wave crests but I could! |
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| Snow capped mountains of Japan |
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| The light is from the sunset |
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| You can see the sky and ocean! |
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| Pretty! |
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| YUP! That is mount Fuji yo! |
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| First sighting of the Japanese Coastline |
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| Fuji being compared to other mountains |
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| Michael after we met up and went out |
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| mmmm Gyudon! |
Also- Thanks Mom and Dad for packing that green poinsettia fleece blanket. A beheaded beetle just fell out. (Either way it is still warm tho!)
Monday, March 26, 2012
The Beginning
Ok! So I could bore you with the details on who I am, ect ect. Chances are though if you are reading this you know me already! Whether it is from my hometown, school, work, VoiceHollywood, Viridia, Pandora, or wherever we have met; somehow you are now following my adventures to Japan (P.S, if you are a stranger that is pretty cool but how did you stumble on this? Jw!)
Overall I guess it hasn't really sunk in. I mean over the months of planning, coordinating, paying money out the wazoo and working, packing, ect. I am finally here. It makes me think of the time I tried to jump off the 8ft cliff into the water in Arizona. Despite the many times I tried to do it and couldn't there came a time where I just jumped.
And that is what I am doing right now. Just Jumping.
I have no idea what to expect at all. And overall that is a terrifying but exciting prospect. It is only 10:39 AM, however I have been up since 4:00 or so because I had to be at the airport at 4:45. By the way. The city of Greensboro at the hour of 6 am looks like someone went wild with gold glitter. It was pretty darn cool. There was a little kid on the plane that freaked out midflight, we hit a bit of turbulence but not a lot. As the Mom was getting off the plane she accidentally hit the kid's head against the overhead compartment. I felt bad for the little guy. He was having a rough morning.
I slept a bit on that plane then I arrived at Detroit which is where I am currently. I am waiting for my flight that leaves at like...... 4 pm.... agh. This layover lol. I've already completed some chapters of The Last Olympian.
Sooo when I arrived there was this big long crazy tunnel thing. It led from the Domestic Airport (which I saw stops to Evansville, IN which made me think of Cole, and Charlotte, NC which made me laugh cause that is pretty much home) to the International Airport.
I mean seriously even if there was no crazy pictures of creepy things here, the bright flashing lights itself was enough to confuse and give me a slight headache. And it is a pretttty long tunnel! After that I took my Dad's advice and got some water and exchanged some money! I then got breakfast at this place calllllled Max & Erma's it was pretty good! Had myself an Omelette with ham, cheese, tomato, and mushrooms. It came with hashbrowns and fruit salad and toast! Talk about a full meal. The waitress was nice and the service was so quick it was ridiculous. Because Edwin requested here is pictures of my breakfast. I bet I looked weird as I was snapping these photos.
After I ate I talked to the waitress and now I am here. Outside next to the walkway thingy waiting for my flight. I deleted all the photos and videos off my Memory Card, it was about time I did it anyways. I then worked on deciding the name for the blog. It was hard. But I like this one. I think it kinda conveys what I want.
More updates to come when I think of them. Oh and another thing I love about this airport is all the writing in Japanese. Usually you see English and Spanish but here it is English and Japanese. Not a lot. But enough that it makes me like excited.
P.S.- Nani is like 15 minutes away from me. How come this fact wasn't discovered sooner?!!?
P.S.2 - I took another picture!
Overall I guess it hasn't really sunk in. I mean over the months of planning, coordinating, paying money out the wazoo and working, packing, ect. I am finally here. It makes me think of the time I tried to jump off the 8ft cliff into the water in Arizona. Despite the many times I tried to do it and couldn't there came a time where I just jumped.
And that is what I am doing right now. Just Jumping.
I have no idea what to expect at all. And overall that is a terrifying but exciting prospect. It is only 10:39 AM, however I have been up since 4:00 or so because I had to be at the airport at 4:45. By the way. The city of Greensboro at the hour of 6 am looks like someone went wild with gold glitter. It was pretty darn cool. There was a little kid on the plane that freaked out midflight, we hit a bit of turbulence but not a lot. As the Mom was getting off the plane she accidentally hit the kid's head against the overhead compartment. I felt bad for the little guy. He was having a rough morning.
I slept a bit on that plane then I arrived at Detroit which is where I am currently. I am waiting for my flight that leaves at like...... 4 pm.... agh. This layover lol. I've already completed some chapters of The Last Olympian.
Sooo when I arrived there was this big long crazy tunnel thing. It led from the Domestic Airport (which I saw stops to Evansville, IN which made me think of Cole, and Charlotte, NC which made me laugh cause that is pretty much home) to the International Airport.
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| Rainbowwww |
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| And then the Tunnel begins to remind me of the Willy Wonka Tunnel |
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| I dunno how I feel about this photo |
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| Doesn't it look yummy? Cause it was. |
More updates to come when I think of them. Oh and another thing I love about this airport is all the writing in Japanese. Usually you see English and Spanish but here it is English and Japanese. Not a lot. But enough that it makes me like excited.
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| Trammmmmm |
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| It passes by a lot. |
P.S.- Nani is like 15 minutes away from me. How come this fact wasn't discovered sooner?!!?
P.S.2 - I took another picture!
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| You can see the Katakana and Kanji |
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