Updates! JLPT and Allergies?

There are seriously so many things I've been wanting to blog about but don't have time to-

Typhoon
Hotaru (Fireflies)
Kyoto
Matsumoto
McDonalds (CAUSE IT IS DIFFERENT)
Being Adopted

I dunno just so many things I wanna tell you all but this week I am super busy! Why? Cause the JLPT is on Sunday. I am taking the N4 the second easiest exam to take in the tiers of the JLPT.

For those of you who probably don't know the JLPT is the Japanese Language Proficiency Exam. In order to get my Japanese major I must pass the N3 exam. It is going to be hard. But this semester I am taking the N4 in order to ease myself into it.

The JLPT is seperated into 5 levels to test your ability with the Japanese Language ranging from the easy N5 to the near fluent amazingness N1. Someday I would like to work my way to N1 but for now baby steps.

I found two great sites. One is called JLPTBootcamp
http://www.jlptbootcamp.com/

and the other is a site suggested by Mac the guy who runs the boot camp website. It is called Japanesepod101

http://www.japanesepod101.com/

Overall  both of these have caused a bit of a flareup in my determination. As well as some recent circumstances but to that later. Really I find it hard to commit or be determined about anything. It is weird to be that way when you've done it and it backfired so fantastically that you can't bear to do it again. I think however, it is life. That eventually everyone goes through it. It is still hard to talk about and now coming to terms with chances are I'm probably not going to be able to do a job that requires that level of physical activity stings.

Japanese is more than a hobby for me. I really do enjoy the language and I really do want to master it. But in order to do so I really need to step up my game. Sometimes I feel really inadequate despite people telling me how my pronunciation is good and my speaking skills are pretty well off. But for me not being able to read and write, recall vocab words or remember the right grammar is frustrating.

I'm getting better. I notice I can start to understand songs and lyrics when singing them, I can get the basic jist when listening to someone provided I know most of the vocabulary. But reading is still a thorn in my side. People who think they don't have to learn Kanji will have a tough thing coming to them. The Japanese use Kanji a lot and you are expected to know it. I can semi-read a couple things, and by semi-read I mean knowing that 八事 means Yagoto. But it isn't me seeing it and being like ah it says Yagoto. It is me just knowing it cause I see it everyday when I go to school. To be honest I don't know which kanji means which but I am assiming the first is ya- and the second is goto. It isn't reading it as much as associating it with a place. Does that count as reading?

Even though I am getting better I can't be satisfied with this because this getting better is still so baby stepped. At least in my eyes. It is hard for me to remember I should take my time and not rush my education.

Also my lack of Japanese knowledge is proving somewhat dangerous to me.

Twice in Japan I have had an allergic reaction to Tree Nuts. In America it was something I never gave thought to. It was so easy to avoid. I would rarely have to ask if desserts had them in it. And if they did I avoided them. It was obvious what contained what and usually it was in desserts so it was all good. Here it is different. 

My first encounter was at the choir club, It was late after practice and they often have the habit of sharing snacks at the end often some sort of souvenir from travels around. One of the girls offer me a small square cookie. They tell me it is a coffee cookie, and I ask if there are nuts in it. They said no.

So I took a bite and it took around a minute or so before my throat began to hurt. My lips were tingling and my mouth and all up in my throat was hurting. I look down and sure enough there were chopped up nuts in the cookie. I try to ask them what they were and at this point communication was getting harder. I didn't know the words for Pecan (ペカン literally pekan) or Walnut (くるみ kurumi) and when I tried saying them they had no idea what I was talking about. I began to try to explain to them I had an allergy and they began freaking out at the end of it I ended up drinking water, not going to a hospital, and not really knowing what to do. The pain lasted for at least and hour and a half and the soreness for around up to 2 hours afterwards. At the worst of it, it hurt to swallow, and it was just really painful. And at the end I was exhausted and tired.

At this point I hadn't experienced a reaction like that since the time I was at a rehearsal dinner (which was years ago!) and ate some cake with walnuts in it. And at this point the walnuts consumed in that cake were bigger than the ones in the cookie and the reaction was pretty comparable to it. After talking about it with my Mom, I began to carry the over-the-counter allergy medicine from target I brought to Japan with me at all times. Just in case.

Then we have today, I've been adopted by our Japanese neighbors from down the street (more on that in another post this is already WAY too long) Kimiyo is the sister and she is very kind. Today we went out for lunch where she treated me to shabu shabu (a lot of food!) and we enjoyed eachother's company. I even successfully ate crab. However at the beginning of the meal the waitress placed the meat in a tannish sauce that I was told was sesame based. However when I ate it it wasn't before long when my throat began burning I even got a bump on my lip.

To be honest I really didn't beileve it was a reaction at first until the pain really began to flair up. It took me 3 times to ask and confirm there was something in there nut related but I didn't know what kind. While the pain subsided not too long after the soreness lasted pretty much almost all day and I am still somewhat tired. I took the medicine and while it took the edge off a bit it didn't help too much (but I admit I didn't take it until after the pain in my throat subsided mostly cause I actually forgot I had it on me until I was back at school talking about it to a friend).

I think the worst thing is, because it hurt to swallow I didn't end up eating too much of the food (I did eat a lot, but not as much as I think I should've) which caused Kimiyo to think I didn't enjoy the meal. But I did! It just hurt to swallow the food so it was hard to eat. I explained it to her but I am unsure if she understood. I just hope she doesn't hate me. She is such a nice lady I don't want her to get upset with me! She did tell me I can call her anytime and that we can get lunch again so maybe I didn't upset her too much.

And with that I need to sign off... I must go back to studying and writing papers. Ah the life of a student!

Update (Exams and Stuffz)

Unfortunately for this post I will not have any pictures. It is merely an update post but I imagine pictures would've been nice ya?

Either way I've been kinda busy. School is going wellish. But there are some classes I really don't care for such as the Wednesday Japanese class. My main issue is the teacher. She really gets on my nerves mostly cause she confuses me and another girl constantly with eachother and this past class she yelled at me cause the girls next to me were talking after a quiz. And it was really like... out of the blue. Oh and she coughs all over our tests and homeworks.

For a society so like cautious of germs you think she wouldn't do that. But it is a daily thing. Even when she isn't obviously sick. She still coughs and it is still on the test she is trying to give back to me.

It is currently the rainy season in Japan... also mosquito season methinks. I am getting eaten alive. Let's see...i counted at least 11 bug bites on my arms and legs. There may be more. But those are the most noticable ones.

It is also unbearably hot. Any blanket no matter how thin is too much. And one day makes you feel like you are caked with sweat. Even after showering you don't really feel clean.

Exams are going well they are very spread out. One of my exams I got a 100 on but it was Current Topics which is so incredibly simple it is annoying. Haruno Sensei's class doesn't have exams. Japanese Supplemental I got a B... and Japanese I got a C. (Yea not too great but I know where to study now)

The American Society exam is coming up It will be on the States, major cities and landmasses. While the States and Major cities will not be too difficult for me, I am worried about the rivers and mountains. I personally never looked too much into them

Chorus has gone very well. I am having a lot of fun in there and through it my Japanese is improving however I really need to study Kanji and reading and writing. While speaking and listening have improved I feel like those aspects are where I am still very weak.  Well it is late and I need to wake up early to clean... (I've been procrastinating.)

Gujo Finale (Part 4)

Really not much else to say. We slowly began to decsend the mountain, I was tired but ok, my jeans were practically dystroyed from the climb so I had to ask Raine for his knife and I sliced off one of the legs of the jeans. The thunder was getting stronger, by the time we were leaving it was pouring rain.

I finally got home and realized I forgot to turn off my alarm. So it was all staticy cause I use the radio to wake me up.

Other than that it was pretty chill, it took forever to upload the pictures to Facebook. Which btw if you want to see more Gujo Pictures look on my facebook. I have tons. :D

Overall this trip showed me a lot of things and helped with some

1- I can eat seafood even if it is moving and smells icky ( I may not like it, but I can do it)

2- My physical limitations may still be there but most is mental. I climbed a freaking mountain. Yes my legs hurt for a long time after that. And I totally re-injured my ankle the otherday, but overall I think that even though chances of me going back to a military or other Physically intensive job is low, I am still capable of doing things

3-  I was so relaxed after coming back. I think I need to try harder to relax more and stress less. And that I shall tots do.

Any questions? Don't be afraid to comment. Almost no one does it makes me feel like I am talking to empty space XD

Gujo Part 3

When we woke up the next morning the girls all packed their things and we beat the boys downstairs, the lady at the Hostel let us keep our things in the closet while we ventured during the day. We went back to the river bank and we ate breakfast there. It was so relaxing, the weather was amazingly pretty and it was just stunning. I was really happy and at ease, which so was what I needed. I even let Raine listen to Summer by Joe Hisashi and he agreed it was a good song. I waded into the river and found tons of pottery and ceramic shards. If I clean them, I am sure it would make some cute jewelry. (Me being a jewelry nerd what can I say?)

Looks like a dream

Breakfast!!!

Afterwards we kinda snacked here and there walked around did some shopping. Did I mention how amazingly pretty Gujo was, how when you walk the streets you can hear and see the water rush by. It is so inspiring. I loved it. We went to a place where there were tons of koi that you could feed, there were so many! And then there was more places to see the river. It was so stunning. The afternoon kept marching on until it was time for the biggest challenge I had to encounter in Japan as of yet. (Physically that is) Climbing the mountain...

Tis a Koi

I know I touched on it in the last post but like I was a bit terrified. My legs have caused me so much trouble and to be honest I am sorta afraid that I will re-aggravate them by overexerting myself. Going to the castle the night before was something that made me feel horrible. As if I was majorly out of shape and just unfit for anything physical. But everyone was climbing the mountain... I wanted to be at the top, Axel said it wouldn't be too bad. So.... It probably wouldn't be right?

Oooooooh boy.

Well first it began alright, I was sorta towards the end of the group cause I walked slowly and was snapping pictures. It was so pretty, the sunlight, the greenery. But I slowly started to fall more and more back.... finally they would get to places like a waterfall and we chilled for a bit. But we continued to climb, and it was pretty steep. The once wide grass covered path was turning more rocky and thinner. Sometimes it was no wider than a foot or two, and the drop was pretty steep. I was carrying my messenger bag/pursethingy that I always have on me, and food and water since they were all like lets eat at the top of the mountain. There was nothing else left to do but to keep climbing, I will admit it burned a lot. I would occasionally have to take breaks. Tero and most of the other Ryuugakusei were able to keep up a good pace soon I was left behind, Michael E. and Minaye usually were around the same area I was, but a lot of times I was climbing on my own. I would slip, or trip. Never anything that made me think I was going to fall off the mountain, but I did wonder what would happen then. During the breaks I took I would often look out, marvel how far I made it steeling my determination to make it to the top even if I had to drag myself there. Finally after walking up probably the most dangerous trail I've attempted I made it to the top, I wasn't the last one either which was nice. But my legs were killing me. So I sat down and stretched them out, it was hot... I was sweaty. All the guys had their shirts off trying to cool down. And I ate my lunch.

UP THE MOUNTAIN!

It made me feel so fantastic, I made it to the top! On my own! That feeling was incredible.

What a view

You can see the Gujo Castle from here

We all talked here and there, gazing off occasionally admiring the view. Sometimes we could hear thunder. Usually back home in America I was pretty ok at telling the weather. Usually being able to look at a radar and know the details of the storm or look at the clouds and tell how long we have until a storm hits.

In Japan I have yet to find a decent radar like the ones NOAA has... I bet it is somewhere I just don't know where. Also I dunno why but I suck at time predictions in Japan when it comes to storms. Ah well...

Some of the students continued up ahead to check out another post but I was still relaxing and I was fine with that however they saw a boar which is kinda cool. It was then we discovered that Axel and Tero had found a somewhat abandoned "village" and that we could check it out. It was supposedly a bit creepy. What none of us knew was that there was no trail. So we began descending the mountain not on a trail. There were many trees to cling to, the ground was soft and rocky and extremely steep.  Unlike some people I didn't have a walking stick. And I did slip once almost falling until I grabbed onto a tree. This was apparently a common occurrence. (I still have marks on the palm of my hand where I grabbed onto a tree only to get stabbed by something probably splinters despite this happening over two weekends ago)

Sometimes we had to slid down, Minaye and I were the ones straggling behind a bit so Axel and Raine stopped and checked up on us. I'm glad too, they made the navigation down easier. Especially Raine who would sometimes offer his arm for me to hold on to in order to stabilize myself. 

Doesn't look it, but scary

We finally made it and it wasn't so much a village as much as a couple abandoned houses here and there, ruins similar to what you'd see in North Carolina, the ground strewn with debris, glass, ceramics. At this point and rather lamely might I add my camera died. As we decended further it became less precarious and more strange, large amount of rocks and shacks abandoned... it was strange. We saw 2 snakes, one coiled and one climbing a tree. We came to a cleaing with a large hole in the ground. There was a deer skeleton and I have one of the teeth from the said deer. (I know creepy but still)

We descended more and one of the more spooky things we saw was there, a large hole with rocks near the bottom, beyond the rocks was darkness, it was roped off and there was plastic from a flower bouquet on the ground, the flowers having long since decayed. I can only imagine what happened there...

Final updates on Gujo tomorrow morning (I am super tired!)

Gujo Part 2

Sooo Where was I? Man it has been a week since the trip! But I will try to like.... remember as best as I can....

So after lunch we went to the grocery store and bought some drinks and food and sat next to the river bank just chilling and talking. It was so relaxing and the area was so stunningly beautiful it was just amazing. The water was cool and clear, and everyone was at ease. However my allergies started to act up... to the point where one of my eyes got semi swollen. (But I took some medicine and later that evening after applying a coolpack it felt better)

The river

Gujo <3

All of the Ryuugakusei who came on the trip except for me

Afterwards we decided to go to a Sento. Sento is different from Onsen, but it is still a public bath. When you get there you are separated into men and women's side you have a little locker to place your things in, then you take a shower, washing yourself really well before sitting in the bath to relax.

Talk about an experience. Before the trip I was super worried about it. But when we went it wasn't that scary at all. I have to say it was very relaxing and there were two baths, a regular one and an electrified one. With the electrified one you were supposed to go near the walls and you could feel the charge to help your muscles relax. The baths were really warm <3 The only obnoxious thing were the boys. They were annoyingly loud. So the sound carried over to the girl's side.

After Sento we went up to the Gujo Castle. It was so impressive we couldn't go in cause it was closed so instead it was just chilling outside and stuff. We talked more and bonded with eachother. To be honest I was somewhat afraid of what would come the next day when we were supposed to climb a really big mountain.

Those of you who know me know that my legs have been kinda weird since the shin splints. In fact climbing up to the castle had been challenging. A lot of it is my fault, I haven't been pushing my limits. But this is the time to do it right? Axel reassured me that it would be ok and I could go at my own pace. No one would rush me and to rush through the mountain anyways was not good. So with that on my mind I began to relax. We later went down from the castle and found a convenience store. Took us a while but we succeeded. It was fun though, Nicole and I would sing broadway songs from Avenue Q and we would all chit chat. Only annoying thing was my eye at this point but even that wasn't too bad, just irritating.

The Castle

We met up with everyone at the river bank and we all ate roasted corn and some of the students began to play with fireworks. It seemed like so much fun. But I hung back, I talked with people and looked at the stars. I was able to find the Big Dipper. It made me so excited, just to see something here that you would normally see at home. Hard to believe we are all under the same sky no matter where we are you know?

We went back to the Hostel and just chilled until we all went to bed. We got up the next morning and packed up and then we began to get ready for leaving. We left the bags into a closet on the first foor of the Hostel (btw did I mention the Hostel belonged to a Buddhist sect?)

(Anyways I g2g I will continue later. <3 Pictures to come next posts- Gujo Part 3 and Exams as well as Kyoto Part one)