Quick update

Just a quick one. I'm taking another placement test tomorrow to see if I can move up to the next class, so I need to spend some time studying tonight.

I spent most of the weekend either sleeping (so many naps), cleaning house or watching Japanese TV. I felt a little guilty for not getting out of the house and doing something more interesting, but I think I really needed the downtime. I can't even remember the last time I had a weekend completely off. Sad but true.

I was able to follow some of the TV programs shockingly well. Also, strangely enough, there's no shortage of super-cute eye candy.

Japanese boys with their cute shaggy haircuts. Drool.

I did kind of regret not making any plans with my classmates for the weekend. Not having cellphones or even most people's emails is very strange... I need to remember to make plans well before the fact, because I can't just be sitting at my house, decide I want to go out, and text someone to ask what's up. So freaking barbaric.

Momo-chan and Julie-san invited me along to see Naruto on Wednesday, so that's a start. ^_^ And I think we're going out for beers or something on Friday (we being Momo-chan and whoever else I talk into it between now and then; Julie-san is leaving this week, which is super sad 'cause she seems awesome). I want to make a karaoke night happen at some point too. Probably I should just pick an evening and tell everyone to come.

Today we went to lunch with Bryan-san at this little noodle shop right next to the school. I got a HUGE bowl of soba for ¥350! So awesome. Even cheaper than eating at Domy. Christine (Christina?) and this kid Jamie were sitting with us, and Jamie was relating very stereotypical freshman-dorm type stories. I found myself feeling glad to not be involved, but also kind of wishing I was. ^_^;; Going clubbing in Tokyo, ending up crashing out in a love hotel because they missed the last train, that sort of thing. Sounds like a good adventure, but also I'm not convinced I really want to go barhopping with a huge group of 19-year-olds.

Random packaging comic:

Today, after class, Momo-chan and I were asked to stop by Information Services. I knew why they wanted me -- it was to pick up the kanji book I ordered last week -- but for Momo-chan it was a mystery. Turns out, they wanted to do a quick interview with her about her homestay. The homestay coordinator, Okamoto-san, doesn't speak very much English, so we had a long and occasionally confusing/awkward conversation in Japanese. I was able to follow a surprising amount of what she said. In the end, Momo-chan and I muddled through it, albeit with quite a bit of confusion, rephrasing, grammatical mistakes and one (not very helpful) reference to an electronic dictionary. But when we left, I felt elated -- it's amazing how much our Japanese has improved in just a couple of weeks.

Afterwards, I had to drop by Student Services to trade in my key for a different copy (my lock is very finicky and sometimes is pretty hard to unlock, so I was hoping that a different key might solve the problem). I conducted that entire conversation in Japanese as well and left feeling generally very accomplished.

Walking home, I thought about how amazing it is that I can actually communicate in this language now. Sure, it's awkward and halting and full of grammatical errors, miming, roundabout explanations and so forth -- but still! Actual communication! To people who don't speak any English!

Okay, it looks silly writing it out. But seriously. It's freaking awesome.

Sunset and powerlines:

Let's see, I was going to note some random stuff I've noticed about Japan.

* QR codes everywhere. Lots of stores have them on their receipts -- even the Ministop (24-hour convenience store) and the Daiso.

* When the Japanese want to indicate themselves, they point at their noses, whereas in America we point at our chests.

* The gesture for "come here" or "follow me" is also different, though I'm not sure I can explain it in words. We point our index finger and curl it towards ourselves, but the Japanese gesture is to extend an arm with the palm facing downward and make a waving motion with the hand. Again, it just goes to show we take odd things for granted.

* Apparently the Japanese police are entitled to stop anyone and ask for ID, and as a foreigner I am required to always have my passport on me. Huh.

* It's an oddly smoker-friendly culture. There are smoking cars on trains, designated smoking areas in the airport, smoking sections in restaurants, etc. Coming from the US where it's practically a social taboo, this is super weird.

Sunset from my balcony:

This last one isn't mine, it was taken by my coworker Ashlinn, who is also in Japan right now (she and some other CCNMTL folks are out here as part of a project we're doing, but sadly nowhere near me). I thought it was so funny, I couldn't resist stealing it to include here.



Why yes, trash can, yes I would.