Well, after Friday's little mental breakdown (which is exactly what it turned out to be: overreacting solely because of culture shock - I feel much better now), I took Saturday to go out and explore the city. Partly because I needed something to do on a Saturday. Partly because I didn't want to stay in my room all day, and partly because, frankly, I wanted to go.
That being said, most of my time was spent at the three shopping districts. Picture Nagasaki like the letter J, but with a line crossing the bottom hook. It also is easy to picture a fishing hook with a worm on it (for those of you that like fishing). The the area that consists of the worm-hook apparatus is the lively part of town. The three big districts are (by area name): Amu Plaza (Nagasaki Eki-Mae - literally "in front of Nagasaki Station," even though it is the station...), You-Me Saito (doesn't have a translation... weird. It's about 5 blocks South...ish of Amu), and Hamanomachi (literally "Seashore Town", because when the land wasn't filled in a mile east of it, it used to be by the shore...). Much of it turned out to be window-shopping, but I did end up getting a few items: a notebook of blank music score, so I can write down whatever pops into my mind (currently, an arrangement of The Carpenter's "This Masquerade") and a 2-ring binder (three rings don't exist here - I'm in the land of A4 and B5 paper, not 8.5"x11" here) to put my choir music in.
Yeah, I know... Music geek to the end, huh? It was the only thing that really caught my eye at the time, and I didn't have anyone there to say, "Don't by that shirt, it'll look horrible on you!", so I played it safe. Started transcribing "This Masquerade" at around 9:15 that night, after dinner had passed.
Sunday. Morning was pretty much blah. Nothing really to do - I put out my laundry to dry, and read the rest of the last Murakami book I have to read for Lit class (they're good books, mind you, but I tire of the same author 3 books in a row). Then, in a fit of nothing to do (again), I headed out back to Amu Plaza. Ate at McDonald's along the way - and there's a story in and of itself. Getting the food was easy enough - they taught us how to order things during class, and it's something you pick up as you live here. When you think of the Golden Arches (*takes time to look around to see that there are now lawyers around calling copyright infringment*), you imagine a typical US fast food restaurant. Not here. First of all, the staff is (dare I say it) friendly - they have smiles on and everything. Dare you to find that at your next Mickey D's visit. Next, I looked at the menu, and, being one of always-daring culinary sense, I chose the Teryaki MacBurger (pronounced in Japanese as "Teryaki ma-ku-ba-a-ga-a"). My god, if anyone who works at McDonalds HQ in the US... GET THEM TO PUT THIS ON THE MENU BACK HOME! The sandwich, while a bit small in comparison to US standards, is the most delicious thing ever rolled up into wax paper and served to a customer. Finally, (and this applies in all of Nagasaki, and actually all of Japan) you sort out your garbage in the available 3 bins - combustibles, non-combustibles, and plastic bottles. Hooray for countries that care for the environment.
Anyway, where was I... Oh right - headed to Eki-Mae. I managed to wander into the area just as they were setting up a free concert, so I thought, "eh.. What the hell. Choir practice isn't until 6 anyway." (it was currently around 2:30, and the concert was to take place at 3:00) Needless to say, as concerts go, this one lacked everything except for an audience. I swear, 13 - 25 year olds from the entire city were packed into this area about the size of the Kehl Center (for the Clarke people) or Wharton Field House (for the home people). The concert attendance, I would guess, hit around 4,000. I'll give you a moment to figure out how crammed we were in there.
Yeah... pretty uncomfortabe, except that my Gaijin Bubble power apparently still worked. I had this nice 1-foot radius around me, and, with the added height advantage, I was pretty well off. The concert itself, however, didn't go too well. Besides starting 45 minutes late, it only lasted a total of a half-hour. So much for killing time. I had heard the group on the radio before ("Funky Monkey Babys", by name) and so I enjoyed what I heard, but was left feeling a bit lacking. What can you expect from a free concert though?
So, afterwards, dinner. Or should I say a snack that turned into dinner? In Japan, there is a chain restaurant that exists, which is made only to sell doughnuts. That's right: doughnuts. It's called (cue creativity slap) Mr. Doughnut. It was tasty, but Japanese doughnuts taste chewier than US doughnuts. I can't quite say which I like better, but I'll have to defer that to a later time (and more doughnuts...).
Then, I went to choir practice. This practice was a bit different from the one on Friday, in that everything that went wrong then, went exactly right today. Instead of being just the Cho-dai students, we were sitting in on a practice of the Nagasaki City Choir (the concert is kind of a big deal, i guess). The director (same one as Friday's), as we were singing, made a point that everyone should make sure to get their consonants out clearly (a personal win on that one...). She also, at another point in the rehearsal, pointed out the fact that my vowel shapes while singing were correct. As the first singing compliment I had heard since joining the choir, that felt really good. The practice was LONG though: Three hours later, we adjourn, all of us tired, a bit sweaty (the room was warm), and ready for the night to be done.
Takahiro (one of my closer friends, and my DDR partner) asked me afterwards if I wanted to go and play a round, which I gladly agreed to. We played at an arcade different from the one we normally go to, and the machine here was in excellent condition. My timing registered better than normal, the music was much louder (which only helped my playing that much), and it was overall a much better experience playing there. A couple of downfalls though: the machine is a little more expensive - 100 yen (around $.83 - I figured it out in my head this morning while I battled boredom) gets you three songs instead of four; and the arcade in that area is not smoke-free, which makes it a little stinky and difficult to play for long sessions.
I then came home and took a nice, long, lukewarm bath. I didn't want to take a hot bath, so it felt great. And then I went about writing on this. And so here we are. I'm glad Friday turned out like it did though - it made today feel that much more awesome. Ja, ne? (translation: "later.")
27 May, 2007
25 May, 2007
Culture Shock
Culture shock is a bitch. No other way to describe it. It hits at just the wrong time, in just the wrong place, throws all of your plans to crap, and leaves you feeling helpless and alone.
It hit me tonight as choir practice ran. Unfortunately for me, it came in small waves.
The first wave hit when we were in sectional (side note: because of the practice methods they apply, the first hour is sectional - the second is full group practice). We're singing a spiritual - "Soon ah Will be Done" by name - and we are taking apart this one section to figure out what we can do to fix the little things - fine trim to polish the piece. I took that time to mention that, when singing in English, consonants are important, and to make sure that when a ending consonant is there, to enunciate it. The overwhelming collective reply from the rest of the tenor section was, "Ok. In America. Anyway, let's keep going." This hurt, not only because they didn't take my advice, but also because (and this was probably the culture shock thinking for me) they didn't take advice from the Gaijin.
The second wave hit when we met as a group. We were lucky enough to have the City choir's director visit us and treat the session as a form of master class. As we were getting started, she looked directly at me, smiled, and gave this "hello, little one" wave. That hit me very negatively - as though she was thinking, "Oh, look. That's so cute. It's trying to sing. Let's throw it a bone." Again, the culture shock torturing my mind.
Needless to say, even though that was how I felt, I gave 125% singing tonight. By the end, I was sore, out of breath, and ready to collapse. Nobody really took notice of this, but I didn't expect them to. That didn't bother me too much.
The last, and probably strongest, wave hit when we were adjourning the meeting. We meet up as sections again to discuss what is upcoming and to get last-minute organizational details out of the way. By this time, I was so tired I could barely make out what they were saying, much less understand it. That's when it hit me: I don't need to understand it. They don't really want me here for my voice - I'm just the choir's pet. Their little plaything; something for them to amuse themselves with. While everyone sat and talked after we all adjourned, I walked back to the apartment tired, offended, and most painfully, alone.
I understand that I'll feel better tomorrow, and that I'll probably feel bad for even thinking that way. However, it's my first real big encounter with culture shock, and it needs to be written down. A lot of it is probably my imagination running wild, and most likely 75% of it is not true in the least, but it still hurt, and I needed to get it out of me.
It hit me tonight as choir practice ran. Unfortunately for me, it came in small waves.
The first wave hit when we were in sectional (side note: because of the practice methods they apply, the first hour is sectional - the second is full group practice). We're singing a spiritual - "Soon ah Will be Done" by name - and we are taking apart this one section to figure out what we can do to fix the little things - fine trim to polish the piece. I took that time to mention that, when singing in English, consonants are important, and to make sure that when a ending consonant is there, to enunciate it. The overwhelming collective reply from the rest of the tenor section was, "Ok. In America. Anyway, let's keep going." This hurt, not only because they didn't take my advice, but also because (and this was probably the culture shock thinking for me) they didn't take advice from the Gaijin.
The second wave hit when we met as a group. We were lucky enough to have the City choir's director visit us and treat the session as a form of master class. As we were getting started, she looked directly at me, smiled, and gave this "hello, little one" wave. That hit me very negatively - as though she was thinking, "Oh, look. That's so cute. It's trying to sing. Let's throw it a bone." Again, the culture shock torturing my mind.
Needless to say, even though that was how I felt, I gave 125% singing tonight. By the end, I was sore, out of breath, and ready to collapse. Nobody really took notice of this, but I didn't expect them to. That didn't bother me too much.
The last, and probably strongest, wave hit when we were adjourning the meeting. We meet up as sections again to discuss what is upcoming and to get last-minute organizational details out of the way. By this time, I was so tired I could barely make out what they were saying, much less understand it. That's when it hit me: I don't need to understand it. They don't really want me here for my voice - I'm just the choir's pet. Their little plaything; something for them to amuse themselves with. While everyone sat and talked after we all adjourned, I walked back to the apartment tired, offended, and most painfully, alone.
I understand that I'll feel better tomorrow, and that I'll probably feel bad for even thinking that way. However, it's my first real big encounter with culture shock, and it needs to be written down. A lot of it is probably my imagination running wild, and most likely 75% of it is not true in the least, but it still hurt, and I needed to get it out of me.
21 May, 2007
Yes, I'm still here.
Sorry about not posting for a while. As things have gone, life has been pretty normal around here. Normal, that is, for being in a country where you can only read and understand about 10% of what there is to actually take in.
Let's see... I left off on 7 May. Today's the 22nd. What's happened since then?
The triplets had their birthday on the 16th. That was a bit interesting. As the 'designated singer,' I was chosen to lead everyone in "Happy Birthday." They really enjoyed the outfits that mom picked out for them. I've got a picture of everyone in their clothes, and as soon as I remember to start taking my camera to places, I'll put them up on flickr.
Last Friday-into-Saturday, the 18-19th, I was unofficially kidnapped by the members of the choir. We had a full night of getting to know everyone, and just general section bonding. And when I say a full night, I mean a full night - We talked, cooked, and questioned each other from 9PM Friday to 8AM Saturday... No sleep available. We started by cooking dinner - yakiniku, meaning fried meat. Essentially, this involved the Tenors getting together around three camp stoves, opening 3 huge packages of pork meat, and throwing them into frying pans, 3-5 tenors to a pan. Once it had fully cooked, you were to take it out of the pan, dip it in the sauce (of which I want ingredients for - it's delicious), and then chow down. We must have (as a section of about 12 people) taken down at least 10 pounds of pork that night. It was awesome.
After the pork fest, we went into Q&A time. This involved listing a set of categories on a board (things like: queen, teacher, girlfriend, wife... I think you get the idea), and then we were to take turns listing which women in the choir fit those roles best in our minds. Apparently, all of the tenors have a huge crush on our pianist. :)
This was fun, but I wasn't aware of the one detail that I had missed: two of us would be sent out as 'tenor ambassadors' to each of the other sections to relay what we thought of the categories. For those that haven't guessed it yet - that means that anyone we were also questioned by those who were on our list. It's a bit harrowing to tell someone you picture them well as a girlfriend or wife when they're standing right in front of you. :)
That didn't go to badly, though, and now I've found that a couple people are a bit interested in me as well. In fact, I've now found a walking partner for walking home from practice - Mayu-chan. We both live in the same part of the city, and so we take the extra 10 minutes to walk from campus to a common intersection, and then each go to our houses. I can't tell if she's interested in me like that or not, but I have to say - I really wouldn't mind if she was.
Saturday afternoon was spent with a group from the JASIN program (read: other gaijin) going to Glover Gardens. Glover Gardens is basically a large garden created as a replica of the original British settlement of Nagasaki. The buildings that are there are some of the originals, and some have been moved from their original positions to the hill where Glover Gardens now stands. It was an interesting trip - we met at one of the city malls with Seb, our history prof. (he's awesome. More like a buddy than a teacher, but it's cool - he knows exactly what he's talking about.) We then took a 25-minute stroll around the bottom half on the city, with Seb pointing out important stuff along the way (what country first landed here, what type of boat that is, this bar is very gaijin-friendly, things like that).
Speaking of gaijin, I'd like to enlighten you all in the US that I have these special Gaijin Powers. It's like I'm a mini-superhero. You can read all about it here.
So long for now - hopefully I'll put some more up soon.
Let's see... I left off on 7 May. Today's the 22nd. What's happened since then?
The triplets had their birthday on the 16th. That was a bit interesting. As the 'designated singer,' I was chosen to lead everyone in "Happy Birthday." They really enjoyed the outfits that mom picked out for them. I've got a picture of everyone in their clothes, and as soon as I remember to start taking my camera to places, I'll put them up on flickr.
Last Friday-into-Saturday, the 18-19th, I was unofficially kidnapped by the members of the choir. We had a full night of getting to know everyone, and just general section bonding. And when I say a full night, I mean a full night - We talked, cooked, and questioned each other from 9PM Friday to 8AM Saturday... No sleep available. We started by cooking dinner - yakiniku, meaning fried meat. Essentially, this involved the Tenors getting together around three camp stoves, opening 3 huge packages of pork meat, and throwing them into frying pans, 3-5 tenors to a pan. Once it had fully cooked, you were to take it out of the pan, dip it in the sauce (of which I want ingredients for - it's delicious), and then chow down. We must have (as a section of about 12 people) taken down at least 10 pounds of pork that night. It was awesome.
After the pork fest, we went into Q&A time. This involved listing a set of categories on a board (things like: queen, teacher, girlfriend, wife... I think you get the idea), and then we were to take turns listing which women in the choir fit those roles best in our minds. Apparently, all of the tenors have a huge crush on our pianist. :)
This was fun, but I wasn't aware of the one detail that I had missed: two of us would be sent out as 'tenor ambassadors' to each of the other sections to relay what we thought of the categories. For those that haven't guessed it yet - that means that anyone we were also questioned by those who were on our list. It's a bit harrowing to tell someone you picture them well as a girlfriend or wife when they're standing right in front of you. :)
That didn't go to badly, though, and now I've found that a couple people are a bit interested in me as well. In fact, I've now found a walking partner for walking home from practice - Mayu-chan. We both live in the same part of the city, and so we take the extra 10 minutes to walk from campus to a common intersection, and then each go to our houses. I can't tell if she's interested in me like that or not, but I have to say - I really wouldn't mind if she was.
Saturday afternoon was spent with a group from the JASIN program (read: other gaijin) going to Glover Gardens. Glover Gardens is basically a large garden created as a replica of the original British settlement of Nagasaki. The buildings that are there are some of the originals, and some have been moved from their original positions to the hill where Glover Gardens now stands. It was an interesting trip - we met at one of the city malls with Seb, our history prof. (he's awesome. More like a buddy than a teacher, but it's cool - he knows exactly what he's talking about.) We then took a 25-minute stroll around the bottom half on the city, with Seb pointing out important stuff along the way (what country first landed here, what type of boat that is, this bar is very gaijin-friendly, things like that).
Speaking of gaijin, I'd like to enlighten you all in the US that I have these special Gaijin Powers. It's like I'm a mini-superhero. You can read all about it here.
So long for now - hopefully I'll put some more up soon.
06 May, 2007
Q & A time, Part 2
Well, I was going to start off by saying I left it alone for a half-week extra because no one asked anything, but, lo and behold, come the finishing of last weekend, there were more questions than I expected. So it turned out to be a good thing for me to leave the extra time.
So, here we go.
---
Even though you have only been gone for about a month, what is the most you miss about Illinois and Iowa?
Are kids in Japan just as individual as here in the United States? Do they have funky hairdos too? :)
Do you spend a lot of time with your home family?
April 25, 2007 5:39 AM, Mom, Dad, & Grandpa
Well, as amazing as the food has been over here, pastas are done without much justice. I'd love to go sit at an Olive Garden and pull out a gorgeous Caesar Salad. Other than that, it gets kinda troublesome when I can only understand half of what's going on - especially with jokes. Humor completely escapes me, and it makes me feel stupid.
Everyone's an individual. Everyone has their own separate personality, and ways of acting. About hairstyles though: I used to believe anime hairstyles were exaggerated. They aren't. At all.
My host family and I spend a lot of time together. We went out on Thursday to a citywide celebration in another town, and spent the day there. It was a blast.
---
What weird questions do you get asked from 'the natives'?
Will you get to see a tea ceremony?
Any fun fashion trends you've noticed?
Do you take showers or baths?
Do people ask to talk to you in English just so they can practice their English speaking? I've heard this happens.
What kinds of songs does your choir sing? How many people are in it? SATB?
Am I getting annoying yet?
April 30, 2007 8:10 PM, Kerrie
Well then. Starting from the beginning...
The questions that I'm asked by most people have revolved mostly around food. As in, "What do you think the best Japanese food is?" I've been asked that by just about everyone. Apparently, it's kind of a big deal.
I will get to see a tea ceremony. There's a class on campus featuring Traditional Japanese arts, which focuses on kimono wearing, tea ceremony, and flower arrangement.
Fashion trends: I'm currently working in them. I'm slowly but surely becoming more and more used to the fashion here (although it should be interesting when I come back home).
I take both showers and baths, depending on what I need. Most of the time, a quick shower in the morning (5 minutes maybe), and a nice, hot, long bath at night.
I've been asked to help with other's English. The most notable being when I was asked by a guitarist to check his pronunciation as he sang and played Simon and Garfunkel. So naturally, I sang along, throwing in harmonies when I could, which only added to the bemusement of the musician (and everyone else around).
The choir is singing around 4-5 songs, mostly in Japanese. There's one song that's a spiritual, so they all look to me for pronunciation. It's all SATB music.
Of course. Not. :)
---
Since you have classes once a week like that, do you usually do your homework from that days class or do you wait until the night before or what? Doesn't it make it hard to remember what you learned the week before?
April 30, 2007 8:16 PM, Anonymous (anyone care to claim this?)
I'm a bit of a procrastinator by nature. That being said, most of our work has been large projects due by the end of the term, so the work load hasn't been bad. I'm an extensive note taker, so that helps in the remembering. Plus, I can use my laptop for notes in class, so that's nice.
---
Are there any plans for concerts with your choir?
May 1, 2007 10:51 PM, Megan S
We've got a concert scheduled for the 10th of June. Anything past that, I don't know. We'll see.
---
I don't know how much Japanese you are using. Do you speak it mostly or "American"? Let us know.
May 2, 2007 2:42 PM, Cassy
Well, it depends on the situation. Most of the time, I'll practice furthering my Japanese ability. However, if the person I'm talking to wants to speak English, if it's easier to communicate in English, or if I just want to frustrate someone :), I'll speak in English (or, in Japanese, 英語 (Eigo).
---
Completely unrelated, but you got elected as secretary of Computer Club for next year. :)
May 2, 2007 4:57 PM, Brian
Sweet. A position of power. Me likey. :) Thanks of thinking about me, guys.
---
j00|2 534|2(|-| - http://offtonippon.blogspot.com/ - c|1c| |\|07 |\/|4+(|-| 4|\|y c|0(V|\/|3|\|+5. 5|-|17!!!!
this is actually what it said when i searched in google with the hacker language on!!!!!!
May 3, 2007 4:05 PM, Calvin (my brother)
Hrm... maybe I should put some meta tags into the heading for the blog. I figured that it would be advertised better than that, since Blogger is owned by Google. Sad news indeed.
For those who can't read the l33t, it says:
"your search: http://offtonippon.blogspot.com/ - did not match any documents."
---
What is the best thing you've eaten while over there?
How often do you actually eat rice?
Does the water swirl in the toilet clockwise or counterclockwise?
How is the climate? Get sunburned yet?
Meet any interesting ladies? ^.^
What is your favorite word that you've learned while over there?
Will you support my ban on pants between the hours of 1am and 6am in the apartment? This seems random, but trust me, it's crucial.
What time do you land in Chicago on the return trip, and on what day? (It may be the same day as me, in which case we'll have to set up a rendezvous).
Speaking of French, I have one final very important Question:
Do you hear the people sing? Singing the songs of angry men?
May 3, 2007 10:36 PM, Jesse
Ahh... Back on the food. :)
Actually, my favorite meal so far has been a big heaping bowl of udon, a thick-noodled pasta soup, with various other ingredients. Other concoctions have been quite tasty as well:
as you can plainly see. I ate this after you guys went out for DQ...pwn'd.
Rice is served with almost every meal. Breakfast is the one exception.
I'm still in the Northern hemisphere, so water still swirls...*goes to check*...counter-clockwise.
I've sunburned a couple times, but it hasn't been that bad. It's rainy a lot here, so that stops the sun a bit.
Onna, ne? Well, there are a couple that have me interested. Ai-chan and Natsu-chan. Here's a photo of both of them together:
Ai has to be the first person I've actually used the word kawaii "eng: cute" for: she does the whole "Squint your eyes while giggling" anime-thing, and it works flawlessly. However, of the two, I'll probably ask Natsuki out first, because I've talked to her more, and we seem to get along well.
Favorite word? Let's see... The most amusing one I've heard so far has got to be "tabenai-yo" (lit. "Don't eat that.") Heard most often around in the home stay, towards the triplets. Another good one is "sugoshi" (lit. "a bit"). Shiritori (a word game) comes in handy a lot, and I play with my host family. The most fun to say: "tsukareru" - "to become tired."
A ban on pants... I am an early riser, so I would say push it back to 5AM and it'll be all right. Feel free to be more lenient with the weekends though.
I land back in O'Hare at 1:50 on 4 August. I do have a connecting flight to the Quad Cities, though. I think that we should have a party somewhere (Davenport, maybe?) on the 5th or 6th, giving us enough time to get sleep and get rid of the jet lag. Scott, Mom, Cassy, Brian, and Sean: I leave the planning up to you guys. Jesse, grab some of your own people to plan out, too. :)
"It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!" God... that's gonna be in my head for days..... :)
---
Well, thanks everyone for participating in Q & A time. I'll probably throw another one of these up towards the end of the trip (July, probably).
Until next time!
So, here we go.
---
Even though you have only been gone for about a month, what is the most you miss about Illinois and Iowa?
Are kids in Japan just as individual as here in the United States? Do they have funky hairdos too? :)
Do you spend a lot of time with your home family?
April 25, 2007 5:39 AM, Mom, Dad, & Grandpa
Well, as amazing as the food has been over here, pastas are done without much justice. I'd love to go sit at an Olive Garden and pull out a gorgeous Caesar Salad. Other than that, it gets kinda troublesome when I can only understand half of what's going on - especially with jokes. Humor completely escapes me, and it makes me feel stupid.
Everyone's an individual. Everyone has their own separate personality, and ways of acting. About hairstyles though: I used to believe anime hairstyles were exaggerated. They aren't. At all.
My host family and I spend a lot of time together. We went out on Thursday to a citywide celebration in another town, and spent the day there. It was a blast.
---
What weird questions do you get asked from 'the natives'?
Will you get to see a tea ceremony?
Any fun fashion trends you've noticed?
Do you take showers or baths?
Do people ask to talk to you in English just so they can practice their English speaking? I've heard this happens.
What kinds of songs does your choir sing? How many people are in it? SATB?
Am I getting annoying yet?
April 30, 2007 8:10 PM, Kerrie
Well then. Starting from the beginning...
The questions that I'm asked by most people have revolved mostly around food. As in, "What do you think the best Japanese food is?" I've been asked that by just about everyone. Apparently, it's kind of a big deal.
I will get to see a tea ceremony. There's a class on campus featuring Traditional Japanese arts, which focuses on kimono wearing, tea ceremony, and flower arrangement.
Fashion trends: I'm currently working in them. I'm slowly but surely becoming more and more used to the fashion here (although it should be interesting when I come back home).
I take both showers and baths, depending on what I need. Most of the time, a quick shower in the morning (5 minutes maybe), and a nice, hot, long bath at night.
I've been asked to help with other's English. The most notable being when I was asked by a guitarist to check his pronunciation as he sang and played Simon and Garfunkel. So naturally, I sang along, throwing in harmonies when I could, which only added to the bemusement of the musician (and everyone else around).
The choir is singing around 4-5 songs, mostly in Japanese. There's one song that's a spiritual, so they all look to me for pronunciation. It's all SATB music.
Of course. Not. :)
---
Since you have classes once a week like that, do you usually do your homework from that days class or do you wait until the night before or what? Doesn't it make it hard to remember what you learned the week before?
April 30, 2007 8:16 PM, Anonymous (anyone care to claim this?)
I'm a bit of a procrastinator by nature. That being said, most of our work has been large projects due by the end of the term, so the work load hasn't been bad. I'm an extensive note taker, so that helps in the remembering. Plus, I can use my laptop for notes in class, so that's nice.
---
Are there any plans for concerts with your choir?
May 1, 2007 10:51 PM, Megan S
We've got a concert scheduled for the 10th of June. Anything past that, I don't know. We'll see.
---
I don't know how much Japanese you are using. Do you speak it mostly or "American"? Let us know.
May 2, 2007 2:42 PM, Cassy
Well, it depends on the situation. Most of the time, I'll practice furthering my Japanese ability. However, if the person I'm talking to wants to speak English, if it's easier to communicate in English, or if I just want to frustrate someone :), I'll speak in English (or, in Japanese, 英語 (Eigo).
---
Completely unrelated, but you got elected as secretary of Computer Club for next year. :)
May 2, 2007 4:57 PM, Brian
Sweet. A position of power. Me likey. :) Thanks of thinking about me, guys.
---
j00|2 534|2(|-| - http://offtonippon.blogspot.com/ - c|1c| |\|07 |\/|4+(|-| 4|\|y c|0(V|\/|3|\|+5. 5|-|17!!!!
this is actually what it said when i searched in google with the hacker language on!!!!!!
May 3, 2007 4:05 PM, Calvin (my brother)
Hrm... maybe I should put some meta tags into the heading for the blog. I figured that it would be advertised better than that, since Blogger is owned by Google. Sad news indeed.
For those who can't read the l33t, it says:
"your search: http://offtonippon.blogspot.com/ - did not match any documents."
---
What is the best thing you've eaten while over there?
How often do you actually eat rice?
Does the water swirl in the toilet clockwise or counterclockwise?
How is the climate? Get sunburned yet?
Meet any interesting ladies? ^.^
What is your favorite word that you've learned while over there?
Will you support my ban on pants between the hours of 1am and 6am in the apartment? This seems random, but trust me, it's crucial.
What time do you land in Chicago on the return trip, and on what day? (It may be the same day as me, in which case we'll have to set up a rendezvous).
Speaking of French, I have one final very important Question:
Do you hear the people sing? Singing the songs of angry men?
May 3, 2007 10:36 PM, Jesse
Ahh... Back on the food. :)
Actually, my favorite meal so far has been a big heaping bowl of udon, a thick-noodled pasta soup, with various other ingredients. Other concoctions have been quite tasty as well:
as you can plainly see. I ate this after you guys went out for DQ...pwn'd.
Rice is served with almost every meal. Breakfast is the one exception.
I'm still in the Northern hemisphere, so water still swirls...*goes to check*...counter-clockwise.
I've sunburned a couple times, but it hasn't been that bad. It's rainy a lot here, so that stops the sun a bit.
Onna, ne? Well, there are a couple that have me interested. Ai-chan and Natsu-chan. Here's a photo of both of them together:
Ai has to be the first person I've actually used the word kawaii "eng: cute" for: she does the whole "Squint your eyes while giggling" anime-thing, and it works flawlessly. However, of the two, I'll probably ask Natsuki out first, because I've talked to her more, and we seem to get along well.
Favorite word? Let's see... The most amusing one I've heard so far has got to be "tabenai-yo" (lit. "Don't eat that.") Heard most often around in the home stay, towards the triplets. Another good one is "sugoshi" (lit. "a bit"). Shiritori (a word game) comes in handy a lot, and I play with my host family. The most fun to say: "tsukareru" - "to become tired."
A ban on pants... I am an early riser, so I would say push it back to 5AM and it'll be all right. Feel free to be more lenient with the weekends though.
I land back in O'Hare at 1:50 on 4 August. I do have a connecting flight to the Quad Cities, though. I think that we should have a party somewhere (Davenport, maybe?) on the 5th or 6th, giving us enough time to get sleep and get rid of the jet lag. Scott, Mom, Cassy, Brian, and Sean: I leave the planning up to you guys. Jesse, grab some of your own people to plan out, too. :)
"It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!" God... that's gonna be in my head for days..... :)
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Well, thanks everyone for participating in Q & A time. I'll probably throw another one of these up towards the end of the trip (July, probably).
Until next time!
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