失敗は成功の基。
Failure is a stepping-stone to success.
Taiko performance at Nagoya City Matsuri
Okay, maybe I’ll actually take some time to write about my time so far….
So, Wednesday morning, I left my house at 4:55 am, and my flight left Burlington at 8:15. The first flight (to Chicago) was mostly uneventful, except that I got stuck sitting next to the only morbidly obese person on the flight x_x…. then Chicago to Tokyo was not fun…. 12 hours…. watched Edward Scissorhands and other random movies and documentaries supplied by the airline, ate good airline food, tried to sleep… by the end of the flight my legs hurt so badly!
When I got off the plane in Tokyo, I immediately started sweating bullets. I swear it was like 100 degrees inside. I went from looking a little tired to tired and greasy. D: The flight from Tokyo to Nagoya was so short and uneventful…. I think I slept through most of it. I don’t really remember it.
Upon arriving in Nagoya, students from Nanzan greeted us, and we waited a couple hours to collect other students arriving later. At that point, I was so exhausted I could barely speak English, much less Japanese.
We arrived at my dorm around 9pm Japan time. At that point I had been awake for most of 28 hours, and I had barely slept the night before because of nerves. There was a small food-party going on in the common room, which I attended after rinsing myself off. Once again, I was way too tired to socialize so I kinda just sat there speaking English to a girl I had met in advance on Facebook. That night, I slept like a rock. I became a rock. Literally. Oh my god.
The next day, September 2, I awoke to terrible weather… a typhoon had begun passing through. Nevertheless, my suitemate Sakiko helped me find the bank and exchange money. Afterwards, we went to a department store (Aeon, formerly JUSCO?) to buy odds and ends as well as food I needed. It was all very overwhelming and made me realize how much Japanese vocabulary I need to learn. It really is my only big issue… I understand what people are saying, save a few critical words x_x We took the train back to the dorm, where I finished unpacking. Later that night, there was a welcome party with takoyaki and okonomiyaki…it was so gooooooooood~ That night, I really felt my Japanese skills picking up (even though I wake up the next morning and feel like I can’t speak it, haha). I met some new people, too. It was nice ^^
Today, September 3, I woke up to a lazy morning. In the early afternoon, I went for a walk to the convenience store and a the vicinity a few blocks around my dorm. I also explored a little bit of campus, but it was so quiet I got the feeling I wasn’t supposed to be there, and it was starting to rain, so I left. I may go for a run there tomorrow morning…
Afterwards a few of us went to buy ingredients for curry rice at a nearby grocery store. I bought orange juice and iced coffee drink (it looked like black coffee, but after tasting it, it’s sweet x__x I JUST WANT SOME STRONG BLACK COFFEE DAMN IT) to go along with the bread and eggs I bought yesterday. We returned to the dorm and started to make the curry, and I talked with the dorm reception desk guy about my internet. Apparently I was supposed to have a modem in my room when I got there, and I don’t have to start paying for it for two weeks! Sweet. Anyways, the curry was delicious, conversations were had, met more people, and somehow I ended up back in my room. ^u^
Tonight I want to buy tickets to see Tokyo Jihen at a nearby concert hall in November, but I need someone to help me navigate the Japanese website x__x
The Japanese Class placement test is Monday, so tomorrow I have to study! Apparently we are going for sushi too :D
Hopefully tomorrow will be sunny and my photos will start looking less drab.
Until next time!
I was looking at the sample questions for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test today
Level 4 was a snap….but level 3….. hm, maybe after another semester. xD
On another note, I have officially begun studying the 60ish kanji I need to learn for the Nanzan placement test. I wonder if I need to know the on’yomi and kun’yomi readings… or if just knowing the sample word/usage is good enough….
Maybe after I get the kanji and sample words/usages down I’ll go looking for other words that use the kanji.
That reminds me…. I need to go back through the Genki II kanji pages and learn the terms that aren’t highlighted that I know the kanji for…
Bleh, busy summer…need motivation….勉強しなきゃ D:
"
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細かいことですが、メールを受け取ったあと気にする方は気にされます。一通りおさえておくとよいかと思います。
また上から目線にならないように気をつけたいというのもあります。
例えば「特に問題ありません。」「別に構いません。」というのは目上の人には使いません。
× 特に問題ありません。
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○ そのまま進めていただけたらと思います。よろしくお願いいたします。
語尾をソフトにする表現もおさえておくとよいかと思います。
× ご連絡ください。
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○ ご連絡いただけると幸いです。
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○ ～でぜひ、お願いいたします。
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ざっとあげてみましたが、これらはほんの一例で、他にもメールで使うと良い言い回しは多々あります。
"—
おさえておきたいメールで使う敬語 - かみんぐあうとっ (via uinyan)
Honorific and humble form… interesting to know that even the Japanese have trouble with it sometimes.
(Source: natsumiorz, via uinyan)
I kind of broke down last night
…thinking about all of this Japan stuff is really stressing me. On top of worrying so much about money, independence, the possibility of Vietnam…. thinking how I won’t be seeing my boyfriend on a regular basis for about 8 months…it just kills me. On top of that, I should be saving all of my money this summer, not spending money to take train trips to go see him during the summer. I wish I was able to have him come to Japan with me…having him by my side would make everything so much easier. But I suppose it will be good for me to grow personally.
It’s just one of those times in life where I have to choose between two things I love… while I’ve dreamed of going to Japan since I was young, and my dream is finally being granted, having my other half displaced for half a year is just…scary. Everything about this has me simultaneously excited and terrified.
PS: Followers， do you like this as a bilingual blog？ I can try to post more blogs in Japanese if people actually read them．It’s good practice. xD
フォロワー達へ、このブロッグは、日本語と英語で好きですか。読めば、もっと日本語で書けます。もっと練習できます。ｘD
最近見ているアニメの話
ヨ！
高校生の時に比べてあまりアニメを見ません。でも、今年たくさんアニメを見ていました。今日、今見ているアニメについて話したいと思います。
「あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない」
これは私の一番好きな現在放映中のアニメです。とてもかわいくて、きれいで、おもしろいです。今晩６のエピソード見られます。うれしい！見てみてください。＾＾
「装甲騎兵ボトムズ」
古いですが、とてもおもしろくて、すごいです。メカが好きだったら、これ絶対に見る価値があります。さらに、かなり有名なメカのデザイナーがデザインしました。
「電波女と青春男」
かわいぃぃぃぃぃ。（かわいいだけxD)
「らき☆すた」
高校生の時、見てみましたけど、好きじゃなかった。つまらないと思いました。でも、最近見てから、とても好きです。今オタクのパロディをよく分かりますから、たぶんこれが理由です。
「日常」
かわいいくて、「あずまんが大王」のようなアニメですけど、もっと変です。＾＾
今日日本語をたくさん勉強して、疲れているので、たくさん間違いを書いたかもしれません。ごめんね。
また明日。
An update!
久しぶりですね。やっと期末試験が終わって、今は自由です。家に帰りました。夏休みが来たので、もっと日記を書けます。
今日、南山大学からメールがきました。入場料パケットをもらいました。イェイ～！＾＿＾パケットの中で、覚えなくちゃいけない漢字のリストが入っていました。
昨夜、変な夢を見ました。私が働いている図書館の下に洞窟がありました。洞窟でケータイをなくしました。さらに、走りたかったけど、行く時に、大浴場に気が紛れました。
皆さん、変な夢を見たことがありますか？
Yesterday I returned from my sophomore year of college. My admission packet to Nanzan was waiting for me at home! I already sent back my confirmation of enrollment and some waiver. :3
They also sent me a list of the kanji to study for each level for the placement test. Yesssss. I only have about 60-something more to memorize if I want to get in the level I want. Silly Nanzan using the same textbook as my college but requiring way more kanji to be memorized.
Additionally….I plan to study the textbook that my school is using while I’m gone (Tobira) over the summer. I really have to remember to study. It’s so hard to remember to be productive in the summer. Gah!
Next I have to get a physical, buy plane tickets and send my travel itinerary to the school. I can actually buy my plane ticket now~! Yayy, so exciting. :3
