So it's very nice to know that three years worth of kanji studying (Japn 101, 102, 201, 202, and 301) has prepared me for.... the JLPT Level 4, the easiest level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Seriously... No, really, seriously?? There are even some kanji and adjectives I haven't yet learned. *Sigh* Well, at least I have my work cut out for me. I was really, truly hoping I could conquer Level 3, since Level 4 (the grammar and kanji at least) are largely review, but with the GRE to study for as well (the GRE needs to be taken sometime before November, and the JLPT can only be taken once a year on the first Sunday of December) I'll just have to resign myself to being really lame.
In other news, I'm trying very hard to get over the guilt of using the Internet in the teachers room. I've pretty much been using it only for Japanese study, but... I mean, come on. Gimme a break, huh?
Transitioning is a tricky thing.I haven't spoken to many of the teachers who are just floating around the teachers' room... I'm too nervous about how bad my Japanese is, and they seem either uninterested or too shy to approach me. I hope once my books arrive from the States and I can begin properly studying grammar forms (my worst spot; off the top of my head I can manage only simple sentence structure like "X は Y です.") Until then, I smile and try to say good morning and good night to whomever looks my way.
I tried cooking bread in my rice cooker yesterday. What a fiasco! Not because of the rice cooker, itself... I'm not sure if I added too much milk, or water, or what, but the batter was just sort of a slimy wet mess. I tried adding more and more flour, but even after half my bag of flour it was still too sticky and runny to form into a ball. Still, it's bread that for sure doesn't have a stick of butter in the middle of it. (The last-no kidding-five loaves of bread I've bought at the store have looked perfectly normal but had some sort of butter/paste in the middle.)
The last week has been festival on top of festival. Last Wednesday after work I took the train into our main city and watched an hour's worth of fireworks. Quite different than American fireworks, with the constant big bangs until about 15 minutes later you get a final, definite HUGE bang and then its over. The fireworks for the festival were about an hour or so long with 3 to 5 minutes sudden pauses, and no one could tell when they were actually over. The food was quite good, though I stayed ｆａｒ away from squid on a stick. On Friday I visited a friend on her island, and there were-you guessed it-more fireworks! I think I'm actually firework-ed out.
Unfortunately, I missed the biggest festival this side of Japan because I had to visit with my English teacher, and Thursday was the only day she was avaliable. I regret it... but maybe next year I can steal away. I'm trying to save all of my vacation days for either visiting the States over Christmas, or visiting far reaches of Japan/Asia like Hokkaido or Korea.
Unfortunately I still don't have pictures for you all. ごめんださい。Photobucket doesn't want to recognize my computer. Like I said... technology is becoming my savior to recognize my computer. Like I said... technology is becoming my savior and my oppressor over here.
If there is one part of my experience with Japan I am almost completely unhappy about, it is how much I have missed the Olympics. Because of the time difference, all of the best events are during the day, and the news coverage at night is usually only of Japanese athletes and particular victories. That said, it's very interesting to view the Olympics through the lens of another country....I admit, I have never found badmitton so enjoyable to watch. And I find myself adopting Japanese athletes as my own; for instance, cheering on the Japanese women's softball team against Argentina (they kicked butt, by the way) or actually yelling when Kitajima won his first gold in the 100 meter (though I saved the jumping up and down for the relay race when the Americans destroyed the French in the final 10 seconds.) Considering how bad the American coverage has been towards American athletes (like the men's and women's gymnastics team, or the men's track and field) maybe it's a good thing I'm hanging out in a corner of the world that just gets extra excited when one guy wins one gold.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Stealing the Internets
I consider myself a bit of a technophile. I just love the electronic gadgets, the fiddling around and the discovery of some brand new application or tool deep inside a device that may fit in the palm of your hand.
But Japan has proven more than a challenge to my love of technology.
First off, I get computers at both of my junior high school desks. Hurray! Unfortunately, they are both completely and totally in Japanese. Ive figured out some tools, thanks to the reliability of PC functions (I was quite impressed with myself for setting up the language tool bar so I could type words in English) but some others are still a complete mystery. And when it comes to more impressive, more complicated functions, well, I might as well be beating a rock with another rock. And of course using the nifty Japanese keyboards is an adventure unto itself, where it seems absolutely impossible to get an apostrophe in English.
This would not be such an issue, except that last Sunday, the Internet mysteriously died at my apartment. My predecessor informed me he had left it on until the 20th, by which time I would have my gaijin card and could begin the long, red-taped process of creating my own. (One of my first lessons in Japan: there is no such thing as too much red tape.) I tried everything, turning it off, turning it back on, turning the computer off and on, the modem AND the computer, unplugging every wire I could get to. Nothing. No response.
The logic would be that my predecessors Internet simply cut out early. However, my phone is also tied to the modem, and thus the land line, and it functions just fine. So why would the phone, which arguably seems to be linked to the Internet, work, but the Internet itself doesnt?
The short story of it is, I am resigned to using whatever Internet I can steal away here at school.
As a rule, I try not to use the Internet except for Japanese studying or vocab/kanji checking. However, this week is the Obon festival, and though my vice principal has been fleeting in and out all day, there have only been two teachers in the staff room, and one of them left by about 10 am. Ive been correcting a speech for the English competition, but translating from Japanese into more proper English is making my brain explode a little.
(Ex: `It readily went to McDonalds in Japan and was terribly courageous though was able to order in the United States.` I translated as `I could order bravely from McDonalds in Japan, but in the United States I wasn`t very courageous.`)
So, a small... um, two hour long... break was in order.
Honestly, not having Internet was a little bit rattling. Having no Internet and no cell phone here is rather like to being left on a deserted island. A deserted island with lots of rice. I cant contact my supervisor, any of my teachers (for those days that I, oh, I dont know, get lost on the bus for two hours), or any other JETs in case of OMG CULTURE FREAKOUT.
Fortunately, this weekend was quite busy with prefecture orientation and a Japanese baseball game. On Monday, after hours and hours and hours of confusing applications (youd think I was buying a kidney and not a keitai) I received my very own phone.
And it has a TV function! No, seriously, I can watch TV on my cell phone! And browse the Internet (the TV is free, the Yahoo! browser is not.) I have even an email address on my cell phone... I think. I have no idea quite how to work all of it (they call texting email, and actual email is something else, and then theres SM and SMS! Mail, so it all gets very confusing.)
But still, cell phone! And I also received my gaijin card, so Internet is only a few more dozen applications away. I am a card-carrying member of Japan... literally!
Work has been both overwhelming and boring. Helping with the speech contests has become kind of like a hobby, trying to think of new ways to help them wrap their mouths around l and th sounds. The kids are great sports... though in one speech, a student sometimes substitutes an h sound in the middle of -sit- and..... well, I managed to take a few deep breaths and not fall over laughing as he said it over, and over, and over again.
I miss everyone from back home, though honestly, it still feels as if good ol Wisconsin is just a hop, skip, and jump away. Which is weird, since an hour long train ride to the capital city of my prefecture feels like an eternity whenever I start making plans with people.
Im starting to have my surprises and my `well this sucks` and `this is cool!` moments. I am trying very hard to focus on the positive, and not let snags mess up the upcoming year for me.
But I must say one thing. Bicycling in Japan, or at least in rural Japan, sucks monkey balls. Hard. All the streets are pretty narrow, and sidewalks are an act of God when you actually come across them... otherwise you have about three feet to four feet wide shoulders, with zooming vehicles of death on one side, and Gaijin traps on the other (otherwise known as rice paddy irrigation channels.) Additionally, my prefecture has the highest number of automobile accidents in all of Japan.
Which is bizarre to me, because it seems as if nearly everyone in Japan at least owns a bicycle and uses it fairly frequently. Ive certainly seen more bikes here in these past few weeks than I think I saw all year in Wisconsin. Just one of those interesting dichotomies, I guess.
Though Im not thinking -Interesting!- on that long bike ride from here to the next town over. Next time... Im just gonna take the train.
But Japan has proven more than a challenge to my love of technology.
First off, I get computers at both of my junior high school desks. Hurray! Unfortunately, they are both completely and totally in Japanese. Ive figured out some tools, thanks to the reliability of PC functions (I was quite impressed with myself for setting up the language tool bar so I could type words in English) but some others are still a complete mystery. And when it comes to more impressive, more complicated functions, well, I might as well be beating a rock with another rock. And of course using the nifty Japanese keyboards is an adventure unto itself, where it seems absolutely impossible to get an apostrophe in English.
This would not be such an issue, except that last Sunday, the Internet mysteriously died at my apartment. My predecessor informed me he had left it on until the 20th, by which time I would have my gaijin card and could begin the long, red-taped process of creating my own. (One of my first lessons in Japan: there is no such thing as too much red tape.) I tried everything, turning it off, turning it back on, turning the computer off and on, the modem AND the computer, unplugging every wire I could get to. Nothing. No response.
The logic would be that my predecessors Internet simply cut out early. However, my phone is also tied to the modem, and thus the land line, and it functions just fine. So why would the phone, which arguably seems to be linked to the Internet, work, but the Internet itself doesnt?
The short story of it is, I am resigned to using whatever Internet I can steal away here at school.
As a rule, I try not to use the Internet except for Japanese studying or vocab/kanji checking. However, this week is the Obon festival, and though my vice principal has been fleeting in and out all day, there have only been two teachers in the staff room, and one of them left by about 10 am. Ive been correcting a speech for the English competition, but translating from Japanese into more proper English is making my brain explode a little.
(Ex: `It readily went to McDonalds in Japan and was terribly courageous though was able to order in the United States.` I translated as `I could order bravely from McDonalds in Japan, but in the United States I wasn`t very courageous.`)
So, a small... um, two hour long... break was in order.
Honestly, not having Internet was a little bit rattling. Having no Internet and no cell phone here is rather like to being left on a deserted island. A deserted island with lots of rice. I cant contact my supervisor, any of my teachers (for those days that I, oh, I dont know, get lost on the bus for two hours), or any other JETs in case of OMG CULTURE FREAKOUT.
Fortunately, this weekend was quite busy with prefecture orientation and a Japanese baseball game. On Monday, after hours and hours and hours of confusing applications (youd think I was buying a kidney and not a keitai) I received my very own phone.
And it has a TV function! No, seriously, I can watch TV on my cell phone! And browse the Internet (the TV is free, the Yahoo! browser is not.) I have even an email address on my cell phone... I think. I have no idea quite how to work all of it (they call texting email, and actual email is something else, and then theres SM and SMS! Mail, so it all gets very confusing.)
But still, cell phone! And I also received my gaijin card, so Internet is only a few more dozen applications away. I am a card-carrying member of Japan... literally!
Work has been both overwhelming and boring. Helping with the speech contests has become kind of like a hobby, trying to think of new ways to help them wrap their mouths around l and th sounds. The kids are great sports... though in one speech, a student sometimes substitutes an h sound in the middle of -sit- and..... well, I managed to take a few deep breaths and not fall over laughing as he said it over, and over, and over again.
I miss everyone from back home, though honestly, it still feels as if good ol Wisconsin is just a hop, skip, and jump away. Which is weird, since an hour long train ride to the capital city of my prefecture feels like an eternity whenever I start making plans with people.
Im starting to have my surprises and my `well this sucks` and `this is cool!` moments. I am trying very hard to focus on the positive, and not let snags mess up the upcoming year for me.
But I must say one thing. Bicycling in Japan, or at least in rural Japan, sucks monkey balls. Hard. All the streets are pretty narrow, and sidewalks are an act of God when you actually come across them... otherwise you have about three feet to four feet wide shoulders, with zooming vehicles of death on one side, and Gaijin traps on the other (otherwise known as rice paddy irrigation channels.) Additionally, my prefecture has the highest number of automobile accidents in all of Japan.
Which is bizarre to me, because it seems as if nearly everyone in Japan at least owns a bicycle and uses it fairly frequently. Ive certainly seen more bikes here in these past few weeks than I think I saw all year in Wisconsin. Just one of those interesting dichotomies, I guess.
Though Im not thinking -Interesting!- on that long bike ride from here to the next town over. Next time... Im just gonna take the train.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Springtime for Hitler
Another hot day. Ready to test your Calsius skills? Today is Kagawa-ken, it was 35 degrees. Take a guess how much that is Fahrenheit-that's right. Over 85 degrees. Ah, hot, sticky goodness.
It's been a busy weekend. Today has been very chill... Mostly me sitting here at home, taking a feeble stab at Japanese cooking. Instant curry, hey! It's fun to not be able to read instructions on food-thank God for pictures! Course pictures can be just as confusing... I think I might have bought chips that taste like buttered bread. And getting my rice cooker to work has consisted of randomly pushing buttons and seeing what happens. With early evening setting in, I'm going to take another look around town and get some pictures, if I can. I'd have pictures for you all, but my darn card reader is putting up a fight. Far as I can tell, I've downloaded everything I need, but still my computer stubbornly refuses to recognize it. Which is a real shame, because I've got some wonderful pictures from the last few days.
Friday was a lot more relaxing at school. One of my JTEs brought me some delicious lunch and salted rice balls, which were DELICIOUS. The music teacher also invited me to listen to the Brass Band Club, who has a competition on the 4th. They were doing a compilation of Broadway songs, and I made the mistake of singing along to "Springtime for Hitler." So, they asked me to sing the lyrics for them. For anyone who isn't familiar with "The Producers," it goes a little something like this....
"Springtime for Hitler and Germany,
Rhindeland's a fine land once more
Springtime for Hitler and Germany,
Watch out, Europe!
We're going on tour!"
Well my JTE was having some trouble translating, so I said," Oh, it's a comedy musical about Germany invading Europe!" She explains it to the students, and their faces just sort of freeze in shock and horror. Unfortunately, my Japanese is too weak to fully explain "satirical humor," so... poor kids. It was like I told them they were playing a song from "I Killed My Puppy With a Crowbar."
Friday night a bunch of local JETs gathered a local eatery (and by local, I mean 15 minutes by train and 10 minutes by foot. Close enough.) I forgot how awkward it is being around new people. I haven't had to dance the Social Scene jig in a while, and I felt quite rusty. Constantly reminded yourself not to talk too much or be too perverted is quite exhausting, but everyone seems very nice, and the food wasn't so bizarre. Though I think they fed me chicken knuckles.... and Japanese mayonnaise.
Saturday we went to a barbecue in Tadotsu, and me and another new JET got to compare notes. I really miss everyone that I met in Tokyo-the JETs here have been incredibly nice and helpful, but there's something about sharing fears and excitements with other new people... for the other JETs, it's totally old-hat, and for us, it's AMAZING. I still find trains a thing of wonder.
After the barbecue, we went to a festival in a nearby town, which was a whole lot of standing and water-throwing. Mostly men from the town carried this 80 meter straw dragon through the streets, and people threw water on it to wish for rain and good luck. I managed to avoid getting drenched... except for my pants. Those didn't avoid the onslaught.
I haven't experienced culture shock just yet, I think. Unless shock involves extreme confusion and nerves. I'm missing people back home a lot, but I suppose I'm lucky... I get along pretty well no matter where you stick me. Of course, I'm not cut off from people just yet. We'll have to see how well I fare then. I just hope I can get a hold of someone, when and if that happens. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for a Gaijin registration card so I can get a phone, Internet, and bank account. Until then, I send this message out into the void.
Good night, sweet void. You've served me well this day.
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