Of Festivals and Gold Medals

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.