Blogs from Tsuru, Yamanashi, Japan, Asia - page 2

Yowza! Three weeks gone by! That's unbelievable! It would appear that things are definitely winding down around here. I think everyone is exhausted from the program and the school term. We have been doing classes for a full three months now, which is a little longer than the typical quarter (10 weeks). I think that's why not a whole heck of a lot has been going on lately. Let's see... Ah yes! Two weeks ago I was SUPPOSED to be playing my concert with the band from the music circle, but on Friday they decided to cancel the concert because they couldn't get a permit from the school to sell food and drinks. That was EXTREMELY disappointing. There will be another one on December 12th, though, and so hopefully that will go as planned. Since I ... read more

Ironically, this entry is the start of my intensive travelblogging program. It's been really busy since the finals for the Intensive language program popped up. As such, I haven't really had a time to sit down and let you all know what I'm up to. So we had the finals, and that went well. Unfortunately, the day after we had to give a speech, so we could not enjoy the festivities that typically follow a round of finals. The speeches went well also. I was officially presented with my certificate from the fencing tournament in front of homestay families and tutors, which was awesome. Now everyone DEFINITELY knows that I am the number one fencer among Yamanashi high school students. EAT IT YAMANASHI HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. Afterwards we were invited to go to a recital peroformed ... read more

Alright so my computer finally cooperated long enough to let me upload the pictures from the Matsuri. This was a trip and a half. It did NOT start at 5:30, which was awesome. We got to the community center across from City Hall around 11, and got dressed and were ready by about 11:45. I bother to mention this because the parade did not begin until 3 pm. However, the wonders of the orient never ceasing and all, the locals had an excellent solution: FREE BEER! We were a little bummed, since the rest of the Matsuri was basically beginning without us, until we found out that there were ample amounts of free beer for the near 100 people involved in the parade. So we all goofed around and had a good time for the couple ... read more

Alrighty. Let's see. What's newww.... We are all preparing short speeches in class for this Wednesday - it's a little show and tell kind of presentation. I decided to do fencing, since I have most of my (AS YET UNUSED) fencing equipment, and I found a lot of new vocabulary thanks to my electric dictionary. Unfortunately, despite my correct grammar, this essay still seems to confound the professors a bit - confounded European sowrdfighting. Fun fact: the japanese word for "parry" literally translates to "swift countermaneuver stab". I like it. There is a big festival coming up soon, and the male ryougakusei (foreign students - us) were all invited to be samurai! So at the end of the month we're going to be in a big ol' procession with funny samurai wigs and outfits. Should be ... read more

Alright, so now we're up to Sunday August 5th. After the craziness of the previous two days, it was finally time to get down to some studying. Today is Monday, and we had a placement test today, so I had to review all that fun grammar and kanji so that I don't get placed in special kids Japanese ( I probably will be anyway). AFTER the studying though, the tutors all came to take us to the Kojiyosai festival, which is a big festival that takes place at like Kawaguchi, right by Mt. Fuji. I'd like to nerd it up a bit here and mention that it's kind of silly to say things like Senso-ji temple, Kojiyosai festival, and Mt. Fujiyama (which people don't say often, but I've heard it before). A lot of the time, ... read more