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Published: August 19th 2007
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Talking with Reluctant Teenagers
So English is compulsory in Japan during high school - there aren't any other options. These kids were pretty cool, but I think they kind of just saw it as another class. 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 fun!
Anyway, there were a few neat events this week. On Friday, we met with a class of high-school kids who were learning English. Now, apparently English is compulsory in Japanese high schools - you cannot choose to study another language as none is offered. So the kids talked with me for a little bit, and then things kind of tapered
off as they counted down the minutes till they could go home - which made me laugh.
They brought some stuff along to do though - a calligraphy set and some paper for origami. The calligraphy was neat, but writing kanji with the brush seems difficult. They showed me how to make a paper crane, which, if its your first time, can be a little painstaking. Afterwards though, I showed them some American origami - paper football! They enjoyed that (at least the made it look like they did).
Friday evening was spent as usual - making some dinner, studying, watching some TV, and going to bed early, so as to get an early start on chores for Saturday.
After waking up around 2 pm Saturday afternoon, I went out and bough food and my new Japanese cell phone! Kind of a misnomer though, as the phone was completely free. The plan is for about $30/mo and the phones are way sweeter than American phones. It came with a dock for your desk/car, USB cord, headphones, earpiece hookup, and a bunch of applications - the main ringtone is "Rhapsody in Blue" - quite a bargain I think!
Be-yootiful
One of the kids at the table played rugby, and asked me to draw a picture of a fencer, so I asked him to draw a picture of a rugby player. I'm not much of an artist, so I was a bit nervous drawing the fencer. It turned out fine, EXCEPT ITS LEFT HANDED. weaksauce. They are a little complicated to use though. For example, they use basically phone to phone email instead of texting, which is kind of strange, because I equate using the internet on my phone with spending oodles of cash. Not so! The wonders of the orient never cease!
So today I took the train over to my host family's home where they had a monster BBQ. I got to meet some of their friends and their small children, which is a bit of an experience. Small kids in Japan seem to basically get a free pass - in other words they would drive all you American parents UP THE WALL. They yell a lot and mess around and yell things at you and are fairly annoying, till you figure out that if the parents aren't sweating it, there's no reason you should either. Even if they are yelling at you, eventually they'll go run off and find some entertainment. Allegedly, kids are treated this way in part because of how strict life becomes once you grow up in Japan. Not sure if I buy that...
Another fun fact I learned - there is essentially no way to get
Crazy Japanese BBQ
Interesting little device. The bit on the right is a pan that goes on top of coals and you cook veggies on it with oil. Yeah. I know there's meat on it in the picture, you wanna fight about it? Japanese families to stop serving you food and drink. I had read somewhere that if you want to stop eating at a Japanese family's house, you leave some food on your plate. Several times I left my beer half full and my plate with food on it, but that did not stop them. I think we ate and drank constantly from one till five - and it was delicious!
Interesting side note, none of the meat was marinated beforehand! When I asked them about it they even looked at me funny. I guess the custom is to cook the meat and then dip it in a sauce of some sort. The wonders of the orient never cease!
I also got some interesting comments today. My host family's son commented on my blue eyes, which was nice. However, upon presenting him with a couple chocolate See's lollypops wrapped in crepe paper, he stated, quite plainly "kirai desu!", which, for you English speakers, translates to "I hate it!".
thanks kid.
As well, shortly after meeting me, one of the mothers commented on the size of my schnozz, which, I'll admit, is a fairly good size, though not too
The Gang's All Here
I am being fed raw pork. Did I actually eat it? The world may never know... big. Thanks Polish genes. Either way, its a funny thing to say to a guy you just met, gaijin or otherwise!
Well I believe that's all there is to report right now. I had a really great time with my host family, they and their friends are really entertaining! I think I understood somewhere between 60-70% of what they said. I knew when to smile and laugh though, which is far more important I think - especially since I also knew when they were talking about me, at which point I pretend to know what they're saying and mock being offended.
More breaking news as it develops. Gaijin out!
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Joe
non-member comment
Rei says hitting the watermelon blindfolded is a game tradtionally played at the beach. So yes, people do this all the time in Japan. But who wants to eat sandy watermelon?