いまから新しい冒険

久しぶりこのブログをアップデイトして書き続けることにしたんだ。最近日本語を使うチャンスは少ないし下手になる心配があるの。だけど、このブログで出来るだけ日本語で日々の生活の話をしたいと思ってる。さらに面白い見たことや体験したことを話し出す気がしてここに書いたらいいだろうと考えてた。

では、今夜はもう眠くなったので明日話しを書いてみる。おやすみ〜

This is not a real entry

I have been reflecting recently on the absolutely terrible job I’ve done of keeping up with this blog. Time isn’t an issue, because I have copious amounts of it. I think it’s more my laziness and lack of desire to write things about my day-to-day goings-on, especially now when I pretty much have fallen into a routine of waking, eating, classing, bathing, and sleeping.

…

Holy snacks! It’s always extraordinarily weird to start writing something in one place then picking up in a place on the opposite side of the planet. So, yes, I am back in the Americas, and I’ll spare all the unnecessary detail of my rather unexciting homecoming. Though, this is actually a bit of a falsity because I came back in the midst of quite vicious wind storms (tornadoes, actually) which was no small matter. Still, I’d rather not go on and on about that, so instead I will say that though I am no longer in Japan, I have made a conscious decision to continue using this particular blog for all of my Japan and Japanese related experiences. Perhaps this means it will eventually degenerate into gabbings of a silly fangirl who can’t get enough of 小栗旬 in all his absolute adorableness, but until then we’ll just keep things loose.

keitai tanka

北海道

雪が集まり

毎日は、

寒く寒くて

ふとんで眠る

２月ファンタジー

２月もう来てびっくりしたの。すっごく早かったんだ。１月ってどうやって過ごしたか覚えてないや。。。授業が始まって毎日学校に行ったりしてたが、面白い物なんてあまりなちゃったかな。そう言うけど、日本語は少しずつ安くなってつれて日本の友達を作ることも安くなってきたの。だが、まだまだ勉強しなきゃやなあぁぁ。

じゃ、今月の口癖は「もっともっと日本語を使おう！」ってのだよ。

I should update more often. Oh, and a Happy New Year.

Despite the huge spans of time that have elapsed between most postings, I have the impression that I’ve done more than one might assume from reading these 6 or 7 entries.  It’s been 4-ish months since I settled in, so at this point my life has a pretty established routine: get up in the morning, eat breakfast, go to class, return home, eat dinner, talk to host family, take a bath, go to bed.  Sometimes I deviate with the occasional weekday night impromptu 飲み食べ放題 (nomitabehoudai=eat&drinkAMAP) with friends, but generally that’s been the run of things.

Recently, I’d been feeling frustrated with my language and communication abilities, but then I decided getting down about the things I can’t understand was also interfering and affecting what stuff I can understand.  Something of a catch-22, but I came to the conclusion that I’m just going to blaze ahead.  Actually, what really helped encourage me out of this slump was having my parents come visit for Christmas during which time I had to work as interpreter/translator for the two of them since they’re completely unfamiliar with the language.  Of course it wasn’t all roses, but consciously using Japanese and English every day for my parents’ benefit was a good exercise in realizing just how much I do know.  So, thank you, parents!

Right, it’s also 2011 now.  Funny to think that I began writing this entry last year and am just now finishing it up.  It’s fitting of my procrastinating tendencies.  So far this year has been a good one–went to the shrine to pray for good fortune, etc. with the host family, then enjoyed お節 (osechi) which is comprised of a variety of delicious foods.  Since I’m not in America this year I forwent any New Year’s resolutions, but if something happens to pop up that’s worth doing I’ll try sticking to it.

Oh, I just thought of one: keep a more regular entry writing schedule.  Not only will it keep everything I do fresher in my mind, it’ll be an exercise in self-discipline, which is something that I’ve had a severe deficiency of for quite a while now.  よしょ！２０１１年が来て頑張ろぜ！

Three Times Scenic Travel by Bus (part II)

Since it’s a rainy Sunday, I figured I’d take the time to pick up where I left off and continue my tale of my three day fall trip across southern Honshu.  After our first evening, we packed up and headed to Hiroshima for an afternoon of exploration and, most importantly, a visit to the atomic bomb museum and peace memorial park.  I’m pretty sure everyone was feeling some amount of trepidation, but at the same time I think it was something we all understood as necessary.  Afterwards a lot of people were depressed and guilt-ridden, and though I wasn’t feeling hot myself I’ll admit that I am conflicted in my reaction.  It might be that I have no soul, or that I come from the American South, but with these types of memorials and museums a major point is to have an emotional impact, not necessarily out of spite or anger, but with anything that’s attention grabbing there is a need for strong presentation; so, even after being confronted with life-size images of half-melted people and scraps of clothing belonging to school-aged victims of the bombing, I couldn’t conjure what I felt would have been an appropriate response.  That is to say, I didn’t even get misty-eyed reading about the intense pain and loss that countless families experienced.  On the other hand, I couldn’t stop crying while watching Grave of the Fireflies, which probably indicates some kind of emotional stunting or defect.  At any rate, going to the museum was meaningful, and though I’m something of a pessimist a lot of the time, I do think it is important to consider how precious this existence is that we’re given.

Despite my cool reaction to the museum, what followed was a painfully moving firsthand account of the day Hiroshima was bombed given by an older Japanese woman who knew no English, but had essentially memorized a script and spoke to us, if not fluently, skillfully enough to be taken as someone who had spent some time with the language.  I’m going ahead to say it was not a pleasant atmosphere, but listening to this woman speak with so much determination and spirit, afterwards I was thankful to have listened to her story.

Receiving letters is an exciting affair

I received this letter written from myself just recently.  If I may say, I found it amusing.

Dear me of the recent future,

I’m in Kyoto now, and it’s pretty humid, but otherwise I’m feeling all right.  The weather isn’t too unbearable, but I’m certainly looking forward to more autumnal temperatures.  So, before I even made it into the Kansai airport, while I was stuck over the Pacific Ocean somewhere, I met a very nice older Japanese woman who invited me to visit her over in her town.  It was highly unexpected, but I really hope I can take her up on her offer.  Finally, before the end of this fall semester I’d like to see how many keychains I can find related to cute animals, or household appliances.  I’m almost certain there will be a lot of the cute animals, but the appliances might pose a bit more of a challenge.  At any rate, I’ll do my best to have fun.

Until then, I’ll take care of myself–

9•8•2010

I’ll admit I forgot about my mission to look for keychains, but this letter has rekindled my ardor and now I’ll work harder than before!