I'm back in America now. I need a few days to recover. It feels good to be home.
Po-tee-weet
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Yesterday I took the JLPT. It went decently, though I don't know if I will pass. In all honesty, I don't particularly care, I guess. That's a crappy attitude to have, but I'm just worn down by this point. Worn down by all the work, trying to communicate my thoughts in a different language, and having to listen to all the drama and whining from our group. It is the same conversation, day in, and day out. It's normally about 5 specific Japanese guys who live in our dorm. It's quite frustrating, and I'm glad to leave that part of my daily life behind.
Well, it's now Monday for me. There are no classes today, it's a random holiday for the University. The rest of the world continues as normal, but the University doesn't have classes. Japan seems to have a lot of strange, random holidays for being the hardest working country in the world. Sure, you can say, "It must just seem that they're random to you, but I bet they make perfect sense to the Japanese." I'll give you some of that. I'm gonna pull out the academic calendar and go through and highlight some of the holidays we have.
University Foundation Establishment Day : 12/8
Coming of Age Day: 1/12
Respect for the Aged Day: 9/15
As mentioned in a previous post, we get the Equinoxes off. So 9/23 is no classes.
Sports Day: 10/13
Culture Day: 11/3
University Founding Day: 11/19
There are plenty more, but those were just what was on m calendar.
I got a twitter. www.twitter.com/jfriesinger Now I can annoy the internet on a whole new level. For those of you not in the know, a twitter is an internet tool that operates on the simple premise, "What are you doing?" So you update it when you feel like it. Things like "I'm going to study in the library" and other helpful things to let people know where you are and what you're doing. It's very helpful if you're into that kind of thing, and I am. However, a majority of my updates have been along the lines of "Still in Japan" or "Update: My life is trivial" Click the link for the full list.
I've been reading through the archive of Questionable Content, one of my favorite webcomics. (found at http://www.questionablecontent.net) Jeph Jacques is a very funny man. On his site, there is a link to Vagabond Jewelry (www.vagabondjewelry.net) which specializes in the forging of copper. I found it interesting and was soon purveying the wares displayed. I would like to buy a cuff to hide my MedAlert Bracelet. I don't want to stop wearing it because that seems foolish. I do however, get tired of people asking what it is, or what's on it. So If I could just have something to cover it up the majority of the time when I'm out, that would be ideal. My favorites are "Navel" and "Unchained."
I probably should get started on my stack of homework that the senseis decided to grace us with in spite of our gigantic test yesterday. I'm looking forward to seeing you all again,
Well, it's now Monday for me. There are no classes today, it's a random holiday for the University. The rest of the world continues as normal, but the University doesn't have classes. Japan seems to have a lot of strange, random holidays for being the hardest working country in the world. Sure, you can say, "It must just seem that they're random to you, but I bet they make perfect sense to the Japanese." I'll give you some of that. I'm gonna pull out the academic calendar and go through and highlight some of the holidays we have.
University Foundation Establishment Day : 12/8
Coming of Age Day: 1/12
Respect for the Aged Day: 9/15
As mentioned in a previous post, we get the Equinoxes off. So 9/23 is no classes.
Sports Day: 10/13
Culture Day: 11/3
University Founding Day: 11/19
There are plenty more, but those were just what was on m calendar.
I got a twitter. www.twitter.com/jfriesinger Now I can annoy the internet on a whole new level. For those of you not in the know, a twitter is an internet tool that operates on the simple premise, "What are you doing?" So you update it when you feel like it. Things like "I'm going to study in the library" and other helpful things to let people know where you are and what you're doing. It's very helpful if you're into that kind of thing, and I am. However, a majority of my updates have been along the lines of "Still in Japan" or "Update: My life is trivial" Click the link for the full list.
I've been reading through the archive of Questionable Content, one of my favorite webcomics. (found at http://www.questionablecontent.net) Jeph Jacques is a very funny man. On his site, there is a link to Vagabond Jewelry (www.vagabondjewelry.net) which specializes in the forging of copper. I found it interesting and was soon purveying the wares displayed. I would like to buy a cuff to hide my MedAlert Bracelet. I don't want to stop wearing it because that seems foolish. I do however, get tired of people asking what it is, or what's on it. So If I could just have something to cover it up the majority of the time when I'm out, that would be ideal. My favorites are "Navel" and "Unchained."
I probably should get started on my stack of homework that the senseis decided to grace us with in spite of our gigantic test yesterday. I'm looking forward to seeing you all again,
Thursday, December 4, 2008
そろそろ時間です。
(Soon, it is time.)
So it goes.
Monday and Tuesday were my Shogakkouhomon. It's hard to believe that something I've virtually dreaded my entire time here is done. It was almost painless. Almost. I only had to present on Monday, and my class was pretty good. They were enthusiastic and would answer my questions, and seemed to have a good time. Monday in general went well. Tuesday also went well, up until the point when I was assigned to help in the class full of little shitheads. They didn't pay attention, and they didn't answer questions. Oh well. Such is life, win some, lose some. I probably built lots of character.
Even though I'm coming down to the last week of my stay in Japan, even the last few days of class, the pace has become almost frenetic. I had my last Vocabulary class yesterday, and my final for Conversation today. The final for listening was last Thursday. I got a 93 and some change. I was pretty happy with it. The sensei's seem to be genuinely sad that Jessie and I will be returning in a little over a weeks time. 10 days from today, I will be home.
As I was saying, the pace has increased. We learned several new grammar points in the past two days, and even as I sit here, there is a worksheet that needs to be done before tomorrow. Will it get done? Most probably. No class tomorrow, though. Thank goodness for small favors, I suppose.
The JLPT is Sunday. I have to take a train to get to my testing center. It's rather inconvienent. It's at the very end of one of the subway lines, and a 15 minute walk from the station. Oh well. It will be over soon, I suppose. (For those interested, it's official name in Japanese is as follows: 日本語能力試験 transliterated: Nihongonoryokushiken Fascinating, isn't it?)
I guess that's it. Po-tee-weet.
So it goes.
Monday and Tuesday were my Shogakkouhomon. It's hard to believe that something I've virtually dreaded my entire time here is done. It was almost painless. Almost. I only had to present on Monday, and my class was pretty good. They were enthusiastic and would answer my questions, and seemed to have a good time. Monday in general went well. Tuesday also went well, up until the point when I was assigned to help in the class full of little shitheads. They didn't pay attention, and they didn't answer questions. Oh well. Such is life, win some, lose some. I probably built lots of character.
Even though I'm coming down to the last week of my stay in Japan, even the last few days of class, the pace has become almost frenetic. I had my last Vocabulary class yesterday, and my final for Conversation today. The final for listening was last Thursday. I got a 93 and some change. I was pretty happy with it. The sensei's seem to be genuinely sad that Jessie and I will be returning in a little over a weeks time. 10 days from today, I will be home.
As I was saying, the pace has increased. We learned several new grammar points in the past two days, and even as I sit here, there is a worksheet that needs to be done before tomorrow. Will it get done? Most probably. No class tomorrow, though. Thank goodness for small favors, I suppose.
The JLPT is Sunday. I have to take a train to get to my testing center. It's rather inconvienent. It's at the very end of one of the subway lines, and a 15 minute walk from the station. Oh well. It will be over soon, I suppose. (For those interested, it's official name in Japanese is as follows: 日本語能力試験 transliterated: Nihongonoryokushiken Fascinating, isn't it?)
I guess that's it. Po-tee-weet.
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