The First Quizzes and Saitou-sensei's Song Class

Wednesday was another long day. While studying for my test on chapters 38 and 39 in the English support classroom, there was a lot of stomping heard from the floor above. Someone said it was probably the Japanese style dance co-curricular class. If it was, they sounded like elephants on stampede, and Jill even drew a cute picture to illustrate. I shall have to scan that to my computer somehow... In any case, I was convinced that I was ready for the quiz, and I was for the most part. However, there was one question I know I got horribly wrong, as it included kanji that I'd never seen before. Throughout most of the test, the reading of the kanji was above each one (this is called furigana). This kanji, though? Nothing. I should have just left it blank, but I've always been taught to write something as an answer, so I did. And now I know that what I wrote makes absolutely no sense. So again, one of my teacher's is going to think I'm a moron. Woohoo.

On another note, Wednesday was Duke's birthday, as I discovered in class the prior week, so I thought it would be a good excuse to buy him a hot cocoa in return for the one he got me on Monday. Unfortunately, right after class, I had to meet with Tanaka-san (along with Jess, Jill, Zack, and a few others) to hear about the overnight trip to Kamakura this weekend. We had missed the original trip orientation on Monday due to teacher meetings on class level. The meeting took so long that by the time I got downstairs, Duke was gone.

Honestly, the meeting was a waste of time. We'd already read over the information sheet we'd been given, and that was almost all Tanaka-san covered. The only useful bit was Tanaka-san's explanation of how to wear a yukata (casual kimono type clothing frequently worn after a bath at a traditional Japanese inn). The left side is pulled over the right side; the reverse is done when dressing a body for a funeral. Also, the sash around the waist is tied into a bow with the bow facing the back. Apparently a bow in the front signals that the wearer is a prostitute. Tanaka-san avoided using that phrasing, of course, but some of us knew already anyway.

Enough of that rant. On to Thursday! Thursday was the first day of the co-curricular class I chose, Japanese songs. The teacher in charge is Saitou-sensei, whom I've been told likes to tease. It was a great class though. We sang a song by Arashi, a group he seems to really like, called "One Love". Though painfully adorable, it was a fun song to sing. The music was very pretty as well. We were given a sheet of lyrics spelled out in hiragana and kanji, a wonderful reading assignment it was with which to sing along. The other song we sang today was Hanamizuki (Dogwood in English) by Yo Hitoto, a song that inspired new popular drama by the same name. Saitou-sensei gave a basic description of the movie's plot in Japanese, using dry erase markers as the characters. Very entertaining. XD At the end, we filled out slips of paper with potential songs we may want to sing and the media on which we will provide said songs. After handing mine in, I realized that my first two selections would be extremely difficult for anyone not familiar with the songs. Heh, I can't wait. XD

I was about as hyper as could be after that class, and my teacher for everyday class certainly noticed when I energetically responded to the roll call with "Hai, konnichiwa!" Everyone looked at me like I was crazy, but I was too happy about singing to care. Jill giggled because she knew why I was bouncing all over the place, but I had to explain to the confused Duke and Zack. Eventually the rest of the class will pick up on it, hahaha. Oh, also in class today it was mentioned that Duke's birthday was yesterday. I pretended to sing the birthday song, which led to Kataoka-sensei making him stand in the middle of the room for everyone to sing to him. We sang it in English, which surprised me, as a Japanese version is easy enough to sing. Whatever, it was fun. Teehee.

Today was another reading comprehension day, but it was surprisingly much less agonizing than last time, despite my confusion when I read the text this morning. There were quite a few kanji I didn't know, and some vocabulary that confused me. However, after reading it once more in class, I understood it better. Also, I found it easier to answer the worksheet on this week's reading than the one for last week's. Thank goodness, because I was nervous that I'd be horribly lost in class.

As a side note, the story we read last week was very cute and heartwarming, whereas this week's was about disease and death. What the heck? Although, it was also about finding a cure for the disease. The story was about Noguchi, Hideyo, a doctor from the 1900's who is known for his studies on yellow fever. The story we read was fairly simplified, but the point was that Noguchi decided at a young age that he wanted to become a doctor and help people suffering from disease. What we read focused solely on his work to cure yellow fever, and his eventual death caused by the disease. The internet gave a much more detailed biography; feel free to look it up, those of you who have never heard of him. ^^

Today after class, it was my turn to be quizzed on a speaking exercise that everyone had to memorize. A few students took the quiz each day this week. I did pretty well, only tripping over syllables twice. Kataoka-sensei complimented me, and my grade has A's for everything (for example, intonation was counted, as well as accent). Yay! So at least I've redeemed myself to this teacher! She's so nice, too! ^-^

Once finished, I ran down the stairs to buy Duke a hot cocoa as a late birthday present. However, the vending machine with the better cocoa was sold out. Still, I got one from the other machine and handed it to him. He tried to say no, but I owed him one anyway. XP Now we're even again.

Also, today I got my train pass for the commute to school, so starting Saturday, I don't have to use the Pasmo that I got when I ran out of tickets. The Pasmo is a card to which you charge money in order to get on the train without having to purchase the tickets each time. The money is automatically deducted from the card each time you use it, and it can be recharged whenever. When we arrived in Japan, we were given enough tickets to last us until we received the pass, but we've all used them up in taking extra trips on the weekends. We were planning on purchasing Pasmo cards to combine with our pass anyway; it's so convenient!

One final detail for today. I made Jess, Jill, and myself burgers for dinner! They rocked! XD Okay, so technically they were sliders because they were rather small. We each had two, though, so it was like having one normal sized burger. Ahhhh... I can't wait until the next time we decide to have them.

That's all for now! Hope you all enjoyed my insane ranting. Bye bye!