Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Cooking Curry and a Day Off!

Monday, November 21st was a bad day for me. And a little bit for those around me too. I was just moody and angry, thank you girl problems. At least most of the group found my angry antics to be entertaining more than anything else. Although a dumb boy decided to tell me something he shouldn’t have, so I advised him to not talk to me for awhile. After that I began to toss around an origami box that Jil made for me. It was fun, and everyone else probably just thinks I’m insane now. Oh well. X3

I was trying to cool down before class; I didn’t want to be an angry person for Kataoka-sensei’s class. She’s too sweet, and I would have felt horrible. Unfortunately, she wanted to play sort of a game with roll call that day. First she wanted someone else to answer for the person she called, forcing the called student to correct the mistake. Then when she called my name, I was to pretend I was not paying attention, forcing a student nearby to tell me I was called. Well, Denseki-san (not sure of spelling) was sitting next to me, and said boy from earlier was sitting behind me. If I were smart, I would have whispered for Denseki-san to be the one to speak up. I didn’t do that, though, so I got a tap on the shoulder from behind. I was still angry and promptly turned around to tell him, in what was likely a very venomous tone, not to touch me.

After that, we moved our seats into the big half circle used for class, and I sat far away from anyone I really knew. In doing so, I could safely talk to those next to me for class exercises. Of course, as class dragged on, I began to feel like a terrible person. Don’t know why, as I gave fair warning that I might not be human that day. XP Poor kid next to me asked if I was sick. I told him no, I was just a girl. I doubt he understood what I meant, though, because he went on to say that he’s always sleepy in class too. During break, I barely left my seat at all. I was drawing angrily in my notebook, because that’s just what I do.

In any case, when class was over, I did apologize. (read: yes, mom, I apologized) I guess I can act like an adult sometimes. But only sometimes. Heh. And all was well again, as we scurried out of our classroom.

Tuesday was another sakubun, but this one will be used as a speech that we have to memorize. I’m not looking forward to that so much. They did give us the freedom to pick our own topics, and we were told about it ahead of time with the hope that we could finish writing it in class. Writing the sakubun was saved for the end of class as always. Jil, Duke, and I had a curry cooking class to attend afterward, so we tried to hurry in writing it. It took me a long time to figure out an opening sentence, but the rest of the paper didn’t take too terribly long. We were all late in finishing, but we still made it to the curry class.

Once we arrived at the place for the class, I immediately regretted letting Duke badger me into signing up for it. We would be making curry with some Japanese college students who volunteered to join. As if talking with them wasn’t nerve wracking enough, I was expected to help make food? I hate cooking in front of people, so I didn’t know what to do with myself. There were 15 US program students, I think, and we were split into groups of three that were then joined by two Japanese students each. Jil and I stole Duke for our group, as he had done the curry class before. Two male students joined us: Yuto-san and Yo-san, who were both very friendly.

We went to our station with the ingredients and got to work. At first I was afraid to touch anything, as it wasn’t my kitchen. Sigh. But I eventually joined in, helping Jil cut the carrots, potatoes, and onions. Yuto-san and Yo-san insisted that we were doing really well, like it was a difficult task. It was pretty entertaining. They kept telling me to be careful while I was working, though. I was being careful; they worried too much that I might cut myself. Yo-san took care of washing dishes as his portion of helping. He kept saying that it was something he could do, so he would do it. Duke took care of the actual cooking part of the job, and we all chatted to pass the time.

When everyone finished cooking, we all sat down and ate together. Rice was prepared by two students who volunteered to do that instead of make the curry itself, so it was time for some yummy curry rice! At our table, our group of five was joined by Michiko-san and another Japanese student, Masaki-san. We had a really good time talking about all kinds of things, such as differences in size of food portions from the US, Canada, and Japan. US of course won as the cheapest and fattest. I know Duke mentioned some other things on his blog too. The punk put up some pictures as well, ch.

Wednesday was a holiday! Woot for days off school! We were initially planning to do the afternoon free time for karaoke, but that ended up not happening. So sad. What we did do was go with the guys to Sunshine so Duke could get a CD that came out that day. It was the opening of a new anime he’s watching. As a quick note, most CD’s are insanely expensive in Japan. I’ve seen a few that cost around 5000yen (about $65). Granted that CD had a ton of songs on it, I still wouldn’t pay that much for it. Luckily, Duke’s CD was under 3000yen. He’s been pretty obsessed with this song since he first heard it, and thanks to that I have had it stuck in my head more than once. It is a good song, but the opening line drives me a little insane with the Engrish, heh.

After that, we went to a book store for the two Matt’s to get some JLPT prep books. We had to take the elevator to like the 8th floor of the building for that. Luckily, they were on a bookshelf right in front of the elevator. Win! Lunch followed, which was gyuudon again. I need to not eat that for awhile, I think. It would seem that I am growing tired of it.

On our way back to the dorm to yet again attempt studying, we stopped by the park to pretend to be kids for a little bit. XD We tried walked up logs that were set on an incline. The first one was simple enough, but the second set was too high an incline and too slippery. I opted instead for taking the other side to the horizontal set of logs, and just sat up there for awhile. The guys attempted the steep inclined logs and failed too. Doubters thought I was making up how slippery it was. Okay, just kidding. We just sort of hung out for a bit until we decided to stop scaring the locals. XD We did get some interesting stares from the passersby.

I believe we were distracted once again, this time by a CD and game store. The guys finally caved and bought a Japanese copy of Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver; they were about 2000yen a piece (about $26). They were used games, but that’s still a decent price for Pokémon video games. Brand new in the US, they were $40. Anyway, Duke purchased Heart Gold, and Matt, Soul Silver. That night mostly involved trading good Pokémon from existing save files to Jess’s US copy of the game, and then the Matt-tachi began their own save files. XD

That’s all for now! ^^

Friday, November 25, 2011

End Midterm Week and Not Quite Singing in the Rain

Ah, Thursday. I somehow woke up in time to get ready and go to school as usual. I was running off of about four hours of sleep and was quite literally falling asleep in class all day. Kataoka-sensei must have noticed, because she called on me to answer a review question in the book just as I began to lose consciousness. Whoops. Luckily she is a nice person, so I don’t think she’ll hold it against me. I’m not sure I remember anything else about Thursday, as I was completely out of it.

Friday was a “disaster drill”, like our fire drills at home, but this one is about what to do in case of an earthquake. First we were made to hide under our desks, should the lights or anything else come loose and fall from the ceiling. Let me just say now that our desks are tiny. Seeing the guys attempt to fit under them was pretty hilarious. Poor Zach. His legs did not fit at all. I am small enough that I could fit my whole body under my desk, without anything sticking out. ^^;;; After hiding, we had to leave the building (in case of fire) and head for a nearby park, because it’s a large, open space with less risk of buildings falling on us or something. I personally felt the whole thing to be completely unrealistic. First of all, the entire school didn’t go at once. Second, I find it difficult to believe we’d make it all the way to the park in the event of an earthquake. Oh, and the most annoying thing was that they actually had people taking pictures of the freaking drill! Who does that??? I was not at all happy about it. x.x

Getting back to class mode was fairly difficult for me. I didn’t want to do anything after the drill. But, alas, I had no choice. Time just sort of dragged until almost the end of class, where more crazy conversations were made. It was another of those “watch the video and create your own dialogue” activities. In this video, there were two men walking back to their apartment building (note: condominiums in Japan are called “manshon”, a katakana transliteration of the word mansion). That had me laughing before I even knew it. One conversation involved the statement, “Oh, my condo is great. Do you want to come home with me to see it?” May I repeat that I love my class? XD These kids, quite a few of whom are actually older than I am, are hilarious!

Okay, time for some random notes about the week. The Pepsi buying war between Duke and myself is still going strong. One night I won pretty amazingly by dropping a 100yen coin into his pocket as he dropped on into the machine. However, he then decided he had to buy me a second one to make up for it. Punk. Couldn’t just let me enjoy my victory. Then, when we went to karaoke, he bought me another one! Three in one night was cheating. XP Since then, I have preemptively placed money in the side pocket of his backpack without him noticing about three times thus far, and only once did he find it before returning home. I’m totally getting back into this game.

While I’m at it, I’ll try to fit the weekend in here as well. Saturday Jil, Jess, and I were supposed to go to Asakusa (stress on second syllable, not first/third) with the culture class, but it was pouring rain. The trip involved walking around a bunch of shops, and I don’t have proper shoes for outings in the rain. None of us are taking the class for credit, so we made the executive decision to not go. Unfortunately, we forgot to ask Gotou-san to contact those at the school to let them know we weren’t going. We walked to the closest bakery for breakfast, and while we were eating, someone took my umbrella from the stand outside. Jil offered to share hers for the walk back, so I stayed mostly dry, except for my feet. Ugh. Few things exist that are worse than sneakers and socks soaked through as you walk.

After that, Jil and I spent most of the day in the lounge with the guys. Duke, of course, came over again. That’s practically all he ever does, heh. I seem to recall trying to draw that day and failing, as I couldn’t think of anything. But we all chatted a lot, so it didn’t matter that much. Dinner was gyuudon, and my feet became even more soaked during that trip. The ground was so flooded, it was not even funny. It poured even harder on the way back to the dorm. And me, without my umbrella. Duke all but demanded to share his, which was kind of broken, but big enough that it still functioned. I didn’t really have a say in the matter as he yanked me next to him. Jil giggled, and Duke felt the need to tell me several times “I mean nothing by this. Nothing but to keep you dry.” I found it fairly entertaining, personally.

We all hung out at the dorm for a little longer, until we got booted at ten and had to leave. Poor Duke had to walk back in the rain, while the rest of us scurried to our warm, dry rooms.

Luckily, Sunday was a much nicer day. Sun shining, humidity levels back down, I put my sneakers in the window to finish drying. They took about three hours from that time to dry completely, during which I video chatted with friends from home and regular chatted with the cousin. It was a lot of fun, considering I had been far too busy for such things before the midterm. That morning, Jess, Jil, Jason, Duke, and two friends of Jess went to a small anime festival type things near our area. I spent the morning alone, grabbed a simple lunch, and bumped into Matt on the way back to my room. He explained that the others were leaving the festival and heading to Akihabara, a place well known for anime merchandise. I chose to tag along with him and Jay to meet up with everyone.

We went out for okonomiyaki, an unusual pancake type food with very different ingredients from what you all know as pancakes. I probably would have enjoyed food more if I hadn’t just eaten, but it was okay. After that, there was some exploring to a nearby arcade with PuriKura. I decided not to participate this time. We walked around the arcade, played some air hockey, which I lost. I did great the first half of the game, but then fell apart once I hit 6points. Too bad. Then Duke played a table flipping game! XD All you had to do was smack hands on the table, then flip in when the bystanders weren’t paying attention. Apparently their surprise, plus the damage done by what was flipped increases the player’s score. It was pretty funny to watch. I want that game at home. In my room, haha.

The two Matt’s left to go back to the dorm, and Jay and Jason left to go elsewhere in Akihabara while the rest of us chose to go to karaoke. It was fun. We stayed for two hours before returning to the station, parting ways with Jess’s friends, and returning home. Jil, Jess, and I all got dinner at the convenience store on the way back. I got a small thing of curry; it was yummy. Upon returning to the lounge, I caught the end of a baseball game on the television. Apparently, the team they wanted to win won. XD Good for them. Odd note: the box indicating the strike zone is not shown on the screen here. It was interesting.

Well, that’s all for last week/weekend! ^^

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Beware the Midterm! Another All Night Karaoke?!

Okay, now for the post about midterm week! 11/14-11/16

Monday morning was funny; showed my picture off to everyone. XD Duke was jealous because he is not fabulous like the drawing (really, I just can’t draw beards, so there isn’t one). And Jil and Jess love their characters. Hooray for me! We all hung out and tried to study until class. In class we went over the homework and basically finished the last chapter to be included in the midterm on Wednesday. At the end of class, I was informed that I had to do my hatsuon check, which I had completely forgotten about. Yikes. Luckily, we’ve been working on a simple story: Momotarou. It was not difficult to read, so I got A’s for this check too. Thank goodness.

Tuesday was a hilarious class. Konno-sensei is always so funny, but on that particular day, I had a fun experience with another student. We were put into pairs to create a dialogue using the most recent grammar pattern. This conversation was meant to include “hurdles”, meaning that one person would ask for permission for something, and the other would essentially challenge the need for said permission. We were meant to go back and forth until one person backed down/granted permission. I was paired with Mokuhou-san (using a Japanese spelling of her name). For our conversation I actually took the initiative. XD I pretended to be a young girl asking her mother for permission to go play with a friend. She asked if I’d done my homework or studied, and my response was that I studied the day before. Then came the best line of the day: “Kinou ha kinou da yo!” Basically, she yelled that yesterday is yesterday. We were dying of laughter as the teacher pointed out that it was actually a common expression. Eventually I asked if my friend and I could study together and was granted permission. XD

After that, Zach and his partner were up. I’m not sure their conversation made too much sense. It was about borrowing a book, which was apparently the other kid’s “girlfriend”, but it had Zach’s name written on it, haha. Regardless, it was a blast.

Alas, the dreaded day of the midterm arrived: Wednesday. We got to school really early to do some last minute studying, mostly kanji on my part. Listening was something that couldn’t really be helped, and the grammar seemed doable. The reading section involved two stories we’ve already read, but it had slightly different questions. There was no preparing for the sakubun portion at all; we were not given the theme until time for the test. Thus, kanji was my biggest worry. We could be tested on any of the 135 kanji learned in class, but it was more like 300 possible words that could be made out of them. Needless to say, I was a little worried about that.

We shuffled into our usual classroom, followed by a different teacher from our usual three who was our test proctor. I went to sit down in one of the few remaining seats, only to be told by Junso-san to look at the board for our assigned seating. Turns out I picked the correct seat anyway. Duke, oddly enough, was at the desk behind mine and vowed to annoy me during the exam. Punk. Before I could come up with something clever to say, which probably would have failed anyway, the test had begun.

The first part of the midterm was the sakubun. I wanted to bash my head into the wall beside me. Duke wasn’t lying when he said these people were terrible trolls. Jil and I felt they wanted to crush all our hopes of doing well by throwing the worst section at us first. To top it off, the theme was absolutely horrendous: Things That Have Surprised Me since Coming to Japan (日本へ来て、びっくりしたこと). I’ve been asked this question on multiple occasions, and not once have I ever been able to come up with an answer. I had a time limit of 50min, though, so I simply wrote about a few differences between life in the US and life in Japan that I knew to expect. Okay, so I fibbed, but I had to write something. Worst section ever (read: worst essay ever written). There was a ten minute break after the sakubun for students to use the restroom, eat a snack, etc. Jil, Duke, and I used most of the time to tell each other how poorly we did.

Part two was the listening section, I believe. Many of the conversations/questions were ones previously done in class, so I knew how to answer them. Other questions involved a description of something, leaving us to pick one of four pictures that best matched what was said. The last few conversations were more difficult, as they were longer and had slightly more confusing questions to accompany them. Regardless, I think I did well on that section (read: I hope I did well). Another mini break was given before the longest part of the exam.

Reading comprehension was up next. The two stories picked out of the three we read were the obvious choices because they were the two more difficult ones. One was about soybeans and the Japanese people; I left a few questions blank on that side because some of the vocabulary was too complicated. The other side was the story of Noguchi, Hideyo. I answered all of those questions, and I think I got them all right. With any luck, that’s not just me being too optimistic, heh. Once time was up for that, we were immediately handed the bunpou section of the test. Throughout most of it, I felt I was able to put the correct answer, but there was at least one question I did not answer at all. I was still kind of in panic mode, and I could not remember for the life of me what one little phrase meant. That made the whole sentence that I was supposed to write pointless for me. I’m sure I made other mistakes too, even though what I wrote for certain questions may have seemed correct at the time. As long as I didn’t make too many little mistakes, I should get a fairly decent grade. ^^;;;

A short break later, and the time for kanji had come. I was the most worried about that section for the sheer volume of the content that could be used. Much to my delight, they picked a lot of simple kanji that I knew! There were fifty words we had to change from kanji to hiragana or vice versa, and I answered all but five. Provided all the ones I answered were correctly done, I have a 90%. I was only unsure of one or two that I answered, meaning the lowest grade I could have is an 86%, with which I am totally okay. Once I finished, I handed in my paper, put my chair upside down on top of my desk, grabbed my bag, and gleefully ran down the stairs to freedom. XD (Yes, we have to do that with our chairs every day) I was so happy to be finished the day of testing! Shortly after my retreat, Jil and Duke joined the group of freed prisoners. XD Jess was already downstairs, as each level’s exam worked a little differently. I believe the level 2 test sections were slightly shorter than ours.

So, our group gathered together to go eat dinner at the Italian place in Ikebukuro. Then we prepared for all night karaoke! Woot! We didn’t even care that we had class the next day; we wanted to party in celebration that the midterm was over. A group of seven this time (Jason, John, Matt, Duke, Jil, Jess, and I), we headed for Sunshine City.

Free time for karaoke during the week was cheaper too because it was a weeknight! We of course had a blast. Munchies were eaten, including some McDonalds at some point, drinks (only water and tea for me) were had, and all were merry. Jason was, as usual, far gone after only one drink and dancing as he sang. Matt got relatively drunk too throughout the night, which was also entertaining. As for me, I pushed myself too hard while singing not far into the night, but I kept up with the water and had a decent length break between each of my songs, so I was fine. XD I all but monopolized Duke’s giant headphones to listen to music on his phone once the other guys were so lost that their singing became drunken yelling. And I believe Duke asked me for about the hundredth time “Why are you not getting paid to do this?” I dunno, maybe I should try to be a singer. XP

Much like the previous all night karaoke trip, I was totally passing out by the end. However, this time I was able to at least stand for the walk home. I did however need help with the walking part; so of course, Duke was practically holding me up the entire trip back to the dorm. This time, at least, I was smart enough to bring my coat so that I wouldn’t freeze. We did decide to walk back through the station this time, so I did tear off my coat for that part of the trip. It’s always disgustingly hot in the subway. Once we reached our exit, though, we had to walk up a couple sets of stairs to get back outside again. I said I could handle it, but I was picked up before I had the chance to take even one step. I was set down again at the top of the stairs, and almost fell over trying to regain my footing before being pulled along yet again. I seem to recall saying fairly ridiculous things in my sleep deprived state. Mostly funny things that may not have made any sense. Heh.

We returned to our rooms to pass out for as long as possible, and poor Duke had to get all the way back to his host family before getting any potential sleep.

That’s all for now!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

The 12th a Disappointment. The 13th, race to the bakery!

Saturday, the 12th, was spent shopping. I was really hoping to find a pair of boots that could be worn during rainy weather. I found nothing I was willing to spend money on that fit me. I was pretty upset and would have felt the day was wasted if it weren’t for Jil finding a cute cloak to buy. At least one of us found something worthwhile. ^^

We had spent the entire day looking in Shinjuku and Shibuya, so we were rather tired upon the return home. Unfortunately, we had to go out yet again, this time for food shopping. That’s all I’ve really got for Saturday. I thought more happened, but I don’t find it all very interesting now that I think about it.

Sunday was a race to the bakery inside the Ikebukuro train station. I was up too late on chat the night before and somehow got into an argument with Duke about whether or not he should get me anything at the bakery on his way to the dorm. I knew reasoning with him was useless, but I was tired and also being unreasonable at the time, so we decided to see who would get there first. If I won, I would buy my own food, making it pointless for him to buy me anything.

I was scheduled to be there at 8am because he thought he’d get there at about 8:30. Well, I’ll be honest. I was late by about 20 minutes, but I was still there first. XD I had brought my kanji book with me to study while waiting for the slowpoke. I got something to eat, and sat down in a booth. Once finished eating, I attempted to focus on studying. I use the word “attempt” because the classical music playing in the background was literally putting me to sleep.

So I decided to walk around and look for a restroom. I found a map of the station, but the only restroom listed was the one that costs 100yen to use. I didn’t care, so off I went to said restroom. It was on the way back to the dorm anyway, so I figured I’d see Duke on the way if he showed up. So the restroom was pretty nice, but it was kind of creepy at the same time. I will say it was worth it solely for the fact that I was actually able to wash my hands with hot water. Once finished, I started to head back toward the bakery, stopping by the ticket gates for the Fukutoshin line to see if the punk might be just arriving. Nope. Wasn’t at the bakery either, so I figured I’d just head back to the dorm. I couldn’t remember what I did with the receipt from the bakery, so I was basically giving up the win if I made it home before running into Duke. I didn’t care anymore though. I had to get back to the dorm in time to talk to the cousin like I promised. ^^ Because I hate being late. X.x

On said way home, he who should not be named did catch up to me, apologizing like crazy. My initial plan was just to ignore him, but I decided to instead agree with him that he was a bad person. XP As we passed the vending machine with regular Pepsi, he, as usual, bought me one. The start of his penance, so I didn’t try to stop him that time, ha. Turns out, though, he really was planning to be there first. However, when he got up, he supposedly thought it best to let me win. He passed out again and didn’t get up until pretty late. I explained that a race is a race, and I didn’t want to be handed a win. I think he has noted that. And yes, I realize I’ve spent entirely too much space talking about this, but it was entertaining to write, so make fun of me all you want.

Back to the dorm we went to hang out in the lounge, and for the Canadian to watch his hockey. I brought my computer to chat with the cousin. Said Canadian was very nosy, reading some of the conversation, mostly just the part where I was ranting about how he’s an idiot. XD Then he decided to send her an email in an attempt to defend himself. He got the address from her Yahoo IM name, I’m sure. Punk. Cousin asked me if it was okay to respond back! Haha, that I found funny. I told her it was fine, that he was just a punk. He has since been dubbed “the Canadian punk”.

Before long, the whole group was in the lounge, and there were laptops everywhere. I remember a lot of playing around on computers and just chilling that day. We were supposed to study, but we all have a tendency to get distracted by the internet. Good times indeed. We went out to get lunch at some point, and on the way the group was stopped by this silly old man who wanted to chat. Duke and I were far enough ahead that we escaped. Muahahaha. We stood on the side of the street, watching them until a car wanted the spot where we were standing. I was yanked out of the way by Duke, and we continued walking toward our destination. Duke explained that this old man has stopped him and the other guys to talk before. He just keeps forgetting that he’s spoken to them already.

Lunch was McDonalds for me. XD Duke and Jess got McDonalds too. I think the others got food from the bakery near there (different from the bakery in the train station). I must’ve looked super hungry because Duke kept shoving fries at me while we waited for those at the bakery to finish. Fries are so amazing. XD We returned to the lounge with our spoils and watched another episode of HunterxHunter if I remember correctly. Then it was back to pretending to study for all of us terrible students. I glanced at my benkyou nooto (basically my HW book, if I haven’t already explained that), but quickly became sleepy looking at it. I tried to nap a little, eventually giving that up for drawing. I drew on the back cover of said HW book, because I wanted a picture that was better than the one on the front cover. I ended up drawing Jil, Duke, Jess, and me. I have since inked it, but I am now in the process of adding more people in the background. The guys don’t look at allllllll like their real life counterparts. Whoops.

At the time, I refused to show anyone. I had to finish drawing and inking it first, so I told them to wait until the next day at school to see it. I stayed up pretty late working on it, but it was so worth it. XD

That was the weekend before the midterm! The post (posts?) about the week are sure to be just as fun! And if I remember anything interesting on Saturday that I missed here, I'll add it later.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Sat/Sun and Week of Testing

On Saturday we hung around the dorm and watched anime practically all day. Specifically, we watched HunterxHunter, a remake of an old classic that I never saw, and an episode of Natsume Yuujinchou (Natsume's Book of Friends is English title). Before the anime marathon, though, we went to the nearby bakery for some yummy breads and the like. Good stuff. Duke kept trying to shove some apple thing at me that I didn't want, which was pretty funny. I won that round.

For dinner, we (Jil, Jess, Duke, Matt, Jason, and I) went to the Italian place I mentioned before. There was relentless teasing aimed at Jason for the time he first tried to show everyone "this really good Italian place" he knew. They walked around for around an hour, apparently, haha. This time, though, just about all of us knew where we were going. During the walk to said Italian place, the joke of me being carried came up again. I protested that there was nothing wrong with my legs, meaning I could walk just fine. At that very moment, I knocked my shin against one of the random (I feel they are random) posts on the sidewalk. The response I received was, "There is now." I laughed and winced at the slight pain, not quite believing the perfect timing of my clumsiness.

We reached the place quickly and were seated. I got the same thing as before, of course. I love my spaghetti. XD It was so yummy. As per usual, we chatted about random things, and I’m pretty sure there was more geeking out about Pokémon, as that tends to happen with us.

After dinner, I believe we got ice cream at the konbini, and the guys bought some beer. Jason, by the way, is a total lightweight. He was pretty far gone after just one, dancing around and talking about typical college student problems. We all of course giggled at his antics, and Duke was trying to give advice as usual. He again chose to relate the issue to Pokémon, something we’ve all come to expect from him. Each of the rest of us piped in with a comment here and there, and Jason has dubbed us all his bros (or honorary bros for the girls). Then the guys, along with some other students from our dorm, headed out to a nearby bar. We girls followed for the walk but headed home as soon as we dropped them off there. Heh.

That’s all I remember about that day right now, as it was awhile ago. While I’m at it, sorry about this late post, but I had a midterm on Wednesday. Anyway, on to Sunday. That was a rather uneventful day. The only thing Jil, Jess, and I really did was watch Moulin Rouge while eating like pigs. Other than that, I studied and slept.

I’m going to include the whole following week of classes (7-11) here too, as my memory is failing me. I’ve decided to start carrying a little journal with me to write down random tidbits from each day to help me write this blog. I know I probably should have started that weeks ago, but better late than never. So, for that week of classes, we were scheduled to have three tests (two grammar, one kanji) squeezed in before the midterm. It didn’t happen, thankfully. The sheet that would have been the second grammar test was given as homework to prepare for the midterm on the 16th.

Random fun notes: Tuesday we girls and Duke went to the stationary store near the school. It’s a good thing I’m picky about spending money, or I’d be totally broke now. It was huge, and there were so many pens and pencils, etc. that I wanted. Also, the second floor housed computer graphics programs, such as those specifically designed to help in the making of comics. Jil, Jess, and I were completely mesmerized by the video that demonstrated the application’s abilities. It was simplified, yes, but so amazing to watch.

Wednesday… nothing I can remember of importance right now. Thursday’s song class was fun, as it always is. At the end, for some reason, we got to listen to a bit of a favorite song of mine. Again by Yui. I threw up a fist, yelling, “Yes!” and began to sing along immediately. Nobody noticed, as the volume was turned up pretty high. Worked for me; I got to sing a song I love. However, Saito-sensei decided to turn the music down to talk to the class (I think). That was when he looked up with a very confused look. He noticed I was singing along and continued to play with the volume, perhaps to see how well I knew the song? It was difficult not to laugh as he did so, but I finished the chorus before class officially ended, heh.

Friday was kind of nerve wracking, to say the least. During class, we were put into groups to hold a conversation with Japanese persons who volunteered to speak with us. It was very nice of them to take time out of their schedule to help foreigners learning the language, and I really appreciated that. However, I was rather terrified that I wouldn’t be able to say much. It went okay though (at least Konno-sensei told us we did fine).The conversation counted as a test, I believe, and we were asked to write a small reaction about something we found interesting. The topic of discussion was end of the year celebrations, and I wrote about the differences between Christmas in the US and Christmas in Japan.

That’s all for now! I’ll start up on the weekend in a bit!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

A Picture Conversation: Add Insanity

Oh Friday. Konno-sensei. I knew it would be an entertaining class, but there's never any way to prepare for the crazy. The only thing that's expected every class with her is to have to read aloud a new kanji that she points to on the board. I almost always fail the first time and have to stand to do it again after she goes through everyone in class. Luckily, a lot of us fail the first time. It's difficult to memorize kanji you've just learned. I should just start studying them ahead of time, heh. Although, she frequently throws in extras for which we would not be able to prepare. Getting it wrong is funny, though. She says, "Hai, stand up." Love her. XD We also fail when she asks us to make a sentence on the spot for a new grammar pattern. Again, we have to stand. Best class ever.

Toward the end of class, it was time to look at a picture and then make a conversation out of it. The photo was of a man and woman at a table in a restaurant. I was paired with Junso-san, the class troll. I knew he'd make it into something ridiculous, as he always does. So as we were trying to make a conversation together, Konno-sensei seemed amused by our topic. Thus, she picked us to act it out for the class. Dammit. We sat across from each other at the desk sensei placed in the center of the room, and so it went. We said "Hey, it's been a while. What've you been up to?" to start the act. Then, as requested by Junso-san, I added "Oh, by the way, I'm getting married soon." His response in Japanese was the word 'dame', which basically means 'no good'. So, I tried to continue to act, responding with "What? Why?" And this is where it got absurd. Junso-san's next line translates as "The truth is, from long ago, I've loved you." I burst into laughter, because I can't act out scenes like that to save my life. An attempt to play it off as a joke was my next move, but Junso-san kept a poker face, saying that we could be happy together and all that jazz. I couldn't stop laughing. And after a bad pause, he repeated in Japanese "I love you". The entire class was roaring, Konno-sensei included. It was so bad, but so hilarious.

At least sensei made another group go too. Duke and Zack were next with Teiyon-san. Duke had to play the woman, haha! It was a married couple talking about their kid's recent lack of concern for school. Teiyon-san was the waiter, and he was rude and funny. XD Everyone got a kick out of their act too.

When class ended, Duke decided to tell me that if I ever did that to a guy who was pouring his heart out to me, I'd crush him. I explained that it wasn't on purpose, but I probably would react that way in real life. Then he decided to try it out, and I was out of there, still laughing my head off. We joined Jess downstairs to explain class, and she also found it entertaining. Of course, it was at that point that I thought of all kinds of great things I could have said for the conversation, basically to crush Junso-san's character even more. But it was decided that I'd used up my "abusing men" quota for the day, so I was not allowed to tease anyone at all. Instead, Jess and Jil brutally tortured Duke for the trip home. I'm usually tame, comparatively.

So, once we reached our station, Duke decided he didn't feel like going home yet, so he walked us back to the dorm. Only we let Jess in front, so she walked crazy fast as always. Somehow, Jil managed to keep up with her, whereas Duke and I were like, "Nuh-uh". We fell behind, but I certainly wasn't walking any faster to keep up. So we chatted about them keeping pace, and what they might be talking about. Duke guessed right. They were giggling about us walking alone together. Fools. This joke ain't ending anytime soon. Doesn't help that Duke insists on beating me to the vending machines to buy me soda. Sigh. He won that round because I hadn't pulled out 100yen in preparation. We finally caught up to Jess and Jil, and they were of course, giggling. Funny how this joke persists when he's got a girlfriend already. Wait, never mind. That wouldn't stop Jess from making comments. I should know better, heh. Oh well, I'm used to being teased relentlessly, so it doesn't really bother me.

Duke finally left, and Jil went to see Alex, so it was Jess and I for dinner. I made sliders again! Woot for the mini burgers! We ate and watched a few episodes of Big Windup! on my computer. Om nom. Speaking of food, I'm starving, so I'm gonna head out to eat. Peace! The rest of the weekend will be posted when it's over. XD

Week 4- Can you believe it? Been here a month, haven't I?

Yet another week gone by. Scary how fast it's going for me. Well, another Monday, another kanji test. I totally aced this one. 100%, hands down. Yay me! So, I brought the red hoodie to school with me on Monday with the intent of returning it to Duke. It was nice out, so I did not bring my own hoodie. Jil dressed up a little, as it was Halloween; her outfit was cute. ^^ Duke actually showed up in a suit like he said he would on chat. Jil made him wear her mini hat, and she's got a picture of it. Oh, the silliness. As Duke was in a full suit, I ended up carrying the hoodie around all day. It didn't really bother me... until school let out. I was, of course, freezing (as it had gotten dark by that time), and Duke insisted he didn't need the hoodie. Crazy, cold weather-loving Canadian. Sigh. So again, I ended up taking it home. Bet the teachers got a kick out of that, heh.

Tuesday was our second composition writing. I think I did a better overall job this time around, especially since I was able to start writing much sooner than last time. The theme was our relationship with something (tangible or intangible) or with someone. I of course chose song, or Japanese Songs to be more specific. I rattled on about how I became interested in anime theme songs and the Japanese language. Thanks again, Ma. Heh. So hopefully I get a good score. After class was the hatsuon check (speaking/reading test). I got all A's again, hooray! ^^ Again, minor mistakes like forgetting how to read a kanji or two. That's all I remember for Tuesday, I think. Also, I gave up on bringing the red hoodie to school and opted to wait until the next time Duke visited the dorm to return it to him.

Wednesday was another test, grammar this time. I missed 2 questions for sure. I should still have at least a 90% though. We'll get those back on Monday. Other than that, the tidbit I remember from that day is Okada-sensei and his amusing charades. He was pretending to be a person squeezing onto a train, and we all cheered for an encore. He was explaining a grammar pattern, but the action to go with was too hilarious to resist laughing. Other than school stuff, Jess, Jil, and I watched Anastasia that night. Then after they left, I proceeded to listen to songs from musicals on youtube until about 2am. So smart.

Thursday was another national holiday, so no school! Woot! Jil, Jess, Matt, Duke, and I all went to the Pokemon Center in Tokyo for some crazy fun! We began the day by getting breakfast at a bakery in the station. Mmm, apple cinnamon bun. We then caught a train on the JR line for our destination. Much of our conversation during the trip involved geeking out about the Pokemon games, proving that I'm the geekiest of them all! XD I surprised everyone with the dumb little details I've memorized. I loved every second of it. Once we stepped out of the train, we saw a sign pointing us in the right direction. Win. The Pokemon Center was literally right across the street from the station, if the giant inflatable Pikachu was any hint. Upon closer inspection, you could see that the Pikachu was a moon bounce. Jealous. I wanted to be a kid if only to be allowed to play in it.

Taking the outdoor escalator to the second floor, we hurried into the center. Pokemon center music playing in the background and video game footage shining on the televisions, I was about in heaven. Ridiculous Pokemon merchandise lined the walls and shelves, and we squeezed through the crowds to view all of it. The only really disappointing thing about the place was that most of the products were of the new set of Pokemon, and only some classics loved by all of previous seasons were anywhere to be found. But I suppose the place wasn't nearly large enough to have something of every Pokemon out there. I couldn't even find Melanie a Gible. So depressing. But if you want me to go back for something like Snivy, let me know. However, most everything worth getting was about $20 or more. I bought nothing because I couldn't justify the pricing. Duke bought a CD with tons of Pokemon instrumentals from the show. Jess got coins with Pokemon printed on them, the kind that you pop money into a machine, select the design, and it presses it into the coin for you.

We left the Pokemon center, heading for the park across the street. I wanted to play. Unfortunately, there were no monkey bars. But there were swings! I simply had to wait for a kid to release one. And I did stand there feeling very jealous of the children on the swings. Once two were freed, Jil and I pounced. XD It was fun, but they were obscenely low to the ground. Apparently the older kids don't go for parks like we do? Whatever; we had a blast.

We didn't stay at the park long, as we had plans to go to the festival that was being held by the college down the street from our dorm. Jason joined us for that part of the day. We walked around to see all the food the students were selling. It was pretty cool, but I didn't feel like spending money on any of it. I did share some soup with Jess, though. And a certain Canadian (Duke takes no offense to us referring to him as such, I promise) for some reason felt I needed to be fed. He kept apologizing for there not being anything I wanted, as if he could fix that. I was just the picky kid that day. I was mostly bored too. I did, however, find it fun when two Japanese students came up to me with the sign for their curry stand and asked me if I liked curry in English. I should have responded in Japanese that I could read the sign, but I was too busy giggling at their antics. At a different stand, a male student was trying to sell some banana treat, and I did respond in Japanese to him. He seemed immensely pleased and called "thank you" as we walked away. Jason, Duke, and Matt ate quite a bit if I remember correctly. They couldn't resist any of it, ha. That's about all we did at the festival.

Next stop, the park in Ikebukuro. This one also had no monkey bars, sigh. But there were some people bouncing on some kind of bungee that was tied from one tree to another. It was pretty amazing to watch, not gonna lie. One at a time, a person would balance on it standing up, then bounce on it in a different position and bounce back to standing on it. A little weird to explain, but it was cool to watch.

Another stop back at the dorm, and I finally gave Duke back his hoodie. As we all went out again, though, he kept trying to hand it back because I apparently looked cold. I won, though. XP For dinner that night, we (plus Jay) went out for Indian curry. It was too spicy for Jess, and my stomach was just acting up, but everyone else loved it (they'd been there before). I don't know if I will return,as it was a bit pricy for me. Despite that, though, the service there was phenominal. The staff was very nice and brought us some extra things as well for no extra charge. If I went back, the service would certainly be the main reason.

We returned to the dorms again, only for our group to shift more and go out again. Jess (and Jay, I think) left the group, and Bryce and John joined. Bryce and I geeked out over Avenue Q songs for a good portion of the walk. It was Bryce's birthday that day as well, so the guys bought a beer each at the convenience store to celebrate. Then we walked to the Don Quihote, a chain store with all kinds of fun stuff. Jil and I followed Bryce to the candy and snacks section, where I found Snyder's pretzels and Oreos, yippie! Snacks purchased, Jil, Duke, and I parted from the group to head back. They wanted to go out drinking for Bryce's birthday. The three of us walked through the station, and Duke left to take his train back to his host family while Jil and I walked back to the dorm. End Thursday.

That's all for now! I'll include Friday with the weekend. ^^

Saturday, November 5, 2011

The Weekenders: VII Sense Live and Room Cleaning

Oh, the Weekenders. I miss that cartoon. Anywhooooo... Saturday morning, right. I passed out close to 6am. Jess woke me up with a knock on my door at 10am to see if we were doing breakfast, I think. I sluggishly opened the door, and she probably looked at me like "the heck is wrong with you?" See, Jess didn't know we went to all night karaoke. She was annoyed at me the night before (for good reason), and I was afraid to even talk to her at the time because I am by nature a coward. So when I explained why I was still sleeping, she got a little more mad at me. :( I swore to bring her the next time to make up for it.

Jess did give me a strange look about my clothing. I was still wearing that red hoodie, which wasn't mine, because I had been too exhausted to take it off before collapsing onto my bed that morning. Again, an explanation was in order. I told her it was borrowed thanks to the ungodly cold weather at 5am. She figured as much, but laughed and told me something interesting. Apparently some teachers are getting the wrong idea about me and Duke. Michiko-san even asked Jess if we were going out. I about died of laughter to hear that; the thought of Michiko-san asking such a question is priceless. Jess also giggled and admitted that had she not known me, she would have jumped to the same conclusion. Clearly, if a girl and guy talk a lot and laugh a lot together, it means they are seeing each other. My comeback was, were he a girl, such conclusions would never be made. In any case, it's become the new joke among our group.

So Jess and I patched things up and had a laugh. I also did some laundry. Then, after chatting online with the cousin for awhile, I decided to attempt to study for my kanji test on Monday. Failure of epic proportions. I was falling asleep in the common room, so I marched back upstairs to pass out yet again. I set an alarm to go off in an hour, but when it did, I reset it for a half hour later and slept some more. In the end, I turned what was supposed to be a 1hour nap into a 2hour nap. Mmmm, naps. Best time of the day. Back on topic... I got up finally and hopped online to chat while I updated the blog. It wasn't long before Jil was up, and it was time to head to the live.

This time only Jil and I went to the live concert, as there was a misunderstanding about whether Jess wanted to come, so only two tickets had been reserved. We agreed to meet Alex at the Ikebukuro station. Again, she was late. I believe she had trouble finding our set of exits from the station. Once she found us, we ran out the closest exit and got a cab. The destination was super close, but we didn't know that part of town, and according to Alex, we had no time. The cost was mostly paid by Alex and her other friend who came with us. I mean, it wasn't much, but meh.

We arrived early, thankfully. The band before VII Sense was still playing, and they were pretty funny. Dressed up for Halloween, and acting like a bunch of jokers, I feel they were more about being showy and amusing the crowd than anything else. Worked for me. XD The dances the girls did for their songs were just as entertaining as the ones for VII Sense too. My fave was the one where everyone ran from one side of the room to the other, then back again. XD Also, there were two female backup dancers wearing large bunny-head-things. Terrifying. Made me think of Animal Crossing gone wrong. Don't ask. Melanie knoooooowwwwws.

Soon enough, they were finished, and we got to move closer to the stage as some people left. I stood at the right end of the group to see RayX better, whereas Jil stood to the left to see her fave guitar player. It was a blast, just as before, with a couple different songs, I believe. We tried to get more into the bizarre dance moves this time around, heh. And when everyone in the crowd cooed at Shaura, I myself cheered in a high-pitched, Japanese school girl sounding voice, "RaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayX!" Just to spite them. Heh. Jil could hear me, so I think that means I was loud enough. Alex kept giggling at me, and pointing out whenever RayX was up front, as if I didn't know. He's my fave member, so I basically stared at him the whole time. I think Alex thinks I have a serious crush on the guy. Nah, I just admire his guitar skills and pretty face. X3

Loved the live, but at the end, a microphone fell. It was bad. The feedback was blaring for almost a full minute as the band members left the stage, and the curtain was pulled. I had a ringing in my ears until Monday. So bad. All better now though. After the live, we went to eat at an inexpensive Italian place. I have found my "comfort food" pasta. Thank the LORD! My fave meal, and this place makes it well. Also, unlimited beverages for a small price. Sweet! I shall have to return there from time to time. While we were there, some weirdo guy came up to us and asked if he took take a pic for his friend. Alex said she and her friend couldn't because they were models, whereas Jil and I kind of pretended not to understand him. Creepy vibe, really.

We finished up and parted ways inside the station. A chatty walk home with Jil, and a few flights of stairs later led me to pass out on my bed. Hooray! Don't remember what time I woke up Sunday, just that we ate, went shopping, and cleaned our rooms. We bought Scrubbing Bubbles! XD Yes, they have that here. And I'm so happy about it. Super clean bathroom time, it was. Other than clean for the room check on Monday, I mostly sat around all day online and updating my blog. Boring day, I know.

That's all for this post. Gotta type out the week now. XD

Friday, November 4, 2011

Friday's a BBQ! All night karaoke?!

Finally the day of the barbecue arrived, and Jil and I headed out with the burgers and buns to meet up with Duke at the station. One problem. We never agreed on a spot in the station to meet. Let me explain that the station is huge! Several different lines connect through that station, and it's really like an underground mall, to be honest. Luckily, Jil and I were early, so we first hung out near our usual ticket gate to see if Duke would be taking that line to the station. After a few minutes, some other kids from a different class passed us on their way to the correct train line for the day's trip. We followed to see if perhaps Duke was already over that way. On the way we slowed down and spoke to another US student from yet another class who was waiting for her group, and then we continued to the Yurakucho line to search for Duke. He wasn't there. After standing around for a little longer, we started to head back to the Fukutoshin line. On the way, we saw Duke and the girl from the other class heading toward us, hooray!

We speed-walked to the Yurakucho line and climbed on the first available train. We made it to the stop where we'd get a bus 2min before it was supposed to leave with our class... but it left already. So, we were declared late. We got on a bus with a different class after waiting a bit more. The bus was so full, we had to sit in these pull-out seats in the aisle; they were pretty awesome. All day, we were called "chikoku" (late), so we made a joke out of it. "We weren't 'chikoku'; the bus was 'hayai' (early). Either way, we made it there and the barbecuing had begun. Everyone seemed to like the burgers. Luckily, Junso-san did not eat them all. I wasn't a fan of food that day. It was too hot, so I hid in the shade of the trees a lot, away from the fire. The teachers kept asking if I was feeling okay, so I had to explain that I wasn't just being antisocial.

The Korean kids did feel some need to feed everyone though, so Teiyon-san and Teiyan-san both quite literally shoved some spicy foods in my mouth. I about died after that and chugged my water. Also, I was really sleepy, so I decided to lie down on the tarp-like thing under our back packs and lay my hoody over my face to protect from the sun. Dana kept kicking my feet and asking me if I was dead. I said I was, so she told me to stop talking. I clarified, "I'm the undead, so it's okay."

Also, at the BBQ, I had to use the restroom. There were plenty... but the toilets were the kind that are this weird hole in the ground. Not fun. I think all parks are like that. Also... no soap. What's the point in the cold water? Thank goodness for hand sanitizer! Take it with you everywhere! Also, strictly cold water seems to be typical for restrooms here. I don't see how it does any cleaning, seriously.

Once the cooking and eating was finished, we played rock/paper/scissors to see who would have to wash utensils, etc. I of course lost and had to help wash. Again... COLD WATER. It's so useless for proper cleaning. It wasn't so bad, though. Duke ended up washing too. And Haley too. So it was a group of North Americans, heh. I was, as usual, a perfectionist about it, so the teachers like that. But they kept saying the one thing was fine, when there was still stuff on it. I finished anyway.

We still had lots of time, so we moved away from the BBQ area to some more open space to play ridiculous games and the like. I taught them how to play freeze tag. XD ... With some help from Duke, ch. Whatever, I was it, and I rocked. But I got worn out too quickly, and switched with Zack. There were a lot of other games, most of which I did not play. They were rather embarrassing, and I'd rather record them than play. XD So I did.

At the end, we took a class photo... or 5 and headed back to the bus. Along the way there was a man feeding a ton of stray cats outside his truck. Interesting, I thought. In any case, we took the bus back to the station, and from there the train back to Ikebukuro. Opting to continue our day of fun, we (Jil, Duke, Matt, Jason, and I) returned to the dorm for some Arrested Development and anime watching. I barely made it through ep 1 of Arrested Development; it's a bit too much for me. So we watched the first episode of an anime, Madoka Magica. Again, I fail for not really enjoying it. So we switched shows yet again. This time we watched an ep of Kamisama no Memochou. That show I liked. XD

Ten o'clock rolled around, and we were booted from the common room. Sad. Well, Jason had been begging for all night karaoke all day, so we finally caved. Off to Sunshine we went for some singing insanity. We stopped for snacks on the way, because it makes more sense than buying anything there. During that stop, I joked about potentially needing a piggyback ride back to the dorm in the morning. Of course, Duke assured that wouldn't be a problem. Once at the karaoke place, we discovered that students get a discount, so out came the student ID's. It was after 11 when we got there, and we'd be there singing until 5am. Excellent. I have found no better way to stay up until the sun rises.

We sang songs, both Japanese and English. Jason drank a lot, and he got funnier by the minute. Most songs we sang would not be recognized by those back home, but some... Well, one you'll all know is Piano Man. Yes, they have Billy Joel songs at karaoke. You name it, they probably have it. It's a matter of finding the song for which you are looking. The book is totally useless to us, so using the machine to do a more direct search for a song or singer was the way to go. At least we can all read the katakana versions of the song titles, heh.

All this to say that all night karaoke was a blast. I was thoroughly exhausted by 4:30, and half fell asleep with the music still blaring loudly. I was poked and lifted my head to have a hoodie stuffed under it by Duke, so that I had some cushion. Then as I was drifting in and out, he told Jil he wanted to draw on my face, but she wouldn't hand him his bag to get a marker. I didn't hear that at the time, but they told me later. Hooray, Jil! I doubt he would've anyway, but who knows. At 5am, I sluggishly followed everyone to the front desk and did my best not to pass out standing up. Payment was much easier this time around. And cheap! The student discount was awesome.

We walked outside, and I was freeeeeeeeezing. It is far too cold at 5am. I had my hoodie on, but it's not thick at all. Sigh. Next thing I knew, another hoodie was thrown over my head. It was a little disorienting, to say the least. I had to sleepily pull it all the way on without falling over. Difficult to do when you're mostly asleep, I must say. And my comment made mostly in jest earlier was brought up again. Turns out, I really did need to be carried. There was no way I was making it back on foot in my condition. And so, I got a piggyback ride from Duke.

The entire way home, I was falling in and out of sleep, attempting to listen to the conversations going on and commenting occasionally in a very tired manner. There were certainly a ton of people staring; one apparently said I looked dead. All I heard was, "Daijoubu?" or "Are you okay?" to which I sleepily replied to our group, "Mou shinimashita" or "(I've) already died". I think they got a kick out of that, whereas I was simply repeating it from the BBQ. Also, I for some reason kept insisting, in Japanese, that I was too heavy and incessantly asked Duke if his back was okay. He assured me that he was fine and I wasn't heavy at all, but I was rather stubborn in my sleepy stupor and continued to mumble about it.

We did eventually reach the dorm. It was not yet 6, but after 5:30 I believe. I, like an idiot, almost fell over once set on my feet. So smart. I retrieved my bag from Jil, who was nice enough to carry it back for me. ^^ Then I attempted to give Duke's hoodie back, as I only had to walk up a few flights of stairs, but he insisted he could get it whenever. Thus, I slowly trudged up to the fourth story and passed out on my bed the instant I fell onto it.