WARNING: REALLY LONG POST
Friday 8/24/2012 (notice that I stopped doing the bullet points lol)
So, yesterday was a really interesting day. Thought it would be appropriate to write about it XP
The day started with class which wasn't very interesting... I'll skip that part so I won't bore you.
After class I went back to my apartment. As soon as I entered I hear my phone ring. I check it to find that I got a message from my host family. That made me really happy x3 I haven't heard from them since Monday. The message was long and filled with cute emoticons and gif images. I love using Japanese cellphones because I can put those images in my messages x3 It is pretty Japanese and probably would be weird if America starts doing that lol but I certainly wouldn't mind :D
Anyway, in the message they were hoping I was doing well in the very hot weather. I told them it's hot but I'm completely ok (^.^). I'm not sure if I should write in detail what the message was about because of privacy reasons xP Let's just say that they were happy to have met me during the Welcome Party =D So excited to meet up with them again ^_^ and I can't wait to meet the dad. Hope he's nice as the girls in the family haha
It took me about 30minutes to reply back because I wanted to make sure I was saying things right and that I didn't sound rude or anything haha I can't going back and forth between my message and theirs since there were some things I forgot how to write in Japanese. I hope I become pro soon lol I'm definitely bringing my cellphone back with me to America =3 it probably wouldn't work, but it'd be great to keep it!
After I finally sent them a reply I headed upstairs to another EAPer's room. We kinda just chilled there for a bit. I honestly don't remember what we did lol but I remember I ended up back in my room again. I think I was supposed to help her with ordering stuff on Book Off (a store that sells used books, cds, and stuff) online, but that didn't happen.
So, I just chilled in my room for a bit. I was probably on fb, tumblr, and youtube haha. While I was browsing the internet my phone rings again. I check and it's a message from my tutor. He asked if I was in my apartment and I told him yeah. He wanted to bring Nimono that he just made. That made me happy since we're pretty awkward around each other. It's mainly because I have a hard time communicating with him in Japanese since I get super nervous when I talk to native speakers. Oh, Nimono is a type of Japanese food. I don't really want to explain it lol you can google it XP I waited for a bit. I knew he wouldn't be quick since he probably lives far. About 20 minutes later I see someone from outside my window on a moped. At first I thought it was the delivery guy, but a few seconds later my doorbell goes off. It was Shinsei! (my tutor). He gave me the Nimono, which was delicious btw! He also told me about a soft volleyball event that's happening the next day and that we had to a festival meeting on Sunday. I told him how I never had Nimono before and he said that I should definitely try it and hoped that I will like it. I said thank you and waved bye to him. Not to sound like a creeper, but I watched him drive away in his moped lol Hey, I can't really help it if my back door faces the road that leads to the apartment XD Mopeds are really popular here in Japan. I see them everywhere! I've even seen a gang of moped riders lol I really want to ride one =3 it looks like a lot of fun! Getting a license would be a waste though since I'm not staying here long. I want to ride one back in America, but that'll probably be hard xP I ate the Nimono and I really liked it! I gotta remember to return his taperware back to him on Tuesday (note to self).
Later that day me and my EAP friend (same one as earlier) made sweet and sour pork in her apartment. A lot of stuff around here is super expensive so we had to improvise. It turned out delicious, though! Haven't had sweet and sour in awhile so it was great =3 After dinner we headed upstairs to another EAPer's room. They were pregaming cause they were heading to a place called the Gibson House which I think is a bar. I've never been there myself so I don't know what it is exactly. It probably sounds weird that I actually went considering that I don't think. I actually drank a little bit of alcohol. I think it was sake, but I'm not quite sure. I was told that it was 20% alcohol which is probably the most I've ever had. It didn't taste as bad as I thought it would. I only drank once that night so no worries! I didn't get drunk or anything haha Anyway, I spent most of the time playing Super Smash Bros Melee. I'm not pro-status or anything, but I'm probably above average. There were a lot of pro players, though. I'm still amazed at how good some people are XD One of the tutors is really good at it. Apparentlly, everyone who faces him get really angry because he's always winning lol. I think the reason why he came was to play Smash lol I managed to beat him twice :D haha but then I had help since it was 4 people playing at a time. Oh, I found a favorite character for Melee, Fox! haha
After the pregaming most headed to Gibson. It was just me and my friend (who were at the pregame party) that didn't go. We didn't really want to waste time there since we're both not heavy drinkers. The others kept telling us we didn't have to drink, but then again it'd probably be boring just sitting there. Instead we made a quick trip to the 7/11 and bought a few snacks. We went to my apartment and did some Kanji HW (at like 11:00pm at night lol). It was good that we did that though since we have a midterm on Monday and we have to memorize our speech that we have to present infront of people on Tuesday (super nervous o.o ugh why do we have to do this!?!?!?). After an hour or so we suddenly hear talking outside. The others were back. A few of them already headed upstairs but a couple stay downstairs and chatted. Me and my friend decided to go outside and greet them. They were drunk.... some more than others. One of the tutors who went with them to Gibson was also there. I'm sure it's because he was worried about the others. He was pretty sober even though I'm sure he drank, too. Poor guy, I think it was his first time experiencing being around a drunk American. One of them was really tipsy. He was always making sure she wouldn't hurt herself and was genuinely worried about her well-being. He's a nice guy and I'm glad he was there to help out. I honestly wouldn't know what to do. Oh, this was also my first time experience that type of drunkenness, too. Even though I go to UCSB I usually avoid those so I don't see them as often.
We were out there for awhile. The others talked about some Japanese shows and stuff. We eventually headed back into our rooms. Me and my friend chilled in my room for another hour. While she was memorizing her speech I was busy getting some anime from her external hard drive into mine lol She eventually went back into her room and I got ready for bed.
That's the end of my Friday. Interesting? not interesting? Either way it was an eventful day for me XD haha
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Saturday 8/25/2012 SOFT VOLLEYBALL!
Me and 5 other EAPers headed to the school gym because there was some soft volleyball event going on. My tutor and another tutor went also. At first we stood on the bleachers and watch people play then some guys came up and asked us if we wanted to play. At first we were like "no... we're not very good. We can't play" (in Japanese of course). Eventually one of the EAPers and my tutor decided to go play. We watched them. My tutor's pretty good at volleyball! He plays badminton so maybe that's part of it.
Oh yeah, let me explain why it's soft volleyball and why it's not regular volleyball. That's because they were playing with softballs instead of regular volleyballs. A lot of people who were playing were older people so maybe that's why. Also, it wasn't regular volleyball that's for sure because people were using their feet and heads lol
The rest of us went down to the volleyball courts. Most of us just wanted to watch. I actually wanted to play. A couple minutes later 3 of the EAPers decided to head back. It was just me, 2 other EAPers, and the two tutors. Me and the other EAPers played a round. The ball was a lot lighter than I thought and since I naturally hit volleyballs really hard I hit the soft balls hard so sometimes they went flying lol It was ok, though, because it was supposed to be a fun event and nothing serious. During the court switch one of the players switched with my tutor. We didn't do so well in the end. It was really fun though!
We rested on the sidelines for a bit. The guy who invited us to play on his team showed me some pictures on his camera. They were pictures of Japanese castles, places in Yamanashi and Nagano and he even showed me a picture of a Japanese olympian. The places he showed me were really beautiful. I kept saying how beautiful they were and how I wanted to go. Sometimes he spoke a little English with us. He liked that we could speak Japanese, too. Actually, every time we speak Japanese to someone here they all get surprised. I remember buying something at the supermarket and I said thank you in Japanese and the lady has a surprised look on her face lol It kinda feels good haha
I played another round. I was the only EAPer playing this time. I didn't hit the ball as much since it barely came to me XD We lost that round, too, but it didn't matter! Cause it was fun :D I love playing when we just play for fun. To be honest, I hate it when we play seriously because some people can get too serious...
I sat back down and watched two other teams play against each other. Another EAPer was talking to my tutor about our Japanese. He kept saying how good our Japanese was then she brought up how when we say こんにちは(Hello) to someone they instantly say that our Japanese is really good. That's soo true lol He said how he's trying his best with English and me and other EAPer told him "You can do it!" He responded with "I can do it!" Adorable haha She also explained to him that a lot of the times when some of us try to speak Japanese we get really nervous. I instantly responded with そうそう！(That's right!) I think he understands now why I don't talk to him as much. I just get really nervous and embarrassed when I start speaking Japanese. He even said he feels the same way when he tries speaking English. I think the awkward wall broke down after that because we understand each other now! Yay!
After the game we headed back. The other tutor went off on his own way and my tutor walked a bit with us back to our apartments. We talked a bit mainly of how hot it was (it's super hot!). When one of us sneezed me and the other EAPer said "bless you" Shinsei (my tutor) instantly asked us what that means. We gave each other looks and laughed a little because we weren't sure how to explain it lol In English, I asked the other EAPers if they knew why we say bless you and I just told them how I was told it's because when you sneeze your heart stops so you say bless you in hopes that God will make your heart beat again or something (I don't remember where I heard this). Shinsei had a confused look and I said how I couldn't really explain it in Japanese. The other EAPer managed to do it, though. He was surprised. He said that the whole "bless you" thing is weird, but that's understandable. He says that when people sneeze here others don't usually say something. Sometimes they'd say "Are you ok?" and stuff but that's it. I think he was happy though because he learned something about America lol
When we reached the end of the road we parted ways with my tutor. Oh, btw, he had his moped with him. He walked it while he was walking with us. The others were amazed that he drives one lol and we all wanted to ride one XD Before heading off he told us that he's going back home soon. We were all sad :( He'll be back for the next term, but we won't be seeing him for a couple of weeks. Hope he has fun back home, though ^_^
After that we headed back to our apartments and that's where I am right now =) (I was sad that my package from Book Off hasn't come yet. Hope it comes tomorrow!)
SORRY FOR THE SUPER LONG POST. It's probably too boring to read since it's all text XD sorry!
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