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Though water (mizu or sui) is one of the first kanji people learn I have decided that it is one of the most difficult to write with a brush. There are just so many different types of fiddly strokes that no matter how hard I tried it just didn't come out right. Also, you'll notice the poor spacing between the two kanji.
For a first year class at school I took 19 of the new words from the current chapter we are studying and wrote them out on flashcards. The letters, however, were totally out of order - e.g. 'otismeghn' for 'something'. The students had to find the real words. Even though I'd made the cards myself I found the task pretty difficult while the students breezed through the cards in no time. It could be that these words are fresh in their minds but still it was shocking. The Japanese teacher also seemed surprised. It's a little worrying that these students were so much better than their native counterpart.
It took me a year or so to get used to the sight of Japanese people walking around with masks on when they catch a cold. It has taken me over two years to try one out for myself - today being my first 'go'.
I'm not actually sick - yet - but someone gave me a fresh mask to use and I couldn't resist seeing how it would look. Dashing Dr. Darren, of course. Still, I think it would take another couple of years to get me to walk outside with it on. [Note: this is not a picture of me!]
There have been numerous class cancellations at school and combined with last week's tests I've had little to do but sit in the teachers' room. It didn't used to bother me if I had lots of time at school but it's starting to bother me. I used to fill in time by studying a little Japanese or reading something on the Internet. But recently it's felt a little unsettling. Being unproductive isn't very satisfying so I've been trying to produce more mini-worksheets like word searches for class. Also, I don't want to sit in front of the computer the whole day while the other teachers are working hard. Is this just a phase after my busy time at elementary? It's not like I am dying to get to class, but at least when I do go I feel like I'm being of some use, even if I just read sentences for the students to repeat.
What does the J.K. stand for in J.K. Rowling?
For a special needs class at school I made nearly 90 picture cards of 4 fruit: bananas, apples, oranges and strawberries. I drew each and every fruit and even add a splash of colour to each one. It took time, but then again, I had time...
Anyway, when it came to unveiling my little cards the apples caused some confusion. The students thought they were pears! Now, my drawings are not that bad - I had a decent apple shape but the problem was that I'd coloured them green and not red.
The mental image that came to me before colouring the cards was of green apples - mmm, tasty 'Granny Smiths'! What colour do you think of when you imagine an apple?
Fuji TV's 'Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji 2' (24 Hours Emergency Ward 2) airs every Tuesday night. It follows the events following a large earthquake hitting the Tokyo area and whenever I watch it I wonder when the big one is really going to hit...
On Tuesday I watched an emotional episode - quite a teary one, if ever there was one. Then, in the early hours of the following morning things started shaking in real life. It was the first earthquake in quite a while, and it was strong enough too. I admit, I wondered if it was the biggie...
A talk with a 3rd year high school student trying to enter university has revealed a some scary facts. First, each university application costs 30,000 yen (150 pounds)! She claims that some students apply to up to 10 universities...
After passing one university's exams this student must accept or reject the offer by the weekend. However, she will still be waiting for her exam results of a university which she'd prefer to go to. So if she accepts the first offer she loses her chances at getting into her preferred university. Quite a problem, especially considering how important the name of your university is Japan. However, she says that if she pays the university 300,000 yen (1500 pounds) the university will reserve her place until a later date. That is just rediculous.
This student may choose to not attend the 'lower' university even if she fails the exams of the university she wants to attend. She would study alone for a year and try again next year - be a 'rounin'.
Outside the local 99 yen shop you can be sure to find dozens of bikes oustide lining the road. When I saw zero bikes it meant that something was up. Instead of bikes a huge truck full of 99 yen goodness was waiting to be unloaded and inside the shop people were putting up new shelves. A brand new sign replacing the '99 shop' now has a plus, '+' after it. What will this enhanced 99 shop be like? When can I get back in to get my cheap goods?!
At a local department store there were stalls selling masses of chocolates for Valentine's Day on Monday. Just inside I saw this tree covered in pieces of paper. Just to the right of this shot was a table where people were writing out their Valentine's wishes before pinning them to the tree.
Mini-note to myself: My 2005 hayfever has already started in Japan, even though during the past 2 years I always seemed to suffer much later than the Japanese in spring.
Along the motorway there were tons of cars lined up, half on the road, half on the pavement. What on earth...? The only thing I could see was a Yoshinoya sign in the distance (cheap Japanese style fast-food). Yoshinoya couldn't be the cause - but it was.
My source informs me that just for today Yoshinoya are selling beef - the gyu don is back (they haven't been using US beef...). The queue of people outside this little Yoshinoya was crazy. I'm guessing there were at least 50 people. All waiting for gyu don?
Passing another Yoshinoya the queue of people ran right around the corner and down the road. Can you imagine people waiting to get into Yoshinoya? It must be the same at Yoshinoya country-wide!
At elementary school some of the kids asked me to play dodgeball with them. I'd never actually played dodgeball before and warned them that they'd have to teach me. I have seen dodgeball being played at a Japanese high school and but I didn't quite see how the game fitted together - where the members of each team stood etc.
These elementary school kids really know how to chuck a ball! But more impressive is how they catch anything you throw at them. At first I was afraid I'd hurt them but I soon realised they were up to catching my best efforts. My rubbish efforts at catching kept landing me on the other side of the pitch waiting to be freed - pardon my own terminology.
Throwing that ball around nearly did my arm in but at least I learnt how to play a new game.
The results to the Japanese Proficiency test (2 kyu) 2004 lay unopened on my desk for half an hour. I just couldn't bare to look. When I eventually opened the results I was expecting a fail... like I just said in an e-mail, 'I've passed. It's a miracle!' How can this be?!
If I passed I thought it would be by about 1% but I scored just over 70%. Were my results mixed up with someone elses? Just like I thought my listening was by far the best section (93/100); my writing/vocab was better than I'd hoped for (75/100) and my grammar section while weak (115/200, 60%), was enough to get the pass. Woohoo!!
The blessed red light was on when I arrived back at junior high school this morning. Ah, at least there'd be some heat in the classrooms.
When I got to class the students immediately asked the teacher to put the heater on. But the teacher refused, simply replying, 'kiai!' which I suppose translates as 'fight!' 3 hours of freezing English lessons awaited me for the rest of the day. Ah, it's too cold today.
The day before spring arrives on February 3rd Japanese throw beans shouting "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" meaning "Devils out, happiness in!"
What can you tell about a person from what's in his/her pockets? I've returned home to take out the following items from my jackets pockets:
1. Melon bread,
2. Hot vending machine cafe late,
3. Pizza man.
Ahh... the perfect combination ;)
