As of tonight, I officially have one final week left in Japan.
I spent today doing some shopping in Sakae and seeing some more of the city with some friends. Tomorrow I will try to get some studying and my homework finished, and then spend the night clubbing and drinking one last time.
My upcoming week includes 5 more classes of Grammar, which will all be included on our final exam on Friday, my last Seminar class, a short presentation in Society, some time out with our Society professor at a local izakaya, a Karate final, my last Kanji exam, and an interview. Then there is also the Going Away/Christmas Party on Friday night. Afterwards, there is rumor to be a "better" party for those of us in the Seminar House. I am contemplating staying up all night since I have to check out at 9am on Saturday and catch a cab to the train station that will give me a train to the airport where I have three separate flights before I finally arrive in Portland.
My flight plan is as follows:
1:35pm - Nagoya to Tokyo (arrive 2:45pm local)
6:25pm - Tokyo to Vancouver, Canada (arrive 9:55am local)
1pm - Vancouver, Canada to Portland, OR (arrive 2:25pm local)
The layovers are going to be killer!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
"It's All Downhill from Here"
I don't think the original user of this quote quite grasped just how much it encompasses. Yes, there is the typical feeling of everything becoming easier as the time in question comes to an end. But I don't think anyone else has realized just how far downhill your brain goes, as well.
There are now 2 weeks left of classes for me. The last 3 days being made up of a mixture of classes and tests (save the last day which happens to be 2 tests and no lessons). And here I sit - not at this precise moment - in class failing to pay attention for the entire period. My mind wanders so easily now; I am either thinking about what I need to do before I leave, what I wish I could have done, the worries that will haunt me until I either receive those emails I have been praying people send me or my return to Iowa for the Spring semester.
I get out of class and hardly want to look at Japanese anymore. My brain just wants to shut down and hybernate for a while. My performance in class is getting worse, and I find myself not understanding questions that I could understand no problem two weeks ago. The possible explaination is that I am just worn out. 13 classes a 5 days can really wear you down.
My upcoming test dates are as follows:
Wednesday, December 16th = Karate (4th period)
Thursday, December 17th = Kanji (1st period)
Friday, December 18th = Grammar/Listening (2nd period) & Interview (3rd period)
I fly out on December 19th at 1:35pm Japan time and should arrive in Portland at 2:30(ish)pm Pacific Time on the same day.
From there I intend to spend my entire 1 month vacation NOT thinking, working out, and spending my free time either sleeping or hanging out with friends. Personally, right now the sleep sounds like more fun.*
*It is currently 2:15am for me, and I have been unsuccessful in my attempts at sleep in the past 3 days. I have a feeling it will only get worse from here...
There are now 2 weeks left of classes for me. The last 3 days being made up of a mixture of classes and tests (save the last day which happens to be 2 tests and no lessons). And here I sit - not at this precise moment - in class failing to pay attention for the entire period. My mind wanders so easily now; I am either thinking about what I need to do before I leave, what I wish I could have done, the worries that will haunt me until I either receive those emails I have been praying people send me or my return to Iowa for the Spring semester.
I get out of class and hardly want to look at Japanese anymore. My brain just wants to shut down and hybernate for a while. My performance in class is getting worse, and I find myself not understanding questions that I could understand no problem two weeks ago. The possible explaination is that I am just worn out. 13 classes a 5 days can really wear you down.
My upcoming test dates are as follows:
Wednesday, December 16th = Karate (4th period)
Thursday, December 17th = Kanji (1st period)
Friday, December 18th = Grammar/Listening (2nd period) & Interview (3rd period)
I fly out on December 19th at 1:35pm Japan time and should arrive in Portland at 2:30(ish)pm Pacific Time on the same day.
From there I intend to spend my entire 1 month vacation NOT thinking, working out, and spending my free time either sleeping or hanging out with friends. Personally, right now the sleep sounds like more fun.*
*It is currently 2:15am for me, and I have been unsuccessful in my attempts at sleep in the past 3 days. I have a feeling it will only get worse from here...
Sunday, November 29, 2009
3 Weeks and Counting...
The countdown to my departure has begun. My usual feelings of "Let's get this semester over with" are in full swing, but that will also mean the end of my study abroad. I would really love to stay here for another semester; in only the past 3 months I have improved my Japanese skills more than I could have with 2 full years of study in the States. If I stayed until the end of the Spring Term (July), I would probably be easily ready to take one of the JLPTs (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) and pass without too much difficulty.
However, the path I have chosen for my education requires me to put off further studies in Japan until after I graduate. I've considered trying to apply to a Graduate program in Japan, but I have no idea just how difficult that could be. For now I will just have to focus on passing the rest of my college classes with decent grades.
There are three weeks before our final tests, and a lot of that will be filled with studying keigo (uber polite form), which is extremely difficult for me. I would love to go somewhere other than Nagoya before I make the long flight home, but I don't know if I have the time and money necessary for that. There is a possible chance to visit my friend in Kyoto for a day the weekend before I leave. Right now he is in China, so he may not be back in time to hang out before the 19th.
*Sigh* There are the thoughts that are currently on my mind. Time to get back to my six pages of grammar, one-page report, blog essay, and 3 minute speech that I have to do for homework. When I have days like this, I can't wait for Winter Break.
However, the path I have chosen for my education requires me to put off further studies in Japan until after I graduate. I've considered trying to apply to a Graduate program in Japan, but I have no idea just how difficult that could be. For now I will just have to focus on passing the rest of my college classes with decent grades.
There are three weeks before our final tests, and a lot of that will be filled with studying keigo (uber polite form), which is extremely difficult for me. I would love to go somewhere other than Nagoya before I make the long flight home, but I don't know if I have the time and money necessary for that. There is a possible chance to visit my friend in Kyoto for a day the weekend before I leave. Right now he is in China, so he may not be back in time to hang out before the 19th.
*Sigh* There are the thoughts that are currently on my mind. Time to get back to my six pages of grammar, one-page report, blog essay, and 3 minute speech that I have to do for homework. When I have days like this, I can't wait for Winter Break.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
悪い！ "Bad!"
I just got my tests back, and now I have yet another test on Thursday!! My teachers seem to have forgotten to mention it until class today. So I will be spending all of my free time in the next two days studying to make sure I don't end up with another 66%. Not to mention that my class right before this test involves a quiz on roughly 20 kanji.
Also, with all of the stress of setting up my return to the US, my boyfriend drama, and the problem of trying to finish a To-Do/To-Go List in the next 4 weeks...I still have not finished my mid-term report for my Society Class.
Could we freeze time so that I don't turn into a really bad student in my last month of classes? I need to find time to finish everything.
Also, with all of the stress of setting up my return to the US, my boyfriend drama, and the problem of trying to finish a To-Do/To-Go List in the next 4 weeks...I still have not finished my mid-term report for my Society Class.
Could we freeze time so that I don't turn into a really bad student in my last month of classes? I need to find time to finish everything.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Did I mention I don't do well with tests?
I have officially finished my midterms and received my test scores!
The good news is that I managed to pull a 90.7% on my Kanji exam!! Essentially the first half of the test was spent identifying kanji and writing their simplified reading. Then we have to hand over that sheet and write much of the same kanji based solely upon their readings. This part really sucks, simply because many kanji have the same reading and you have to use sentence clues (mostly) to identify which kanji you are actually supposed to be using.
I'm still shocked by that score...
As for my grammar exam, which I explained in my last post was extremely difficult and I left quite a few blanks...well, that grade wasn't so good.
I ended up with a 66%. In Japan, that counts as passing; which means that my school counts it as passing. Personally, I don't consider that to be a very good passing grade. But at least all of our scores were in the same range and it isn't as if I am the dumbest monkey in the tree.
Actually, that last comment might be wrong. I am definitely at a disadvantage compared to the other students in my class, simply for the fact that in the 5 years of taking Japanese classes we never used a damn textbook. How my teachers thought they could teach students their native language without the use of a structured learning base, I may never know. But the teachers here are really great and I have learned so much more in the past 2 months than pretty much anything I learned in my previous classes.
Turns out I have another grammar test coming up next week. At least, that is what the schedule says. We are almost finished with our second textbook, so I can believe there is a test on the way. This time I will ignore the "review sheet" that they give us and study some other way, because that was probably a factor in my test score.
The good news is that I managed to pull a 90.7% on my Kanji exam!! Essentially the first half of the test was spent identifying kanji and writing their simplified reading. Then we have to hand over that sheet and write much of the same kanji based solely upon their readings. This part really sucks, simply because many kanji have the same reading and you have to use sentence clues (mostly) to identify which kanji you are actually supposed to be using.
I'm still shocked by that score...
As for my grammar exam, which I explained in my last post was extremely difficult and I left quite a few blanks...well, that grade wasn't so good.
I ended up with a 66%. In Japan, that counts as passing; which means that my school counts it as passing. Personally, I don't consider that to be a very good passing grade. But at least all of our scores were in the same range and it isn't as if I am the dumbest monkey in the tree.
Actually, that last comment might be wrong. I am definitely at a disadvantage compared to the other students in my class, simply for the fact that in the 5 years of taking Japanese classes we never used a damn textbook. How my teachers thought they could teach students their native language without the use of a structured learning base, I may never know. But the teachers here are really great and I have learned so much more in the past 2 months than pretty much anything I learned in my previous classes.
Turns out I have another grammar test coming up next week. At least, that is what the schedule says. We are almost finished with our second textbook, so I can believe there is a test on the way. This time I will ignore the "review sheet" that they give us and study some other way, because that was probably a factor in my test score.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Advice from Abroad
Some advice for people who go abroad in the future, and maybe some tips for their friends.
If you can at all help it, please avoid any and all drama that may try to work its way into your studies when you travel abroad. This especially includes any relationship matters!
There can be a lot of drama when living with a large number of international students. Lines are drawn, friends are made, and gossip can really work its way around. Stay away from crap like that, unless you actually enjoy it, and try to focus on your studies. Thankfully, I don't have to deal with that too much and most of the people I interact with don't seem to have any big problems with anyone. Well...there is this one person, but everyone can't stand her, so it all works out fine! ^_^
Keep in touch with your friends who go abroad. While they may not contact you, they will reply to any messages sent to them while they are away. It's crazy to think that someone took time out of their day to think about you when you are running around trying to socialize and learn a completely different language. It also makes us feel guilty about not contacting you sooner because we were so wrapped up in what we were doing.
Do everything you can to hang out with as many native speakers as possible! It might suck your money lower than you would like, but you can consider it a school expense as long as you spend your time trying to learn about the culture and speak the language. At least...that's what I tell myself when I have to ask the bank for money.
Study with classmates or other international students. Usually, they can teach you something the teachers haven't or explain things in a way that makes more sense to you. Especially when it comes to kanji!! The more kanji you know in Japan, the better you will be able to get around on your own.
Okay, I think that is it for my random idea of advising people about things abroad. Probably because I am currently typing this in English while chatting with some friends in Japanese. My wires are getting crossed!! >.<
If you can at all help it, please avoid any and all drama that may try to work its way into your studies when you travel abroad. This especially includes any relationship matters!
There can be a lot of drama when living with a large number of international students. Lines are drawn, friends are made, and gossip can really work its way around. Stay away from crap like that, unless you actually enjoy it, and try to focus on your studies. Thankfully, I don't have to deal with that too much and most of the people I interact with don't seem to have any big problems with anyone. Well...there is this one person, but everyone can't stand her, so it all works out fine! ^_^
Keep in touch with your friends who go abroad. While they may not contact you, they will reply to any messages sent to them while they are away. It's crazy to think that someone took time out of their day to think about you when you are running around trying to socialize and learn a completely different language. It also makes us feel guilty about not contacting you sooner because we were so wrapped up in what we were doing.
Do everything you can to hang out with as many native speakers as possible! It might suck your money lower than you would like, but you can consider it a school expense as long as you spend your time trying to learn about the culture and speak the language. At least...that's what I tell myself when I have to ask the bank for money.
Study with classmates or other international students. Usually, they can teach you something the teachers haven't or explain things in a way that makes more sense to you. Especially when it comes to kanji!! The more kanji you know in Japan, the better you will be able to get around on your own.
Okay, I think that is it for my random idea of advising people about things abroad. Probably because I am currently typing this in English while chatting with some friends in Japanese. My wires are getting crossed!! >.<
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Tests!
I hate tests. I always have, but here they are so much worse. After finishing the second page of my grammar test this morning, all of the words started sounding the same. I had random words pop into my head that I knew weren't the answers I was looking for, but I couldn't think of the actual word I was supposed to be using.
For instance:
"Please translate the following into Japanese...
The hospital is behind the bank."
I knew the structure (thank god) and everything else needed for the sentence...except the damn word for "behind"! So my answer looked like this:
”銀行の_____ に病院があります。”
I am guaranteed at least 2 points off for simply missing that one word.
But that is the least of my worries, since earlier in the test I forgot an entire sentence structure!
Tomorrow is my Kanji exam. Hopefully I will be able to memorize the many different readings and do relatively well.
After that, I have to start writing my Cultural Report for my Society class.
I have failed to update my blog in the past few weeks simply due to the stress of midterms. My next post will contain all the details of our Field Trip to the mountains and the time spent in a traditional village.
For instance:
"Please translate the following into Japanese...
The hospital is behind the bank."
I knew the structure (thank god) and everything else needed for the sentence...except the damn word for "behind"! So my answer looked like this:
”銀行の_____ に病院があります。”
I am guaranteed at least 2 points off for simply missing that one word.
But that is the least of my worries, since earlier in the test I forgot an entire sentence structure!
Tomorrow is my Kanji exam. Hopefully I will be able to memorize the many different readings and do relatively well.
After that, I have to start writing my Cultural Report for my Society class.
I have failed to update my blog in the past few weeks simply due to the stress of midterms. My next post will contain all the details of our Field Trip to the mountains and the time spent in a traditional village.
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