Day 12

Womp womp. I didn't leave my neighborhood the whole day. I went to church in the morning and after that I spent my day studying Japanese, doing planning/random stuff on the internet, and napping. I didn't take a single picture, so there will be a hole in my chronological collection. But that's okay. I had a pretty eventful prior two days, so one day of rest is fine!

(Note: see my previous entry [day 5] on my non-religious regions for why I'm going to church in Japan.)

The best thing that happened today was that I chose to stay behind and buy the lunch that the church offers (Y150 for kitsune udon and green tea.) I was a little disarmed because Mai hadn't gone to church and Carley decided to leave right after the service. The Kenyan boys who speak English left as well, so I was literally on my own. I didn't think I could do it, but I pretty much did. I ate lunch with Akiko and Taka, two young people who attend the church (Mai's friends who she introduced me to.) And well, our conversation was ENTIRELY in Japanese. To look at it from one way, you could say I failed pretty hard. I made mistakes, I didn't know some words and probably came out very confusing-sounding, and there were large breaks in the conversation when I wanted desperately to say something in English but I couldn't. But in another way, I think it was the first real-life conversation I've ever had that was entirely in Japanese. Usually in JSA I speak random short sentences in Japanese but with English peppered in. This time I didn't have that option.(They know a little English from school but I don't believe in forcing someone to speak the non-host language when you're in THEIR country...unless they want it/they're your student of course.) We talked about our hometowns, the food we like and the food we miss from home, our majors and our classes. I even tried to explain why I'm a vegetarian, which was hard. I'm not sure they really understand that concept, or what they think of me. But they are nice and they keep they listen and treat me well so that's all I can ask for. :)

Also, tonight Mai Zia braided my hair into French braids so tomorrow it's gonna be all braid-wavy. Excited :) (My hair is wavy naturally, but curly-wavy, so it's different.)

Tomorrow the work week starts again. Teaching still feels like a lot of work, because it's not my comfort zone yet. I'm excited for it to become easier and more natural for me as I gain experience.