It's July, what the ?!?!?! (I say "It's ___ already, what the?!" at the beginning of every month. Really.)
I was in Japan for the entire month of June 2011! Weird.
I liked it when everyone was still in school and I was already here. Now it's summer for everyone. Haha.
Um, so I usually don't write when I don't do much, and I haven't done much this week, because the rain came back in and I have been lazy and just didn't care. When I do stuff alone it's completely my initiative, so it takes more motivation for me to do stuff. Other people's insistence or invitation is a huge motivator for me.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: Work, chilling with Atsuko and her 2-year-old Kaname and 5-month-old Narumi at the apartment, taking the trash out, cooking, etc, going on the computer. Mai and I watched Bridesmaids.
On Thursday night one of Guys' friends' daughters, Ai, came over to have a singing lesson with Carley and I! She's 16 and has a powerful pop-style voice with a strong developed chest voice and mid-range. Head voice not so much. She sang Whitney's I Will Always Love You, haha. It reminded me of Belinda and how she always sings it in CDL when we have to sing for everyone. It was hard with the communication barrier but luckily Yoko was able to translate for us. I helped her crescendo/decrescendo in some parts and I helped her with the English pronunciation of a lot of the word combinations. Words that have that back-set L like "apple" "pull" "beautiful" etc. are like impossible for them though. Initial or middle L's like "love" or "melody" are fine but that final "ul" sound just doesn't come out right.
When I come back and start teaching American kids again, I'm really gonna miss Japanese kids. Well, at least the Seido girls. I don't know if they're an exception or if this is nationwide, but they're so well-behaved, kind, polite and respectful.
Ayano
Today I worked with the 5th graders and then the 4th graders. I had a group of girls in 5th grade and we ended class late so we rushed out to 4th grade. As we were starting class Ayano, a heavyset shy and hardworking 5th-grader, ran panting into the 4th grade classroom going "レベッカレベッカ！" (Rebecca, Rebecca!) and she shoved my pen into my hand. I had forgotten my pen in the other classroom. A navy-blue-and-yellow pen from the UCI counseling center. And it was absolutely imperative that she give it to me as soon as possible.
At the end of every class they sporadically go "Thank you! Thank you very much! Thank you for the lesson! See you! Have a nice day!" Etc. I feel that it's genuine and not just some mechanical thing they've been trained to do, but maybe.
American kids: *loudest voice possible* "All right, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" *still whispers and talking* "ALL RIGHT, LET'S START!" *more waiting*
Seido girls: "Okay everyone let's start!" Within 3 seconds everyone is standing by their desks ready to listen. But not in a robotic or strict way. Not because they're scared. Because they've been trained to have respect and recognize the importance of what a teacher says.
I was gonna go to Kumamoto this week, and then I decided not to because it was too expensive. And because I didn't want to go alone but really I can't afford to spend money on a hotel. SO I compromised. I'm taking a day trip to Sasebo tomorrow. This is definitely going to out-do my half-day-trip to Unzen. It's a little further and there's more to see and I'm going to stay there all day like from 8AM until 10PM. Aah! Sasebo isn't any great shakes, AND it's going to rain so there won't even be any good views or visibility, but I'm telling myself it's gonna be worth it and I need to get out of Nagasaki and do stuff. I'm just bored and stir-crazy without it. I'll actually go to Sasebo later when I go to Huis Ten Bosch with Guy et al, but I won't get to tourist it like I'm going to tomorrow! I'm going to see a panoramic view of the Kujaku Islands (even in the cloud & rain, boo hoo) and maybe take a cruise around them. And just walk around the city and enjoy its parks and shopping arcade.
TODAY'S CULTURE TIDBITS
Double-level parking lots.
So...I'm not entirely sure how this works. There's a car parked on the ground, and there's a hydraulic lift, and there's another car stored right above it. A lot of the manshon parking lots park cars this way. But what if the top-car wants to get down and the bottom car is still there? ...I'll have to wait and see.
Culture Clash.
As a country that has undergone and continues to undergo rampant Westernization/modernization, Japan is still extremely proud of its history and traditions and they all seem alive and well today. So you'll see things like a woman in a kimono shopping next to plainclothes women in a supermarket (I personally have seen this twice. I'm told it's because she was on the way to or from some special occasion: a wedding, funeral, religious ceremony, etc. and that's why she was wearing a kimon.) Or A convenience store next to a huge Shinto shrine (a block away from my house.) Or a Mcdonald's across the street from a traditional Izakaya bar. Or an Obon Matsuri festival that shares the same stage as a Beyoncé concert a month later. I don't think Japanese people really think twice about it. It's not weird if you think about it. I guess every culture has its own mix and its own extent.
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