February 27

I’ve got to say, it was a pretty awesome day today (outside of class). I figured I’d catch the later train today, so I didn’t rush this morning, but as it turned out, I did catch the train. Okaasan made scrambled (not yaki) tamago for me. Yay!!! She also bought grapefruit juice since I had all but run out of mikan (yay again!).

At school, I realized that I had class after the kikitorishiken, and that not bringing my materials for class was a mistake. Regardless, I took my shiken (which wasn’t horrible, but I think I made a few mistakes) and went to class. I felt naked for the three hours of lecture without my kyokasho. It was alright though, because I had at least some dispensable paper to write my notes on.

After class, I was planning on a Valor’s run, but I ran into Yasha on my way, so I went with him to the computer room to finish my geisha presentation (I hadn’t inserted images the night before) and print my report. I’m glad I did then, because I don’t think I would have had the motivation after lunch. We went to Valor’s (faster than Yasha wanted to walk) and came back with cheap, delicious food. In the locker room, we discussed (something I never do because it usually ends in frustration/debate) science versus liberal arts. When Matt and James came in, the guys started throwing bottles at each other (what?!) and I eventually left when David came in to make a Lawson’s run just before our long Art and Culture class. The run was unsuccessful though and I returned with nothing.

In Art and Culture, I was the third (last) to present. My presentation was unexpectedly inadequate in my eyes, but at least we had gotten through a half hour of the class before the actual lecture began. The lecture itself was expectedly long and boring. It seems, everyone in class has resorted to drawing during the lecture rather than sleeping. I can’t believe how well most of my classmates draw!

After class, I had a bit of time to spare before I had planned to meet Alvin to go to his friend’s ryou, so I went to the computer room again. I sat next to a few American friends and used the internet for a while before I realized Daisuke was sitting across the asile from me. I hontouni bikurishita. I think he said he knew I was there when I walked in though, so I felt a bit silly.

When it became 6:00, I went to the main gate of Nanzan to meet Alvin. We started talking while we waited for Eric. In that time, Alvin asked me if I had any Japanese friends, and I mentioned Daisuke. In a coincidence of coincidences, he came walking by then and heard his name. We talked again for a bit until he had to go, and soon after, Eric came, so we left for the ryou. There, I met about six of Alvin’s Japanese friends. I, of course, forgot most of their names.

At first, one of the girls was writing her application for a job and we talked about where we were from. One of the people in the ryou was from China. She seemed a bit older, but in the midsts of so many college students, it was hard to tell. There was also a Japanese girl who is more quite than me in a crowd of strangers. Even when she speaks, it is barely above a whisper (such a strange term) and at first, I was wondering if she was deaf. The guy whose ryou we were in spoke both Japanese and Chinese. I liked hearing it when he spoke to the Chinese woman.

We ate some kind of cooking that seems pretty simple. There was gohan (of course) but also a pot of beef, mushrooms, tofu, and cabbage in a broth that was spicy like kimchi. I tried not to get any beef since it was Friday, but I ended up taking some on accident and ate it because I thought it would be rude to let it go to waste.

After dinner, we had Bible study. I thought it was pretty uncomfortable (since I prefer to practice my religion solitarily and not share it), but I tried to chill out and it got better with time. We were dealing with bilingual (Japanese and English) Bibles (as well as the Chinese one) so it was kind of interesting even from a translator’s perspective.

After the Bible study, it got much better again. I was able to practice my Japanese a lot with the Japanese students and we talked about interesting things like scary movies, music, video games, and manga. Gundam did, of course, come into the conversation. My chococat earrings were again a big hit with the Japanese girls, as was my (broken) watch and leather jacket. I’m becoming Japanese! :D (or at least my style is?) One of the Japanese girls wants to find me on facebook, so I hope I can keep up my ties that way.

Brace yourself for awesomeness, because I think I just experienced the most exciting part of my time in Japan yet. Oh, and I think I found my Japanese boyfriend. (You can stop freaking out now, I don’t actually mean it) I got a ride in a Japanese sports car!!!! We may have only gotten to 80km/hr (about 50mph), but KenKen’s definitely after my heart because he’s got chocolate melon pan on the dash too. Did I mention he drives stick? For the details; when it was time to leave Alvin’s friend’s ryou, one of the Japanese girls came back to tell me that KenKen would drive me home to Nisshin (since he had to go to the seminary there). I tried to politely refuse, since I could catch the chikatetsu, but Alvin told me to take the offer, so I did (and I can’t believe I almost turned it down!). I left the ryou with the Japanese girl and we waited for KenKen to come back from Valor’s, where he had parked his car. I got a heads-up from the Japanese girl on which car was his when it came down the street, and I was in disbelief when I saw a pair of pop-ups. I don’t know what it was, since I couldn’t see the emblem in the dark, but I love this car (it will probably turn out to be an old porshce to spite me). It’s got a giant speaker system in the back, more electronics (and a busted out tape deck) in the front, and just enough leg room for a Japanese person (or me). It’s got a back seat (in a sports car, really?), which I was perfectly happy to sit in, but the Japanese girl let me sit in front (though I offered it to her). Once we got moving, I realized how awesome it was to ride on the left of a sports car in Japan (as opposed to the prius, which ryoushin drive jerkily). I must admit though, riding in this car was more bumpy than a miata, but totally worth it. On the ride, I talked a lot with KenKen and the Japanese girl about how I got interested in Japanese, where I’ve been in Japan, and where I’m from. It’s so much easier to talk with them than the instructors or ryoushin. I had to admit to not knowing exactly where I lived by car (it’s hard to figure out where the roads are when you take walking tracks to the chikatetsu every day instead) and we ended up getting a little lost. That was perfectly fine with me because it meant I got to ride in the car a bit longer. Eventually (after passing it and pulling a J-turn in traffic), I was dropped off by the Nisshin eki and said goodbye to my new friends.

I was so excited from the experience that I ran part of the way home and couldn’t stop smiling.