the end of another week is here, but since there is some random Japanese national holiday, i have a 3 day weekend! yay! i love random holidays! i feel like such a lackey since i worked 2 days, took christmas break, then worked 3 days and have a 3 day holiday... lol. after my 3 day holiday is PAYDAY! FINALLY!!! WEEEEEE!!!
i got a call from personnel last night. they told me that they got a call from the school i was at telling them that i was doing a fantastic job. ^_^ she said she was really impressed since it was only my second day of actual work. im glad they like me! i really like them!
my mission thus far has been to settle in, orient myself, and get a grip on the change. so far that has worked out well. ive done so much walking that my knee no longer hurts, my clothes fit better, and ive worn out 2 pairs of shoes. i also understand where my subway exit is in relation to the rest of nagoya and where i need to explore further. yesterday i signed up for classes at the international center. i placed in the highest level of conversational japanese they offer but im taking the class mostly to get over my FEAR of speaking japanese... and not so much the grammar practice.
while i was there (the international center), i went to the library to look at the flyers and such and then went to sit down and read a couple of magazines... i was there with my friend mandy and it was pretty obvious that we were engaged in reading... when a guy comes up and sits down RIGHT IN OUR PERSONAL SPACE. he proceeds to tell me that hes from nigeria and that he wants to get to know me... UUUUUUUGHHHH CAN HE NOT TELL IM IN A LIBRARY?! the short answer is yes, yes he knows how incredibly rude it is to speak in libraries but he continues his assault for near an hour. he wanted to know whyyyy i wasnt interested in him and whyyyy i didnt want to be friends, etc. normally i am against lying but i told him i had a boyfriend and he said "well you have a boyfriend in the u.s. and now you can have a boyfriend in japan." -.- uuuuuuuuuuuuugh. i was really annoyed but i didnt want to let him invade my space so that *i* left. so eventually he left... but i saw him again, hitting on another uninterested girl in the international center. >.>
otherwise, we had a really good day. yesterday night mandy and i went out for italian food and then went to a gaijin bar. (gaijin= foreigner). bars arent really my thing but i had never been to a gaijin bar before and i really wanted to know what this was all about... so we went, mostly to people watch. ZOMG EVERYONE SMOKESSSSS! coming from california it was just right in my face... and my jacket smells.... sah. anyway, it wasnt a completely fruitless night. we met these guys who sat and chatted with us for almost 2 hours. one of them was a businessman and the other is a music teacher (actually quite handsome!). they spoke little english and mandy is not quite conversational level japanese, so i spent a large part of the night translating and speaking... it was quite a jovial affair really. i exchanged info with the music teacher, then they left to head back to their respective living places and mandy and i stayed for about 30 more minutes and went home.
next week nagoya is having their semi-anual flea market! i guess its the biggest in the area.... so i am REEEEALLY looking forward to it. i picked up all sorts of events to go to from the international center. its quite an active place here... crocheting, ikebana and calligraphy are all on my list of things to *learn* while here... possibly a cooking class... and.... french? its time i get out and make friends with the locals so i can hunker down for the large stretch of working/living here... so it seems i am on my way to accomplishing that goal... which is good.
also, today i learned JENNIFER MIGHT BE MOVING TO JAPAN!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!! ヾ(*・ω・)ノ゜+.゜★ィェィ☆゜+.゜ヾ(・ω・*)ノ normally i am against hugs, but i think i am going to squish her until i have squished the life from her. -.- the potential of having two of my bestest friends from college living less than an hours train ride makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. tonight there was talk of jdrama watching, japanese book reading, getting back on the classical japanese, haiku writing... and japanese death poem reading! i am one happy girl
and now i shall leave you with quote a bit of our masterful writing (i.e. Ariel's poem):
Longing for old days
of long study sessions, I
think of Common Grounds.
i got a call from personnel last night. they told me that they got a call from the school i was at telling them that i was doing a fantastic job. ^_^ she said she was really impressed since it was only my second day of actual work. im glad they like me! i really like them!
my mission thus far has been to settle in, orient myself, and get a grip on the change. so far that has worked out well. ive done so much walking that my knee no longer hurts, my clothes fit better, and ive worn out 2 pairs of shoes. i also understand where my subway exit is in relation to the rest of nagoya and where i need to explore further. yesterday i signed up for classes at the international center. i placed in the highest level of conversational japanese they offer but im taking the class mostly to get over my FEAR of speaking japanese... and not so much the grammar practice.
while i was there (the international center), i went to the library to look at the flyers and such and then went to sit down and read a couple of magazines... i was there with my friend mandy and it was pretty obvious that we were engaged in reading... when a guy comes up and sits down RIGHT IN OUR PERSONAL SPACE. he proceeds to tell me that hes from nigeria and that he wants to get to know me... UUUUUUUGHHHH CAN HE NOT TELL IM IN A LIBRARY?! the short answer is yes, yes he knows how incredibly rude it is to speak in libraries but he continues his assault for near an hour. he wanted to know whyyyy i wasnt interested in him and whyyyy i didnt want to be friends, etc. normally i am against lying but i told him i had a boyfriend and he said "well you have a boyfriend in the u.s. and now you can have a boyfriend in japan." -.- uuuuuuuuuuuuugh. i was really annoyed but i didnt want to let him invade my space so that *i* left. so eventually he left... but i saw him again, hitting on another uninterested girl in the international center. >.>
otherwise, we had a really good day. yesterday night mandy and i went out for italian food and then went to a gaijin bar. (gaijin= foreigner). bars arent really my thing but i had never been to a gaijin bar before and i really wanted to know what this was all about... so we went, mostly to people watch. ZOMG EVERYONE SMOKESSSSS! coming from california it was just right in my face... and my jacket smells.... sah. anyway, it wasnt a completely fruitless night. we met these guys who sat and chatted with us for almost 2 hours. one of them was a businessman and the other is a music teacher (actually quite handsome!). they spoke little english and mandy is not quite conversational level japanese, so i spent a large part of the night translating and speaking... it was quite a jovial affair really. i exchanged info with the music teacher, then they left to head back to their respective living places and mandy and i stayed for about 30 more minutes and went home.
next week nagoya is having their semi-anual flea market! i guess its the biggest in the area.... so i am REEEEALLY looking forward to it. i picked up all sorts of events to go to from the international center. its quite an active place here... crocheting, ikebana and calligraphy are all on my list of things to *learn* while here... possibly a cooking class... and.... french? its time i get out and make friends with the locals so i can hunker down for the large stretch of working/living here... so it seems i am on my way to accomplishing that goal... which is good.
also, today i learned JENNIFER MIGHT BE MOVING TO JAPAN!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!! ヾ(*・ω・)ノ゜+.゜★ィェィ☆゜+.゜ヾ(・ω・*)ノ normally i am against hugs, but i think i am going to squish her until i have squished the life from her. -.- the potential of having two of my bestest friends from college living less than an hours train ride makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. tonight there was talk of jdrama watching, japanese book reading, getting back on the classical japanese, haiku writing... and japanese death poem reading! i am one happy girl
and now i shall leave you with quote a bit of our masterful writing (i.e. Ariel's poem):
Longing for old days
of long study sessions, I
think of Common Grounds.
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