Ah ha! After hours of research and testing I have finally discovered it, the absolutely foolproof way to learn a new language. Are you ready for this? It's pretty radical. The bast and maybe quickest way to learn a new language is (drum roll please) to hang out with 3 to 7 year olds. I am now teaching in my elementary schools and today I made the mistake of leaving school early- by early I mean, at the time I am supposed to leave, but when there are still students around. Some how as I went through the door I accumulated 5 or 6 little kids trailing behind me, saying Goodness knows what to me in Japanese. Occasionally I managed to ask a question they asked. They took me right up to the library driveway.
Some lady that was walking by told me my Japanese was good, to which I wholeheartedly disagreed. I have a long ways to go. Which reminds me, I signed up for JLPT level 3 (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). 4 is the easiest and I know I could pass that with flying colours. Why I signed up for 3? Who knows? I must be psychotic. Now I have to spend every waking minute in thenext 3 months, when I am not making stuff for the kids I teach, studying Japanese. Oh well. It'll cut a year off my time in Japan. I hope.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Omagari fireworks and Morioka Orientation
Wow! It's been a while. Between having no internet at home and the fact that I have started teaching I can:t find the time. So here I am writing about two weekends ago. Morioka Orientation was great. I was proud of myself for being the next best thing at Japanese after Alex, who is millions of light years ahead. The best thing about the Morioka Orientation was of course, being in Morioka. 4 of the 5 new ALTs are up North in the semi-hickies. Sarah is lucky. She's in a 'city' but then it takes here almost 3 hours to get to Morioka and it's only an hour by train for me. By the way, the reason I put city in quotes is because some of these cities really aren't. It's defined by population and lately Iwate has been mergin some of the really small towns, so that a 'city' might really be 20 small towns.
Any how the first night we went out to dinner with AJET and then we went to Roundup. Round up is a 6 floor sports and entertainment complex. We had a blast. On my suggestion, we went skating. It's funny as hell since I am the world's worst skater. I've decided I need to go back and practice though.
The second evening we went for cell phones, but I chose not to get one since they want to take like 600 US from my credit card. I will try again next month. Then we went to Bryan's, played Guitar Hero and then headed back out for Italian Dinner. Dan, Tyler and Jen joined us and after we went to Karaoke. As you may or may not know, Karaoke is a Japanese thing, so it's all over. We went to a new place and got our own booth. The selection is crazy. I want to go back. Then we went to Faces. If you've read my earlier posts, you'll know I saw black people there! lol! I also discovered my new fave liqueur- the Peach Fizz! Wee left at 3 in the a.m. It was hell getting up in the a.m. to make our train for Omagari. Then the bus was late and we had to catch a cab. The buses are enver late in Japan. That should have been an indication that the 50% rain prediction was going to come true. It rained from about 1 p.m. straight through to 5. I hid in Ken's car. When we got back for the fireworks, the rest were ready to go, but ended up staying til like 8.30. The best stuff was in the last two shows though.
Leaving was hell. It took like 20 minutes to get out. 600 000 people up 2 staircases isn't easy. I overnighted at Ken's (because I satyed for all the fireworks and the others left) and then me and Dean took the train for Morioka in the morning. I got in in time for the 2.10 train but I decided to wait another hour so I could get some lunch and walk around the train station. I found a CD store and got myself a Rihanna, a Sean Kingston and the old Natasha Bedingfield. Happy, happy camper. Then it was back to Ichinohe.
Any how the first night we went out to dinner with AJET and then we went to Roundup. Round up is a 6 floor sports and entertainment complex. We had a blast. On my suggestion, we went skating. It's funny as hell since I am the world's worst skater. I've decided I need to go back and practice though.
The second evening we went for cell phones, but I chose not to get one since they want to take like 600 US from my credit card. I will try again next month. Then we went to Bryan's, played Guitar Hero and then headed back out for Italian Dinner. Dan, Tyler and Jen joined us and after we went to Karaoke. As you may or may not know, Karaoke is a Japanese thing, so it's all over. We went to a new place and got our own booth. The selection is crazy. I want to go back. Then we went to Faces. If you've read my earlier posts, you'll know I saw black people there! lol! I also discovered my new fave liqueur- the Peach Fizz! Wee left at 3 in the a.m. It was hell getting up in the a.m. to make our train for Omagari. Then the bus was late and we had to catch a cab. The buses are enver late in Japan. That should have been an indication that the 50% rain prediction was going to come true. It rained from about 1 p.m. straight through to 5. I hid in Ken's car. When we got back for the fireworks, the rest were ready to go, but ended up staying til like 8.30. The best stuff was in the last two shows though.
Leaving was hell. It took like 20 minutes to get out. 600 000 people up 2 staircases isn't easy. I overnighted at Ken's (because I satyed for all the fireworks and the others left) and then me and Dean took the train for Morioka in the morning. I got in in time for the 2.10 train but I decided to wait another hour so I could get some lunch and walk around the train station. I found a CD store and got myself a Rihanna, a Sean Kingston and the old Natasha Bedingfield. Happy, happy camper. Then it was back to Ichinohe.