Losing Spanish :(

In the name of Spanish, I write this post :(. I just opened up a Spanish novel, that I wanted to read, but feel totally intimidated. I'd much rather stare at a book that has some kanji in it. lol
I knew it was only a matter of time before it happened, but yes, I am losing my dear Spanish. I started learning Spanish when I was about 12 or so, and continued all the way until I graduated from college. But let's face it, no matter how good people said I was, or how better I was than the other students, I still sucked when it came to actually "real" Spanish. In high school, always going to Germany, I interacted with a lot of Hispanics in Germany, from Cuba, Puerto Rico, and so on. Then I took a 2 week trip to Costa Rica when I realized that I didn't understand as much as I wanted to, or couldn't speak very well. Then in university I went to Panama, possibly a future home :) There, I really felt like man, after all this Spanish class, my Spanish still sucks...lol
Don't get me wrong I still love Spanish, but it is low on the priority list. When I get to a nice level, in Japanese I'll go back and "re-learn" Spanish. I still listen to music in Spanish n stuff, but am not really taking it in. I feel way more confident in my Japanese as far as understanding and being able to speak. But I guess it's because it was a different, clearly better learning process from the beginning.
Well in the name of Spanish, I post this video. Maybe I'll peek in my novel once more again. These are quotes from my one of my favourite authors, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Video of the Day

Here is the video of the day from Big Bear. He looks funny, but I like the song...lol

Language Partners

For the past few weeks, I have been meeting with my language partners. I have a met a few through the school, and also through the international center in Kobe. I think this is a good way to meet people, and exchange language with another person. Even if you don't get a change to go to a foreign country, if you have people at your school that speak the language you are interested in, or you have somewhere where you can go to meet people that speak the language your interested in, I recommend a language partner.

I haven't been taking pictures!!! I'll get back to it soon!!

学校の面談！

Last week we had individual interviews/ discussion session with a few of the teachers. They just asked us about our experiences so far in Japan, how everything is going so far in class, and things of that nature. This is good because they really get one on one with the students to try and meet everyone's needs as much as possible.

Nihongo de! Japanese Please!

As I have mentioned before, I am going to a language school in Japan. A big problem in my class, and maybe throughout the school is that since the Chinese students are the majority, they tend to speak a lot of Chinese in school as well as in class. I'm pretty sure that other schools have the same problem with large groups that speak that same language as well. However, for the past 2 weeks or so, it has caused us to have new rules in place to try and ensure our "Japanese environment". None of the rules really bother me, because I'm Japanese. :) You are sure to see me with my novel and my headphones when it is time to break, because all I want to be fed is Japanese :)
I'm not complaining or anything, because I know why I'm here, but for others it is a problem I hope can be solved without too much backlash from the students that could care less.Let's see what happens in the morning!

Tokyo Love Story

Ok, I will admit it. I am a J-drama junkie. Right this minute I am watching Mr. Brain as I type. I started watching it last year, but I couldn't understand a thing, and everything was super fast to me at the time. Mr. Brain was one of the first dramas I watched (and with no subtitles, good for the ear) when I started learning Japanese last July. Time flies! This video however, is the theme song from Tokyo Love Story by Kazumasa Oda . Yamaguchi Sensei's recommendation! This is a classic drama from '91! It has that old school 80ish feel to it, to me at least. I used to watch this drama at work, when I had free time, and while I worked diligently :) One day I will buy the set when I get some funds. If you ever get a chance check it out. Probably soon I will make a list of my top 10 dramas...むずかしいなあー！

Linking Up

Probably, the best thing I like about Japanese cell phones is their ability to use infrared, or 赤外線通信 (sekigaisentsuushin). Usually people have a phone number and an e-mail address. Every time you want to exchange that information it would be a pain to type it in. With the infrared, you just let the phones connect via infrared, and email address and phone number are sent to the other person. This is old technology here, but it is cool actually getting to use it!

Exploring Kobe

After the Kobe Matsuri, we had Monday and Tuesday off to recover from the long week. I used this time to get more familiar with Kobe. My school has given us passes that allow us to get into places around Kobe and Hyogo-ken like museums, aquariums, and the like for free! On Tuesday, I went to the Kobe Museum. They had an Egyptian exhibition on display. The place was packed! I actually went to an Austrian exhibition a month or so ago and it was the same way.
Afterward, I met up with Sky-chan and went up to Kitano (still in Kobe) and we went to Uroko No Ie, which is an Art Gallery with some pretty cool pieces. Kitano definitely has a European feel to it, which shows the European presence that was in Kobe. I will definitely be traveling be traveling around Hyogo and Kobe, going to different museums, events, and plays and stuff. Stay tune

Kobe Matsuri Pt. 2

Kobe Matsuri!!

It was sooo much fun. I ate a lot of food. I spent most of the time speaking to people, and ...eating...lol There was food from Thailand, Korea, China, Taiwan, Australia, and Sweden to name a few. Everything was made by the students. I would have made a Jamaiacan dish, but I don't think my skills are up there yet, especially to cook for anyone but myself yet. :)
During the matsuri you could definitely see the large Brazilian presence in the parade. As they partied like it was carnival. Brazil has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. So you have a lot of people that emigrate back and forth I guess.
Here a few pictures from the matsuri!!!

Getting Ready for Kobe Matsuri

The past couple of days have been very busy, but also very fun as we prepared for Kobe's Matsuri. A Matsuri（祭り・まつり） is basically a festival. Today was Kobe's matsuri! There are a lot of stalls with food, and food, and ....food. Well, at least that's all I saw. :) Also there is a parade. On Saturday, we prepared for this day. Everyone preparing dishes, and activities for people to participate in when they come by the school.

These are a few of my classmates. Almost everyday, we do little skits to practice our conversation skills. It is hilarious, because I think that we say some of the funniest things. Chopping up the Japanese language and everything, you can still make sense of what is going on and get some humor out of it. That is my ichi-ban favourite teacher in the corner!

Library Trip!

Today, I made a trip to the library with my roommates. We all applied for library cards so we could check out books. As I am slowly being able to read again...lol everything is new and fresh and there is so much I want to read. This will be good because I can just check out books now, instead of buying them and not reading them or liking them. I checked out Kokoro by Natsume Soseki. I read it in English about 2 years ago. Now I'll check it out in Japanese!

Since the library is pretty far from where we live, we all rode bicycles. This was probably about my 3rd time riding a bike in Japan. Today reaffirmed why I probably won't be riding one often. Although they can cut down the time it takes to get somewhere, I prefer walking because these are the things I take into account:

• Kobe is very hilly. Going down hills is fun, but going up is a pain.
• Pedestrians and bikers usually share the same path, which doesn't allow for a smooth ride. I probably stopped about 20 times to allow people to pass. I'm usually the one glaring at bikers who are trying to ride there bike through a big crowd. Today it was me :)
  
• You use up a lot more energy biking. The way I've been walking, my appetite has definitely increased, not to mention that everywhere I go there's is food :) But I can't imagine what it will be like after biking to and from school everyday. I know eventually I'd adjust, but just another excuse :)
  

Biking is cool, but I'll stick to my feet. I like being able take my time, taking in everything around me. Maybe if I get a job that is far away, I will consider it. Until then, you can see me walking up and down the streets of Kobe.

Here is the video the day: Chage & Aska - Walk
Yamaguchi Sensei, my old Japanese teacher sang this at karaoke!


Here is a bit of the making of the song. Enjoy!

End of Golden Week

Today was the last day of Golden Week. One of my roommates and I climbed the mountain near our house. The weather is definitely warming up, which I like :) Although it will soon be unbearably hot.

After the long journey, we got some omuraisu(オムライス), which is basically an omelet with rice inside. You can definitely get creative with what you put on top, and even what's inside as well. Here is a curry omuraisu with bacon. おいしかった！I will try making this at home soon.

Nara!

On Sunday, a few of my classmates and I went to Nara! From Kobe, I think it's about an hour and a half train ride. One thing Nara is known for is deer. You can't miss them they are everywhere...lol
Nara is also known for its Buddhist shrines and temples, which are very beautiful.

This is Todai-ji(東大寺） Temple. It is the largest wooden building in the world, according to Wikipedia.

This was a very fun outing. Since it was Golden Week, there were tons of people.