Fun with June

June was a blast. It all went by so fast! June was absolutely chock full of time-consuming things, and before I knew it, it was July.

After I got back from Hiroshima, it was straight on to midterms. Oh man, I had 6 separate tests. It was pretty stressful for a bit, since that was all on top of the normal rigors of Japanese class. But it all went pretty smoothly, and I pulled good enough grades in most things that I feel pretty good about it on the whole.

Next, my mom came here! And Jeritt’s mom came here! Oh man, it was weird (in a good way) to have another person I know come here. It was pretty fun to lead them around Japan and kind of show off a bit. Also, because we traveled around a bit, it was a good chance to run into (and solve) a bunch of problems, like asking for various things, buying tickets, navigating, etc. Great practice. I think our moms had a pretty good time, too, so it’s a win-win situation. Like I said, we took some pretty sweet trips. We went to Kawaguchiko, near Mount Fuji. Then later, we went to Kyoto! It was really cool. We had to find our little hostel, figure out the bus system, and budget our time so we could see some cool sites. It was a little tiring by the end, but a good experience, and I’m really glad I got to go there! I was worried I wouldn’t get a good chance.

After that, everything sort of went back to normal. Classes are back to normal, I have some free time occasionally, etc. I haven’t been to aikido for ages, though. I didn’t have time when my mom was here, and I think that if I go now, I will sort of drag behind the rest of the white belts. And after all, there’s only a month left. I can’t stay in the club forever. It has, however, rekindled my love for the sport, and I’m going to try hard to go to aikido again in Grinnell. Last semester I had no time for it, thanks to the musical I music directed, but next semester I’m trying to cut down on things like that, so I ought to have time. We’ll see!

I’ve been having a great time with my class here. It’s a great group of people! So international. American, German, Russian, Chinese, Thai, Taiwanese, Sweden, British… a great mix. I really love the whole idea. It’s great to see how people from these other countries think, and learning a new language together makes us all students together. If anyone has read Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, it’s much like the way David describes learning French in Paris. And on top of all that, everyone in my class is just really fun! We’ve gone out a couple times, and it’s always been great. A week or so ago we all went to a Japanese bar to celebrate Theresa, the Chinese girl, having a birthday, and then did karaoke. Great fun. Tonight, I’m actually going out with Jonas the German and Greg from America to a blues bar somewhere in Tokyo, and then Greg and I are planning to stay out all night celebrating Independence Day, most likely by obnoxiously singing patriotic songs at karaoke. We’ll see how it goes. It’ll be my first all-nighter here. It’s about time!

By the way, how’s everyone’s summer break? Good, I hope! Christine is still in Germany, but all my other friends are probably back from their respective countries of study, right? Most everyone’s either relaxing or working, right? Leave a comment and tell me what you’re up to!

Oh, and I’m posting this at school, so I can’t put up any pictures right now. But after I get back from tonight and tomorrow’s excursions, I’ll put some up. Probably on Saturday if I have time.

日本語でもちょっと書きたいです。　みんなの夏休みはよろしいですか。　アイオワが大好きだけど、外国人にとっていつもアイオワにいるのはちょっとつまらないかもしれないので、州外旅行をすればいいと思います。　何かしている人、下でコメントをして、夏休みはどうと書いて教えて下さい！

先月、広島から戻った後、最も面白いのは母とタッカーさんのお母さんは一緒に東京に来たのです。　面白かったです！　母は全然日本語が出来なくて、タッカーさんのお母さんは頑張って、色々な表現を習ったけど、そうしても旅行のは難しくて困っていました。　そうかと言って、結局、母達は大体問題がないで色々な所に行けました。　私とタッカーさんは授業で忙しかったものの、母達は自分で新幹線で広島に行きました。　その予定が分かったが、そうしてもびっくりしました！　二人の日本語が知らない外国人のおばさんが遠く旅行出来れば、日本は本当に安全で素晴らしい国でしょう。　一方、アメリカには英語が知らなかったら、どこも行けないと思います。　素晴らしいですね。　母達は楽しんで、タッカーさんと私にとっていい経験でした。

これからもう一ヶ月しかありません！　信じられません。　ちょっとステリオタイプだけれど、いかにもいつの間にか時間が経ってしまいますね。

~ by pksquared on July 3, 2008.