Tuesday, June 26
Hi, everyone! I’ve got great news! Tomorrow, I will have
internet!* But I will get to that in a bit.
So, today began with me getting up at 7:40, since we were
all to meet in the lobby at 9:00. The sad, unfortunate truth is that the reason
we had to be in the lobby by nine is the fact we had our Placement test at
9:30… x.x こわい。。。 Well, we headed for the test, after all 39 of us
students had gathered, plus our awesome advisers, who lead us to what would
decide our fate. We reached the placement test room, which was in a large
classroom. (The classroom had an amazing view, and it’s already shown to me
that I’m in trouble for having a greater potential to daydream in class…. >.<)
The test was split into four sections, with a break between sections 1-2 and
3-4. (The only way I could tell was that there were numbers and that was simply
the context. And I could read 休み which is “break.” Otherwise, there
was some katakana that read something likeヤーケント or
something… Not really 100% sure and I still can’t access the internet to look. ごめんなさい。。。 And there was one kanji that I understood: 文. (I forgot what its partner kanji that sat before that
one was…) But this kanji deals with writing and composition. So, I knew there
was a written part… The rest was in more kanji and I couldn’t read any of it.
(It didn’t help that I was sitting forever away next to Audrey, so that the
kanji sorta blended together…) Anyway, so, they gave us the instructions in
Japanese, and I nodded my head as if I understood. Eh…. I can say I understood
parts of it, but that was because Yamaguchi-san used gestures and the like to
help us follow what she said.
At one point, they asked something of a group of students
that I did not really understand except that they were to sit on the other side
of the room in the column of desks that were unused at the time. I was able to
gather that it had something to do with what one of the teachers had written on
the board: N2, N3 ありますか？ I didn’t know what N2 or N3 was exactly until the
teachers started verifying that the right people were in the column. (The
teachers had our pictures from when we had them sent in, so they could see our
faces as well as our names.) The teacher saw that there were some people that
were to be in the section but weren’t. When she asked why, the students
replied, saying something about N1. Of course, I had no idea what that meant,
but everyone burst into laughter when the students said that. I looked to Audrey.
She explained, “N1 is the best you can get.” …The best you can get on a
proficiency test, meaning those students are nearly fluent in the language. I
laughed, then, too. Obviously, they were mostly here for enjoyment, rather than
to learn anything. But that’s okay. I would have taken a similar opportunity,
even if I was that proficient.
After all of that, it was time for business. They passed
out えんぴつ (or pencils) and 消しゴム (or
erasers) for those that needed them. (Poor Charles needed a pencil. He’d had a
rough night, which is a story I’ll share later below. ^.^) From there, they
handed us our test packets for the first portion. It was kanji and testing how
much we knew. They didn’t have many that I even recognized, let alone knew….
But they did have 社会 which I had remembered from Fall 2011 with Hammond
Kyoko-Sensei from the Advanced Reading class!! I got extremely excited! The
rest were ones that I wasn’t sure of…. :( The next section was vocabulary and grammar, I
believe. This section had more words that I recognized, but also more that I
couldn’t remember or didn’t even know to begin with… :/ (It’s extremely frustrating
to know you’ve heard a word (through anime or casual conversation with people)
and not know what it means. Or not remember because you don’t remember the
contextual situation it would be used in…. D: ) After that was our break. I
don’t remember how long they said it was for, but it certainly didn’t seem to
last long enough…. The third section was listening… Talk about my weak point. I
mean, man… Anyway, after that was the composition part where we were to write 日本について or about Japan. I don’t really have an extensive
vocabulary, and unfortunately, I had forgotten a lot of the advanced grammar
rules Sensei had taught us in the last couple semesters…. So, my composition is
a piece of terrible writing that I would never be allowed to be seen if it were
in English…. Sounding like a four year old attempting to hold a conversation but
with a serious case of ADD, my composition was lucky to have more than one verb
used… (T-T) It was terrible…. Plus, I didn’t know what I was supposed to write
about Japan… >.> Well, that was the end of the test. So, I was free to
leave to join my mates who had all already finished… I am clearly out of my league in skill level here….
After the test, we had a spare amount of time for lunch.
I ate another one of my delicious melon pan. (It actually wasn’t as good as
Reuben-san’s homemade kind, but it was still おいしい！
And you should all be jealous! ;3 (Actually, I’ll probably try to make some
again at some point when I get home… As a comfort for being homesick for Japan…
:P ) Anyhow, from there, I, as well as David and Charles, needed to go pay off
the 7500￥ debt I still had as well as give them my insurance and
passport to get copies of. I only had about 10 minutes to do that before
orientation at 1:30… I had a ways to walk. Audrey went with us, though, and we
ran into Erin (sp?), one of the Chinese girls. (I love all the Chinese girls.
They’re very nice and, thankfully, know some English, so I can sorta
communicate between Japanese and English with them.) The five of us were
walking but we had to get there quickly and I know that I was not entirely sure of the direction, which had me worried.
Thankfully, I saw Alecs and I ran to catch up with him. He kindly showed us the
way. I got all of that straightened out, though I ended up being late for
orientation. But they all understood and did not scold me for being late. (I
don’t know if the Japanese can scold, though, since they’re all so friendly! ♥)
Orientation was pretty straight forward. They gave us
each a packet with our names on them (possibly so that the information would be
in our own language as well as in Japanese). The packets contained a green card
that had contact information on it. So, now, we have the I-House address in
case of emergency and the numbers for two other individuals whose positions I
don’t currently remember. There were also maps of Fukuoka, the subway, the
campus, and a few other things like that. Also, we were given the rules for:
the internet, the I-House, the campus, and for throwing away trash. You might
think I’m joking about that last bit with the trash. I kid you not, though. The
Japanese beat any of the crazy eco-terrorists in action for being
green. They separate trash into combustible and non-combustible and
recycle everything else! I’m glad I was given the sheet because I wouldn’t have
known otherwise…. >.<
Following orientation, we went to the computer room on
the 5th floor of building II. There we set up our login for SGU
(Seinan Gakuin University). It was extremely humorous because it was the first
chance the majority of us had had full access to the internet. So, what did
that mean? Facebook! Obviously. Haha! People called out to each other to get
names for Facebook and we all laughed at each other because we could all see
that we were on Facebook. It was pretty awesome. :D We spent about 20-30 minutes in the computer
room. Then we went on a tour of Seinan’s campus, following Yamaguchi-san.
We started in the chapel, which was pretty cool, and
which I will probably be attending when I can (and when I figure out the
times…). Then we passed the gymnasium as we moved to the first cafeteria, which
is a pretty standard cafeteria, complete with the cafeteria smell that American
ones have and the odd yellow-ish lighting. Yamaguchi-san showed us how to go
through the lunch line and get food and everything, then to pay for it (they
only accept cash just like pretty much every place here). When you are done,
you place your tray on a conveyor belt that takes it to the kitchen, and say
something like “gochisousamadeshita…” (I’m not 100% sure, and again, with no
internet, I can’t be for a while, sadly. It’s one of those necessary phrases
that I need to know but can’t understand people when they tell me. So, I need
to find it written down somewhere. EDIT: I now know that that is the phrase for a fact.) After the cafeteria, we went through the
convenience store, and then saw the building we’ll be having classes in. We
also went to Cross Plaza, which is the much nicer-looking, almost
restaurant-feeling cafeteria. Then we saw the campus museum which has the old
chapel? (at least, that’s how I understood it to be) as well as some awesome
artifacts. From there, we went to the library and we received cards that allow
us access to the library, but I don’t think we can check out books… :/ (I
wouldn’t have checked out books since they’re in Japanese and I don't think they have children's books… But they do have an awesome DVD section that’s all
in Japanese which would give me access to movies and anime and shows in
Japanese, so I could have worked on listening practice or something when there
were no people to hang out with… *sigh* But I guess that could be one of my
souvenirs: finding my favorite show, movie, whatever in Japanese to watch over
and over in Japanese! :D ) From the library, we went to the I-House where they
showed us the evacuation routes from the building in case of a fire. It’s sorta
cool, but also sorta scary how we’d have to do it. (Unfortunately, I didn’t get
pictures, so you’ll have to trust my description…) On every floor, one of the
room’s balconies has a metal hatch in the floor. Between every balcony is a
concrete wall top with a glass barrier bottom. On each of the glass panes
between balconies, it says to break in case of emergency. The point is to break
the barriers and make your way to the escape hatch at the end of the veranda
(or almost the end for the third floor; the penultimate room has the hatch on
this floor). The hatch itself is the scary part. (I think it’d be fun to break
the barriers and crawl through them.) The hatch is just a metal door that opens
to the floor below. The way down is not your typical ladder… Which is the scary
part. It’s a metal ladder that you press a lever to extend down. I couldn’t
help but think I’d have to be doing some repelling type moves but holding a
metal ladder descending down into space… (It wouldn’t actually be like that. I
think the metal ladder extends most ways to the ground, if not all the way to
the ground, and locks into place. Then one can climb down. But that’s not how
it looks when you are just looking at it, thinking about the scenario you’d
have to use it in.) I told Charles and David, later on, that I would simply
parkour it down the side of the building to the ground floor. Charles was
saying that he’d just jump through the hole in the balcony to the ground. I
told the guys that if I did that, I’d be doing it through two balconies’ worth
of metal hatches, and the two of them would have to catch me at the bottom.
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After the escape route tour, the rest of orientation was
done, and we were free to do as we pleased. So, Charles, David, and I went to
get a late lunch/early dinner. (Apparently, people not in America eat at 7:00
or so…. We kept talking about how it seemed funny how late they ate, and they
kept teasing us about how early we were going to eat. But that’s part of why
this place is so awesome. (We students of the I-House are all pretty congenial
with each other, which is phenomenal. I’m not used to this sort of camaraderie
and good will towards one another, I guess. Over at UTM, even, it seems like
there are cliques that remain entirely closed off… (Of course, that might
simply be my perspective, but that’s just how it seems.) And admittedly, there
are groups that stick together here, but we all still can easily come
together.)) Anyway, so, Charles was leading us to a restaurant that he had
eaten at sometime earlier in the week, which he said was really good. I still
needed some hand soap and trash bags, though, so we stopped by the convenience
store for me to grab some. From there, we worked our way towards Nishijin, the
main street for things like eating and shopping. We were using ドン・キホーテ
as a marker for our destination. (It’s pronounced “Dawn Key-hoe-tay” (Don Quixote, yes, like the humorous Spanish novel).) But we only knew a general direction. We eventually reached a
particular road that looked larger and busier than the rest, so we stopped to
ask for directions. Well, I say, “we….” But I’d been hesitant about the idea
while Charles and David were all for asking a random stranger to direct three がいじん towards a food place they did not even know the name
of… Of course, I was voted down and we asked someone. Surprisingly, he was very
nice about it and the three of us actually stood and held a full conversation
with the kind man. He had lived in Connecticut and actually spoke fairly good
English. :) After a couple minutes’ chat, we carried onward. We eventually
found Don Kihoute (Don Ki, for short), and then Charles had to find the window with the food. We
passed by a KFC that had a life-size model of the Colonel outside and Charles
got a picture of him. (I probably will next time I have to go to Don Kihoute
(that’s the Roomaji spelling, by the way). (Which, I guess, I still need to
give a quick lesson about the alphabets… >.>) Along the way, Charles told
us about an adventure he’d had last night. Here’s his adventure:
Charles, unfortunately, has yet
to find travel insurance, and was also in need of money because he’d forgotten
to activate his debit card for international use. Needing yen first, he had to
go find a way to contact his bank. However, because of the 14 hour difference,
that would mean the bank would not open til 10:00PM Japan time….when everything
would be closed or closing…. In need of a phone, though, and determined to get
the bank thing straightened out, Charles had gone to go look for a phone, open
wherever. Unfortunately, the way he took was not to be the way at all… I-House
has two entrances. There is one at the front that is the one we are supposed to
use, but Charles did not want to bother anyone, so he decided to try the back
entrance. He pushed the button-door-handle and exited, reaching for the next
set of glass doors with the button-door-handle. Too late did he realize that
that set of doors will not open. Thinking to go through the entrance we’re
supposed to, Charles turned around to go back through the doors he had just
exited. To his surprise and disappointment, the same doors he could exit would
not let him back in…. So, until four in the morning (about 3 to 4 hours later),
Charles was locked in the little mud room thing until the doorkeeper of the
I-House went to the back entrance for some reason and found him locked inside.
(There is a picture Charles took of himself that I’m hoping he will let me use,
which is right below, if he does.)
Even now as I write about it, I can’t help but laugh…
Partially because of how funny the situation is in general, partially because
of the way Charles tells the story, but mostly because I know that I would get
myself into a similar situation just as easily. It has been the funniest moment
of the trip so far, though. :D Anyway, we finally reached the restaurant
Charles had found, safe and sound.
At the restaurant, they had a cool vending machine,
essentially, where you put in your money, then made your meal selection and it
spit out a ticket with your order and the cost on it. Then you pressed a button
for your change (that way you didn’t end up paying for another’s meal behind
you).David and Charles got full meals that had sides. I got what we thought was
fried tofu, which only cost 180￥. We couldn’t read the kanji, of
course, so we went by the pictures. After each of us had made our selection, we
chose a table and sat down. One of the women came from the kitchen, carrying
small glasses with ice, then poured water from the kettle on the table. She
also collected our tickets and took them with her to the kitchen. After a short
bit, the food came out. To my pleasant (and, honestly, relieved) surprised,
what we thought had been fried tofu was actually a nicely sized rectangle of
fried egg with a dollop of what I can only describe as mayo next to it. It was
soooo very tasty! Even though the egg actually completely filled me up, Charles
shared his rice with me, and David shared his tofu (which I had to put soy
sauce on to make it taste good). Before leaving the guys taught me how to say “ごちそうさまでした,” which means, “That was a delicious meal!” So, I
said it and we left. Then we headed to Don Kihoute in order to get some more
toiletry items before heading home.
On the way home, it was great! We were walking, and we
came to a cross road, having to wait for the pedestrian light to turn green.
Waiting there, also, was an elderly Japanese woman on a bicycle. As we came
closer to the crosswalk, she addressed us, asking, “アメリカ人?”
Giving the affirmative, she then began to say something about “beautiful,”
pointing her finger to her face while staring between the three of us. I could
not understand as she said some other things. (I felt terrible that I could not
because I really wanted to talk to her….) However, the light for the cars had turned
green and a car behind the old woman honked, forcing her to leave before I
could figure out what she was saying. However, as we were walking the
crosswalk, Charles told me that she had been saying I was beautiful and asking
if I was a star. Now, I realize that sounds cocky….to put a story like that in
my blog… But it just made my day so bright that a stranger, and a stranger of a
different land, no less, would tell me I’m beautiful and ask if I’m a star. I
don’t know… Sorry, guys… That was just the highlight of my day, whether that’s
appropriate or not…
Well, we arrived back at the I-House. There people had
assembled for a party! I forgot its name, but it’s basically like a Japanese
potluck? Maybe? Anyway, so, we entered the room and enjoyed time with everyone.
There we had to introduce ourselves in Japanese… >.> I hate being in
front of people and I don't like it too much when I have to speak in a language I am not very good at. I like it even less when I speak in a foreign language I am not very good at… >.< When it was my turn, I slunk to the space others had
stood for their introductions. I was
probably as red as my favorite T-shirt, my philosophy T-shirt, which I was
wearing… I stood for a moment, then simply said, timidly, “エミリーです！”
I stuttered out something that was supposed
to be the closing phrase of よろしくおねいがいします, but I doubt that’s what
everyone heard… From there, we all went to enjoy our nights.
I found myself in a group with Ryan (the New Yorker),
David, Ryo (the student from Delaware University who is Japanese but not
really), Rachel (the girl from MTSU), Alecs (the Hawaiian), Mia (the
Australian), Tiffany (a girl from Hong Kong), and Toh (the guy from Singapore).
The 2nd floor adviser Takuya or joined us, too.
We all played cards for a while, but Tiffany, who is taking an online summer
course for her university in Hong Kong, had to go finish an essay, Mia wanted
to shower, and Alecs went with the adviser to try to give us all wi-fi. Alecs
and the adviser came back, but we all ended up just doing our own thing. (At one
point, Toh and I played with an awesome contraption on a window on the second
floor that is like a massive roller coaster construct for marbles. It’s
extremely intricate but also pretty damaged and needs manual help on occasion
to continue motion.) The night was good. ^^
After that, I came back to my room, went and showered,
then came back to blog. And voila!
Here’s the blog!
*Note: Obviously, I've had internet for a while now... >.> Sorry about that, guys and gals...
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