Japanese

I don't know if I have mentioned this before but knowing Japanese - even a little - has been the most amazing thing ever. Even if you don't know a lick of it, study it before you come please! Even just being able to say 'Hello!' or 'How are you?' makes people infinitely friendlier. They don't even care if you make a ton of mistakes and throw words together in an attempt to make sentences without any discernable grammar structure - as long as you're trying.

Preaching aside, I have made a lot of observations about Japan recently and I thought I would share them along with an update of my life to date. A lot of things have happened recently. I discovered Japan doesn't seem to have any discern-able HIPPA laws and thus all of the questions typically asked by nurses in the privacy of an individual waiting room are asked in front of literally a hundred of your closest neighbors. Including such gems as the poor high school girl next to me who was waiting to get an abortion and was asked by the nurse how she would like the placenta discarded. Really? Mine wasn't so bad, just people asking me when my last menstrual cycle was and the like, but still! Not to mention I had to wait in the waiting room in a wheelchair with an IV in my arm while a bunch of old people watched my mind start succumbing to the drugs and I begin to lose control of my throat.

School life has a lot of differences too. Besides taking off my shoes as soon as I get to school and when I move in and out of the gym, the bathroom, and pretty much any other room, the teachers all sit together in one big room where students can come in an out at their leisure and hover over your shoulder. I kind of like it when they some to see me since it's rare but you can see all the other teachers getting annoyed with it. The other teachers also, probably because of close proximity, always know exactly what you're doing even if you are very discreet. They are constantly reading my notes and looking at the study materials I have piled on my desk and even correcting me while I take practice exams. I tried to look up the Japanese word for nosey and have been unable to find an equivalent probably because the word just doesn't exist. Fine with me since I am nosey too and now I don't have to excuse myself for being up in people's business. :-)

They also handle some situations differently than I would expect. One of my teachers quit her job to get married and there was no fanfare or party or anything, one day she was just gone. K mentioned it is a Japanese thing to just let friendships have their time then fall by the wayside. I think I can learn from this. There are some relationships in my life that have had their time and now is the perfect time to let them go. Oh well. I still have plenty of time to learn.

Went to a party last Friday at one of my teacher-friend's houses. Her parents invited some of their friends and all got drunk while we ate a ton of food. It was delicious and I am so happy I am not allowed to drink right now because I want to remember every bit of their drunkenness. They actually asked me if there are still slaves in America! I wasn't offended or anything, more appalled by their ignorance. I vowed to do the best I could from here on out to make sure my students never suffer this kind of ignorance at my hand. Oh well. Still fun though!

I wrote another entry about the half marathon I will post in a bit so this is about all I have. I might add more later but I am running late for dinner so LOVE!