Meeting the Family and Learning What I Didnt Learn
Date: Dec 21st, 2007 1:45:55 am - Subscribe
Mood: dashy
It’s so hot here! You wake up to muggy heat, and you go to sleep in muggy heat. I cant wait for winter.
A few days ago I met my host family for the first time. We all met our families and we were all sweating bullets over it. It was especially nervewracking because we had to introduce ourselves in Japanese to the whole group first. Ugh I hate public speaking!
My host family consists of two people, Eiichi (75) and Seiko (6
, with a daughter who moved out about a month ago and a son who lives outside of Tokyo. Eiichi, Otosan (father) to me, is retired and used to teach haiku (Japanese poetry). Seiko, Okasan (mother), is a homemaker who teaches Ikebana (flower arrangement). Funky-chan is their little Australian Finch who makes a sound “puuuuiiiiiiiiiii” every once in a while. They’re both such amazingly sweet people I cant stand it sometimes. My Okasan is really adorable, she holds onto my arm when we walk to the train station or when Im holding the umbrella for her to block the sun. She laughs at me when I use the formal language they drilled into us or when I say “oishii” (delicious) while eating because I have yet to say I don’t like the food.
But that’s the thing. I LOVE the food here. I can already tell that it’s one of the things Ill miss the most when I come back. My Okasan doesn’t eat meat either, she thinks its healthier to eat a balanced meal of tofu, seafood, egg, vegetables, rice, etc. and she’s an amazing cook. She loves that I eat natto and umeboshi (look them up if you don’t know what these are), and she taught me how to make onigiri, those little triangular toasted rice balls, this morning which was really fun. Another thing, Im at least, AT LEAST, a head taller than both of them. It makes for funny looking public outings. And I have to bend down to listen to my Okasan when she says something to me.
Additionally, if I ever hear anyone say that Japanese serve small portions Ill punch them in the face. Everywhere we’ve eaten, be it at home or a restaurant, the portions are at least as big as in America. They eat sooo much here! I don’t even get hungry as much since its so hot and more of the food is absorbed (balanced/healthy foods) when I eat, so Im full but never really greasy-stick-your-ribs full.
Meeting my Okasan and Otosan was extremely terrifying, I mean, these are the people Ill be living with for a whole year so I wanted to please them. I barely talked the first day, the second was a bit better, and now I feel more comfortable explaining my plans for the day even though my grammar must make them think of special ed. I also do a lot of smiling and nodding while I look up words in my DS.
Why does everyone here wear pants when it’s 800 degrees out!? James says that he lost like 10lbs in the three months that he was here before. You walk everywhere and if it’s not hellishly hot it’s hellishly cold and snowy.
We took the Japanese Language Placement Test the other day and I discovered an important fact: We learned nothing useful in high school as well as in college. The nuances, pronunciation, and vocab are so different from what we learned in classes. I cant wait to start classes here, studying Japanese seems like more fun here since it’s not such a disconnect from everyday life. Getting into the mindset is easier. Also, it apparently doesn’t matter where we are placed after the test since all the credits we earn transfer back as the next class we would have taken (400 level for me).
Uwaa, this email is longer than I intended. So much happens every day! Ill put off the rest of my notes til next time. For now Ill end by saying that while I do get looked at, it’s not as if people are staring blatantly all the time. I mean, this IS Tokyo, and foreigners are pretty common, especially around campus. Mostly, I get a curious glance, followed by categorization, and then maybe mild interest.
The other international students kick ass! Drinking with them is really fun.
Okay, now this email is over.
Next time: Getting lost on campus, exploring and the loss of directional sense, attractive men and women, little blue hats, drinking at Hub, and the Russian prostitute.
Comments: (1)
anonymous - January 10th, 2008 |
