LAST SUMMARY POST

So at the moment, I am sitting comfortably *actually, a bit weakly* at home, typing up this last piece of entry to summarize and write about my last wk in Tokyo.  (I randomly fell asleep many times for the past 24 hours, and deadly asleep too...as if I fainted. I should intake some vitamin pills.)

The last week of my trip in Japan, I went up to Tokyo and stay for a wk w/ Ming, oh my dear, who lent me a lot of money since I lost my wallet, which was picked up by a friendly Japanese person and sent it back to me. But I have to say, when I lost it, I have thought that this might happen. And it actually came true, oh the luck, I should thank Jesus or other gods. If you were to go to Tokyo, make sure you have enough money in your pocket, b/c money will just fly away in Tokyo. No, seriously. Tokyo is a fun place, I can see myself living there if I actually do speak fluent Japanese. I can also understand why Yale has so few Japanese international students, b/c I would prefer to live in Japan if I spoke the language well. Japan in general provides various types of entertainment. When you go out on the street, you just see a lot of people, wearing all types of fashionable/weird/interesting clothes. You can go shopping, arcade, or other fun places. It's also very convenient b/c of the subway system,which is not too hard to figure out, though a bit expensive. Also, the food is so delicious and healthy in Japan, you will definitely love it. 

What else? I am glad that I did the program I picked, the classes have been fun, and the people were friendly.

I am very excited b/c I am leaving for China tmr. to visit my long-time-no-see relatives and friends. By long-time-no-see, I meant 5 or 6 years, oh my god. haha. Thank god I lost some weight in Japan, now I can face them! haha, people, if you wanted to lose weight, just go to Tokyo and it won't take too much time. My dad was scolding me about how if I lost more weight, I can go for the commercial of food donation or something of that sort. haha. But anyways, I should have fun in China, but I worry about the air pollution. Oh, I should look at the blue sky more since there is only gray sky in China, for all I can remember. That's why I always get very excited when I see a piece of clear clear blue sky!

Oh, I am so happy to be home, b/c my parents bought me all kinds of fruits (apples, peaches, watermelon, kiwi, banana and etc. oh my god, so much for the only 2 days I am home). They know that I haven't been eating a lot of fruits in Japan so they bought me lots. 

Alright, go to Japan for those of you who are interested, you won't regret it. PII is also a great program, I think my speaking and listening have improved. I will definitely be taking Japanese when I go back to Yale, I would like to improve more if I were to go back to Japan!

THANK YOU LIGHTFELLOWSHIP!!! I enjoyed my summer experience A LOT A LOT A LOT A LOT!!! (Sorry for the bad grammar, I am also working on my English besides Japanese.)

Sorry about this late update

I think I need to apologize for not updating this blog on time, but worry not because I will definitely update this on time the next time. Anyways, Light fellowship never failed to come up with  profound/long/difficult questions that sometimes I would have a hard time understanding the question itself. But if I did succeed in answering one of the questions, it will be useful for the future applicants. (Or will it?) Anyways, let's go to this wk's questions. 

How have you interpreted your own culture to your hosts?  How did your hosts initially view you as an American (or student at an American college)?  Has their view changed at all?

As for this question, I can only recall the time when I was explaining to my okaasan that there are many gay people in America or Yale.  Then there are many other incidents that I talk about American food or Chinese food w/ my host okaasan. I guess their views stay quite the same: American food is fattening.

Week Six Track 2 "Experienced"

An old saying goes that with each new language one gains a new personality.  Is there a difference between the "native language you" and the "Asian language you" (and if your native language IS an Asian language, do you feel a new personality in the second or even third Asian language?)  Have you found a way to reconcile these differences, if any?  As time goes on do you find it easier to "be yourself" even while speaking Chinese, Japanese, or Korean?

You see, this is a good example of complicated question. I guess there is a difference btw the "native-language-me" and "Japanese-me." I sound more stupid for one (or a lot more stupid than the "native-language-me.") Then besides that, I cannot think of other differences for now. You see, there is this one time when I went to a park w/ my 5-year-old sister, and her friends just told me directly that my Japanese sounds "Hen," meaning weird in English. Oh, the shame...little kids are very good at making you feel bad about yourself.

But one thing I want to mention in this entry is that make sure you communicate w/ your host family well. Some small problems can occur easily if you don't communicate well. So the past week, on one random afternoon, my host mom told me that even though she said that I can bring the house key w/ me, she would really prefer to have me come back after 3pm, when she's home herself. (The past wk, since there was not many activities in the afternoon, I went home earlier than she did on several days.) She said if no one was home, then no one knew what I would be doing at home. (Well, I wouldn't walk around naked for sure, but I'm pretty sure this is not the sort of things that she was referring to. But still, it kind of hurt my pride. ) Anyways, then she told me not to use too much ice, b/c then she would need to make new ones really fast. It's summer, so I've been using ice every time I pour some water...I guess it's my bad. So my point is, you should be more careful w/ your behaviors at the host family, even though they smile to you all the time. You don't know what they are thinking and they don't know what you are thinking.  But then again, in my case, my host family is not very experienced, and I am only the 2nd home-stay student they have and I never had any home-stay experience before myself either. There are other small problems, but it would take a while to explain. But I hope you get the point. 

Anyways, problems aside, there are only 2 wks left including this wk, as fun as it has been. I have finally gotten to a point where I am ready to go home and see my parents. Many people i've talked to also have the same feeling.  But I think I will miss the friends I made here and the professors. The professors are so unbelievably nice to the students! Going to class is actually fun. But do be aware of the PII coordinator, who goes by the name Yoshida-san. That guy is not as nice as he seems to be.  (He's not a bad person nevertheless...no one here is malicious, maybe besides me.)

Oh, on the other note, it's the sale season here in Japan, and I have been shopping and have been accidentally buying more things than I should. I really shouldn't have b/c I am going back to China, where things are a lot cheaper and made in anyways. But buying is fun despite the regret occurs later on. 

Oh, the picture was taken on one of the days that Kathryn, the only other Yale student, and I went shopping and we actually wore the clothes we bought here...haha.

So it has been a week already

Well, it has been a week since I come back from the Kyoto trip. (Is it the past weekend? I can never manage the date in Japan, it's hard to keep track of everyday.) 

First,  I will address the first question that Light emailed us. 

1. Have you observed the behavior of tourists or other students, such as talking too loudly, showing excessive courtesy, acting inappropriately familiar, swaggering, or bragging about their home culture, that you suspect covers fears of not belonging?  How do you react to and handle these feelings in yourself?

We have always been a bit loud wherever we go--On the bus, the street and other places that we go. But of course, we have always tried to keep it down while we talk. Since there is always a huge group of people, it's hard. No one has really been bragging about their home culture. As for the "fears of not beloning," we apparently don't belong, but there is no need to cover this. People can immediately tell that I am not Japanese when I start talking...this is kind of sad. I somewhat wish I can talk more fluently.

Anyways, the Japanese themselves can be rude and weird sometimes. Just like yesterday, I went shopping w/ Kathryn. In one of the clothing store, as I was browsing through some dresses, I accidently dropped one of the dresses on the hanger. Before I could pick it up myself, a Japanese middle-aged woman, looking in her 40s or maybe older, picked up the dress quickly and just started to stare at me w/ some scary eyes for I don't even know how long. I was thinking, "What the heck are you staring at??? you didn't even give me a chance to pick it up as you picked it up the the second it dropped." The Japanese are quite weird sometimes. Also, I don't think that lady owns the store, she was a customer herself. Isn't she a bit too nosy/caring about some random shop that she just so happened to step in? Oh well, I guess she might be at her menopause period. Let's all be forgiving toward others. Ok, I guess I should be more careful next time and pick up something I drop before it touches the floor. (I might as well join the circus if I have that talent.)

Ok, on a happier note, Kyoto trip! Well, actually, it was a bit disappointing b/c I didn't get to see as much as I would love to since we went as a group of 5 girls. Things go slower than usual w/ 5 people, and especially girls. So I didn't even get to see the Kyuumitu otera, which is one of the two most famous temples in Kyoto. What the heck. But we did get to see the Geisha district and some other places. And the night that we went to see the Geisha district on the mission of seeing some real Geisha, the other four girls decided to visit a host club. Seriously, what the heck? "oh, it's a once in a life time experience." Wow, they gave great excuse. So since the other four wanted to go, I didn't want to be the rat. So I just went along. Despite the fact that I wasn't too enthusiastic at first, I think the host club was an interesting experience. But I still don't understand the concept of why you would pay to talk to some random guy? Also, contrary to popular beliefs, most of the hosts at the host club were not good-looking. (Shocking? well, not really to me.)So it was quite a waste of money to have this "once in a life time experience." 

So the 2 and a half day trip ended before I saw all of the famous places. But at least I learn that five girls can not be in the same travel group together. 2 will be the best number, since it's easier to get what you want. So future PII-ers, have a smaller travel group. But I did have fun, like the time when the group of 10 people (we five plus other five people) hanged out at night and played some games. 

Also, at the beginning of this week, Stever sensei came visit! We two yale girls were so happy to see some familiar face! She took us out to restaurant and had some really really delicious Japanese food. We talked about this program and some other random topics. Sensei said that she was happy to see that our Japanese has improved...well, I don't know if that was true...

Anyways, I have come to realize that we only have 3 weeks left. Wow, so fast, really. The first week I was thinking, "I hope my host family will be able to endure 8 weeks of me." And now it has already been five weeks, and I feel very thankful for everything that my host okaasan has done for me. So I always buy her cakes/dessert whenever I get a chance, since she likes to eat sweet things.

Ok, I need to eat ramen, desert, soba, udon, sushi at a restaurant before I leave Japan. I actually haven't eaten out at Kanazawa often since I've been here.(only 2 or 3 times.) And come to think of it, everytime I ate out, it has always been a okonomiyaki shop. Hm...strange. 

More and more work

Since the new semester started, we've been having lots and lots of homework, and it's getting harder to manage the time. I think I should start planning how much time I want to spend in the living room just chilling while doing hw. and how much time I actually need to do homework back in my room in order to actually learn the new vocabs and grammar. But the good news is that we are now learning "spirited away," which is my ALL TIME FAVORITE. I don't mind the fact that we might watch this movie many times (I have already watched i-don't-even-know-how-many-times), but now that I can actually hear the Japanese, it makes a huge difference. I was so excited to see it yesterday and so excited to realize that I can kind of understand the lines. (But then again, since I've watched it many times, I can somewhat remember the English lines too...)

I will update in more detail maybe later this week. I got bored writing my report, so I am here...Lately, I've been getting up early, around 6 or 6:30am, in order to finish my homework since it's really hard to finish them at night, too many distractions. Yeah, it's hard.

I finally started reading my sister's blog too, and I was quite impressed by a 12-year-old's writing.  Good job, Angela. 

Anyways, now back to my report on the Japanese host clubs/hostess clubs. 

little mid-wk update

So I decided to update a bit earlier b/c I might get busy later this week, as I am leaving for Kyoto for the mid-break. I am leaving on Thursday after the midterm/big-test and then coming back on Sunday afternoon. Hopefully, I won't spend too much money, b/c surprisingly, I've spent way too much already even though I am not buying a lot of food since my host family cooks them. But I guess I've bought too many small things, that adds up to a big amount. 

But anyways, so today is Tuesday, and I've gotta review hard-core tmr. since I haven't really put as much time into study as I should. But the good news is, I've found myself understanding more as I watched TV tonight, surprisingly a good feeling. And also, I think my speaking might have improved by a tiny bit. Now at home, I can understand my host dad too, well, kind of, not completely, as he still speaks heck of fast. 

So I guess I am just excited here to report how I finally come to understand a bit of television w/t my okaasan explaining to me and my otoosan while he is speaking. But I definitely feel more comfortable living w/ this family. And now, a lot of times, I don't need to plan out what I talk about over the dinner, things just come out. Somehow, I always manage to talk about something over the dinner or while I am studying in the living room (which is most of the time...) So I learned new vocabs. everyday. But then again, we talk about the very small things. Like one time, I was explaining to her how there is a huge gay population in the US, and then somehow I switched to the topic of how in some old Chinese drama, the moms would decide that they would want their babies to get married together. It's quite funny. But then again, since both my mom and I like to eat, we can just look at the food advertisement (there are a lot of them in Japan that come w/ the newspaper) and talk about food for quite a long time. Wow, I am glad they pair us up. 

Also, I've realized that I've only thanked light fellowhship once in my blog, which is really ungrateful of me. So I definitely need to emphasize my grateful feeling toward this fellowship! Things are so great here, (ok, I mean there is some hard time, but still, I cannot imagine doing anything that is more fun than this in the summer.) 

What else? I am just sad that while other program just started, mine is half-way over. What shall I do???? Ah, I wish mine still has like 7 wks left like the HIF and Tokyo program, but too bad...

Oh, the pictures were taken when we went to the beach, men, I got so burned that I seriously turned a bit dark that day. oh,  since the angle of my pic is weird, I myself don't look like that, but I like the clams that I caught (see the pot I hold), there were many different colors.

wk 3? I honestly have lost count of the wks...

So guys, next wk is already mid-break. Somehow, time seriously FLIES BY HERE. I guess times goes by really fast when life is easy and happy. Of course, we have homework and tests, but we are also having quite a lot of fun daily. I don't know, at least I do. It's kinda sad that it's already mid-break next wk. 

well, light emailed us again, two questions 1. where have we visited and another question that I don't have an answer for, b/c nothing is too hard here, thank god. (ok, maybe besides speaking Japanese, but that's not a problem for me, I just talked, talked, and talked, I have no shame w/ my bad accent. I swear all that talking burned off quite some calories. Kinda bad, I know.) But anyways, I have gotta tell you guys the amazing noto trip that we went on the past weekend. It WAS UNBELIEVABLY FUN. I don't even know how to describe it, we went to the best and very expensive hotel, ate some very very good food, bonded w/ other PII fellows. I also entered an onsen (yeah, naked...ha, didn't thought i would do that. but then again, everyone else was too, so...) But the onsen experience was very interesting. Didn't thought I would be able to do that, but I did and I had fun. So for the future PII fellows, definitely do it, it's really fun and worth entering the onsen naked. But anyways, we also gotta wear yukata, and it was my first time. Woooo, it was sooo fun~haha. Besides that, we also went to tons of other places, saw a lot of sea, some rice field, some otera (what's the english name for it? I forgot, it's a place w/ all different kinds of god and stuff...) But anyways, I was so happy to see the sea and stuff, I guess I was quite hyper the entire time. 

Oh, the night at the expensive hotel was amazing, first we got to wear yukata and looked pretty, and then we got to eat this amazing (I don't even know how many courses) meal. Wow, really amazing, but since I was wearing yukata, I couldn't eat that much b/c it was kinda tight. Oh, there were even performances during the meal. Seriously, I wonder how much they pay for this?!?? and then we even got to dance w/ the dancers and witnessed first-hand how they make fresh mochi and then ate the ones that were just made. AMAZING. wow, words cannot describe that good feeling. Later that night, we went to a fellow's room and had a little party and I got to know those people better, which I am glad. Well, we are going to Kyoto together for mid-break again next wk, I am quite excited.  We ten people booked the same hostel, 5 people in a room in two rooms. 

The next day, we saw more sea and stuff.

anyways, this week, we also visited Kanazawa college and made some Japanese friends, which is quite nice. They were all so nice, and I am glad that they understood my Japanese fine, thank god. But anyways, so now is friday and we went out for Karaoke tonight, a group of American students and three other Japanese friends. Well, it ended up fine. I hope they had fun, well, I had fun. Before the Karaoke, we went to eat okoniyaki and talked about North Korea, haha, interesting. Of course, in english. But before that, we went to game center and played some games, it was fun. I don't know, I have been having fun w/ these PII people, it's quite amazing. This program is very well planned. PII always plan some activities for you in the afternoon, it's interesting.  For some strange reason, I think I talk more here in Japan than in America, I didn't know I was so talkative before. 

I haven't found anything that's unexpectedly hard, at least not yet, maybe when I got to Kyoto and get lost, I will write about that experience. But let's hope that that doesn't happen.

Oh, there are tons of pictures that I took, but I've posted quite a lot of them on facebook. So I will just upload 2 here.

ok, till next time w/ more stories?

Wow, it's Thursday night of wk 2 already

Honestly, I don't even know how the time just FLIES by so fast here. I have no idea. This is quite an excellent program, to all the fellows who are reading this, PICK PII, you will not go wrong with your decision. At least, so far, I am liking it  A LOT. (I was worried before b/c there are only 2 people from Yale, including me, doing this program. But this turns out to be quite a benefit, b/c I got to meet many new people from different colleges, it's quite fun.)

Anyways, the two questions that the light fellowship emailed us are: What preconceptions have you begun to shed?  What images, stereotypes or preconceived notions have been hard for you to relinquish?

For the first one, I guess that the food here is not so expensive after, at least not in Kanazawa. But it differs depends on the place you live. Of course Tokyo is expensive. Here, you can buy a rice ball for around a dollar, and some other good sushi for 3-5 dollars at the supermarket. But if you were to go to restaurant, then a meal can cost from 5 to 10 dollars, or more, depends on the type of the restaurant you go to. Also, people here are mostly very nice, if you asked them question, they would respond. Another preconception I had was that girls here are all very skinny and dressed up. Well, that's only partly true. They are not bony as I thought, and they do dress up. But not to an extreme level. I still wear shorts here, even though people keep saying that no one wears shorts in Japan. Well, just do what you want, it's Kanazawa. Also, Kanazawa is a VERY cute city, it has people and places for you to go to have fun, have good food and take nice pictures. It's a good place for a language program. So pick PII, and you won't have regrets. 

As for the second question, I don't really have a stereotype that is hard for me to relinquish. So I don't know how to answer this question.

It has been fun so far, of course there are hard times, but I am glad that I begin to hear more and be able to communicate/speak more w/ my host mom, at least I think so. (Well, my speaking Japanese is kinda weird, since I usually memorize the words wrong, and thus, people having a hard time understanding me...haha. But it's fun. I don't really care whether they understand or not, as long as I practice enough for my speaking in order to improve somewhat.) 

Also, when fill out the host family info. form during application, be careful whether you really want a kid in the house or not. I have come to realize that having a kid is quite tiring. At least this 5 year-old is quite attention hungry. If I talked to the mom for too long, she would start making loud noises and cry. So I can't talk to the mom for long. But being me, I just talk to the little girl as well, even though it was hard for me to understand her. I like the mom quite a lot, she taught me many new words and has been very nice. The dad is kinda scary....but oh well. I guess I am quite annoying at times...

Maybe time goes by fast only b/c there are many activities at the first two wks, but I don't know. Now I am trying to write my report. Let's see, this week, what funny things have happened? well, the class is always fun itself, a lot of language-related jokes. Oh, Lee Yun san, a girl whom I go to school w/ b/c we live near each other, always cracks me up. There are not many people who can really make me laugh really hard besides my mom, sister and dad. I guess she's the first. She makes some really funny comments while we were at the festival, and other ones while we were going home from school. Interesting girl indeed. Who else is quite interesting? Oh, Xinyue san, she has a really high voice and sings very well, like a walking human iPod. Alan san's Japanese is sugoi(very good), I don't know how he manages to do that. 

Anyways, I shall continue writing my report (or start writing my report.) It's nice to have wireless internet at the house. 

First week update

light festival
spaphetti ice cream?
okaasan made some western food...ai...
Kenrokuen, a park
me w/ Mr. Obama (obama-san, harvard student, smart, math major. half french, half black.)
Some girls from the program, all Asian.
When we went to the ninja otera, we went into a gift shop and saw a big cute cat. Jordan-san is from Princeton, half mexican. 
Tea ceremony. 
The first week somewhat flew by surprisingly fast, and now it's already Monday night. So a short update will be: 1. I got settled in Mizukami-san's family. 2. I got placed into 2.5 level class. 3. I participated in some interesting activities that PII planned. 

Mizukami-san's family is quite nice. I am the second student they have hosted, so they are not the type of very experienced host family, but they are nice enough to teach me many things. Usually, after I got home from school, instead of spending tons of time studying and doing homework (the homework is actually not that much, especially compared to Yale's Japanese class homework. Everyday, homework can be done in 1 hour, including lots of talking/zoning-out time. So the PII program is not as intensive as I thought it would be, at least not yet.), I would be sitting in the living room, asking questions. Since Mizukami family is not very experienced host family, they sometimes have a hard time explaining things, but we have wireless internet at home, so we can always use dictionaries. Da kara, everyday I learned some new kodoba(vocabs.) but I can't really memorize them all, especially since Japanese words are long and confusing. Also, the reason why I kept asking things b/c I always want to talk...haha. Sometimes they would talk to you first, but I usually just ask whatever that comes to my mind. I guess it's quite hard for them to understand my Japanese since my pronounciation is kinda bad. 

The one thing I don't really like about the family is that the mom doesn't really make traditional Japanese food. The family likes Italian food and like to eat carbs.--rice, noodle, and etc. Also, the mom likes to eat dessert a lot (But okaasan is very thin.) Anyways, I still haven't eaten fish since I come, which kinda disappointed, every other students I asked, their host family has made many times of fish, but my family...ai....so sad. Fish is quite cheap here, I don't understand why they wouldn't make it. 

Anyways, I attached somes pictures, some of festival, and some from other places. Ah, one thing: the food in Kanazawa is actually not that expensive, usually lunch, I would buy a rice ball (onigiri) for around 1 dollar, but then again, it's kinda small.  PII is a pretty good program. So far, so GREAT. 

Really, I have to thank Light fellowship for giving me an opportunity to experience all these!

EXCITING updates!

Ok, maybe it is not so exciting.

Today, I checked my Yale email account and PII emailed me regarding my host family information! I will be living with the Mizukami family, and they have a 4-year-old daughter. I am not sure how well a four-year-old can speak Japanese, but hopefully, better than me so that I can practice my Japanese with this little kid. I remember when I was filling out the host-family forms, I checked that I wanted a little kid in my host family, but I was thinking more around the age of 6 to 7, an age where they should be speaking fluent Japanese...

Both my host mom and dad are 32 years old, a fairly young couple.(Come to think of it, the mom might be looking very young since Japanese women don't age until they are 40.) Since they are quite young, I hope that they speak some English so that they can understand me better. 

Receiving my host family information suddenly gives me a lot of motivation to review vocabs and practice Japanese more, since I am afraid that all I can say when I meet them would be, "Nice to meet you. My name is...." and then followed by long silence. That will actually come true if I don't start practicing now. Oh, the horror... 

Also, I took the online placement test yesterday, which consists of four parts, listening, culture, reading, and grammar. I did the best in reading part, b/c I can read Kanji, and I usually am very good at guessing their pronunciation and meanings. (Some Kanji, interestingly, sound similar to Cantonese, which is my native dialect. So I can get by fine.) I did poorly in the listening part, which means watching all those Japanese dramas doesn't really help a whole lot. 

I also checked google map to see how far my house is from the school. I don't understand it completely b/c it is all in Japanese. But seems like I will be walking around 40 minutes daily to just get to school. I guess it won't be too bad since I need to lose some weight before heading back to China at the end of this summer. Speaking of weight loss, I have been trying to exercise these few days before going to Japan, aiming to be able to buy some clothes that fit me in Japan. Exercising is, just like popular belief, very hard.(But I have to keep doing it since my sister called me "blowfish" after I called her "monkey." I am not so sure if "blowfish" is even a real animal, b/c I first encountered blowfish in Finding Nemo.) I think my aging might have contributed to my lack of mobility. 

One final thing, I also bought souvenirs from the Yale store for my host family: a cup that has "MOM" on it, a shot glass that can serve as a tea cup, and a deck of playing cards. 

One more final

Yes, Helen Guo. You can do this. Don't fail. And then I shall be blogging happy thoughts and thoughts about how to prepare for the summer.

first blog test?

woooooo, blog set up! wah, finals time!! 

wah, this thing is quite hard to manage, not gonna lie, I guess my ability of writing blog is not that high.  

Should definitely go back to study right now!!! Nooooo, why why why? 

Wooo, Japan, though not Tokyo, but Kanazawa sounds quite close to my ideal town. I have always considered the option of becoming a farmer in a little village like Kanazawa--self-sustainable option like the Yale dining hall/grass-fed burger.(i never understood that term, cuz the burger looks quite meaty to me.)

 Though someone told me that Kanazawa is not actually a village, quite disappointing. I guess my rural dream can only go so far.