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.