First I'll touch on work, since it's actually been progressing really well lately. I'm really starting to connect with my students. When I think about what I'm actually doing, it scares the hell out of me. In theory, a guy; with absolutely no knowledge of the Japanese language, goes into a room of 20 older, much more experienced men; who speak absolutely no English, and these two parties are expected to communicate effectively for 2 hours. At first, almost all of that was true. When I arrived 3 months ago, I barely had any working knowledge of the Japanese language. Furthermore, a vast majority of my students were having their first (official) brush with the English language. And it was, well, frustrating. Things have completely changed. I show up, and from the warm greetings to the confident question asking to the involved lessons, 2 hours just isn't enough anymore. During the breaks, and even after class (when I am "allowed" to speak Japanese with them) many of the students approach me and ask me personal questions, sometimes, even in English! I can remember all of their names now, and a few of them are even reaching out to me. One of the students from my afternoon class asked me if I have ever tried Shochu, a type of Japanese alcohol. When I said I hadn't, he immediately offered to buy me a bottle, to which I graciously accepted. Another student of mine (a personal favorite, if I might add), invited me to go golfing with him in Chiba after the classes and work term are over for the year. I'm actually really excited to golf here in Japan. I'll be using a loner set of clubs (THANKS ANDREW!) and the weather will be cold as hell, but I know it will be an incredible experience.
Outside of work I've been trying to fulfill my quota of new experiences by, as Andrew refers to it, turning it up! This weekend was the Kikukawa2 Borderless house's very own Alvaro's birthday, and the bottom floor bad boys (name pending) a.k.a Simon and me were invited to celebrate at Gyu-kaku. 7 strong, we marched through the familiar Kikukawa area to the conveniently close all-you-can-eat-and-drink cook-it-yourself bbq meat establishment, though I prefer Gyu-kaku, ... the Japanese really have a way with words. The night was spent eating many different kinds of meat, including several different parts of animals I'd care not to mention. The drinks and conversation were flowing, and with the addition of a few Spanish friends of Alvaro's, a third language was added to the mix. A most entertaining night which continued late into the morning in the Borderless house's kitchen. Before checking out, I decided, like everyone else in their drunken state, to check facebook. An invitation was awaiting my impaired judgement, and without much thought and overly swayed by Andrew's favorite catchphrase, I accepted the 9 o'clock meet up for the following day. This was not in the p.m., and if not for my overly dedicated late night gaming habits, I might have missed the confirmation about the date and time of said meet up. Shinjuku station, 9a.m. After reading this message I had a decision to make. Go to sleep and wake up at 3p.m with a massive hangover, or stay up for another 3 hours and leave for Shinjuku. After some zero-risk convincing from Simon and Andrew, and regret from doing something similar last month, I decided NOT to cancel on the early morning/super late night meet up, and simply played a few more games of League of Legends before departing for round 2. I met with a pair of international chinese students, who, by the state of their energy levels, did not go out partying and most certainly did not stay up all night. I had no idea what was in store for me for the day, but let me just say I'm lucky I packed my hiking shoes.
Because we went hiking...
I probably should have confirmed the days agenda before agreeing to hungover, sleep-deprived mountain climbing. But hey, it's nothing a few dozen red bulls can't solve, right? And that was my last complaint for the day. The train ride was absolutely incredible. We slowly transitioned from the industrialized, densely populated city of Shinjuku to the rolling mountains of central Tokyo. At one point along the trip we passed Mt. Fuji, which for those of you who don't know, is an iconic Japanese mountain with a beautiful frosted tip. Even from the window of the train it was a beautiful sight. But our destination lied further. Shortly after our encounter with Fuji-san, we arrived at the base of Mount Takao, a tourist spot flawlessly woven in with nature (many pictures to follow). Every turn in our path could spark inspiration for an aspiring nature artist. Even the city at the base of the mountain boasted elegance and authenticity with its old, Japanese style buildings and colorful greenery. The foliage drew many tourists and locals alike to the mountain, but it did not take away from the beauty or the experience. I could go on about all sites of Mount Takao, but I think the pictures will do a better job of detailing the canvas, so be sure to check them out!
While my trip to the mountains was the peak of my weekend (pun definitely intended), it certainly wasn't the end. After saying goodbye in my broken cantonese (people are always so impressed if you know even a little bit of their native lanuage), I went to Andrew's place in Roppongi. I was absolutely exhausted, so after hearing about my 48hours of turning it up, he wasn't too upset about me crashing relatively early. The next day we went out for katsu-don, a.k.a Denny's that doesn't serve katsu-don. So I ordered the recommended japanese-style hamburger, which is just mislabeled, but still delicious meat loaf and a tasty dessert as a thank you to my body for coming out of the last 2 days functional. We then had a few hours to kill before our next engagement, so we hit up an arcade in Shibuya, and I got a long, over due haircut (don't worry, it was at a seperate establishment). We then went to meet up with an old friend of Andrew's over some shisha, a type of harmless, flavoured smoke that stems from India, but is now enjoyed world-wide as a pass-time in special bars. For just 10$, Andrew, Grace and I wasted the next 3 hours talking, smoking and drinking chai tea. I'm really happy I overcame my irrational fear of talking to hairstylists, because after correcting my order, I recieved several compliments on the new me (yes, my hair was THAT long). I was even approached by a recruiting agency on my way back to the Borderless house. After a quick exchange of information in Japanese (which is getting a lot better now!), you may be seeing this Canadian blogger appear in some form of poster or magazine or something (hey, my Japanese isn't THAT good).
On the learning Japanese front, I'm starting to understand just what it takes to speak a foreign language. I know a lot of words, and I know how the grammar works, but getting out there and speaking it is a whole new 野球 game. It's also really hard to track progress, since my end goal is to become fluent, and anything less than that is still "learning". But I think I'm learning a lot more than I can keep track of, and it wouldn't be possible if I weren't in Japan. For example, last week a student asked me a question in Japanese, and I knew every part of the question except for 1 word, "donogurai". So when I translated the question in my head, it became "donogurai lived in Japan?". After clarifying that it meant "how long" with a clever drawing (I'm getting damn good at drawing btw), I answered with confidence. On that very weekend I was with a group of Japanese-only gamers, who at one point interpretively asked me "donogurai studied Japanese", to which I immediately responded without hesitation. And finally in my exchange of information with the recruiting agency, I used the word "donogurai" to ask about the hours. So there you have it. Without any studying I had completely learned to recognize and utilize this new word. Obviously this isn't the only word I've learned this way and it's not the only way to learn, but I do think it is the best method for complete absorption, because not only did I not resort to English, but I didn't even need to study.
And that concludes the blog for the day. As a final parting gift I will include the fruits of my hiking labor, nature pictures! (click them to make 'em bigger) Also I get my first paycheck tomorrow!
がんばります！
The mountain base city
fresh fish?
shrine1
the long trek!
first pit stop
the lone rose
half way shrine
dango daikazoku
the peak!
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