tests and such

Well, this is one of the first weekends off I’ve had in a while. Actually, technically I should be studying for the tests this week…but they don’t really matter so I’m not too concerned. I sound like I’m lazy but there is a good reason for it. The last several weeks have been consumed by studying and writing essays. After my soccer practice with the old guys, I had to finish up my college essays which took me until Monday. It is NOT fun trying to write essays that will hopefully get you admitted into a good college when you’ve been immersed in another language for 3 months or so. NOT FUN.
Does the period go after the last word or at the beginning of the next sentence?
What’s another word for “said”?
I can’t think of a transition to save my life!
Why is part of my essay in hiragana???

Yeah.

Anyways, directly after my essays I realized I have a huge Japanese proficiency test this coming Sunday… maybe I should get studying for that.

I don’t think it was very fair of the LPs to ask us if we wanted to do the test when we were still new and not completely tired yet. They had convinced (aka pressured) me into doing N4 which is an intermediate level. My thinking was (back in August) hey, the test is in December! I’m fineeeeee.
Hah.
The first part of the test was reading and vocab. That was probably the hardest. You had to pick the right pronunciation of different Kanji which really played to my weak side. I can read the kanji fine, but the pronunciation is rarely there because I most of the time know the meaning and sometimes the pronunciation in Chinese. Yay.
The second part was grammar and that was a bit easier….but then again I still guessed most of them.
Listening was easy. But it also started to get too easy to where I got comfortable and forgot to listen to some of the questions…and they’re only read once.

So, all in all, the test was a giant pain and I’m glad it’s over.

Other than my lack of knowledge about the Japanese language, I also found out another thing. I don’t like the other foreigners here. (Most of them anyways) The other exchange students are fine, but the English teachers just drive me insane. My thinking was, “Hey! Other foreign people I can relate to!” They’re thinking is “Look, another student.” or “Another kid.” They all (mostly) think they are so wise and mature and old and I’m just some teenage girl from America. You would think that MAYBE just MAYBE the exchange students here are a LITTLE more mature than you’re average teenager seeing as we came here by ourselves, most of us away from home for the first time, to learn about a different culture and WHATNOT. So please stop treating us like children.
Example: Coming back from the test with one of the American teachers from my school and his friends who are also English teachers. One of the female English teachers, who took the SAME test as me, was talking about how she can’t pull off those long nights anymore and her dinner is based on whether she wants to do dishes or not. That somehow turned into how most Japanese homes don’t have dish washers. I said that my host family has one, but never uses it. I do the dishes by myself. She then took the opportunity to say something along the lines of “well, good that’s how it should be. You could use some good dish washing. I’ve washed enough dishes in my lifetime” sort of thing. A nice character building speech from some lady I don’t even know. Thank you for letting me finish and say my host mom also doesn’t use the dish washer anyways. Also, you’re how old?! My guess is still in your twenties seeing as the teacher at my school is 25. So no! You have not earned the right to say you’ve washed enough dishes! My grandma can say that! And also, you aren’t single handedly washes dishes for a family of 5, you just have your own to take care of which probably consists more of instant ramen cups than actual dishes.

“It was nice meeting you too!”

NOT.



Anyways.

One thing I noticed in Japan is the use of a symbol to mark shrines and such. It was brought to my attention by someone yelling “Oh my god! Did you see! They use the Nazi sign for shrines here!” as if it was some big scandal like they were hiding mini Nazis and the ashes of victims in the actual shrines.
That is ridiculous.
I knew it wasn’t the Nazi sign, but I didn’t know what the real meaning was so I checked the internet for some help. The sign used on the shrines is actually different than the Nazi sign; the arms point counterclockwise. The sign is a symbol of the sun and means purity, power and luck. Overall good things! It has been used since ancient times in a variety of different cultures. However, the Nazis took this symbol and transformed it into something horrible. The symbol itself means nothing bad at all. This doesn’t mean its ok for people to etch it on their desks and whatnot.
I’m glad I looked closer though.

Yesterday was the Christmas party for Shiga-ken’s AFS. It was pretty fun. I spent all yesterday morning making cookies that turned out pretty well! They were strawberry and blueberry sugar cookie type things. I just realized I forgot to take a picture…
One thing I have noticed about Japanese parties is that they are SO ORGANIZED. Or rather TOO organized. The Halloween party at school, the AFS parties, etc., are full of schedules and signs and lists and name tags and gah! All you really need to do is get an open space with music and people and you’re set! There is no need to organize a giant thing of bingo. I was trying to think of what American parties are like and they really are just food you can get at any time, as much as you want (no, two pieces of dessert at a time rule), talking, music, (and with my family at least) cards. But not really organized cards, more along the lines of whoever wants to play just sit down and play. Also, most American parties don’t have a set “end” time. People just come and go. In Japan, there is an actual start (like, “O.K. everyone. We’re going to start now) and an actual finish where everyone goes home at the same time.
Good thing I didn’t pick to go to Japan for the crazy parties.

Pictures are the soccer game I went to with Sam (Marie's host father) it was the only grass field in Japan I've seen so far, my drawing of Marie, and my advent calender from the Melers!! and a famous temple in Kyoto.