I haven't updated my blog in a few weeks... October is almost coming to an end ALREADY. Time zooms by so fast, and some of you might know what that means. The JLPT is coming up real soon... in a little bit more than a month. Just great. I really need to study more, and I also can't wait to get this test over with.
Lately/currently/these days, I've been/I:
- studying for the JLPT Level 1. Am I ready yet? No way Jose. I wish!
- reading manga (オトメン（乙男）、ラブ☆コン)
- watching new dramas
- knitting
- finished teaching about American money
- planning for my mother's visit to Japan (Yay! She's coming next month)
- went to a calligraphy (shodou) class on Thursday night, and worked on the kanji for "field trip" = 遠足
- had to pay for NHK, which I hardly watch (boo hoo, so stupid)
- admiring my diploma that finally arrived (UC system takes so long!)
- preparing for Halloween
- etc.
I also need to update about the mountainside Danjiri Festival which took place on the 10th and 11th of this month. As you know, there was a Danjiri Matsuri back in September, but that one is seaside and more "main" compared to the mountainside for some reason. Anyway, I live towards/in mountainside Kishiwada, so a Danjiri cart and people went through/nearby my neighborhood this time. On the 10th, I was woken up around 5am to the sounds of Danjiri. I even took a video of what I saw, heard, and said. I then went back to sleep, woke up later, and then met up with Mindy, and then with Mari. We watched Danjiri from Kumeda area to Shimomatsu area. In Shimomatsu, I saw some of my students, as the school I work at is nearby.
YAGI DANJIRI GROUP (here's Komatsuri-cho) by Kumeda:
南掃守 (I don't know how this is read) DANJIRI GROUP in Shimomatsu:
Then, I left to go visit and shop around (for a short time) with the 2009 Honolulu Cherry Blossom Court girls over in Shinsaibashi (they were on their Japan Goodwill Tour):
The following day, the 11th, a bunch of my friends and I went to Higashi-Kishiwada to watch the Danjiri parade there. I saw Danjiri men wearing funny items, and even got a glimpse of the prefectural governor Hashimoto running, surrounded by cops.
Later, we went to visit two of our friends (they're sisters)' residence and met their parents. They are super nice and we had a really delicious BBQ!! 
Later, we went to see the Katsuragi Danjiri with their lanterns lit up. We saw little kids pulling the beer cart and thought it was like child labor. But for being apparent foreigners, Graham and Mindy got beer for free! This was my first time in Katsuragi, which is all the way up in the mountainside inaka. 
Afterwards, the sisters drove us back to Higashi-Kishiwada, where Mindy and I got our bikes and started going home. On the way, we passed by the Shimomatsu Danjiri again, where 3 of my students recognized me and we took a photo together. Then, Mindy and I went back to Komatsuri-cho, our town, and waited for the Danjiri to come back. We called up Keiko and she came. 
A few of her (bad) students were there, and she got to hang out with them. The Danjiri came back, and we got to see the closing. Unlike the Numa-cho Danjiri (the one I participated in last month) closing, the Komatsuri-cho one was simpler and not as cool. Numa-cho has an annual legendary tradition: sumo! But Komatsuri-cho just opened and closed the garage door a couple of times, along with the music. 
Each town is hella proud of their own town and thinks they're all that compared to others. Anyway, it was cool to see another KISHIWADA DANJIRI MATSURI, even though we Komatsuri residents can't or didn't get to participate in the local Danjiri because we don't know anyone else living here, and we didn't try to ask either.
Well, another weekend is almost over. I can't believe this. It's already gonna be another week of work starting tomorrow. This weekend, yesterday (Saturday), I started writing this entry but didn't get around to finishing it. I spent my Saturday Skype-ing with my bro and mom for a couple of hours, and later, a package from my aunt came. She went on a trip to Okinawa, and sent me all these Okinawan goodies. Then, I later joined a stew dinner at Cari's. It was quite delicious. It was fun hanging out with her, Mindy, Graham, Ahmed, Kazue, Shiori, and others. But I eventually used Cari's laptop to keep researching for Hiroshima tours... but I didn't find a single good tour like the one I had in mind but turned out to be filled up. I was hella stressing myself out planning for our (my mom and I) trip to Hiroshima we'll make when my mother comes. Eventually, we just decided to take the Shinkansen...she'll have the JR Rail Pass and I won't, but at this point, I don't mind spending so much money on transportation. My mom is visiting me anyway. I don't have time to stress out over anything else other than the JLPT. As for today, I finished the JET Japanese Language Course Advanced Course Book (not the Kanji workbook). It only took me a week to complete it. I felt like I should get it done now, and get it out of the way so that I could study for the JLPT more. No offense to the makers of this language course, but I didn't like it one bit. I don't know every kanji, but this course stuff is easy for me, and I don't like how the questions are formatted. ほんまに面倒くせー！かった。
Well, I need to become more MIA and a hermit to study more. I planned to study a lot this weekend, but it didn't happen! But as upcoming activities next month, I am going to travel and hang out with mi mama, go to USJ with some teachers, maybe go to Shiga with friends, and go to Nara with one of my JTEs. I seriously don't have time for all that, but I guess those will be breathers and good study breaks. Ugh...I need to work out too. I need to do more than just biking hella fast everywhere. LOL, last night, on my way home from Cari's, I stopped by a LAWSON and I biked there hella fast, passing some boys also biking. Because I was biking hella fast, I heard them say "Uwa, yankee ya!" They referred to me as a yankee badass for riding my bicycle so fast. How funny; they were just slow and in the way. I wanted to hurry up and get the food I wanted and go home.
If only I didn't have to study, or if I wasn't gonna take the exam in December, I could be hanging out with more students outside of classes. But communicating with them in JUST English only is a challenge. Anyway, I probably won't be updating this that much... not until the exam's done for. Please feel free to (positively) comment on my blog entries. Nice comments are much appreciated. I gotta get ready for tomorrow and go to sleep, so good night, folks.
P.S.~ Grace and I noticed that Mariah Carey lip-synched on MUSIC STATION to Japanese fans! What a disappointment...if she was indeed lip-synching...
南掃守 (I don't know how this is read) DANJIRI GROUP in Shimomatsu:
Later, we went to see the Katsuragi Danjiri with their lanterns lit up. We saw little kids pulling the beer cart and thought it was like child labor. But for being apparent foreigners, Graham and Mindy got beer for free! This was my first time in Katsuragi, which is all the way up in the mountainside inaka. 
Afterwards, the sisters drove us back to Higashi-Kishiwada, where Mindy and I got our bikes and started going home. On the way, we passed by the Shimomatsu Danjiri again, where 3 of my students recognized me and we took a photo together. Then, Mindy and I went back to Komatsuri-cho, our town, and waited for the Danjiri to come back. We called up Keiko and she came. 
A few of her (bad) students were there, and she got to hang out with them. The Danjiri came back, and we got to see the closing. Unlike the Numa-cho Danjiri (the one I participated in last month) closing, the Komatsuri-cho one was simpler and not as cool. Numa-cho has an annual legendary tradition: sumo! But Komatsuri-cho just opened and closed the garage door a couple of times, along with the music. 
Each town is hella proud of their own town and thinks they're all that compared to others. Anyway, it was cool to see another KISHIWADA DANJIRI MATSURI, even though we Komatsuri residents can't or didn't get to participate in the local Danjiri because we don't know anyone else living here, and we didn't try to ask either. Well, another weekend is almost over. I can't believe this. It's already gonna be another week of work starting tomorrow. This weekend, yesterday (Saturday), I started writing this entry but didn't get around to finishing it. I spent my Saturday Skype-ing with my bro and mom for a couple of hours, and later, a package from my aunt came. She went on a trip to Okinawa, and sent me all these Okinawan goodies. Then, I later joined a stew dinner at Cari's. It was quite delicious. It was fun hanging out with her, Mindy, Graham, Ahmed, Kazue, Shiori, and others. But I eventually used Cari's laptop to keep researching for Hiroshima tours... but I didn't find a single good tour like the one I had in mind but turned out to be filled up. I was hella stressing myself out planning for our (my mom and I) trip to Hiroshima we'll make when my mother comes. Eventually, we just decided to take the Shinkansen...she'll have the JR Rail Pass and I won't, but at this point, I don't mind spending so much money on transportation. My mom is visiting me anyway. I don't have time to stress out over anything else other than the JLPT. As for today, I finished the JET Japanese Language Course Advanced Course Book (not the Kanji workbook). It only took me a week to complete it. I felt like I should get it done now, and get it out of the way so that I could study for the JLPT more. No offense to the makers of this language course, but I didn't like it one bit. I don't know every kanji, but this course stuff is easy for me, and I don't like how the questions are formatted. ほんまに面倒くせー！かった。
Well, I need to become more MIA and a hermit to study more. I planned to study a lot this weekend, but it didn't happen! But as upcoming activities next month, I am going to travel and hang out with mi mama, go to USJ with some teachers, maybe go to Shiga with friends, and go to Nara with one of my JTEs. I seriously don't have time for all that, but I guess those will be breathers and good study breaks. Ugh...I need to work out too. I need to do more than just biking hella fast everywhere. LOL, last night, on my way home from Cari's, I stopped by a LAWSON and I biked there hella fast, passing some boys also biking. Because I was biking hella fast, I heard them say "Uwa, yankee ya!" They referred to me as a yankee badass for riding my bicycle so fast. How funny; they were just slow and in the way. I wanted to hurry up and get the food I wanted and go home.
If only I didn't have to study, or if I wasn't gonna take the exam in December, I could be hanging out with more students outside of classes. But communicating with them in JUST English only is a challenge. Anyway, I probably won't be updating this that much... not until the exam's done for. Please feel free to (positively) comment on my blog entries. Nice comments are much appreciated. I gotta get ready for tomorrow and go to sleep, so good night, folks.
P.S.~ Grace and I noticed that Mariah Carey lip-synched on MUSIC STATION to Japanese fans! What a disappointment...if she was indeed lip-synching...
what dramas are you watching these days?
ReplyDeletethanks for the post! Gl studying, ganbatte!
I don't think you need a hiroshima tour to enjoy it. just grab a few maps after you get off the shinkansen and walk around the city until you hit the memorial peace park. I did that myself and it was a great day. The city is really nice I think.
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