_valerian

Part of yesterday involved (a.) myself, (b.) a room full of people, and (c.) a microphone. In combination, (a.) and (c.) produced a nervous, stuttering fool (in two languages!) whose speech sounded nothing like what I had been planning to say the entire week before.
Luckily, (b.) was polite during this time.

While this past August was my 3rd anniversary in Japan, (Something I will refer to as my “Japaniversary” from here on out to forever) it is not until mid September when I get all natsukashii for what it was like when I first came here in 1998. I think it is the balance of humidity and cool temeratures that brings such emotions on. Like last year, I visited Senshu University to welcome the new foreign students who will be participating on the Intensive Japanese Business, Culture, and Language program at the school. My goal was to be suave and informative and cleverly give advice about the program to everyone at once.
I don’t think I did so well. It was like trying to be a guy who really wants to tell people how to tie shoes, but instead comes across like a guy who obviously has trouble with using velcro.

Regardless! There were teachers and administrators that I had not seen in a while, and Sakamoto sensei having no idea who I was for a few seconds was fun. Less fun was writing my address in Japanese in front of three of my previous Japanese teachers and totally mutilating the stroke order for the “BA” in “CHIBA”, along with all the other Kanji in my address and one of the katakana in my name. They pointed this out.

Afterwards, I took some of the new students to a Ramen shop and they all went into the kaiten sushi shop next door. This was due to the extreme seat lackage in Daigo Ramen. Luckily, I had Mami and Sarah as Ramen Partners:

But what are Ramen Partners without Ramen? (the answer is: fine ladies)

Hello to Mike, Justin, Nick, and all others who would enjoy that bowl of soup but can’t because they are in Nebraska and not Kanagawa.

1. School Festival: I will be putting up some work in the Photo Club’s gallery space. It is not exactly the kind of exhibition that will show up on a CV but still a hoot.

2. Visiting Onishi sensei’s class in Yokohama this afternoon.

3. Last night I realized that I have passed the point where low profecinecy in Japanese prevents one from being taken seriously to beyond the point where a high proficiency does the very same thing. Increased language ability is not inverse to a decrease in novelty by any means here. Like being able to eat with chopsticks and saying that you have played Super Mario Brothers as a child, people are shocked and you might get told you are “More Japanese than Japanese people”.

4. Finishing Tsurezuregusa, probably. Next is Rashomon (Despite #3 above, both of these books are English translations).

>>>>>>VISUAL PROOF< <<<<<<
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3. (This is hard to explain through photography)

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