Ultimate!! And excellent Japanese game show videos

So, today was another very long class day starting at 9pm. It was supposed to end at 4:40 but we got to leave at 1:30!! Nice. :D I was so ready to leave class. It's unfortunate but several of my American classmates actually do make an impact on whether or not I want to go home. That's so strange because I'm seriously thinking about moving to Tokyo someday after I graduate college, even if just for a year or two, because the people, language, and culture are so great. It's easy to make Japanese friends, everyone is usually so helpful and courteous, and the language never ceases to fascinate me.

I don't want to go into it, but sometimes I daydream about being in an 8-person Japanese class like mine except everyone gets along, or everyone wants to have fun together, or even where the people could be as cool as on my dogsledding trip. I never wanted to leave those friends, and I still consider them close even though I haven't seen any of them in more than 2 years. (Samantha even rubbed life back into my freezing feet one night!) Or the leadership camps I've been to, where everyone is motivated, bright, and friendly; I always think of them in a positive light and want to see them again but can't. These people, on the other hand, go to UNC. Gamanshiyou...(let's tolerate!) Anyway, here is a picture of several of my dogsledding friends and me so this doesn't become a giant wall of text. Good times, those. :)

After a tiring day, Sachi and I wandered around Kanda University looking for ice cream. We found a lot and she bought an ice-cream-filled waffle but I bought some sweet curry rice instead. :D Then I bought yogurt too, mm. It was just like the yogurt I have at my host family's house except in a bigger container!

Then we went to the field outside building 3 and kicked the soccer ball around for a bit. It was difficult for her because she was wearing platform shoes, haha. And difficult for me because it was sooo hot. But then she had to go, and my friends from Ultimate Frisbee arrived. We passed the Frisbee around, then made teams when more people arrived. It was so fun!! I forgot all about my strange classmates and their myriad issues. I got so sweaty and thirsty, even though it was after 5pm and the sun was not as hot. Robaato-san played with the group but Ethan-san did homework on a picnic table. :/ Here is a photo with some of my teammates and building #3. :D

 

After playing, I went to the train station but missed the correct train, haha. Apparently it wasn't rush hour because it took 10-15 minutes for a new one to come along. While I waited, I noticed that the sun looked cool as it was setting, so I took that picture. I left school at 6:30pm and got home around 8pm. First order of business was a very cold shower. :D

Dinner tonight was awesome!! Yakisoba with tons of veggies and noodles.

Here are some promised videos from yesterday. I assure you, you will not be disappointed!! :D I love Japanese game shows.

This was my favorite prank they did. SO FUNNY.



YES!!



Tomorrow our class is going to the famous Studio Ghibli museum. Studio Ghibli is the production company that makes the most famous anime movies from Hayao Miyazaki, like Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, and most recently Ponyo. There is a new one coming out in July and I'm going to go see it!! But...I doubt I'll be able to understand it well. ;)

I've been thinking about the Japanese language and how it differs from Spanish and English. The pronunciation of Japanese and Spanish are almost exactly the same, so that's neat. Also, both Spanish and Japanese sentences flow in such a way that English ones don't. We don't realize it, but English is a rather choppy, staccato language compared to Spanish especially, but also Japanese. However, Spanish and English both use voice tone changes very often, such as in questions, that Japanese often doesn't. So in my mind, I have pictures of what I think the sounds of the three languages are like:

This is English. We use tone changes VERY frequently and our words don't all flow together. But to English-speakers, the choppiness isn't really noticeable. However, I think that might be a reason why English is so difficult for Japanese people and Spanish-speakers to learn. Also we make up words all the time.

This is Spanish. I think there are plenty of tone changes, especially with accented words and such, but the words flow very smoothly from one to the next. It's cool that I found a nice river-looking one because I've often compared listening to Spanish spoken in a calm tone to taking a nice, refreshing bath. :D

Japanese flows too, and even the written words have no spaces in them, but the tone remains about the same, even if asking a question. This isn't always the case, but you have to listen closely to see if you're hearing a question or not. There is a little bit of room for tone change. Apparently Americans speaking Japanese is funny because we always put a lot of tone changes into our Japanese.

Time to edit my class survey, print it out, and go to sleep. I wish I could watch more Japanese game shows tonight but it's already 11:15 and I resolved to go to bed early! 私は早く寝ることをしました！

終わりよ！