I am so incredibly full right now that it's difficult to breathe! Needless to say, Mondays are still awesome.
I woke up around 10 AM and got ready for the day. Around 11 AM, Bea and I met up in the kitchen to eat the lunch that she prepared from her leftovers. Once we finished eating, we set out together to Todaiji where there was a huge parade. Apparently, this parade has been going on for over 1,300 years-- wow! I took a million pictures, and we got to eat some of the best street food (no tako yaki for me though-- I am waiting until I go to Osaka for that one). Once we saw the entire procession two times through, we decided it was time to go. On our way back, we ran into Melanie and Rafael, the two French exchange students. Things were somewhat awkward since Bea had recently been upset with Melanie, but I was able to grin and bear it until I had to go my separate way.
I left them early because I had planned to meet up with a girl in my dorm who had asked me for help with English. Around 3 PM we met in the kitchen. Li Nana is a very sweet 28-year-old Chinese graduate student who basically had me edit and correct her master thesis. She had to write it in Japanese AND English, neither of which are her native language. Talk about difficult! She continuously told me how grateful she was that I was helping her. I could tell she had been under a lot of stress while writing the paper. Apparently it took her one month to write it all! In four hours, I had edited everything. Although it was tiring, I was more than happy to help out, especially when I saw how relieved she was. Once we finished, Li treated me to dinner at the Italian restaurant I went to with Mao and Nguyen about a month ago. I feel like she ordered everything on the menu! I was SO stuffed by the time we left, and she paid for it all, insisting that we go to the restaurant where she works the next time we have dinner together. She also gave me a cute cellphone charm from Beijing. Everything she did stressed just how much she valued what I felt to be a simple favor.
Before we parted ways, Li gave me a hug. It surprised me since no one in Japan (other than Yoonkyung and Hana) have voluntarily hugged me! She said that she was a bit apprehensive when she first approached me to ask for help since she didn't know me, but that she had told her friend yesterday how incredibly nice I was when we met and that she was glad she had the courage to ask me. I assured her that any time she needed help, she could come to me.
"If you weren't here, I wouldn't know anyone who could help me edit my paper!" She said to me. It was a very humbling statement. Even though I don't understand very much Japanese, I still have amazing opportunities to help people and show kindness to them. Despite the language barrier I face everyday, I continue to meet incredible people. It's great to have made another friend, especially since Li also understands just how difficult it is to speak Japanese.
God is blessing me incredibly. My world just got a little bit bigger.
I woke up around 10 AM and got ready for the day. Around 11 AM, Bea and I met up in the kitchen to eat the lunch that she prepared from her leftovers. Once we finished eating, we set out together to Todaiji where there was a huge parade. Apparently, this parade has been going on for over 1,300 years-- wow! I took a million pictures, and we got to eat some of the best street food (no tako yaki for me though-- I am waiting until I go to Osaka for that one). Once we saw the entire procession two times through, we decided it was time to go. On our way back, we ran into Melanie and Rafael, the two French exchange students. Things were somewhat awkward since Bea had recently been upset with Melanie, but I was able to grin and bear it until I had to go my separate way.
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| tako yaki-- my favorite! |
I left them early because I had planned to meet up with a girl in my dorm who had asked me for help with English. Around 3 PM we met in the kitchen. Li Nana is a very sweet 28-year-old Chinese graduate student who basically had me edit and correct her master thesis. She had to write it in Japanese AND English, neither of which are her native language. Talk about difficult! She continuously told me how grateful she was that I was helping her. I could tell she had been under a lot of stress while writing the paper. Apparently it took her one month to write it all! In four hours, I had edited everything. Although it was tiring, I was more than happy to help out, especially when I saw how relieved she was. Once we finished, Li treated me to dinner at the Italian restaurant I went to with Mao and Nguyen about a month ago. I feel like she ordered everything on the menu! I was SO stuffed by the time we left, and she paid for it all, insisting that we go to the restaurant where she works the next time we have dinner together. She also gave me a cute cellphone charm from Beijing. Everything she did stressed just how much she valued what I felt to be a simple favor.
Before we parted ways, Li gave me a hug. It surprised me since no one in Japan (other than Yoonkyung and Hana) have voluntarily hugged me! She said that she was a bit apprehensive when she first approached me to ask for help since she didn't know me, but that she had told her friend yesterday how incredibly nice I was when we met and that she was glad she had the courage to ask me. I assured her that any time she needed help, she could come to me.
"If you weren't here, I wouldn't know anyone who could help me edit my paper!" She said to me. It was a very humbling statement. Even though I don't understand very much Japanese, I still have amazing opportunities to help people and show kindness to them. Despite the language barrier I face everyday, I continue to meet incredible people. It's great to have made another friend, especially since Li also understands just how difficult it is to speak Japanese.
God is blessing me incredibly. My world just got a little bit bigger.
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