It's hard to believe that my second to last week of classes is already over. Next week I will have the biggest Japanese test of my life, participate in an Indian Dance performance, and turn in two papers (written in Japanese, of course.) It will be the last week that I will see most of my classmates, and it will start the countdown to the day I return to the United States-- August 17th. In short, this is the beginning of the end. I'm not trying to sound morbid. I'm really excited to be going home, but... I'm not sure when I will return to the Japan. I've sad it before and I'll say it again: I am in love with this country. It will be really strange going back to my normal life.
07.19 (火）
I woke up to the sound of wind. But not any normal wind, typhoon wind. Speaking of which, can anyone explain to me exactly what a typhoon is and why it's something I should worry about? Honestly, I've seen worse wind storms in North Carolina. Just saying. Anyway, I went to my Indian Dance class Tuesday morning. We got to wear these cool anklets with bells on them as we practiced our routine for the last time. Our final performance is next week! I'm nowhere near prepared, but it's do or die at this point. Everyone seems excited for it though. I hope a lot of people come! From Indian Dance class I went to lunch with Yoonkyung and Rina. Then I had to go back to my room to change and prepare for my final presentation in Beginner's Japanese. I presented my project and I think I did really well. I'm proud of how much my Japanese has improved since I first came to Japan. My presentation seemed to reflect this so I was satisfied. Once class was over I returned to my room to relax, which means I did nothing the rest of the evening except for surf the internet.
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| Takeda sensei and I after my presentation |
07.20（水）
Wednesday morning I got to sleep in late. It has been increasingly more difficult for me to get up early, which I take is a sign that I've become accustomed to life here. At noon, Yoonkyung and I met to go to Konami. I hadn't been to the gym in about a week and a half so it felt nice to exercise again! Once we finished, the two of us went to Kame for lunch. My appetite has returned recently so I was able to eat everything on my plate (much to my relief.) From there, the two of us went to Yoonkyung's office to print fliers for Indo Dance. We walked around campus to hand some out and post them on a few message boards. Then, we met up with Rina and Hana chan to go shopping at Nara Family. Before going to the mall (also in order to buy some things in preparation for Indo Dance) we couldn't resist goofing off in Yoonkyung's office.
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| You know you love us :) |
Even though we went to the mall, we couldn't find everything we needed in time. Yoonkyung and I left Hana chan and Rina so we wouldn't be late to church. Church went well, although I found myself nodding off in the middle of the sermon (whoops). Afterwards, Tokunaga san took Yoonkyung and I out to dinner at a fairly expensive Tonkatsu restaurant. Again, I was able to eat (almost) everything, but Yoonkyung and I felt bad because Tokunaga paid for us (as always). The two of us decided we would buy him a present in order to say thank you, but that would have to wait until the following day because we didn't get back until around 11 PM! (We spent about an hour driving around looking for the restaurant. Oh well.)
07.20 (木）
Thursday morning I went to my Japanese class. Technically, it was the last class because next week all we have to do is turn in our paper and homework. Bea, Yoonkyung, Hana chan and I ended up eating lunch together and then Yoonkyung and I set out for Vivre to find a present for Tokunaga san. We ended up buying him a Marine Corps. shirt that had "North Carolina" written on it. Yoonkyung thought it would be nice to give him something that would remind him of me since I will be leaving soon. The shirt was so nice that I ended up buying another one for myself (in honor of my older brother who is currently training to become a Marine Corps. officer). I find it interesting that there were so many United States' military shirts in the store. They had Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Army t-shirts-- all American. What reason does Japan have to like our military so much, I wonder? In any case, I was happy with the gift. Tokunaga san is planning on having a "goodbye" party for me soon so I need to pay him back somehow! When Yoonkyung and I were finished shopping I had to return to change clothes and go to my volleyball class. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was the last one. I'm also happy to say that my volleyball skills have greatly improved since the beginning of the semester. In fact, all of my classmates seemed to have improved because our final games were really entertaining. If only UNCG's activity classes were as fun as my volleyball class here was!
After volleyball, Yoonkyung invited me to go to Konami. I didn't have any reason to say no so the two of us went and swam in the pool for about an hour. After that, Yoonkyung asked me to go to her dorm so we could eat dinner together along with Hana chan. She made Korean ramen for us (the best kind of ramen there is) and we relaxed until 8 PM, which is when I decided I should probably start studying for my test that I have next week. Yoonkyung and I spent the rest of the evening in her office. I wrote one of my two papers and studied for my Japanese test, and she wrote up a schedule for when we go to Korea (we're both very excited about it!).
07.21 (金）
Friday at last! Actually, this week went by faster than I thought it would, probably because of the three-day weekend. In any case, because we had Monday off, we had Monday classes today instead of Friday classes. As a result, I had my Japanese class first. Bea and I ate lunch afterwards and got to talk about our plans for Tokyo. (I am going to Tokyo shortly after I return from Korea. Super excited about that, too!) We need to buy our bus ticket and book a place to stay, so we'll be discussing that in more detail soon. Our conversation was cut short because I had to go with Yoonkyung to purchase a return permit for when we go to Korea. (We didn't have Budou today so it was the perfect time to go.) Basically, the return permit is a document that allows me to go to Korea and then return directly to Japan without any problems. All of this passport, via, go here, go there nonsense gives me a headache, but the important thing is that I should have no trouble with customs when I return from Korea. 3,000 yen later I had purchased the permit and we returned to NWU. I quickly changed clothes and went to my gym class with Bea. We played badmitton again, and next week will be our last class (hooray!). Tonight will pretty much be the same as last night. I'm putting my nose to the grind and studying for this monster test. According to Bea, the one she took last semester was difficult so I know I've got my work cut out for me. Prayers appreciated!
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