Hi all, I'm sure you are wondering what I have been up to for this past month...well, if you take away study, work and jiu jitsu, not too much else, but I am sure I will be able to write a paragraph or two to keep you interested.....read on!
The big news of the past month is that I have finally moved out of the homestay room that I was renting with Kyoko-san through my school. I was glad to move out of her house in the end because things were getting a little strained. As I got busier and busier with work, sports and my other friends, more frequently I would miss meals and not come home until 11pm at night- something which would upset her a little bit, expecially as she was up at 6.30am most mornings for work- I do have to say however, if she wanted the quiet life, why apply to be a homestay family?!
And so to two weeks ago, and my big move to Gokokuji. This place is excellent for me- it is right in the centre of Tokyo, and is four stops from school. Furthermore, jiu jitsu is only 20 minutes walk away, so I'm not wasting money getting there on the incredibly expensive Yamanote train line. Click here for the real estate agents profile of my new place. I share with five other people, who are all excellent in their own way! There is another English girl, a Canadian, American, and a Phillipino. Furthermore, my friend Stafan, a Swede from my class, managed to move in last week after the last room became free. The atmosphere in the house is great. Three of us are students and so frequently we will use the communal area to hit the books and get some study done. Celia, the Canadian who works for GABA, the English school that I will soon work for, so she has been giving me some pointers about the right way to do things, the GABA way...........
My intensive class continues to go well, and I think that my level of japanese is slowly inmproving. Now i am no longer apprehensive about approaching a Japanese person to ask for help with something. Actually, I do this even if I don't need any help, but just tpo practise my Japanese. Sneaky, but effective. 90% of the time I understand what a person is saying to me, even if I have to ask them to repeat it three or four times! What is challenging is learning to say phrazes or sentences more naturally, just like the natives. This is where the real fluency comes in, and which is a long way off at the moment......i do have to say though, if you are reading this and thingking about taking up a language, look into total immersion in the country of that language- far more effective.
And so to my other Tokyo past-time, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I started JJ a few months ago just because there is no Hapkido in Japan, and I wanted to stay in shape. I have to admit, the first month or so, i was pretty luke-warm about it, and it was a struggle to motivate myself to go- but I'm glad that I stuck with it because the bug has ben caught and now Im loving it! On Sunday there was a competition in a city called Takadanobaba (great name eh), and our club came in at first place. I'm only a beginner so of course I didn't compete, but some of our higher grade members did, and they excelled- at the end 9 medals were won, and our club won the overall trophy- not bad going! I took some pictures, so I'll get them uploaded soon.......
So what else....? Tokyo continues to get hotter and hotter, which is bad for your nose on the subway, but is excellent for the greenery around the city- twinned with the urban jungle is suprisingly a lot of flora and fauna, and with the changing of the season, there seems to be other colours complimenting the city, other than building grey!
Next post....the rigours of Japanese language study..........
