Time to trim the fat.

The more I get myself into the more I wish I could just go to bed and not do anything.  But...　せっかく日本にいるから、やっぱりちゃんと勉強した方がいい。後、観光とか、ホームスーティとか日本人の学生をチューターとかいろいろな冒険にいかなくてならない。つまり。。

(Translation)  Since I took pains to come to Japan, it's better to study after all.  After that, I have to sightsee, go on homestays, tutor Japanese students, and go on various adventures.In other words..

I need to trim the fat in order to get everything done. T_T  And it's going to be hard so I hope I can do it.  Being burnt out from two extreme college years doesn't help though.  Nor does the fact that everyone likes studying all of a sudden.  For some reason I kind of feel left out...

This weekend has been extremely fun though.  Yesterday our dorm held a Thanksgiving party in which several foreigners appeared and brought many dishes to share with everyone.  It was very exciting to try different flavors of Thanksgiving.  I made deviled eggs flavored with curry.

After that there was spaghetti, chijimi (Korean pancakes), a special dish with kimchi and chicken (also korean), bacon-wrapped asparagus, rice (of course), mashed potatoes, green beans, satsumaimo (kind of sweet potato) casserole, marinated beef, and much much more.  Plus, there was a fantastic array of desserts such as tiramisu, fudge, pudding, and many snack-like appetizers.  The end-result hit Thanksgiving on target for the most part.  I was very thankful for being able to eat a lot of food.

Apparently, thankful people also arm wrestle.   I guess this is equivalent to Americans playing flag football after the Thanksgiving feast.

America vs. Japan

America vs. Australia/Indonesia

America vs. Australia rematch

Lately I've been asking people about their impressions of English accents and which are their favorite.  I can’t help but feel like this will get me into trouble, but I always like to see what people think.  A Russian girl in my class expressed that American English is more popular right now.  Some Japanese have told me that, having learned American English, they understand it better than British or Australian English, and thus prefer it.  And a Chinese person had said that way back when, British accents were more popular, but now American English has overtaken them.  Strange though, not many Americans like American accents.

But apparently Japanese do.  Yesterday during the rush of preparing deviled eggs for the Thanksgiving feast, I secured a position tutoring a Japanese highschooler.  This is the second occasion I was offered a job, so I decided that it was a gift from Kami-sama (I think I need to stop accepting gifts from Kami-sama, unless Kami-sama wants me to die of karoushi).

From the 11th onward, it seems I will be tutoring for an hour every day.  The high school girls wants to travel to America, so I will be chatting with her about American culture and so-on.  Seems like a good opportunity for inter-cultural interaction.

Today, I spent a long day with a very sweet family who was furnished to my Swedish friend and I by Chiba University's home visit program.  We met the Itous at Chibadera (Chiba Temple) station, where we then headed to a nearby castle museum and viewed some of Chiba's historical artifacts, such as pottery, armor, calligraphy and Heian period paintings.  Apparently, Inage, the ward I am currently living in, was an airport at one time.

 

Afterwards we went to a tea house just outside of the castle, and we had traditional Japanese shoyu mochi with seaweed.

And then to the Shrine

These placards have wishes written on them (for passing finals, etc.)

I find the designs very attractive.

And we were fortunate enough to witness a bride preparing for her wedding ceremony!　お嫁さんきれいですよ！

And then we went grocery shopping for a great dinner of chankonabe (winter stew), sushi, and karaage (fried chicken)

Here is some octopus.

So I feel like I learned a lot from my ventures today.  I tried very hard to remember but forgot (as usual, does anyone have any recommendations for how to remember things?) the meaning of "wabisabi"

It means finding beauty in the transient and imperfect aspects of life.   I think that Japan is very perfect and beautiful as it is, so I really don't know if this applies very easily, but more than that, I enjoyed the beauty of the tranquility I experienced today, especially at the tea house.  And I think that wabisabi can also apply to beauty found in simplicity.  So it's important to enjoy life, no matter the imperfections.

  Ahh.. but seriously, I need to study.