Busy Weekend!

Wow! This was the busiest weekend I've had in a LONG time. Between my Japanese class starting back up at IPFW, my school's dance company (Tiger Dance Company) recital, and my best friend, who is practically my sister, coming over for the weekend! So many events I don't think I can fit it into one post. So I'll start with what all happened first: Japanese class starting back up.

We have a new teacher for this semester; which was pretty strange to me. It's always a unique change to go through, especially when it has to do with a foreign language. I honestly didn't know what to expect from her, though I heard that she is insanely sweet since she used to teach the 3rd grade Japanese class. She definitely showed that she was used to working with a younger audience! She would crouch on the ground when talking to us, which she kept apologizing for since it was a habit she formed. Of course, none of us were mad... We found it a little humorous.

Another change I noticed with a new instructor was how we didn't do our regular "opening" and "closing" for class. Traditionally, in Japan, the homeroom teacher (or a student selected as "leader") will begin the class by saying 起立 (kiritsu- stand up), which is pretty straight forword. This signals for all the students to stand up besides their desks. 気を付け (kiosuke), on the other hand, is a little more difficult to explain. It literally translates to "attention." Basically, this is similar to what you'd hear in the military- you're standing at attention with your back straight and hands to your side. Then there's 礼 (rei), which means "bow." While bowing, everyone in the room would say おはようございます(ohayou gozaimasu), which means "good morning.", pretty simple. Then the leader would say 着席, chakuseki, which is another simple translation: sit down. If it's the end of the class/day, though, you'd say ありがとうございます (arigatou gozaimasu- thank you), and then you'd leave, instead of sitting back down... That'd be ridiculous and silly otherwise.

Skipping out on the introductions was one of the things I absolutely loved about the class, so I'll definitely miss that. Quinn-sensei makes up for it though because she's going to bring in anime for us to watch to help us learn. I noted that as strange, though, because most Japanese adults don't really care for anime/manga. Turns out both her and her daughters love it. That'll be fun/interesting!

We also learned the various ways to say "put on" in Japanese. Turns out for your head, face, torso, and pants/feet are all completely different words!

It's difficult, but it just takes practice. I look forward to the rest of this semester with new classmates and a new teacher!