So, how’s my Japanese? It’s still coming slowly. I listen to Pimsleur tapes on my commute to
work so I was very upset when I lost the player at church one day. Danny looked all over for it, but had no
success. I’d given it up when just
before church the next week Miky found it in their car! I’ll be more careful with it now. . . (More)
I’ve been to kyudo club four or
five times now and I’m enjoying it very much.
On my third visit a student (Daiki) asked if I belonged to kyudo club,
and I didn’t know how to answer. Can
I? What do I have to do? I think we determined that I have to go every
so often and then I can say I’m in kyudo club, so I guess, I’m in kyudo! (More)
Saturday (Feb. 11th) was
the Yamanashi-ken high school recitation and speech contest. Shirane entered one student in the recitation
contest and I had the privilege of coaching him. Ray was very good and he improved a great
deal. I thought I had a shot at winning,
but I didn’t know the competition. I
actually enjoyed listening to all the students, and though I thought Ray was
still one of the best in terms of expression (he’s a great story teller!), he
got a little nervous and didn’t speak as clearly as he could. I think that hurt him since he didn’t get
into the top five (one first place, two second places, and three third places –
gotta feel the love!). I think the
Japanese place too much emphases on competition and winning, but that’s another
topic . . . (More)
I’ve hit the main points of the
last few weeks in separate posts, but this is for the random details that don’t
fit elsewhere. In general, the past few
weeks have been marked by a sharp increase in Japanese language study at work,
two or three hours of overtime almost daily, sharp blows to the ego in terms of
not being able to remember my students names and what I did with who, and
plenty of company. (More)
