A World Filled With Samurais not Knights
So, here in Japan the courtesy system is really inconsistent to say the least. I've observed mostly on the school bus that ALL the guys will sit in the back letting the girls sit in front therefore leaving first. BUT a girl will NEVER sit with a guy even if the bus is packed and there's an open seat RIGHT next to the guy, she will chose to stand or do the even more inconvenient thing which is to sit in the isle seat.The isle seat is a upward folded chair that's in the isle so when the bus stop one must fold the chair, exit the bus, then let the person behind you whose stop is here exit, re-enter the bus, and if there are still no open seats (I mean guy-less seat) she must then refold the chair and repeat the process until she has a seat or exits the bus. And then here's the even stranger part. After club activity (which can be all type of sports ie. tennis, volleyball, soccer) I arrived early to the bus so I got a good seat. This girl arrived late and needed to stand in the isle. She complained about how her feet hurt so I offered her my chair... she absolutely rejected it, AND her friend right next top me literally stopped me from getting up (Yes I was indeed overpowered by a small Japanese girl). I thought it was just me... and they were trying to be nice to the foreigner, but NO guy offered their seat at all.... Chivalry is dead =[.
Fallen For You
Yes, he did indeed fall for me...actually he fell because of me. Remember the torturous PE I was talking about? Yeah we had to do the three person handstand where two people do the handstand and the base holds them up. I was the base.... I guess im just super weak =[. But now he totally has a big gash on his face and I don't know how to approach him and apologize without being all awkward ah ha!
A Master That Couldn't Use Air Quotes
So today in English class my teacher was reading something out loud and he went into a weird tangent about how when he was in America they'd make these strange motions with their hands. He demonstrated and I sorta let out a big laugh. He looked at me and was like, oh right we have an american here. He continued to question me about what it is and why we use it. At first I said people use them when they try to be sarcastic. He didn't understand so I said Air Quotes and he said ahhh yes but in a really cool British accent sort of way. Then he tried to use it quoteing something... I told him it was absolutely wrong and the class laughed. Then later that day wouldn't you know it everyone in my class was doing air quotes and laughing because they didn't know what it meant....WHAT HAVE I DONE!?!
A Question About A Questionaire
So my school handed out a questionaire today, probably to get student insight and see how they can better themselves. That same questionaire was handed to be and I thought okay... this will be fun. (By the way, I've only been here a month now... and I still can't read kanji very well) I tried answering as may as I could and in the end that was about 10 out of 60 questions? But... there was this one question that I don't really feel confident about, I was either does your home room teacher treat you well...or bad. I don't really know what I put ah ha.
Gender Transition
I don't mean me...physically...well...ah ha. What I mean is that back in the States most of my friends were girls. And here in Japan ALL of my friends are guys. Seriously the first day I got to school I can see there's a giant wall between guys and girls. The only time they intermingle is when they ask for a favor like, oh have you seen... or.. please move (politely of course). Now all my friends are my guy classmates and some other guys from other classes. I don't really have friends that are girls I only have fan girls. By fangirls I mean girls that walk by say HARO and giggle. And when I'm doing something like running the track they come up to me and say "Khanh, fight-to". The guys on the other hand.... some are just immature which is really an international thing. While others are frightening close to each other. I swear they are one intimate moment away from declaring their love for each other. Some guys I don't know do try to talk to me but they all seem tough around other guys but one on one they approach say hi or bye then walk the other way like they're embarrassed. The line between feminine and masculine is very thin here. Oh and did I mention that everyone is in a group? That they all must accompany each other to one place or another (must like when girls in the States would use the restroom, they must travel in a pack). It's really rare that you see a person walking alone. And apparently IF you are alone that's sorta breaking Japanese culture. I was raised in America I know how to be depend and be on my own so in Japan I try not to get in people's way and be self dependent. But that was confirmed by my Volley coach and colleague's parent as bad Japanese culture. I swear I think I break a new Japanese culture at least once a day! =/
A Hidden Bow Master
Ah ha here's where I get to brag a little. At school I decided to learn Japanese Archery. Apparently they told me it'd take a month to practice on the training tool before I receive my bow and even then it'd take a while to perfect my form before I can fire an arrow. I received my bow in 3 days and now am practicing with the bow. My colleagues are making little tweaks with my form but they say I've got it down and have form good enough to advance. That's right 5 days! I'm super excited that I got it down so fast. I think some of the first years are mad because I'm getting it so fast. I'm actually now only waiting for my glove to arrive before I can start shooting =].
Ah ha ya'll probably wonder if I stay up at night thinking of my clever title names =]...Well I do =/. Ah ha no just kidding. Honestly when something exciting does happen I try think of a clever name for my entry, put it into my ipod and save it for when I write my blog. When I do write my blog I pull out my ipod see the clever title and try to remember what it's all about! But sometimes I can't remember what I thinking when I wrote the title so I just end up forgetting about that entry. For example I had these titles lined up "Adjustment Beau for Early Birds" and "Two important F words" But I can't remember what they're about =[. Anyways thanks for reading~
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
My School Life As A Teenage FES
Intro
Just finished my first week of school today, which collectively was over 35hrs. I'm already SUPER tired. Even today on my rest day I was awoken by a neighbor which poped into my room that said something-something-seshiro(brother)-something okay? I just said okay so he'd leave and I can get more sleep. I guess not questioning him and asking him to repeat it slower was dumb cuz now I think my brother Seshiro who promised to take me to his university is gonna come and I don't know when -_-.
Girls
Anyways back to school life. First off G-ZUS for all you that know me can you even picture me as the Cool Exchange Student? My school population is filled with 80% girls and most of them are very over zealous and very forward. Most of them only know how to say "hello", "bye-bye", and small things and they LOVE to test that out on foreigners. Honestly it's called peripheral vision guys I can see you staring at me from across the room! I guess I don't REALLY mind and sorta think it's flattering too because I it was Friday when a girl came up to me and started talking broken English trying to get to know and ended up saying I was handsome. Now it's quite possible that she didn't know what she was saying but it was flattering none the less. Girls in Japan are super different from girls in America. Like honestly I couldn't even wait for my school van to take my to practice with a buncha girls comeing up to me saying "Helro". Whereas in America if I were a Japanese exchange student we'd pass each other without even the slightest acknowledgment.
Guys
Guys on the other hand.... EVERYWHERE you go in the school they're always saying "nichob" now if you know Japanese you know having a the letter B at the end of a word is impossible. It took me a while to learn that it was slang yet even now I cannot say it and end up just saying "konichiwa". Guys say it to EVERYONE to teacher- nichiob to older classmen- nichob and even to each other- nichob. But one thing stays the same everywhere you go...and that's the level of maturity guys have. If you remember PE in high school the guys are pretty much the same here. Except.... THEYRE ALL FREAKN ACROBATS. On my first day of PE everyone had to do partnered handstands. I got paired up with the bigger group which consist of me and a guy that's probably like 50g lighter then me. I could only do the first handstand and not the second D=. And everytime I fell I would laugh like crazy we even got yelled at for not taking it serious because I was laughing so loud. And at the end where everyone was wearing a frown and was sore I had a biggo smile on my face. And then we had to do three person acrobatics which is me -the base- another -the top- and the last -the bottom- Basically all I have to do is carry the top on my shoulders and carry the bottom on my waist while he does an airplank. And there are two other ways as well which are just as hard. Afterward we had to build human pyramids and Gawd Dam cheerleaders make it look easy! My group couldn't do it at all! It's super hard of the back!
My Class
I guess I can understand why the guys in my class are the way that they are... I was placed in a sophomore class so they haven't matured... AT ALL. I feel super guilty because I can't remember any of their names at all. I just entitled them with simple title like "Green Day" for the guy who likes Green Day "Red Head" for... well you get it" It's actually even harder to remember the girls names because there are so many of them AND the classes is divided. Sure we study together, we have all our classes together, the same homework BUT when it comes to a break time or lunch the guys grab one corner and the girls fill in the rest. No one intermingles and apparently that's how it ALWAYS has been. It guess in that sense making friends landed in my favor because all the guys stuck together I automatically became "one of the guys".
Teachers
Teachers are like M&Ms.... ah ha just kidding sorry most of you won't get it. Anyways they're all SUPER nice. I thought some of them were really strict from their first appearance and presence like the Social Science teacher and the PE teacher but it turns out the SS teacher was just extremely sarcastic and the PE teacher has to put on the rough exterior having about 100 guys in his PE class. I also have about 3/4 guardian teachers that recognizes that I'm a foreign student and am EXTREMELY lost about 60% of the time, especially when it comes to buses. So they hunt my down ask me things slowly and make sure that I have the hook ups ah ha. For instance yesterday... I was suppose to be waiting for a bus but didn't want to make it all awkward for the girls sitting at the bus stop so I was waiting at the entrance of the school behind some trees. I thought that the bus would be big enough that I would see it coming and be able to make it before it left. I was even talking these two girls that were extremely interested in my very existence just because I was foreign. I was sitting, talking, talking, sitting and then finally Kojima sensei one of my teachers come from around the corner and tells me to go over there. He had been holding up the school VAN that was parked in front waiting for me. G-ZUS I was the person holding everyone up. I couldn't even see the van behind the trees. But if he wasn't there the bus woulda left without me and that would of been horrible because its a 50min bus ride home (The walk through the unlit road to Chiran woulda killed me alone). I have more stories of teachers saving me but I like this one the best... plus its the most recent =].
School Routine
Well I get up Monday through Friday at 6:00 to prepare and eat breakfast. The bus arrives at 7:16 promptly. I get to school around 8:10ish and have about 30mins until school starts. We have I think 4/5 classes until lunch at 12:40. Afterward we change for 2hrs of PE (yes the same PE that I describe as hellish). Afterward if you have a sport you can keep wearing your PE ware otherwise you have to change back to the uniform. Then about 3ish we have a class that really isn't a class at all. Its just when the class presidents talks about some stuff and the girls work on what look like Pom-Poms. Then you have your club/ sport til before 7 when your bus leaves. You then promptly arrive home about 8. Saturday is basically the same thing but school ends at 1:30 and then club/ sports and the bus/van leaves at 6.
Conclude
And that's my School Life as a FES. Ah ha you probably are wondering what a FES is. Well do you guys remember "That's 70 Show"? Well one of the exchange students told me that his name wasn't Fes he was a FES a Foreign Exchange Student!!!! If you guys ever have a question about Japanese school don't hesitate to leave a comment~
Just finished my first week of school today, which collectively was over 35hrs. I'm already SUPER tired. Even today on my rest day I was awoken by a neighbor which poped into my room that said something-something-seshiro(brother)-something okay? I just said okay so he'd leave and I can get more sleep. I guess not questioning him and asking him to repeat it slower was dumb cuz now I think my brother Seshiro who promised to take me to his university is gonna come and I don't know when -_-.
Girls
Anyways back to school life. First off G-ZUS for all you that know me can you even picture me as the Cool Exchange Student? My school population is filled with 80% girls and most of them are very over zealous and very forward. Most of them only know how to say "hello", "bye-bye", and small things and they LOVE to test that out on foreigners. Honestly it's called peripheral vision guys I can see you staring at me from across the room! I guess I don't REALLY mind and sorta think it's flattering too because I it was Friday when a girl came up to me and started talking broken English trying to get to know and ended up saying I was handsome. Now it's quite possible that she didn't know what she was saying but it was flattering none the less. Girls in Japan are super different from girls in America. Like honestly I couldn't even wait for my school van to take my to practice with a buncha girls comeing up to me saying "Helro". Whereas in America if I were a Japanese exchange student we'd pass each other without even the slightest acknowledgment.
Guys
Guys on the other hand.... EVERYWHERE you go in the school they're always saying "nichob" now if you know Japanese you know having a the letter B at the end of a word is impossible. It took me a while to learn that it was slang yet even now I cannot say it and end up just saying "konichiwa". Guys say it to EVERYONE to teacher- nichiob to older classmen- nichob and even to each other- nichob. But one thing stays the same everywhere you go...and that's the level of maturity guys have. If you remember PE in high school the guys are pretty much the same here. Except.... THEYRE ALL FREAKN ACROBATS. On my first day of PE everyone had to do partnered handstands. I got paired up with the bigger group which consist of me and a guy that's probably like 50g lighter then me. I could only do the first handstand and not the second D=. And everytime I fell I would laugh like crazy we even got yelled at for not taking it serious because I was laughing so loud. And at the end where everyone was wearing a frown and was sore I had a biggo smile on my face. And then we had to do three person acrobatics which is me -the base- another -the top- and the last -the bottom- Basically all I have to do is carry the top on my shoulders and carry the bottom on my waist while he does an airplank. And there are two other ways as well which are just as hard. Afterward we had to build human pyramids and Gawd Dam cheerleaders make it look easy! My group couldn't do it at all! It's super hard of the back!
My Class
I guess I can understand why the guys in my class are the way that they are... I was placed in a sophomore class so they haven't matured... AT ALL. I feel super guilty because I can't remember any of their names at all. I just entitled them with simple title like "Green Day" for the guy who likes Green Day "Red Head" for... well you get it" It's actually even harder to remember the girls names because there are so many of them AND the classes is divided. Sure we study together, we have all our classes together, the same homework BUT when it comes to a break time or lunch the guys grab one corner and the girls fill in the rest. No one intermingles and apparently that's how it ALWAYS has been. It guess in that sense making friends landed in my favor because all the guys stuck together I automatically became "one of the guys".
Teachers
Teachers are like M&Ms.... ah ha just kidding sorry most of you won't get it. Anyways they're all SUPER nice. I thought some of them were really strict from their first appearance and presence like the Social Science teacher and the PE teacher but it turns out the SS teacher was just extremely sarcastic and the PE teacher has to put on the rough exterior having about 100 guys in his PE class. I also have about 3/4 guardian teachers that recognizes that I'm a foreign student and am EXTREMELY lost about 60% of the time, especially when it comes to buses. So they hunt my down ask me things slowly and make sure that I have the hook ups ah ha. For instance yesterday... I was suppose to be waiting for a bus but didn't want to make it all awkward for the girls sitting at the bus stop so I was waiting at the entrance of the school behind some trees. I thought that the bus would be big enough that I would see it coming and be able to make it before it left. I was even talking these two girls that were extremely interested in my very existence just because I was foreign. I was sitting, talking, talking, sitting and then finally Kojima sensei one of my teachers come from around the corner and tells me to go over there. He had been holding up the school VAN that was parked in front waiting for me. G-ZUS I was the person holding everyone up. I couldn't even see the van behind the trees. But if he wasn't there the bus woulda left without me and that would of been horrible because its a 50min bus ride home (The walk through the unlit road to Chiran woulda killed me alone). I have more stories of teachers saving me but I like this one the best... plus its the most recent =].
School Routine
Well I get up Monday through Friday at 6:00 to prepare and eat breakfast. The bus arrives at 7:16 promptly. I get to school around 8:10ish and have about 30mins until school starts. We have I think 4/5 classes until lunch at 12:40. Afterward we change for 2hrs of PE (yes the same PE that I describe as hellish). Afterward if you have a sport you can keep wearing your PE ware otherwise you have to change back to the uniform. Then about 3ish we have a class that really isn't a class at all. Its just when the class presidents talks about some stuff and the girls work on what look like Pom-Poms. Then you have your club/ sport til before 7 when your bus leaves. You then promptly arrive home about 8. Saturday is basically the same thing but school ends at 1:30 and then club/ sports and the bus/van leaves at 6.
Conclude
And that's my School Life as a FES. Ah ha you probably are wondering what a FES is. Well do you guys remember "That's 70 Show"? Well one of the exchange students told me that his name wasn't Fes he was a FES a Foreign Exchange Student!!!! If you guys ever have a question about Japanese school don't hesitate to leave a comment~
Friday, September 2, 2011
(Enter Epic Title Here)
Tea Knocker
If you ever been to Japan or seen a Japanese people you'd know that they are very svelt and slender. So they like to build narrow streets, compact cars, and even small bathrooms. Well this is week my district which only had two exchange students decided to merged with District 2700 Fukuoka which has 6 students for an orientation. Well that the small party at the restaurant &And (Yes the sign and then the name of the sign is very repetitive but I guess that's what makes it stylish) and the whole time I was thinking I'm huge compared to everyone else but I'll try my best to blend in. Of course it'd be that exact moment where I extend my arm and knock over the Polish Exchange students tea... Making it World: 1 Khanh: 0.
Captain Under Pants
My host family are like the nicest people ever. They told me we were going shopping but I vaguely understand why.... When we finally get there it turns out we were trying to find a converter for my laptop charger [Which has three pangs and ALL Japanese outlets only take two(Its a good thing that you can break the third pang and still have the charger working<But maybe I shoulda waited because my older brother a.k.a Anyo brought me converter today>)] but that wasn't it. It turns out the real reason we were there was to buy me underpants. My host father says that my white underwear would be mocked so I need to buy briefs... I had no choice but to agree. Let me tell you underwear shopping is internationally the most uncomfortable thing a grown son can do with his father. Especially in my case because IM HUGE. We had to get the cashier to help us, so she measured me.... fixed her glasses, then measured me again. We had to hunt down these mythical giant underwear, so we went to the underwear section's worker person...and now the party of embarrassment grew even bigger -_-. But my host dad.... G-ZUS... he paid for all that and some white Tees a pair of shoes and my double scooped ice cream all of it was probably over 20,000 yen. Thus making this the most heartwarming embarrassing moment of my life.
Did I unknowingly sign up for the military?
Honestly PE in Japan can be one of horror stories we tell the unmotivated kids if they ever feel like they're being overworked in PE, we can reply with AT LEAST YOU'RE NOT IN JAPAN. My first day of PE they had us doing two person handstand. With one person acting as the base while the other does a handstand off of them. There apparently is two different ways to do it and both of them are crazy hard. Second day (today Sept. 2nd) we were doing 3 person acrobatics. Basically one if the base he carries all three, one person stands on the the base's knees and keeps the third person balance as he does a handstand. And the other method... its just too hard to describe. Usually the people that finish first are rewarded with just building a human pyramid today the coach felt sorry for us 10th graders and let us finish early [By that I mean stop with the acrobatics and go to the pyramid] G-ZUS was it hard, I being the biggest one there was the base and for them all being super skinny Japanese guys THEY'RE HEAVY. (Maybe its because of their giant meal portions- personally I cannot finish the course but I do force myself to eat the school lunch box because I'm there for another 7 hours after lunch-) Did I mention this was JUST guys? Where are girls you ask? I answer with...dancing. Only a couple meters away from us the girls are learning a dance. And to top all of that off is my own situation.... I've yet to recieve the uniform so I wear a bright white and silver shorts for PE. And when ever I mess up or fall (while trying to do handstands) I'd laugh and at the end I'd be beaming just because I tried....while everyone else has the *I wish I was somewhere* else look. Ah, if you didn't think that was military enough I'd like you know we went marching around the track today AND every time the students meet the must make sure they are in straight lines with all their classmates and must hold out their hands to make sufficient space between them and their classmate and must hold that position until the teacher says to drop their hand?? Ha yeah....
Sorry that's it for tonight I have school tomorrow.... yes I know tomorrow is Saturday..........
If you ever been to Japan or seen a Japanese people you'd know that they are very svelt and slender. So they like to build narrow streets, compact cars, and even small bathrooms. Well this is week my district which only had two exchange students decided to merged with District 2700 Fukuoka which has 6 students for an orientation. Well that the small party at the restaurant &And (Yes the sign and then the name of the sign is very repetitive but I guess that's what makes it stylish) and the whole time I was thinking I'm huge compared to everyone else but I'll try my best to blend in. Of course it'd be that exact moment where I extend my arm and knock over the Polish Exchange students tea... Making it World: 1 Khanh: 0.
Captain Under Pants
My host family are like the nicest people ever. They told me we were going shopping but I vaguely understand why.... When we finally get there it turns out we were trying to find a converter for my laptop charger [Which has three pangs and ALL Japanese outlets only take two(Its a good thing that you can break the third pang and still have the charger working<But maybe I shoulda waited because my older brother a.k.a Anyo brought me converter today>)] but that wasn't it. It turns out the real reason we were there was to buy me underpants. My host father says that my white underwear would be mocked so I need to buy briefs... I had no choice but to agree. Let me tell you underwear shopping is internationally the most uncomfortable thing a grown son can do with his father. Especially in my case because IM HUGE. We had to get the cashier to help us, so she measured me.... fixed her glasses, then measured me again. We had to hunt down these mythical giant underwear, so we went to the underwear section's worker person...and now the party of embarrassment grew even bigger -_-. But my host dad.... G-ZUS... he paid for all that and some white Tees a pair of shoes and my double scooped ice cream all of it was probably over 20,000 yen. Thus making this the most heartwarming embarrassing moment of my life.
Did I unknowingly sign up for the military?
Honestly PE in Japan can be one of horror stories we tell the unmotivated kids if they ever feel like they're being overworked in PE, we can reply with AT LEAST YOU'RE NOT IN JAPAN. My first day of PE they had us doing two person handstand. With one person acting as the base while the other does a handstand off of them. There apparently is two different ways to do it and both of them are crazy hard. Second day (today Sept. 2nd) we were doing 3 person acrobatics. Basically one if the base he carries all three, one person stands on the the base's knees and keeps the third person balance as he does a handstand. And the other method... its just too hard to describe. Usually the people that finish first are rewarded with just building a human pyramid today the coach felt sorry for us 10th graders and let us finish early [By that I mean stop with the acrobatics and go to the pyramid] G-ZUS was it hard, I being the biggest one there was the base and for them all being super skinny Japanese guys THEY'RE HEAVY. (Maybe its because of their giant meal portions- personally I cannot finish the course but I do force myself to eat the school lunch box because I'm there for another 7 hours after lunch-) Did I mention this was JUST guys? Where are girls you ask? I answer with...dancing. Only a couple meters away from us the girls are learning a dance. And to top all of that off is my own situation.... I've yet to recieve the uniform so I wear a bright white and silver shorts for PE. And when ever I mess up or fall (while trying to do handstands) I'd laugh and at the end I'd be beaming just because I tried....while everyone else has the *I wish I was somewhere* else look. Ah, if you didn't think that was military enough I'd like you know we went marching around the track today AND every time the students meet the must make sure they are in straight lines with all their classmates and must hold out their hands to make sufficient space between them and their classmate and must hold that position until the teacher says to drop their hand?? Ha yeah....
Sorry that's it for tonight I have school tomorrow.... yes I know tomorrow is Saturday..........
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