I am leaving for Japan today
expect pictures and stories when I return!
May 2013
6 posts
Today's words of the day are
When you visit someone else’s home you say:
ojamashimasu
お邪魔します
おじゃまします
excuse me for disturbing you
.
When you return to your own home you say:
tadaima
ただいま
I’m home
When someone returns to your own home you say:
okaerinasai (formal)
お帰りなさい
おかえりなさい
welcome home
okaeri (informal)
おかえり
When you leave your own home you say:
ittekimasu
行ってきます
いってきます
I’m going
When someone leaves your house you say:
itterasshai
行ってらっしゃい
いってらっしゃい
You know you had a good host family experience when
you visit them again and you can say “tadaima” instead of “ojamashimasu”
Yesterday's word of the day
shuwa replied to your post: Today’s word of the day is
isnt that also the pronunciation for frog. things i learned from naruto
Yes, you are correct! Frog is kaeru (蛙 or カエル)
I also learned from One Piece that the Japanese sound a frog makes is “Gero Gero.” (Pronounced geh-row geh-row not jee-row jee-row)
Never underestimate the power of anime to teach Japanese.
Today's word of the day is
to return home
kaeru
帰る
かえる
Xander in Japan
I will be going on a trip to Japan in a week with my parents. I will spend two weeks travelling with (and translating for) them, and then another week travelling without them. I am likely to post pictures at some point. most likely not until I return home though.
Also note that since my last trip I have changed my name to Xander.
As always, feel free to ask me about my trip, or just Japan in general!
July 2012
76 posts
I am going to Japan next month, I heard it can get pretty hot there, what do you suggest i bring, clothes wise?
it depends on where in Japan you are going. no matter how hot it got in my little rural town, it wasn’t appropriate to wear shorts in public. also, tank tops are out. I recommend clothes that cover a lot, but a very light and breezy. If you’re going to a city, short skirts are still more acceptable than short shorts. I don’t really know your style, but keep it modest. and I brought way too much black.
Do you think that your Japanese vocabulary has been expanded over the past weeks? Are you starting to feel a bit more comfortable with the language --- at least able to understand a bit more?
I don’t think my vocabulary has expanded by much, per say. most of my improvement is that I am better at using the things I already know. I actually remember the words that I’ve learned when I need them. I am definitely able to understand the language a lot better. I don’t know if my speech has actually gotten much better, but I’m more willing to make mistakes so I can communicate more.
see you later
I want to spend the last few days with my family. I’ll update when I’m back stateside.
It souds like you had a great time at the Festival. When you meet other students do they speak to you in English or do you try to use the Japenese that you have learned?
We use Japanese and hand gestures unless I can’t think of any way to convey what I want to say. then I try for English.
More of the same
today I did pretty much the same thing I did yesterday. I went shopping and did purikura with Felix, Gabi, and Jenny in the afternoon. After they went home, I decided to go to the second day of the festival by myself. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t find anyone I knew, but I did. the first person I found was the guy from yesterday that Mayu that was a “bad boy.” Of course, after talking to him for a while, I found that he is really sweet. I walked around with him and his friends for a while, until he introduced me to some of his female friends. I met yuho, who was really friendly right away, so I went around with her and her friends for a bit. Then we ran into Anna, so I hung out with yuho and Anna until I went home.
I left the house at 11 AM (by foot) and didn’t get back until 9:30 (by foot). I love how much freedom the kids in Japan get. It is so safe here.
I’ll get around to pictures eventually.
My Japanese friend, Anna, sent me this link
everyone should go check it out. Some Japanese kids in my town are trying to run a blog in English.
Fun today
I went out to lunch with Lisa (Japanese), and some of the other exchange students, namely Gabi, Felix, Alex, Nicky. We had ramen, and it was absolutely delicious. After that we went shopping it did purikura and stuff. it was pretty chill. After Felix, Alex, Lisa, and Nicky went home, Gabi and I went to a festival with our host sisters. I wore a yukata. pictures later. Gabi and I met some boys. Mayu said that they were “bad boys” but they were actually really nice. They were just normal teenage boys with a different sense of fashion.
Gabi, Jenny, and I are going to the festival again tomorrow.
Today's Word of the day is
festival
matsuri
祭り
まつり
I adore Japan. And I love your blog. I am now following you. Would you take a look at my blog about global education and consider following me?
sure! your blog looks really interesting. I look forward to reading more of your posts when I get back from Japan. Unfortunately, I don’t have much time right now, but I like what I saw.
Everyone else should check it out too! (A lot of my readers don’t have tumblr blogs themselves, so I won’t say “follow”)
I'm a little confused. If you are on vacation, why are you back in the high school? Shouldn't you be swimming, hiking and shopping?
I’m sorry. this is actually a rather important point. summer vacation isn’t really vacation here in Japan. Everyone here goes to school anyway. most people have cram school, unless they’re the “bad kids” and all of the sports clubs still have practice. School is only in the morning, so that’s a “vacation” for them. for high school students at least. most middle and elementary school students have a real break. the only real break that high schoolers get is at new years.
People don’t really go swimming here. according to Lisa, “Odate is too small people and money.”
Japanese high school students are almost never out of uniform.
I did go shopping today, but the adults still have work so there aren’t many places I can go.
Today's Word of the day is
photo/picture
shashin
写真
しゃしん
today
a bunch of middle schoolers came to visit my high school, so all of the exchange students helped teach a model English class.
they made short speeches in English. their pronunciation was surprisingly good.
after we finished with that we all just hung out at the school for a couple hours. I met some new people. it was fun.
So many gifts...will you have to leave your clothes in Japan to bring them all home?
I’ll manage… somehow. it’s gonna be a tight fit, but it will fit.
Family Vacation
I went on one. I don’t have a lot of the pictures right now, though, so more on that later.
it was really big though. I went with my mom, dad, three sisters, grandmother, and female cousin.
