Twenty-Second Week #25 - New Hostfamily - new View! (and Peanutbutter!)

(March 3rd, 2019)

It's been too long, so this is gonna be short.

 

This entry will cover my experiences: January 28th - February 3rd 2019.

 

Monday (Jan. 28th):

  • Because I had jammed my finger last week and it still hurt, I was allowed to study in the library instead.
  • Noted the following, which I cannot decypher anymore in my notebook: "Talk about what to say after blunders" ---> [MAJOR SPOILER ON JAPANESE CULTURE AHEAD, if you want to explore it yourself and make your on impression(s), you should skip this part]
    Now I remember. I had the talk with my hostfamily because of a major difference in how German and how Japanese people apologize after they have done mistakes. I assume Germans would apologize and then say why they have done the mistake. Like, explaining the misunderstanding. For Japanese people this seems to look like you want to defend yourself and that you are in the right and feel like the person who suffered from the mistake/the person you apologize to is being mean and not understanding towards you. [I hope you guys get where the cultures clash.] This is all just my assumptions and I don't know how "German" I am, but I think the explanation after the apologize is more like: I have made a mistake, but I know why, now. So it won't happen again, because I'm aware of where I went wrong. And maybe that's just my opinion but I also feel like it's kind of a defense in cases where you didn't know a certain fact,  and it's like assessing the matter from a factual standpoint. If I understood my hostmother correctly, Japanese just apologize and say they will do better in the future and never do it again. As I mentioned before, I think, explanations to them sometimes are offending and assumptious. I believe, Germans are more about the facts and don't like to be wrongly accused of making a mistake, when it's not their fault (maybe that's just my opinion). I guess, the Japanese version works for both countries both of the times. I'm really thankful that I had the chance to discover this small difference. But it's all just my perspective. [END OF SPOILER]

Tuesday (29th):

  • Prepared for welcoming my school's American partner school's student's visit this Friday.
  • Had a recitation in English class on a text about artificial intelligence. Since I had asked, I was allowed to do it in Japanese and I performed not as well as I had when I had been practicing, but whatever. It was funny because some people were like smiling at me, but I couldn't stand their looks because I would have burst into laughter.

Wednesday (30th):

  • The trains were delayed (more than 5 min) for the second time since I've been here, but fortunately I had planned to take an early train anyway, so in the end I made in time.
  • In one 10th graders English class, I planned with a friend, who asked me if I wanted to go to Disneyland or Disneysea Tokyo, on when to go and so on. After the teacher noticed that there were some Kanji (Chinese characters) that I couldn't read, he asked the students to tell me the readings. (And they did, of course.)

March 6th, 2019

Thursday (31th):

  • I had not comprehended that we would have classes of Monday, so I had forgotten my sportswear and studied in the library instead of playing basketball.
  • In music class we would have a performance, so we practiced for that. I played the guitar.
  • Also got my student ID card updated with the new adress so that I could buy a new commuter's pass thing.
  • Packed my stuff for the move.

Friday (February 1st):

  • Students from my school's partner school in Zama, came to visit us and join some classes. In addition, they cooked meals together and played some games or something and ate lunch. It was fun because my partner was a girl that I had met 3 times before and she brought me some American peanut butter, that I had wanted. I just noticed in class that I was so much more comfortable and confident when talking to her than talking with my Japanese class mates. WHY IS THAT?! WHY CAN'T I JUST BE NORMAL AND FUNNY AND MYSELF?!? GRRRRRHHH!! Anyway, it was fun with her and we ate some things and so on and so fourth. I also surprisingly received a big bag filled with American sweets from another girl!! I shared it with the people of my club for the next 2 weeks XD. 
  • Watched a (American) Football movie in ESS club while eating (mainly I was) cookies or snacks. I had bought one Matcha cookie on the way to school (it was good but not as good as the KitKat) and got two from a teacher (I think it was the teacher from the American partner school). They were delicious. Also good movie, but I left early to pack my suitcase.

Saturday (2nd):

  • Finished packing my stuff (as always, it's a lot. Like really. I've already been buying some souvenirs for my dearest friends and family and it keeps going). Then cleaned the room and gave back things I had borrowed.
  • I met my Ayusa Area Coordinator at the station I think and we took a train to the station which is nearest to my new (3rd) hostfamily's place.
  • My new hostfamily's father and mother were waiting for us and we exchange greetings and so on and the AC left. This, my third hostfamily consists of 3 humans (that I would be living with): A father and a mother, who are about 56 years and three daughters, but two of them have already moved out. They were nice from the beginning (all throughout the end, as I can say after now already living with my 5th hostfamily). We got the commuter's pass for the bus I would be taking from their place to the train station and then headed for an Indian restaurant to eat some (REALLY SPICY ;P) curry, which by the way in general is a very popular meal here in Japan (the Japanese version is not as spicy as the Indian one). Then we visited an AWESOME SPOT to see MOUNT FUJI. We had to walk a hill but I died only a little. It was definitely worth it. You could even see the ocean and lovely flowers. Fortunately the weather was also splendid. Perfect timing. After that short trip and a short visit to a supermarket, we picked up my hostfamily's dog (just like my first hostfamily, they have a lovely, cute doge) from the animal hospital because he had had an operation, poor thing. He was like very, very sleepy and I'm not sure whether he noticed that I was new. But he's very nice.

Sunday (3rd):

  • I attended an international exchange party where I also met my next hostfamily (they would not be my 4th but my 5th hostfamily, but I'll explain later). But I was like kind of overwhelmed with the people. Some came to me to speak or offer food and I was not sure what to do. I don't particularly like parties and most people were older Japanese folk. I am not very good at talking to people who are not my age. And as my poor success in making friends here has shown, I'm also not good at talking to Japanese people, who are my age.
  • The party had some performances and speeches from 4 exchange students. It was pretty interesting actually. There were dances, I think one or more mexican (?) groups and Capoeira (don't mind the spelling if it's wrong, I'm lazy). And two sweet, little Japanese girls who wore Anna and Elsa costumes and sang "Let it go" (Frozen) and "Tomorrow" (the musical "Annie") in English. The other exchange students (or maybe not exchange but just foreign students) were from Indonesia and Mexico (I think) and delivered some really good speeches, that I did not always completely understand. For me, foreigners speaking Japanese is harder to understand. Also when Japanese speak English. I'm kind of used to mothertongue sounds. Then I delivered my speech and I think I did quite well. Although there must have been some weird expressions or minor grammar mistakes. After that I was praised for good intonation and pronunciation and people probably assumed my Japanese to be very good and therefore, they asked intermediate or advanced level questions, but I couldn't understand them, which was not so nice. Also when the real "feast" began people came to me and started talking, some more difficult Japanese than others, but it was okay. At least I was distracted and not really alone or something. Although, again, I'm not good at keeping such conversations going. It was often a similar pattern: "So you are from Germany! I hosted an exchange student from Sweden before. They said Europe's weather was much more pleasant than Japan's. What's the weather like in Germany?" And so on and so forth. Sometimes they didn't even ask a question, but just stated what international connections they had. But I'm like "Oh, is that so? That sounds good". Like I don't know what to ask next or even if I ask (which I fairly did), they kind of just answer in one sentence or like, I don't know. It's not a very engaging and fascinating conversation. But there were some interesting ones, of course. And the food was awesome. Because I was not sure whom to talk to or what to do, I didn't talk too my next hostfamily that much. Also I was mostly already in a conversation.
  • When I came home, my hostfamily's mother gave me a Bento-box (Obentou = meal you prepare at home and eat for lunch) because I had not had one yet.