It's late here, both of my parents are asleep so I will make this one short... or try to. :)
Today was really nice. This morning a little before 11AM, Japan experienced a solar eclipse. Our teacher let us go outside to watch, and it was beautiful. I didn't get any good pictures unfortunately, but it was really a unique thing to watch.
Lately we have been working on our speeches at school. I have maybe 3-4 minutes written (in Japanese!) and I have a bit more to finish in the next two days. It makes me very nervous. Giving a speech in English is really nothing, but giving a five minutes speech in Japanese to a group of Japanese people? Needless to say, I am a bit nervous.
After school we went to Fukuoka (again)! It was really great, we met Noemi's 25 year old host sister (Sayori) and did some sightseeing. We finally got to see Fukuoka Tower, where we got a beautiful view of Fukuoka. We alot went to the Hard Rock Cafe, where a keychain cost 2,800 yen (or $28)! There was a really pretty beach right near the tower where we spent about an hour. While we were there, there was a man dressed up in traditional cothing playing some kind of instrument. He noticed me taking his picture and asked, "Can I take a picture for you?" as he reached for my camera. I quickly said,"Kekko desu (no thank you)," because he looked a little too eager to take my camera from me.
Dinner was delicious, as always. I really do love Japanese food, and I will miss it. My okaasan is such a good cook. Not that my mom in Missouri isn't of course, because she is also a good cook. She just can't make Japanese dishes like my okaasan here. For dinner we had udon noodles and tempura. Udon is like ramen, but the noodles are thicker and flat, and tempura is huge pieces of deep fried shrimp, other meats, ad vegetables. We got home around 10:30. Only two weeks left in Japan.
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Dear Audrey,
ReplyDeleteSmart girl for hanging on to that camera! It might have been okay, but you just never know. Don't worry about that speech. Knowing you, it will be the best in the class and you will have far exceeded your teacher's expectations, even if it is in Japanese. I am very much looking forward to seeing all 1500 of your pictures! Your two weeks will go by quickly, so enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Take care.
Random thought (again): What's up with those weird words we have to type in for word verification to post a comment????? Some of them make me LOL because they could be a foreign language all their own! I wish now I had kept a list.
I am really enjoying your blog! I can't think of anyone who would have deserved or enjoyed Japan as much as you! Your writing skills come in very handy!A usual,your writing has real "voice." I'll keep reading. Seize the day....you are getting an education of a lifetime! Love, Ruth
ReplyDeleteAudrey Elizabeth-
ReplyDeleteMaybe the guy dressed in traditional clothing playing some instrument will turn out like Mister. Dentist and get you a third kimono! ....maybe. I would never shop at Hard Rock Cafe. Solar eclipses sound exciting. I miss you.
looooove, ME.
P.S. Announcer: And the homecoming queen is....
Johnny: ME!
hahahahhahaha. dirty car clean earth. loveyou.
Audrey- Fukuoka sounds amazing! Don't worry about the speech being given in front of native speakers; they will respect the effort being put forth to learn a foreign language in a relatively short time frame. When Stone arrived in the US he was never ridiculed by you guys for his lack of perfectly spoken English. Instead, we were fascinated to learn about him and his culture and amazed at his quick mastery of the language. Even my Spanish 4 students struggle to write 5-minute presentations after years of study, so your accomplishments with the Japanese language deserve praise, not ridicule. (If anyone does say anything, just send them to me. We can discuss stages of language acquisition and the average time needed to achieve fluency!) I have no doubt you will knock their socks off! :) I am very happy to hear your compliments for your host mom's cooking! No doubt she is trying very hard to please you and your willingness to try new tastes must make this easier for her. It is hard to believe that you only have two weeks left, so keep your chin up and try to enjoy each day for the opportunities it brings. Remember, "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. TODAY is a GIFT; that's why they call it the PRESENT!" (no idea who to credit with this quote, by the way, so thanks to whoever deserves the gold star...) Thanks for keeping those of us living our same old day-to-day lives up-to-date on your experiences. I enjoy reading the blog entries, even if I don't always respond to them. See you soon! -Mrs. Epp
ReplyDeleteMrs. Engles, Thank you! Haha I hope the speech turns out ok, if not there's not much I can do you know? So I'm just going with the flow, as is the case a lot during this trip. And as far as the weird word things go, I am not sure haha. Someone once told me that they gave you those so it could make sure that it's not some automated response or spam commenting on the blog? Who knows, computers confuse me.
ReplyDeleteRuth, I am glad you enjoy my blogs! They help me a lot too because I get to record everything that happens to me as it happens so I don't forget the important details later.
Melissa: I could literally hear Parra's voice in my head. Haha. When I get home, we can adopt the dirty car clean earth motto for the focus too. I think we should put it on a bumper sticker.
Mrs. Epp, I love your comments haha. And yes, the food here is so good, with the exception of nato and "the paste of a sea urchin egg" (it's truly as gross as it sounds.). I appreciate your offer to give a talking to to anyone who criticizes me. I might have a couple names and addresses for you when I get home. :)
Miss you all!!
Audrey