This Monday, I started a two-week intensive Japanese course in Matsuyama. Each day, I take a train out there at about 11:30 and attend class from 1:30 until 3:30. I bought train tickets in sets of 6 so that I could save a bit of money (10%) on the train fare.
Since I missed the deadline to sign up, I wasn't supposed to get in to the class, but one of the people had mercy on me and sent me an application. After faxing in a written placement test, I had an oral interview over the phone. I got a call a few hours later notifying me of my placement. Of the five levels that are offered at EPIC, I'm in the top level. While I was excited to be placed in the most challenging course, I didn't really know what to expect.
The class is pretty packed. There are about 32 of us, though we English speakers are in the minority. About 10 of the students are from South Korea, while six or so come from China. Two or three people are from Germany, one lady comes from Singapore, and one girl is from Argentina. The dozen of us that remain are from English-speaking countries like the U.S., Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia. Amongst the English-speaking foreigners, I feel pretty confident about my abilities. Most of them have a lot more experience with familiar speech than I do, but that's in part due to the fact that most of them have been here at least 3 years. Some have been in Japan for six or more years.
Many of the Koreans haven't been here for even a year, yet their Japanese is impeccable. Korean syntax, from what I've been told, is much like that of Japanese. So, while we English-speakers have to think backwards, the Koreans only have to convert their Korean vocabulary into Japanese. One girl has been in Japan for five months and is basically fluent.
The Chinese have a huge advantage with writing, since Japanese borrows its symbols from Chinese. They still have to learn how to pronounce what they read, but they generally already know the meaning of kanji compounds they see. Pronunciation differs greatly between the two languages, though, so many of the Chinese students struggle to speak clearly.
One of the Chinese students is a tactless 17-year old know-it-all. He likes to show off his kanji ability, which is unimpressive to me. Of course he knows how to write the Chinese characters--he's Chinese! At the end of one class period, when our teacher asked us to write down what we all learned, he asked, "And what if I didn't learn anything?" Seriously, if this is too easy, then don't come to class.
After each of the first two days, I felt pretty confident. I understood pretty much everything that we discussed, and held my own with the speaking parts after some initial jitters. After the third day, though, I wanted to quit. I ended up at a table with the annoying Chinese kid and no English speakers. The three Chinese speakers at our table just conversed amongst themselves in Chinese, and I was left to communicate in Japanese with a Korean girl. She was pretty helpful, but there were times when I didn't quite understand what was expected.
Truthfully, the kanji characters were what threw me off. I know how to write about six hundred characters, but you need to know two to three thousand before you're really literate. I couldn't keep up with the people at my table, who didn't take time to discuss what was expected of us since they inherently knew by looking at the sheet. By the end of the day, I wondered if it was worth it for me to suffer through the remaining classes if it was just going to get harder from there.
Talking to another American, a guy from Oakland named Mike, I decided that it didn't matter how much I sucked in comparison with the Koreans or the Chinese. I resolved to sit with other English speakers, and to study the material before class. They don't want us to study the material ahead of time, because they want to test our listening comprehension. If we know what it says ahead of time, we have an unfair advantage. Hogwash, I say.
I'm taking this course so that I can learn. It seems like the teachers expect us to already know the material, which doesn't make sense. Why would we take a class if we already knew all the material? So I'm reading the material ahead of time. The more I study it, the better I'll remember.
I've learned a smattering of useful phrases and have greatly strengthened my understanding of Japanese honorific speech. The stuff next week should be even more useful. I'm glad I stuck with it, because I've done well on both of the days that followed the miserable one.
On that miserable day, I came home in a bit of a funk. Luckily, I was going to go out with Lisandro, a Dominican guy that I met at the store by our house. We had tried to set up a time to hang out, but it kept falling through. When I got home, though, I soon realized that I was going to have to cancel on him yet again. Kelsey had fallen and bitten through her upper lip, and needed to be taken to the ER. Dang it.
I'm sick of hospitals. Sister Ochi from church picked us up in her car and took us to the Central Hospital, which was the only emergency hospital that was open that night. Each day, a different hospital takes its turn as the regional emergency hospital. It's a bit confusing and inconvenient.
Luckily, she didn't need stitches. The doctors put a special adhesive bandage that was supposed to be strong enough to stay on long enough to heal. She took it off before we even left the hospital. They replaced it, but it was off before we got home. It's getting better on its own, and should be all healed within a week.
Last night, I finally got to meet up with Lisandro, who's quite a character. He was a big-time baseball prospect back in the Dominican Republic until he got injured and had career-ending surgery. He gave me some salami and a slice of lemon for added flavor, which I ate while we chatted back at his apartment. He offered me a glass of Tang-like liquid, which was offered to me in a washed styrofoam Cup-O-Noodles container. I did my best not to cringe.
He told some really funny stories, and introduced me to one of his coworkers, who's also from the D.R. They work together building car parts here in Imabari. They come for a few months at a time, return home for a month or so, and then come back again.
He seems like a pretty nice guy. It's nice to have someone with whom I can speak Spanish. He invited me out again tonight, but I had to turn him down so that I could spend time with Stef instead.
Stef and I got to go on a date for the first time in quite a while, and for only the third time since we got to Japan. Heidi, one of the new teachers, stayed in our apartment while the girls slept. Stef and I rode our bikes to a sushi boat restaurant, where sushi goes around-and-around like a conveyor belt. It was eco-night, which meant that all the plates were only 100 yen each. We both ate a ton of awesome sushi, and we didn't even pay $15 for the whole meal. We grabbed a frequent eater card, which we hope to use in the future.
After dinner, we got some ice cream and talked for a little bit. It was really nice to spend time with Stef. I'm glad that we have people who are willing to babysit now. Hopefully we'll get to go on more than two dates this year!
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