so...since I wrote yesterday...(each day is an adventure)
On my bus ride home an older woman started talking to me. She spoke a tiny bit on English and with my tiny bit of Japanese (and with gestures) we were able to communicate things such as she was a widow, did I watch the olympics and the beauty of Japan, among other topics. I think she even missed her bus stop because we got distracted. She spoke slowly enough so that I could understand most of what she was saying, or atleast get the gist. I just have to have her confidence to start a conversation, because once she started it was easy to talk with her.
I went for my first big grocery shopping experience. I stayed with "safe" foods meaning those that we have eaten at home. Maybe later I'll buy something that I'm not sure what it is and learn how to cook it but right now I am trying not to overwhelm myself. I bought rice, gyoza (dumplings), natto (soybeans - many people think this isn't good but I remember it from when I was a kid), soba (buckwheat noodles), udon (noodles), furikake (put on top of rice), and miso (soy paste for soup bases). I also bought veggies for salad, eggs (they sell them in 4, 6, or 10 I think), milk (all whole milk here, or soy, no skim, I think - I can't read everything), and ice cream.
This morning I went to water the plants at the school I will work at. My supervisor is out of town. I'm glad she left me with this responsibility because it gets me out of the house, feels like I have a purpose and in a small way I am already getting involved in the school community. When some vegetables grow she said I could have part of the batch.
After that I went to the grocery store to take some recyclables. I still don't understand the Japanese garbage system but they separate everything. From what I can understand there are burnables (like paper, wood, food, etc.) and non burnables (plastic and I am not sure what else) but there are other garbage days for plastic bottles...and I'm still not sure when to take the cans out. So since I don't produce so much garbage I just took some of them to the grocery story where they have bins.
I also went to send my first postcard at the nearby post office.
I jumped on my bike and followed the map downtown and made it here...let's see if I can make it back.
On my bus ride home an older woman started talking to me. She spoke a tiny bit on English and with my tiny bit of Japanese (and with gestures) we were able to communicate things such as she was a widow, did I watch the olympics and the beauty of Japan, among other topics. I think she even missed her bus stop because we got distracted. She spoke slowly enough so that I could understand most of what she was saying, or atleast get the gist. I just have to have her confidence to start a conversation, because once she started it was easy to talk with her.
I went for my first big grocery shopping experience. I stayed with "safe" foods meaning those that we have eaten at home. Maybe later I'll buy something that I'm not sure what it is and learn how to cook it but right now I am trying not to overwhelm myself. I bought rice, gyoza (dumplings), natto (soybeans - many people think this isn't good but I remember it from when I was a kid), soba (buckwheat noodles), udon (noodles), furikake (put on top of rice), and miso (soy paste for soup bases). I also bought veggies for salad, eggs (they sell them in 4, 6, or 10 I think), milk (all whole milk here, or soy, no skim, I think - I can't read everything), and ice cream.
This morning I went to water the plants at the school I will work at. My supervisor is out of town. I'm glad she left me with this responsibility because it gets me out of the house, feels like I have a purpose and in a small way I am already getting involved in the school community. When some vegetables grow she said I could have part of the batch.
After that I went to the grocery store to take some recyclables. I still don't understand the Japanese garbage system but they separate everything. From what I can understand there are burnables (like paper, wood, food, etc.) and non burnables (plastic and I am not sure what else) but there are other garbage days for plastic bottles...and I'm still not sure when to take the cans out. So since I don't produce so much garbage I just took some of them to the grocery story where they have bins.
I also went to send my first postcard at the nearby post office.
I jumped on my bike and followed the map downtown and made it here...let's see if I can make it back.
2 comments:
hey, found this in my random internet wanderings and thought it might help you.
http://www.nihongonotes.com/2008/08/13/learning-japanese-avoiding-the-burnout-and-keeping-it-fun/
I've been studying japanese in my spare time for a while now, so i've collected quite a few resources for learners if you're interested.
Ganbatte!
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