Pleasant Surprises

I believe a life update is in store. Many surprising events happened lately, despite it being (or perhaps, because it is) summer vacation. First good news: Mother dearest is currently visiting me in Japan, and we are preparing for an adventure to Okinawa starting tomorrow. I’ve been little by little learning more about History, especially World War II, which I have been reading a lot of fiction about lately, so this will be a great place to see and learn for myself more about this post-war battlefield. 

My impressions of Okinawa at the moment without looking anything up are these:

1) The last stages of the WWII fought in the pacific were fought there. There is still an American military base there getting a lot of attention in the news because the Japanese government wants to move it somewhere else and the citizens of Okinawa do not. I expect they are used to foreigners, but I’m not sure how the local people feel about them. There is a song called “sugarcane fields” written and sung by an Okinawan artist that is about the bloodshed in the cane fields of Okinawa, and it’s a very melancholic, depressing song about the cruelty of war. 

2) Nankurunaisa is an awesome word from Okinawa that means something like “It’ll all work out in the end.” I think Okinawa has its own language. One guy told me not to call it a dialect, but a language. 

3) I hear that Okinawa is similar to Hawaii in climate and culture, and they also eat a lot of SPAM. 

4) I have a feeling that Okinawa has a politically tragic past, but I know no details about it. I should look up the details. 

5) The two top touristy places I would like to go to there are the aquarium (I love aquariums!) and Shuri castle!

6) Okinawa music is famous for shamisen and is very unique.

7) Okinawa is famous for a mythical creature called a shiisa? It’s like a dragon dog.

I will write about my findings after I come back from my trip. We will see how they change.

The second good news is that my Japanese calligraphy level is now Jun Shodan, pre-first mastery level! 

All that agony of not being able to write…
Writing the same kanji over and over again for an entire month and still making the same mistakes…
Wanting to give up and cry because “I can’t do it I can’t do it I can’t do it” is all I can think of…

I guess it pays off, because my level went up for the first time in months! Also, during my last lesson, I was able to finish my piece in two sheets, which is a new record for me. Usually, on the day I have to write the piece to submit to HQ in Kyoto (once a month), I don’t finish it until many many pages later and I’m on the verge of crying. Perhaps mother dearest coming to watch helped calm my nerves or made me even more nervous. Either could have helped me focus better.

Third is that I’ve been studying translation on my own, bought many books on the theory and application of it, and have been studying as much as possible. Lo and behold, I actually won a contest to be the translator of a light novel from Japanese to English! My first real translation job, with compensation! An actual novel (light though it may be) that will be published and sold somewhere! I’m so stoked because I’ve been worrying all the time about not being good enough and never getting a chance to get proper experience translating, and thus missing chances to get a foot into the industry. I’ve been applying for some contests, been afraid of submitting to other contests (why so scared, I do not know), so I’m glad I finally am seeing results!

I see this as my new first step towards achieving what I feel like I’m meant to do in the world, and that is such an awesome feeling. Baby steps, but moving forward.

This post’s book roundup- BURN by Kato Shigeaki, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (reread, always worth it), most of Bye-Bye Blackbird by Isaka Kotaro, Matilda by Roald Dahl,  and the start of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.

I’ve also been on a superhero movie streak with Captain America, The Avengers, X-Men Days of Future Past, The Dark Knight, and Ironman. Also watched (skipping the scary gory parts) The Silence of the Lambs, which happens to be mother dearest’s most feared movie of all time. I think I also re-watched Porco Rosso, but in Japanese this time.

Next time: a story about one of my students, maybe.

 

Another vomit-induced post. A skip for the stomach-weak.

A few of this week’s headlines in the Chosho Times

-“Chosho scolded as she helps vomiting peer”
All because I didn’t take the kleenex out of the pouch before offering it to the sick girl. This is the thanks I get for being a good samaritan. And actually, I wasn’t scolded in the literal sense of the word, but the girl sure made me sound like a retard. I was planning on giving the entire pack to the sick girl, because she’d expelled a lot of orange juice-colored vomit from her mouth, but the other girl irritated me to no end. Next time, I won’t be putting kleenex in my bag. Someone else can take of the sick people. This is why I don’t want to be a nurse or doctor. Being a savior is a thankless job. *pouts*

-“Chestnut hunt successful but unfruitful”
As I walk from Japanese to Biology every tuesday and thursday, what catches my eye is not anyone passing by, but the chestnut tree full of ripe nuts just begging to be picked. I picked up a very juicy looking one that was huge and fat, but had to throw it away later, as there will be no roasted chestnuts in my dorm room due to my building’s NO FIRE policy. It kind of cramps my style.

-“The person who threw up ON and not IN the toilet (and fails to clean it up afterwards) should be slapped by a zebra on steroids”
Well, this is pretty self explanatory, isn’t it? I’ve been reduced to using the only other toilet, which has a crappy (Pun totally not intended) door that is eternally stuck and opens IN. The cleaning people come in on Friday mornings. The vomit will continue stinking up the bathroom for another 5 days. This is going beyond disgusting.