Conversation Class

In attempts to keep this blog a little more current, a quick note about one of my weeknight hightlights each week. My English conversation group!!
It's made up of 4 ladies from Neo and area that come to my house each week for a few hours of food, tea and english practice in some of the most random topics ever!
This week was pretty tame, but exile, political asylum, pedophiles, and Oshiri Kajiri Moushi did come up (the Butt Biting Bug Song) and that was quite interesting and comical! Japanese people really do have a whole different perception and attitude towards the human body than most North Americans I think. First example: onsens and feeling comfortable being naked around each other. Second, the butt biting bug song-- it's not that we wouldn't have a song like that at home or anything, but it's hard to explain just how it is different here. Third, interactions between people-- ie) in class today I had grade 9 boys fixing each other's hair and clothes in the middle of class, my teacher gave one of the grade nine boys a nice little football style smack on the butt folloed by a friendly butt squeeze (I wouldn't even want to think of the overblown reprucussions back home that would follow that one!).
One of the things I've found interesting lately in convo class, is the random idioms and expressions that come up that are so similar across different languages. Last week we were talking about proverbs and "Don't count your chickens before they hatch" came up, but in the Japanese version it is something counting your racoon skin before you have it. (Torranu tanuki no kawazanyo for those who speak Japanese).

These ladies have taught me so much over the past few months that really give me a better inside look into the lives of ordinary Japanese well at least Neo'jin people. They have taught me so many things about Japanese culture (traditional like the tea ceremony, and popculture icons too) and language as well. Even with my ridiculously miniscule usage ability in the Japanese language, I know so much about the linguistic points now-- and a little about regional dialects, syntax and speech patterns as well.
They also surprise me each week such as tonight when our most senior member (age ~73) was talking about the transition that she remembers when she was in elementary and English was absolutely prohibited because it was seen as the enemy lanuage (at time of WWIIish) to her Junior High days when there were many Americans in Japan and there was a strong push to learn as much English as possible. By the time she was in high school, they were reading and memorizing Shakespeare (which she still remembers and quoted some to me!). Yikes I thought old English was difficult enough to translate for a natural speaker of English. They also have similar old-Japanese-- I couldn't imagine even trying to decipher that!

Ooh and other randomness from my world-- my grade 7 students now know really do know why we celebrate Christmas and that Santa Claus IS NOT Jesus' father! Ooh and my low-temperature, intense burn on my stomache (uhhh from my chemical shakey handwarmer thing (which I still love despite my injury)) is finally scarring over and has stopped giving me too much grief. I held off on going to the doctor, which was potentially not a wise decision but saved me some embarassment and even more paperwork. However, I found out today that in the new year I have to undergo a Japanese mandatory physical exam-- I have been fortunate enough so far to by-pass all medical institutions but what I;ve been told there are less clearly laid out lines of 'personal space' and even less confidentiality).

In any case, the countdown to going home is still on 9 sleeps until I go home for Christmas!! This is the first time ever my countdown isn't going all the way to Christmas Eve, because I think my arrival at the airport in Edmonton is going to be even more exciting for me! Whooo can't wait to see everyone!!!!

Hope all is well wherever you may be found in the world.
~Julz

P.S. Sorry I am still having troubles putting pictures on blogger since my computer and I still are having issues with each other, but please add me to facebook to see all my latest pictures! : )

Random Japanese thoughts of the Day
do: as in ju-do, ken-do, being the study/practice of a skill by taking time at it
kani: crab
sutra: special book like bible
magi: slang for 'really?''
turtle necks are called babshirts (grandma shirts) and t shirts can be Yshirts