Today I went for my second speaking class, this one at 9AM. It was good. Language classes are 50 minutes long, and compared with Witt's full hour classes they seem really short.
After that class I returned to my dorm and got to talk to David and my family on Skype. Well, I got to talk to David; we had a really nice conversation with the webcams and it was great to see him. I can't wait to chill out with him eating some Subway and watching Deadliest Catch. Oh, the little things. <3 My family, however, was having some technical difficulties with Skype. I could hear them but not see them; they could see me but not hear me. What ensued was a cruel real-life version of charades. :) So that was interesting. Hopefully they'll get their computer up and running soon.
Anyhow, after that little adventure, I returned to campus and had lunch with Leslie at the campus McDonald's. I have gotten a few questions about McDonald's here in Japan. Dad likes to try to say it in Japanese; his attempts usually come out something like "Makudonadoodles." Close, but no cigar! For those who don't read katakana (one of the three Japanese writing systems, and the one used to write foreign words), it's Makudonarudo. Makudo for short, just like we say Mickey D's. The only Japanese McDonald's I've been to is the one on campus. It has this strange buffet-like ordering system that's hard to explain. But the workers at it are all these cute little Japanese ladies wearing those paper hats like they have at Krispy Kreme. Things are kinda expensive, too; a Big Mac meal will run you about 600 yen, about $6. Hamburgers are a dollar, but french fries and drinks are super expensive, and there are no free refills. Many of the items are the same, but there is a teriyaki burger that I haven't tried yet. Also, there is a seasonal special going called the Tsukimi Baagaa, or Moon-Viewing Burger. It's a hamburger with egg on it. I think eggs are associated with moon viewing, because I found some Tsukimi Udon in the school cafeteria that came with egg. Maybe the full moon looks like an egg?
Speaking of otsukimi, I'm going to a shrine in Kyoto on Sunday for some moon viewing with one of my profs. It should be fun, and my friend Melissa is going, too.
I had my first Survey of Japanese Art class today. The professor is a little dry, which is somewhat to be expected in art history. But I like dry, which is why I like art history. :) He's got a fun sense of humor. And as it turns out, more than half of the nationally and internationally recognized historical and artistic sites in Japan are in the Kansai region, so lots of what we'll be looking at is just a short train ride away. Very cool.
Tonight I went over to William's homestay for supper. OMG his Okaasan is awesome! She calls herself Mamasan (Mrs. Mama, basically) and is quite the chatterbox! She made the most delicious curry rice for us, with carrots and potatoes. Mmmm. It was like a spicy beef stew, and definitely the best meal I've had so far in Japan. She even gave me a tupperware containerful to go. We chatted for probably three hours--long enough for Will to eat and watch some cheesy Japanese baseball movie. Very fun lady, but kinda crazy. Not like "Geez, she's gonna murder me" crazy, just a little eccentric. She runs a cleaning business out of the front of her house, and she really likes art. She was telling me how she likes boys, how she likes America, how she likes gay boys, how she likes American boys, how she really like American gay boys, how she requested to host a nice, tall, American boy (and hence got William), how her boyfriend has a jewelery shop, how she doesn't like Japanese girls, how she thinks I'm cute, etc. She has pictures of her dog who died all over her house--I saw more of her dog than Papasan, who also passed away a while ago. It was quite an experience. She was an absolute blast, and she even gave me a little beaded cell phone purse as a gift. Very thoughtful, and I want to go see her some more.
I went grocery shopping on the way back. Fruit here is so expensive! A regular American size package of grapes is 780 yen! That's like a movie ticket! Ridiculous. So I did my shopping, and it was kinda weird--the workers went around yelling things as they walked around the store. I don't know what they were saying, actually. It was weird. And I have never seen such an assortment of fish in my life. They even had fish skeletons with the scales for sale, with the meat removed! I wonder what you do with those. Japan doesn't eat a lot of stuff that I think is too weird, but I'm not so sure I needed to see the gianr octopus arms--suckers included--in the seafood section.
And now I'm back and procrastinating on my homework. Not that I have a lot; I think my classes will be really easy. Still, it eats into my exploring Japan time. For sad.
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I was looking at your schedule, and it seems to run very similarly to EC's. We have 50 minute classes on MWF morning, and afternoon classes are 80 minutes, starting at 1 and 2:30. The main difference seems to be that our TR morning classes are also 80 minutes.
Charades, huh. I suppose that if you still have problems, you can get little note cards and hold them in front of your webcam. And then it would be just like a blog, but you'd hear the comments.
So, if the Scottish place has a buffet, is it all you can eat? I can understand meat being expensive, since that's how it should be when you don't have your cows packed into a feeding lot so you can get more at one time. But expensive soft drinks are strange, considering how cheap the syrup is here in the States.
Fish skeletons with scales, huh? Maybe you use them to make broth? I know you use chicken bones to make chicken broth. Something to do with the bone marrow, I think. Which raises the slightly interesting question of 'do fish have bone marrow?' and the much more interesting one of 'if birds don't have bone marrow, how do they have blood?' I've wondered that for a while. Mrs. Miller tried to explain it, but I don't really recall what she said. Something to do with one of the organs we have but don't really use.
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