Yesterday I volunteered at an day-care center for the elderly (Takuya, my host brother, works there). It was a great experience. I got to interact with the elderly people as well as the employees. I hope they saw Christ in me, even though I didn't get to tell them about Him audibly (oh well--that's why Taku's there, right!?!).
Taku drove them in, about 6 in all, and staff led them in slowly one at a time. I stood inside with an employee, greeting them as they arrived. Those who could express themselves showed their surprise at my being there--not only an unfamiliar face but a foreign one.
Taku warned me about a couple of them, I guess so I wouldn't be shocked. [any of you who have ever been to a nursing home know what kind of characters you can meet there]
Mr. Tokio was the last to arrive, and he wasn't really THERE most of the time. He sat fast asleep in his wheelchair 98% of the time. He had to be fed by one of the workers. I don't know if he could move any part of his body, and he never spoke.
Pardon me for forgetting many other names...
One lady, at least 80 years old, could not stand up straight. Her back was hunched over, as if she were sitting down everywhere she went. But her mind was perfectly fine, and she could easily participate with the rest of the group.
Another had a body which functioned fairly well, but her mind was in another place entirely. She had lost a baby many years ago, and now she carries a doll with her in its place. She truly believes that doll is her baby--she talks to it, holds it, puts it in a stroller...
The lady who sat next to the baby seldom spoke, but she was great at Jenga! I think her mind is pretty okay, she just has a blank, almost shocked expression constantly and can't say much.
(I'll abbreviate the next two names...)
Ms. C was happy as soon as she walked in the door. The only thing that got her down was when she tried to explain her stroke and its reprecussions to me. Her right side is paralysed, and she can only say a few phrases.
I had learned about Broca's aphasia in my linguistics classes, but I hadn't seen it since then. One of the books mentioned that Japanese Broca's aphasics could understand Kanji (roughly, Chinese pictograms, based on objects and ideas) but not Hiragana or Katakana (sylabic alphabets, based on sound).
This appeared to be Ms. C's case. I don't know what she could perceive or understand, but I know she could only write Kanji. She would write when we couldn't guess what she was trying to say. Even with so few words for her mouth, she was very expressive. I loved talking with her. Her peppy personality reminded me of my maternal grandmother.
Mr. K was by far the most level-headed and well of the group (he was in his late 70s, I think). He could walk (however slowly) without a cane or anything, and his speech and mind were little if at all impaired. He also knew some English, and tried to translate some of the day for me. He told me about his experience as an engineer, working on cars, and other things. He knew Texas for its oil, and Gunma for its old plane manufacturing plant (Daiju, correct me if this is wrong! I think that's what he said...). He was a very nice man.
The day reminded me of a preschool or kindergarten class somewhat. We watched a little TV, had multiple breaks (for tea, not juice), did a craft (making an attendance schedule), sang some songs, had some games, and even recreation. The main difference was the turn-taking for assisted bathing and the mouth exercises prior to eating lunch (please tell me you don't do that with pre-k or K kids at school or day-care...). I don't think I will ever forget the recreation time (Un-do), especially Mr. K's translation of the activities. "Now, we have finger exercises. This is the parent finger (thumb), this is the person finger (index/pointing), this is the center finger (middle), this is the medicine finger, and " I forgot what he said the pinky was.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
ただいま
I'm here. I just arrived in Japan yesterday. The flight took 13 hours, and the train 4 (one on a 'normal' train, 3 on a shinkansen). I don't feel too sorry for myself, though, because I know it could always be worse: I know people who have flown to India, which took like 26 hours. At least I was on the ground for the last part of my trip!!!
I wonder if I annoyed the guy in the seat behind me on the bullet train. Every time we went through a tunnel, I closed my window shade so I wouldn't have to look at my exhausted reflection. When we got out, I would open it so I could see the mountains (I was hoping to see Fuji-san, but I don't think we even went by it!). This process went on for the whole 3 hours I was on the train. Well, I guess not the WHOLE 3 hours--I did sleep for part of it.
I arrived in Osaka at 7pm. My host family said to call them when I got there, so I didn't expect them to be waiting for me when I got there. They were. As I made a mad dash for the restroom, I heard my host brother, Takuya (age 21), yelling for me as 6 of the train station staff looked on smirking. I ran over to him saying ’といれ！’(toilet) frantically until he shewed me away. When I came back and exited the ticket gate, we all had a heartful ’ひさしぶり’(long-time-no-see) and headed toward another train station to get Tsugumi (host sister, age 15), who was just getting back from school.
Then we went to a traditional Japanese restaraunt for dinner. We put our shoes in lockers and followed the hostess to a lowered table. Dinner was great--I wish I could have finished it. My body was too tired to eat a lot.
As we left, Takuya glanced around the restaraunt and said, smiling, "They're all staring at you." Yeah, yeah. Guess I'll have to get re-used to that. I mostly ignore it, but it is hard to when I'm stationary (like sitting on a train or something).
I love their guest room! I got to sleep on a futon on the たたみ (tatami) floor! It was so nice.
I really want to go somewhere. It's noon and I'm at the house alone (everybody's at work or school). I was hoping to meet Katie (missionary to Osaka), but she hasn't answered her phone. I guess I could go out alone, but that'd be weird and lonesome. I'll probably just walk to the コンビ二 (convenience store) and grab some lunch there. I dunno.
I got an e-mail from Shindo-san saying I should contact him ASAP because "I'm responsible for you. Got it?" Agast (not really), I searched frantically through my e-mail for his phone number. I e-mailed him, saying I couldn't find it. Then I found it and called him. (He just wanted to check on me and make sure everything was okay.)
Saturday and Sunday are booked, but weekdays are empty until Tuesday. I hope Katie calls me back!!! Otherwise I'll have to make new friends!!!! LOL. j/k
I will be in Osaka until late Tuesday, and then will move to Chiba for two days. From there I'll move to Tokyo, where I'll stay until August 13th. I will be in Gunma from the 13th to the 22nd. I will come home on the 22nd, arriving before I left. School starts the following Monday. I have to move into my new apt. sometime before then!
Ain't life grand?
I wonder if I annoyed the guy in the seat behind me on the bullet train. Every time we went through a tunnel, I closed my window shade so I wouldn't have to look at my exhausted reflection. When we got out, I would open it so I could see the mountains (I was hoping to see Fuji-san, but I don't think we even went by it!). This process went on for the whole 3 hours I was on the train. Well, I guess not the WHOLE 3 hours--I did sleep for part of it.
I arrived in Osaka at 7pm. My host family said to call them when I got there, so I didn't expect them to be waiting for me when I got there. They were. As I made a mad dash for the restroom, I heard my host brother, Takuya (age 21), yelling for me as 6 of the train station staff looked on smirking. I ran over to him saying ’といれ！’(toilet) frantically until he shewed me away. When I came back and exited the ticket gate, we all had a heartful ’ひさしぶり’(long-time-no-see) and headed toward another train station to get Tsugumi (host sister, age 15), who was just getting back from school.
Then we went to a traditional Japanese restaraunt for dinner. We put our shoes in lockers and followed the hostess to a lowered table. Dinner was great--I wish I could have finished it. My body was too tired to eat a lot.
As we left, Takuya glanced around the restaraunt and said, smiling, "They're all staring at you." Yeah, yeah. Guess I'll have to get re-used to that. I mostly ignore it, but it is hard to when I'm stationary (like sitting on a train or something).
I love their guest room! I got to sleep on a futon on the たたみ (tatami) floor! It was so nice.
I really want to go somewhere. It's noon and I'm at the house alone (everybody's at work or school). I was hoping to meet Katie (missionary to Osaka), but she hasn't answered her phone. I guess I could go out alone, but that'd be weird and lonesome. I'll probably just walk to the コンビ二 (convenience store) and grab some lunch there. I dunno.
I got an e-mail from Shindo-san saying I should contact him ASAP because "I'm responsible for you. Got it?" Agast (not really), I searched frantically through my e-mail for his phone number. I e-mailed him, saying I couldn't find it. Then I found it and called him. (He just wanted to check on me and make sure everything was okay.)
Saturday and Sunday are booked, but weekdays are empty until Tuesday. I hope Katie calls me back!!! Otherwise I'll have to make new friends!!!! LOL. j/k
I will be in Osaka until late Tuesday, and then will move to Chiba for two days. From there I'll move to Tokyo, where I'll stay until August 13th. I will be in Gunma from the 13th to the 22nd. I will come home on the 22nd, arriving before I left. School starts the following Monday. I have to move into my new apt. sometime before then!
Ain't life grand?
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Anxiety rears its ugly head..........
My friends tell me my Japanese has gotten better in the past year, but I don't know if that will be apparent to my friends in Osaka. I've been working on the standard version, not the Osaka dialect. So, I wonder how much I'll understand or be able to communicate. I'll practice what I know and what I found on that website, but I'm still not confident.
I'm supposed to have my testimony (statement of how I became a Christian) memorized IN JAPANESE and be ready to give it when I visit churches in Tokyo. *deep sigh* It's possible, but quite intimidating. Thankfully, my boyfriend (who is from Kanto region, the home of the standard dialect) is more than willing to translate it for me. He said he'll go over it with me so I can be sure to understand what I'm saying.
I leave for Japan on Tuesday. It's a long flight...like 14 hours...I hope I can make a friend on the plane. That's a long time to be silent. It made me a little crazy by the end of the flight last time.
You can never out-give a Japanese person! That's one reason why choosing what gifts to bring for people is hard. But I do have one advantage: since I'm still a student, and a foreigner, they don't expect much from me. The people who have it hard are people like Roy-san, who is Japanese but grew up in the US. When he goes to Japan, people often expect him to understand and follow all the social rules and be able to speak fluent Japanese.
I'm supposed to have my testimony (statement of how I became a Christian) memorized IN JAPANESE and be ready to give it when I visit churches in Tokyo. *deep sigh* It's possible, but quite intimidating. Thankfully, my boyfriend (who is from Kanto region, the home of the standard dialect) is more than willing to translate it for me. He said he'll go over it with me so I can be sure to understand what I'm saying.
I leave for Japan on Tuesday. It's a long flight...like 14 hours...I hope I can make a friend on the plane. That's a long time to be silent. It made me a little crazy by the end of the flight last time.
You can never out-give a Japanese person! That's one reason why choosing what gifts to bring for people is hard. But I do have one advantage: since I'm still a student, and a foreigner, they don't expect much from me. The people who have it hard are people like Roy-san, who is Japanese but grew up in the US. When he goes to Japan, people often expect him to understand and follow all the social rules and be able to speak fluent Japanese.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Pleasant Surprise
Today I actually encountered a nice driver of a large vehicle in Dallas. Most Dallas drivers lean toward self-indulgence (myself sometimes included), but this one noticed I couldn't see past his big front-end, smiled, and backed up so I could see to turn right. People who drive large vehicles often forget the little guys, so this person was quite unique. God bless whoever you are!!! ^_^
Speaking of big-vehicle drivers who ignore the little guys, my sister got hit by one the other day. She's only 16 and just barely learned to drive a standard. To be more precise, she was not hit, but backed onto. Yes, ONTO, not INTO. Her little white Metro must have been invisible to the guy in front of her. He stopped at the stop sign, and then shifted to reverse. She found the horn, and only then did he notice her. Her car wouldn't start--the whole front end of the "egg-mobile" was smashed in. It's in the shop now.
I leave for Japan on Tuesday...I still haven't finished unpacking the boxes from my old apt.........
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggg
Speaking of big-vehicle drivers who ignore the little guys, my sister got hit by one the other day. She's only 16 and just barely learned to drive a standard. To be more precise, she was not hit, but backed onto. Yes, ONTO, not INTO. Her little white Metro must have been invisible to the guy in front of her. He stopped at the stop sign, and then shifted to reverse. She found the horn, and only then did he notice her. Her car wouldn't start--the whole front end of the "egg-mobile" was smashed in. It's in the shop now.
I leave for Japan on Tuesday...I still haven't finished unpacking the boxes from my old apt.........
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggg
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Osaka-ben ga suki
Wow! I wish I had known about this before I went to Osaka last winter: http://www.city.osaka.jp/english/osaka_dialect/guide.html
What a great resource. It's an introduction to the Osaka dialect. Quite useful--and cute to boot!!!
Lately I've been trying to find a cheap way to Osaka from Tokyo (and back). {BTW, 'cheap'=around $100} I need to learn A LOT more kanji (Chinese characters) before I can read most of the domestic airports' websites!!!!!!
My boyfriend will come visit me this weekend. We will go to a Korean karaoke place with some friends from school and church on Saturday night. "hisashiburi" (it's been awhile [since I've karaoked])
Jya-ne (see you later)
What a great resource. It's an introduction to the Osaka dialect. Quite useful--and cute to boot!!!
Lately I've been trying to find a cheap way to Osaka from Tokyo (and back). {BTW, 'cheap'=around $100} I need to learn A LOT more kanji (Chinese characters) before I can read most of the domestic airports' websites!!!!!!
My boyfriend will come visit me this weekend. We will go to a Korean karaoke place with some friends from school and church on Saturday night. "hisashiburi" (it's been awhile [since I've karaoked])
Jya-ne (see you later)
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
home life
It's nice to be home. I hadn't really gotten to chill here like this since last spring. I've been traveling a lot, and when I'm not traveling, I'm studying hard-core. Last summer I went out of the US for the first time.
I went to Tokyo for two weeks, came home, and then left to teach at an English summer camp in China for 5 weeks. A week and a half after that classes started. Then, for the whole winter break, I was in Japan again. [each time I went, I volunteered--helping missionaries and encouraging Christian churches] In the Spring, I took 18 hours, got a 4-day weekend, and started a 3-hour May minni-term. NOW, I am home with my family.
I feel like I'm already losing some of my Japanese skills. At the university, I hung out with Japanese people all the time. We'd speak in Japanese and English. At home, everybody speaks English, and ONLY English. Not many opportunities for practice...
Any way, I still get some exposure to the language a few times a week. If I focus and study each day, I should maintain or maybe even improve my Japanese.
I'm hoping to find an effective way to study Japanese grammar this fall. I really want to get a good grasp on it. Presently, I feel like I've got lots of phrases and vocabulary memorized, but no firm grasp on how to connect and implement them. I've been introduced to the various particles and whatnot, but still don't feel very comfortable using that knowledge. I guess it's because I am not confident I HAVE that knowledge in actuality.
Is this an online journal or what?!?!?!
I went to Tokyo for two weeks, came home, and then left to teach at an English summer camp in China for 5 weeks. A week and a half after that classes started. Then, for the whole winter break, I was in Japan again. [each time I went, I volunteered--helping missionaries and encouraging Christian churches] In the Spring, I took 18 hours, got a 4-day weekend, and started a 3-hour May minni-term. NOW, I am home with my family.
I feel like I'm already losing some of my Japanese skills. At the university, I hung out with Japanese people all the time. We'd speak in Japanese and English. At home, everybody speaks English, and ONLY English. Not many opportunities for practice...
Any way, I still get some exposure to the language a few times a week. If I focus and study each day, I should maintain or maybe even improve my Japanese.
I'm hoping to find an effective way to study Japanese grammar this fall. I really want to get a good grasp on it. Presently, I feel like I've got lots of phrases and vocabulary memorized, but no firm grasp on how to connect and implement them. I've been introduced to the various particles and whatnot, but still don't feel very comfortable using that knowledge. I guess it's because I am not confident I HAVE that knowledge in actuality.
Is this an online journal or what?!?!?!
Sunday, June 04, 2006
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