ずっと ａｌｌ ｒｉｇｈｔ！

地獄のアルバイトしちゃった！今日は最後の日だって何でもは大丈夫だった。本当にちょっとびっくりしたけど、よかった。私の社長は私に Ｓｔａｒｂｕｃｋｓ カードをあげた。それから、私の二人の一番好きな人も Ｓｔａｒｂｕｃｋｓ カードをあげた。そして、私の毎日行った Ｓｔａｒｂｕｃｋｓ の定員は私にコーヒーをあげた！すごく親切だったね。でも，一番大切なことは: 終わった！

今、安堵のため息をもらえる。気持ちがいいよ。

Okay, mini-Japanese language blog post aside, I have finished the summer job from hell! It actually went really well - my supervisor gave me a thank-you Starbucks gift card, then my two favourite co-workers gave me a thank-you Starbucks gift card, then the people who work in the Starbucks I went to every day for the entire duration of this job (they know my name and what I order and everything) gave me coffee for free! It was pretty sweet. I also have been assured that I can come back as a temp at any time (I haven't been terminated, so I won't have to go through the hiring process again to come back), that it was a delight having me, and that I'll be missed. My supervisor also said that I can use her as a reference and/or request a letter of recommendation at any time.

I went around saying goodbye to everyone towards the end of the day and was hugged twice by this really sweet woman who I really will miss seeing, once by one of the providers (this surprised me - I didn't realise she quite knew who I was) and was told genuinely by, like, five people that my work has been massively appreciated. T and V, of course, did nothing, but I didn't expect them to and wasn't disappointed.

Speaking of T, I had an exit interview on Tuesday. I went in intending to just say a few things about the disrespectful way I was spoken to and treated all summer, only to be caught off-guard by my supervisor pulling out a list of questions. Apparently, enough formal complaints have been made that they are starting an investigation into her abuse of time and resources. So I ended up spending 45 minutes or so talking about what I'd witnessed and observed.

T might be screwed. What I said on top of complaints from permanent staff and the letters two previous temps wrote is definitely enough to take the investigation beyond the questioning stage. I know she'll grieve it with the union, which means she'll have the power to request the names of everyone who spoke against her, but I kind of hope she does ask. She spent the duration of my assignment treating me like a stupid little girl, and I bit my tongue and smiled a lot and played a little dumb and let it happen. You have no idea how badly I want her to know I was smarter than she gave me credit for.

So, in conclusion: I win. I made about $4,000, some last-minute scholarship money came through, so I don't owe Willamette anything, and I walked out of that clinic knowing that I ultimately had the upper hand.

Owned.

Four days to go

And I am so excited, you don't even know. It's going to be a long week, but the end is finally in sight.

Unfortunately, I hurt my right shoulder today taking boxes of inactive files down to inactive storage and then shelving them/reorganising the room to make all the new additions fit, and my mum is insisting that I file an incident report. This is definitely a Do Not Want because that sort of thing is a pain, but I guess it'll give me a chance to give my supervisor some feedback on T. So not a total waste of time, right?

In news not related to the Job From Hell, today I found uploads of Asakura Daisuke's entire Quantum Mechanics Rainbow series, along with a couple of his other solo projects, and some Kenichi Ito. So my DA Family album collection has grown and I now have the two QMR albums that I was missing (Orange Compile and Green Method), not to mention more K.Ito! This brings the album count up to 11 DA, 6 Iceman, 2 K.Ito, 1 The Seeker, and 2 Access singles.

I think I'm good for awhile.

Moving right along, I've finally written a reply to my host family (I say that like it didn't take me two months last time), in which my response to their saying they want to attend my graduation was actually pretty complex grammatically. What I wrote is: 大変な分かっているけど，なんとか卒業式に来てもらうませんか？　みんなくれば、嬉しくなります。でも，無理だったら、大丈夫です。心配しないでください！(Basically: I know it's tough, but somehow could you come to my graduation ceremony? If everyone comes, it'll be happy. But if it's impossible, that's fine. Please don't worry!)

Um, I'm going to pause for a minute for anyone who's interested in Japanese to note that the grammar in that first sentence is really, really, really valuable. Not the first part so much, that's pretty basic, but the question is very practical.

The structure is: nantoka [verb, te-form] moraemasen ka. 'Nantoka' is like 'somehow' and when combined with '-te moraemasen ka' it becomes a way of making a request that you (and the person you're asking) know is probably impossible. So, it's a polite way of asking someone for something, while giving them an implied way out. I tacked on the additional 'I know it's tough, but...' to drive home that I don't really expect them to come, but I'd love to see them if they really want to travel 5,000+ miles.

So, yes, that's something you should learn if Japanese language proficiency is something you're keen on.

Actually, as a final, related note, I'm thinking about doing Japanese entries (or partial entries, anyway) every once in awhile, as writing practice. Reading and writing are still my weak points, so anything I can do to improve is for the best. But, then again, no one is going to be interested in reading anything like that, so maybe I'll make yet another blog just for my continuing Japanese adventures. That way, anyone who wants to take a look can, but wading through text you may or may not be able to read won't be necessary. I'll have to give it some thought.

皆川たちの手紙をもらった！

Yes, I got a letter from my host family! Really, from my host mom, but she updates me on everything and is really the sweetest lady in the world, I swear. I was actually getting a bit concerned, because I sent a letter in May and a little greeting card in June and hadn't heard from them since they sent me a birthday card back in March. But, yesterday I got a cute little letter and all is well. My host parents were sick for a good portion of the spring, so they've been busy.

Anyway, I took a picture of the first page, so you can see both the cuteness and the handwriting:


There's a second page, too, and I guess my reading skills really have improved, because I can read all of it easily. She said that they want to come to my college graduation, in both English AND Japanese (to make sure I understood, I guess?), so... I don't really know what to say because that is a really long way to go to see someone graduate. I'm going to tell her that, of course, they'll be invited, but don't feel obligated. Isn't that crazy, though? I read that sentence twice and was just like '...for real?' They're like my Japanese grandparents, seriously.

Speaking of Minagawa-tachi, I realised that most/all of you don't know what they look like because my only picture is a physical print. But, with the wonders of my digital camera, I was able to capture it. So, if you're curious, this is my host family, AKA Minagawa-tachi/皆川たち:


お父さん (otousan), お母さん (okaasan) and ゆうき (Yuuki). I have another host sister, too, はるよ (Haruyo), but she's married and doesn't live at home anymore. Haruyo is the one who took me to see The Lion King in Tokyo. And that is the dining room (which doubles as primary living area) in their house.

And now, because it's way too hot, I'm going to go collapse away from my computer. I really want the heat wave to end, because this is uncomfortable. And my afternoon bus never seems to have A/C. I've taken to quick, cool showers when I get home so I don't feel disgusting all night. Can it be under 85 again, please? That'd be ace.

Updates

I might have a job at a clinic. It'd be in medical records as an Administrative Specialist I, which was my job class when I worked at the jail last year. I guess they keep losing their medical records help, probably because it's mind-numbingly boring, and they're just now looking. So I submitted an application via email and my mom says I have a good chance at taking it because I've worked for the county before and did really well. The clinic is down in the sketchy part of 4th avenue (makes sense, given that these clinics are intended for people who don't have health insurance or money for other health care), but it would pay similar to what I made last summer and, since I don't need a bunch of money for Willamette, would leave me with a decent amount of money to save and spend. I really want this job.

In other news, I'm trying to get it together and really work on my Japanese. I know someone who's trying to sort of teach herself from the basics and it's good motivation to further my own skills. I really want some money, though, because I was down at Kinokuniya and they have these grammar dictionaries that would be really helpful, but they were, like, $40 each. Then I saw a guide to Kansai-ben, which just looked like fun.

Continuing on in my book of practical kanji, here are the kanji of the day (with one reading each):

軍 (ぐん, military), 理 (り, reason/principle), 玉 (ぎょく, jewel), 取(る) (とる, take), 用 (よう, business), 支 (し, branch/support), 市 (いち, market), 位 (くらい, rank/grade), 政 (せい, administration), 毛 (もう, hair), 戸 (こ, door), 近(い) (ちかい, near), 野 (や, field), 不 (ふ, negative/un-), 平 (へい, level)

So, yes, those are today's 15 new kanji to learn. I like this book a lot - it has all the Japanese readings, the Mandarin reading and example words to put the character in context. According to the book, I'm at kanji 136, but I know more than that because I wasn't taught in this order. But, in addition to the kanji, I need to also work on my grammar. This is helping my vocabulary, but grammar is also 大切.

I'll just watch more Takarazuka. It's actually really helpful because I translate bits of it for the friend who's starting to study Japanese, so I'm picking up new things all the time. Seriously, music in your foreign language is really good for listening comprehension. I highly recommend it.

Off to make more tea and study. At least I can find ways to keep myself busy, right?

Just a little daunting

I don't know if y'all know this, but in Japan there is a government-created list of all the kanji one must know to read the newspaper (you can get it as a wall scroll and everything). The list is comprised of the 1,945 kanji students learn in elementary and junior high school. Everything not on that list, and therefore not considered a 'practical' kanji, must be accompanied by phonetic readings. In order to pass the JLPT at Level 1 (the highest level), one must know an additional 90 or so kanji that are not considered practical. Because you have to know all sorts of ridiculousness to pass that stupid test. I could, at this point, breeze through the JLPT at Level 4, and probably get through Level 3. I don't know enough kanji to get any farther, even though technically I've studied enough hours to qualify for the Level 2 exam.

Japanese is hardcore.

Anyway, the point of this little mini-lecture about how many kanji one needs to know to be considered literate in Japanese is that, well, I want to be literate in Japanese. In fact, I'm starting to consider applying for the graduate program in international relations at TIU (you know, that one school I spent four months at and blogged about... yeah, that one) after I graduate. Actually, I'd be applying in the winter after I graduate, because the Japanese school year starts in March, so I'd be chilling in Seattle for a few months first. Anyway, despite TIU being international and all that, there is exactly one American attending the university as a regular student (I know this because I've met her, and she has a web comic¹), which means getting in as a 白人² from アメリカ will be a challenge. If I were Chinese or South Korean? 構わない³ Coming at it as an American is a little more difficult.

And, you know, I'll need to be fluent in Japanese.

That's kind of the big problem, actually. I can figure out the practicalities. I'm smart and capable, I've been to Japan, and I know people in Kawagoe who could help me out. But if my Japanese isn't strong enough, it won't matter because I couldn't get through the program anyway.

Then there's that thing about me probably not having a Japanese class next year (thanks, bio 110), which means I'll have to continue studying on my own.

You know what this means? It's time for me to practice some serious self-discipline and spend the next year and a half or so learning as much Japanese as I possibly can while living in the States and finishing an English degree. I have textbooks (four of them, actually), I have dictionaries, I have a kanji study book and I have the internet. I also have a host family in Japan who I need to write to more frequently, anyway.

But, as the title says: a little daunting.

---

¹ Gai-Gin.com
² はくじん: hakujin: white person
³ かまわない: kamawanai: no problem

Something has come to my attention

I suck.

Yeah, that whole blogging while living back in the good old US of A? So far kind of a fail. I could go off here on a long and ultimately pointless and slightly whiny explanation of why I suck, involving minor breakdowns and insomnia and migraines, but... let's just sum all that up with the following: I'm not really rocking the whole life-as-a-college-student thing right now.

Putting that aside, because I doubt anyone really wants to read about how tragic my life is at my affluent overpriced white school, the one thing I am being awesome at is talking to Japanese people. Yes, friends, the 2009 TIUA students (all 147 of them) are here at Willamette and I am doing surprisingly well at reaching out and being friendly and likable. I also seem to be very memorable, possibly because I've fallen back on the lame pun you can make out of my name in Japanese (Lexi becomes Rekushi, which sounds like rekishi, which means history - I've probably explained this before). It seems to have spread, because now TIUA students are telling their friends, after I've said my polite "I'm called Lexi" bit, that in Japanese my name sounds like history. I'm not sure if this is really a good thing or not, but it is what it is and they think it's funny. Lexi as a nickname seems to subsequently be spreading to my fellow Willamette students, as well. I'm taking this in stride.

More to the positive, we also are having success at spreading "daijoubs" to the TIUA students. Daijoubs is a nonsensical word we JSP students started using in Japan - daijoubu means okay/all right/fine and somewhere along the way it got slangified by the Americans into daijoubs. The TIUA students are very amused by this and have started using it when talking to us. Score one for Team Gaijin? Corrupting our foreign language of choice on two continents.

I don't actually have all that much to write about, as it turns out. We're reading The Well of Loneliness in my Literature and Sexuality class, which is pretty fun, and my philosophy class has moved onto Freud and parapraxes. In Shakespeare, we're reading Much Ado about Nothing, which is one of my favourite comedies, so I'm good with that. For some reason, my Literature and Sexuality class was missing exactly half its students today (there were eight of us), but the discussion was really interesting and pretty much everyone had something to contribute. So those other eight people totally missed out.

And... today I'm going up to Seattle. I'm seeing The Lion King with my mum and sister, getting some rest away from the demands of Willamette, and doing my FAFSA. Unfortunately, there apparently isn't internet in my house at the moment, so I'll be doing FAFSA from Starbucks with their wi-fi. And copious amounts of coffee, to keep me in a good mood.

As an ending note to this scattered and not particularly exciting entry, I will leave you with a youtube video. I've mentioned my love of Takarazuka (the all-female Japanese musical theatre company) before, at least in my Japan blog, so I feel like I should spread the love farther with a clip from the 2007 Snow Troupe production of Elisabeth. With Mizu Natsuki as Der Tod. I have such a massive crush on Mizu Natsuki, you don't even know, and any opportunity to watch her be awesome ought to be taken advantage of.