-= English Below =-

３月８日２０１１年　　火曜日

私の日本語のクラスでは先生が学生に日記を書かせる。 でも、二週間に四つだけが先生に提出する。私はこのブログがあるからこのブログで書いて私の４最高のエントリーを選択するのが先生に提出する。だから、間違えば修正するおねがいしゅます！

でも、今、ことを書くがなちゃった。今日は日本語を勉強したりしごとで働いたりビデオゲームをしたりした。ちょっと楽しくない。。。

またね！

So I’ve had my first week of university – and it’s good to be back.

First thing i’d like to mention is my Japanese classes.  I was awesome enough to miss my first class on Monday – i got my times mized up… *facepalm* However, I managed to turn up for the second class.  It was scheduled to be a 2 hour class, but when I turned up the teacher (who didn’t actually tell us her name) handed out a test and told us to complete the test, then have a 1-on-1 consult with her, where she would mark our tests and give comments, then we could leave.  I had no idea we had a test! ARGH! However, i’m sure its safe to assume that I would have known had I turned up to class on Monday…

Anyway, I looked at the test.  First page: Translations.  I looked at the 5 phrases I needed to translate and immediately felt like an idiot.  I translated a grand total of 1 out of 5 phrases.  Not at all off to a good start. It was quite simply due to the fact that there were kanji in these sentences that i’d never even seen before – Ever.

Second page was grammar. No problems with that.

Also on second page, a thank you letter to a friend in Japan who sent me a Christmas present. No problems again (apart from an embarassing katakana error… guh… so out of practice).

I’ve had one hell of a time with my Sony Playstation 3 ever since I got back from Japan – the damn thing kept breaking down!

I remember my first day playing my PS3 since I returned from Japan, I was sitting down, playing me some Final Fantasy XIII.  I then decided to call it a night, saved my game and switched off the PS3 and went to bed.  The next morning I thought i’d play again but my PS3 wouldn’t read ANY discs!  I tried DVD’s, Blu-Rays, other games.  Nothing.  So i called up Sony and asked what they could do to repair it.  They told me that I was able to send the console back to them and either have them repair it (which would take 4 weeks), or replace it with a remanufactured console (2 weeks).  I opted for the replacement since it meant i’d have a console back with me quicker.  Oh, and since the warranty ran out, they were gonna charge me $250, which would come with 3 months warranty on the replaced console.

I sent my console away, a couple days later I received an email saying that Sony has my console, a week later I was told it was being sent to me, and I received my remanufactured console in a couple weeks.  About a month after I had received it, the console started overheating.  I could play a game but at any moment it would just shut off and 2 red lights would flash.  And apparently that meant it was overheating.  But, the odd thing was that I could switch off my PS3 for an entire day, then sit down and play it only to have it overheat within 5-10 minutes!

I got onto Sony again and they said for me to send it in again and that they would replace the console again – free this time as it was covered under the warranty that i received when i paid my $250.

In my last post i mentioned that I was going for my “Japanese Placement Interview”.  The word “Interview” was the word used by Dr. Nagata and so i prepared myself for an interview.  I went through some listening excercises, went over some grammar and vocab…. I didn’t bother with too much kanji practice as I figured speaking would be the primary focus in this interview. I’m already pretty confident with my pronunciation.  And generally, with vocab and grammar fresh in my mind i’m generally pretty ok at speaking, i mean, i’m sure to the Japanese I probably speak like a 5 year old child – a 5 year old JAPANESE child! And so i’m happy enough with that for the time being.

I was set, I was pumped, I was only a wee bit nervous, and really, most importantly, I was open to whatever result I would receive.  So I turned up, there were a few people in the room and so I immediately thought that this must be like a group interview thing.  I didn’t know if I should wait before going in or what, and there were some people sitting down outside so I took a seat and waited for a bit.  I also had a bit of a chat with the people outside, they were also there for either the interview or just to gather some information.  One girl had already lived in Japan for a year, and one of the guys was fresh out of highschool and had never studied Japanese before.

I walked in and told one of the Japanese professors that I was there for the interview to which she replied (in her Obaachan-like Japanese accent): “Oh, you’re here for the test!” then she hands me 2 bits of paper and tells me to sit down and get started (politely of course).

This wednesday i’ll be journeying to the University of Queensland campus at St. Lucia to attend a Japanese placement interview.  I requested (and… actually I’ve been approved for) Japanese 3 – which is essentially the beginning of the 3rd year of Japanese language studies at UQ.  That’s all really meaningless to me and I suppose the studies I have taken part in are meaningless to the Japanese language faculty which is why I’m attending this interview to figure out if this really is the right level for me.

I haven’t really studied or prepared for it yet.  I did a bit of study over the December-January New Zealand trip but, oddly enough, I haven’t found time to study now – although, that has to be an excuse because I reckon there was time for it.

Whenever I do study Japanese I surprise myself with what I already know AND how quickly I relearn stuff that i’ve forgotten. I still kinda think Japanese 3 will be the right level though…  But i don’t really have my heart set on any particular level because essentially the numbers tacked on the end of the class are irrelevant – i’m more particular about being placed correctly in a way that I will be able to relearn and review a bunch of the stuff I’ve already covered as well as push on and learn more.

For those who don’t know, the JET Program (or the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme), grants successful applicants job placement in Japan, teaching English.  Applications begin now-ish, deadline being December 1, and successful applicants get their notification between May and August next year for departure in August.  It’s a pretty grueling application process. Well… I think so.  Remembering i’m a lucky Australian who didn’t have to take part in grueling University entrance applications unlike other countries.

So i’m seriously considering applying to the JET Program now. However, i’m very undecided about the whole thing…

The thing i love about JET is that, should you be accepted, you get guaranteed placement for at least a year! Which is great, safe, reliable etc.  However, there’s a downside: You don’t have complete control over your placement. You CAN request a region, but there are no guarantees.

Now… that’s a big issue for me.  I’m not necessarily a country-type person.  Should i be placed in a country town I would probably have to decline acceptance. I like the Japanese country side! It’s nice! But:

1. I don’t think the lifestyle is for me. I like buildings! And concrete! And ridiculous amounts of people! And riding my bike everywhere i go!
2. I’m allergic to NATURE… but maybe i could get some sort of special consideration being allergic to trees/pollen/whatever it is exactly…?

Ever since i arrived back in Australia, i’ve done nothing but suffer from allergies, to the point my doctor has told me that to get rid of it i’d either need to go through an allergy desensitization course (which may not work) or leave Australia.  And i would like to feel healthy again.

So i’ve been back in Australia for almost 3 months now…  And i guess its important to inform any prospective Kansai Gaidai/Japan (or other) study abroaders about MY experience post-exchange.  Not only that, but it seems as though this blog, that you all know and love, is going to come back to life! Read on =)

I was looking forward to going back to Australia and seeing my friends again.  The other thing i was looking forward to was actually studying games and IT again, as i felt completely out of my element at Kansai Gaidai – ive never studied history or politics! lol

But i’m back now, my friends are awesome as ever, even made a few new ones.  I’m lovin University.  I see Australia the same way as i saw it before – even after being away from it for so long.  It still doesn’t make me want to be here.  It IS a great country – i have nothing bad to say about it.  My wanting to leave Australia has nothing to do with Australia, instead it has everything to do with how amazing Japan was.  I want the wacky way of life Japan gave me.  Riding bikes, not being able to read signs, constant politeness everywhere i went, the tiny cramped houses, beer vending machines… I also loved just stumbling across new cultural things that would just wow me.  I’ve lost so much of my Japanese language ability too because i have no one to talk to (in japanese) and i dont have 8 Japanese classes a week. I miss Hirakata…