(no subject)
Time for an update.
Winter break came and went pretty quickly. I spent it doing what I like to do most, gaming and hanging out with friends. I felt a little guilty about it though because it seems like everyone is kinda expected to go somewhere whenever they don't have school or work. Sure, getting out of Tokyo of would be fun, but in reality, I'm perfectly happy to stay right here.
Over the break Matt, Derek and I went to a fan comic convention in Odaiba. I more or less went because I had nothing do and Matt really wanted to go, but I was a little interested. Turns out when we got there it was "girls day," which we didn't find out until the next day. Apparently the convention lasts two days, the first being for girls and the second for guys. Well, not knowing this I was left with quite an impression of the place. For most part, it was all gay anime porn. No kidding. Row after row of cartoon guys having sex. It was really bizzare to see all of this and in such quantity...I mean, this place was HUGE! I think it was held at the Tokyo Big Place or something like that. Anyone like Fullmetal Alchemist? Well, there's a comic out there with Al drawn as a women having sex with Roy if that whets your whistle. So yeah, we didn't find much to buy that day. Matt wanted to go again, but the day after his parents came to visit and I don't really think he wanted to take them there on the guy's day...because no matter how bad the girl's day seemed, I'm sure the guy's day was about 10x as perverted.
Today was the second day of class since the break and I found out that one girl in my program has moved out of her home stay and into a dorm. Apparently her mother was a control freak or something. From what I heard, the girl was watching a movie in the family living room and the family got upset because they couldn't use the tv. I don't know if this happened a lot or not, but I guess after that the family called the director and told her that they didn't want to host the girl anymore. I guess Michiyo (the director) then said that the mother's reason was pretty much stupid, to which the mother replied that, "they keep all of their valuables in the family room and were afraid she would steal them." Chances are this was just made up to get her out, but the girl is an African American from Harlem so I'm guessing racism is a factor.
Another girl in one of my classes also recently moved out of her home stay. Apparently the parents both speak fluent English (I think the father used to work in the US) and really just wanted to host an American student so their kids could practice with a native speaker. They also only speak English to the student and their kids when at home. Obviously this would be a terrible situation for anyone trying to get better at speaking Japanese. It's one thing to try and help the kids speak some English from time to time...I mean, you are a guest in their home, but still. Apparently the girl they had the year before spoke Japanese nearly fluently so it wasn't a problem...she could speak to them in Japanese without a hitch and they could respond in English and everything would be okay. But this girl is only in second year, so whenever she tries to use Japanese with them, they basically get tired of hearing her struggle with it and say, "AH! Let's just speak in English!" There were some other problems as well, but they're just sorta minor things...all adds up though. So she left. But get this, the mom called her on her cell phone and had the kids ask her, in English while crying, to please come back, trying to make her feel guilty about it. So yeah, bad situation all around. Evidently the family is now threatening to sue her program (it's a different one than mine) and blah blah blah...continueing story.
Winter break came and went pretty quickly. I spent it doing what I like to do most, gaming and hanging out with friends. I felt a little guilty about it though because it seems like everyone is kinda expected to go somewhere whenever they don't have school or work. Sure, getting out of Tokyo of would be fun, but in reality, I'm perfectly happy to stay right here.
Over the break Matt, Derek and I went to a fan comic convention in Odaiba. I more or less went because I had nothing do and Matt really wanted to go, but I was a little interested. Turns out when we got there it was "girls day," which we didn't find out until the next day. Apparently the convention lasts two days, the first being for girls and the second for guys. Well, not knowing this I was left with quite an impression of the place. For most part, it was all gay anime porn. No kidding. Row after row of cartoon guys having sex. It was really bizzare to see all of this and in such quantity...I mean, this place was HUGE! I think it was held at the Tokyo Big Place or something like that. Anyone like Fullmetal Alchemist? Well, there's a comic out there with Al drawn as a women having sex with Roy if that whets your whistle. So yeah, we didn't find much to buy that day. Matt wanted to go again, but the day after his parents came to visit and I don't really think he wanted to take them there on the guy's day...because no matter how bad the girl's day seemed, I'm sure the guy's day was about 10x as perverted.
Today was the second day of class since the break and I found out that one girl in my program has moved out of her home stay and into a dorm. Apparently her mother was a control freak or something. From what I heard, the girl was watching a movie in the family living room and the family got upset because they couldn't use the tv. I don't know if this happened a lot or not, but I guess after that the family called the director and told her that they didn't want to host the girl anymore. I guess Michiyo (the director) then said that the mother's reason was pretty much stupid, to which the mother replied that, "they keep all of their valuables in the family room and were afraid she would steal them." Chances are this was just made up to get her out, but the girl is an African American from Harlem so I'm guessing racism is a factor.
Another girl in one of my classes also recently moved out of her home stay. Apparently the parents both speak fluent English (I think the father used to work in the US) and really just wanted to host an American student so their kids could practice with a native speaker. They also only speak English to the student and their kids when at home. Obviously this would be a terrible situation for anyone trying to get better at speaking Japanese. It's one thing to try and help the kids speak some English from time to time...I mean, you are a guest in their home, but still. Apparently the girl they had the year before spoke Japanese nearly fluently so it wasn't a problem...she could speak to them in Japanese without a hitch and they could respond in English and everything would be okay. But this girl is only in second year, so whenever she tries to use Japanese with them, they basically get tired of hearing her struggle with it and say, "AH! Let's just speak in English!" There were some other problems as well, but they're just sorta minor things...all adds up though. So she left. But get this, the mom called her on her cell phone and had the kids ask her, in English while crying, to please come back, trying to make her feel guilty about it. So yeah, bad situation all around. Evidently the family is now threatening to sue her program (it's a different one than mine) and blah blah blah...continueing story.