cheery.

hello.

i'm cheery today, not entirely sure why. i'm enjoying it.

today i had some really good classes, ate lunch with what i can only think to describe as an exchange student who spoke practically perfect english. he's half chinese, half japanese and speaks english with an american accent - this kid is either gonna be super messed up or could possibly take over the world. that decision is up to him... he has promised to write me a letter (very cool) and i asked him to take questions from the class - he was a little embarrassed to translate some of them, i think they were asking naughty questions... i told him not to worry. cool kid.

one of my teachers gave me kanji worksheets today - i was amazed that i actually knew a couple! so was he... he tried to hide his utter disbelief but i caught him... it's really sweet and kind of the teachers i work with to take such an active interest in my progress. i have to up my game and work harder, so as not to disappoint them! they're appreciating the fact that i'm gently rambling away in the background and they are very graciously humouring me when it comes to me occasionally just blurting something out in japanese and then smiling excitedly. i am five years old.

yesterday, one of my mountain school teachers told me that the whole school (five of them) look forward to me coming because i "make english time fun time!" i'm glad. because i love going there. we had typhoon-type weather at the start of this week but thankfully after a rocky night nothing really came of it: i was told to wait for a phone call before going to school... i was so glad that the schools here weren't closed: tuesday is my favourite day of the week and i would've been quite disappointed if i didn't get to go...

also, last night, i went to the adult eikaiwa (english conversation class) for the first time last night and met the folks there. they were all really nice and enthusiastic and welcoming. looking forward to hopefully taking over the class in the summer. it'd be nice and hopefully it'll help with my japanese...

i feel like i'm rambling a little here, just wandering from thought to thought. but you can't stop me, so i'll continue.

today i had an electrician come over and check the apartment. he also fixed my bathroom fan which hasn't worked since i got here. to be honest, i've just tested it and it seems to be pretty redundant... it barely does anything. still, it'll hopefully help in the constant war i'm waging on damp and mould. =) any ally is welcome. i made the electrician a coffee (the universal way of making friends) and we had a stilted japanese/english conversation. i love the look on peoples faces when i tell them i'm not from america. we talked about the weather, about schools and i think he talked about electricity for a bit (i picked out the word for electricity amongst the rapid-fire japanese) i smiled and nodded a lot. it was lovely. i think i made a friend.

anyways, i think i've recapped enough for now. gotta go get bits and pieces sorted now. might buy a fan today. starting to wilt a little in the heat now...

peace.

ps. my friend Mune made a rather awesome video of the rice planting i went to a couple of weeks ago. here's a link to it: linkety-link-link. even if you've already watched it, you should watch it again. it's very good. =)

pps. i've been playing about with the layout of the blog. expect it to change a lot until i find something i like. apologies.