This is all about ME!

I don't know how many people I have told, but this fall I have been taking a Chinese class. The class is offered through the Tokyo branch of Temple University. It is taught all in English.

I took the course for several reasons, the main one being since being over here I have realized how much of an impact China had on the history of, not only Japan, but of Asia (and the world). Whether we like it or not, China is continuing to grow and I believe they are going into another golden age. Well, they still have many problems, but they are up and coming. I thought, why not learn the language, it might be useful in the future?

But I also had another reason for learning. When I visit Corey in Qingdao, him and other foreigners seem to know Chinese more than my foreign friends here in Japan, even without having any sort of Chinese lesson before coming to the country.

There are a few reasons for that. The main one being, though the four tones are difficult, Chinese grammar is very similar to English compared to Japanese grammar. In English we say, I love you, in Chinese they say I love you, in Japanese they say I you love (I think). Basically it is like talking like Yoda!

Another reason has to do with confidence. This is completely my theory, but in Japan having confidence is not a good thing. I know Japanese people whose English is excellent, only to have them tell me their English is awful. I think this mind set trickles down to foreigners. I have many foreign friends who know Japanese, speak Japanese, and have test scores to prove they understand Japanese, only to tell me their Japanese isn't good. Their Japanese is good, they live in a culture where it is not ok to say it is.

China is different. It is much more laid back there and I believe foreigners are more comfortable practicing their Chinese with native speakers. Because of this, they pick up the language really quickly. Many people I know who studied Japanese a bit before coming say they actually lose some of their ability to speak once they come to Japan. I would say instead they lost some of their confidence.

I am not a very confident person at all, so I have not picked up Japanese. I can understand people when they are talking, I can read some hiragana and katakana, but I don't know what everything means and most of the time when someone says something to me I don't know how to respond, even if I understand what they are saying.

So, I took this Chinese class to not only learn a bit of the language, but also gain some confidence.

I can say it is working, I feel I could go to China and tell a taxi drive where I want to go, and I could order food in a restaurant, all in Chinese. My next plan is to study more Japanese now that my class is almost over. I have found this class has showed me how to study again (being out of school four years, I forgot how to study) and I liked the structure the instructor provided and if I study Japanese in the same way I studied Chinese I can pick it up more.

Being in the actual class has been interesting. I thought since the school is an American school and it is taught in English, it would be a mix of foreigners and Japanese. I was wrong! Except for an Indian girl, I am the only foreigner! Plus, since the class is in English, the students are learning a third language in their second language! I tip my hat off to them.

It has been interesting to me to see how Japanese students are in a university. At home when there is a break in the class, most students go outside and smoke, go get something to eat etc. Here many students stay in the room and study during the break! Though as time as gone on I see more students are actually having a rest on the break. Plus I realize we are all adults in the class and I was comparing them to university students from when I was in school. Well of course a 19 year old is going to use their break and not study! I am sure if I took an adult class at home, they would study during the break as well. When else would they have time?

Anyway, on the reason for my post. This Saturday (tomorrow, eek!) is my final. We have a private interview with the instructor! She gave us a schedule and twenty questions from the schedule. She will ask us ten of them. She is going to record our answers and then play them back for the whole class! My God I could die!

I am a bit nervous. I have studied quite a bit, and we are allowed to bring whatever we want into the interview with us (um........can we bring a Chinese person?). But I am still nervous to say the least.

I will post how it goes. Once the class is over I will update the blog more. I have some photos I took that I have been meaning to post, but all my extra time has been for studying.

I'll update soon!

Milada and I went Mori Art Museum on Sunday to see an exhibit called, "Sensing Nature." It was really cool, but kind of small. The best exhibits were these two. The first one was a snow scene made with feathers and powered by fans that would timed to turn on and off. The effect was amazing, snow on the inside of a building in Tokyo! The only thing that ruined it was the two lines across the glass, can you see them? I wonder how many times the "snow" has moved around?

The best part of the exhibit was the tree one. When I first walked in, I thought we were supposed to be in a cave, but when I saw a hole I poked my head through and was delighted to see a whole world above the handmade paper cave. It was a huge white forest made out of paper! The artist encouraged viewers to try different areas to see many boundaries. It was amazing!