Melissa: Yesterday Braden and I got our brand spankin' new cellphones! They're so pretty! But the funny thing about cell phones in Japan is, they all look so much alike. They're all the same exact size and shape, its wierd! o_0. Only the colors and designs are different. I was telling my brother about it and he said it's probably cause in general the Japanese like to blend in, and not stand out, and I think that's very true. In general I see less diversity in Japan - the phones look alike, many of the cars look the same, the houses are all very similar, and as a result when you do see something different it tends to stick out. People who aren't Japanese tend to stand out too. Matsue is not nearly as diverse as Seattle, or even Idaho for that matter (which isn't all that diverse), and so whenever I do see a white or a black person they stand out to me. I kinda felt that way in Chile too, but here in Matsue its even more pronounced. Anyway, I love my cell phone, and the little charm that my sister got for me in Korea to put on it. Its all very kawaii (cute ^_^).
Braden and I got to learn some new stuff in Karate yesterday. The senpai showed us a new kata, called Tekki. We also reviewed some of our other kata. The senpai had Braden and I demonstrate Pinan Go to the other students, and they seemed impressed (that is one of our better katas I think) but then the senpai taught us some of the differences between our version of the kata and their version here in IKO Matsui. There aren't a ton of differences, but they are there and we do need to learn to do them their way. A few other things that are different in this dojo are the rules of courtesy. For instance, back home we only bowed to the shrine at the beginning and ending of class, and here they bow to it at the beginning and end and also between every break. Also, we are expected to greet and bow to every member of the dojo individually before and after class. And after you do any kumite or a drill that involves hitting another member of the dojo, afterwards you're supposed to bow, then shake hands and say "thank you very much". In general we have to be more polite and learn to bow more here. So far Braden and I have worked lots on our technique, I have a feeling our kata's are going to be really polished by the time we get back to Ellensburg, but so far only the more advanced belts have worked on toughness, that is, hitting eachother or the punching bags. We lower belts have worked almost entirely on technique, but we do it fast and energetically, so it's still a really good workout! Since we're still fairly new to the dojo I'm sure that some of these things may change over time, they're just my first impressions of everything. Oh, and I think its really cool that Braden and I get to have our names written in Japanese and put up in a traditional dojo name plate holder :). I really don't know what the thing is called. Its a big wooden frame thingy on the wall, and all the students have a little wooden plate that goes into it with their name on it. I'll have to post a picture of it sometime.
Let's see, what else has been going on around here? Mostly I just like to ride my bike around and go to the store, hehe. Japanese class is good too, I'm learning a little more everyday. Just gotta keep on practicing. Well, I guess I'll let Braden have a turn now :).
Braden: Hooray, I finally have classes now. First thing every morning I go to a focused Japanese conversation class where we all talk about whichever topic the teacher brings up. Recently we've been talking about a children's game called "Daruma San ga koronda" which means Mr. Daruma fell over, which is a Japanese children's schoolyard game, and the Japanese equivalent of Red Light Green Light. The teacher also invited other students in the class to talk about games they played as children. One of the German girls talked about a game she played as a child in Germany called "Black Man", where all of the children run away from the child who's "it" or "the black man", which I found quite hilarious. Another class I'm taking titled "Introduction to Understanding Foreign Cultures" or 異文化理解入門 was rather fun. We got grouped off with Japanese classmates to talk about each other's cultures and what not. Two of the guys I got paired with were rather funny to talk to. I could tell they were the type of kids who probably just goofed off in High School (which is probably why they're in Shimane U *cough*). One of them really liked System of a Down, which is apparently very rare in Japan, so we connected pretty quickly. The other one was an English Literature major so he asked me if I read Catcher in the Rye, to which I had to embarassingly answer no.
Hmmm, what else has been happening. Karate is really fun. So far Sensei Nakamura is pretty impressed with our form and technique. I'm pretty sure going to karate 3 times a week is going to make me lose weight, because just to bike there takes around 35 mins, and then there's the trip back. Just yesterday we saw the white belts doing some very strange katas that we've never seen before and apparently aren't actually a part of the standard Kyokushin kata, but Matsui has incorporated them..... or something like that. One we learned yesterday is called Tekki 鉄牙 (Iron Fang), which is from an Okinawan style. The entire kata is in Kiba Dachi and you make sliding steps to the right and then to the left, all the while do several different fist techniques. I'll have to show it to the dojo when we go home.
Oh yeah, another crazy thing happened. While Melissa and I were attending our church's area's large stake wide meeting called Stake Conference, I saw one of the Elders who were in my district while at the Missionary training Center! I hadn't seen him in like 4 years or something. He apparently lives right near us in the neighboring city of Izumo, participating in the JET program. So, we're probably gonna go hang out with him today, and he wants to show us his Aikido class that he's attending. I've always been pretty interested in Aikido, though I'll probably always stick with Kyokushin.
Sorry, I'm absolutely sure I have a lot more things to talk about on here, but I can't seem to think of them right now. Until next time, sayonara!!!
Braden and I got to learn some new stuff in Karate yesterday. The senpai showed us a new kata, called Tekki. We also reviewed some of our other kata. The senpai had Braden and I demonstrate Pinan Go to the other students, and they seemed impressed (that is one of our better katas I think) but then the senpai taught us some of the differences between our version of the kata and their version here in IKO Matsui. There aren't a ton of differences, but they are there and we do need to learn to do them their way. A few other things that are different in this dojo are the rules of courtesy. For instance, back home we only bowed to the shrine at the beginning and ending of class, and here they bow to it at the beginning and end and also between every break. Also, we are expected to greet and bow to every member of the dojo individually before and after class. And after you do any kumite or a drill that involves hitting another member of the dojo, afterwards you're supposed to bow, then shake hands and say "thank you very much". In general we have to be more polite and learn to bow more here. So far Braden and I have worked lots on our technique, I have a feeling our kata's are going to be really polished by the time we get back to Ellensburg, but so far only the more advanced belts have worked on toughness, that is, hitting eachother or the punching bags. We lower belts have worked almost entirely on technique, but we do it fast and energetically, so it's still a really good workout! Since we're still fairly new to the dojo I'm sure that some of these things may change over time, they're just my first impressions of everything. Oh, and I think its really cool that Braden and I get to have our names written in Japanese and put up in a traditional dojo name plate holder :). I really don't know what the thing is called. Its a big wooden frame thingy on the wall, and all the students have a little wooden plate that goes into it with their name on it. I'll have to post a picture of it sometime.
Let's see, what else has been going on around here? Mostly I just like to ride my bike around and go to the store, hehe. Japanese class is good too, I'm learning a little more everyday. Just gotta keep on practicing. Well, I guess I'll let Braden have a turn now :).
Braden: Hooray, I finally have classes now. First thing every morning I go to a focused Japanese conversation class where we all talk about whichever topic the teacher brings up. Recently we've been talking about a children's game called "Daruma San ga koronda" which means Mr. Daruma fell over, which is a Japanese children's schoolyard game, and the Japanese equivalent of Red Light Green Light. The teacher also invited other students in the class to talk about games they played as children. One of the German girls talked about a game she played as a child in Germany called "Black Man", where all of the children run away from the child who's "it" or "the black man", which I found quite hilarious. Another class I'm taking titled "Introduction to Understanding Foreign Cultures" or 異文化理解入門 was rather fun. We got grouped off with Japanese classmates to talk about each other's cultures and what not. Two of the guys I got paired with were rather funny to talk to. I could tell they were the type of kids who probably just goofed off in High School (which is probably why they're in Shimane U *cough*). One of them really liked System of a Down, which is apparently very rare in Japan, so we connected pretty quickly. The other one was an English Literature major so he asked me if I read Catcher in the Rye, to which I had to embarassingly answer no.
Hmmm, what else has been happening. Karate is really fun. So far Sensei Nakamura is pretty impressed with our form and technique. I'm pretty sure going to karate 3 times a week is going to make me lose weight, because just to bike there takes around 35 mins, and then there's the trip back. Just yesterday we saw the white belts doing some very strange katas that we've never seen before and apparently aren't actually a part of the standard Kyokushin kata, but Matsui has incorporated them..... or something like that. One we learned yesterday is called Tekki 鉄牙 (Iron Fang), which is from an Okinawan style. The entire kata is in Kiba Dachi and you make sliding steps to the right and then to the left, all the while do several different fist techniques. I'll have to show it to the dojo when we go home.
Oh yeah, another crazy thing happened. While Melissa and I were attending our church's area's large stake wide meeting called Stake Conference, I saw one of the Elders who were in my district while at the Missionary training Center! I hadn't seen him in like 4 years or something. He apparently lives right near us in the neighboring city of Izumo, participating in the JET program. So, we're probably gonna go hang out with him today, and he wants to show us his Aikido class that he's attending. I've always been pretty interested in Aikido, though I'll probably always stick with Kyokushin.
Sorry, I'm absolutely sure I have a lot more things to talk about on here, but I can't seem to think of them right now. Until next time, sayonara!!!
i like the charm you have for your phone!
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