Archives: Takayama Red Cross

Quick update, too lazy to make it a proper entry.

We did some administration work this morning, registered for alien identity cards etc.
Got ourselves some local library cards, but unfortunately, the libraries look pretty crap. Maybe if I'm desperate for something to do I'll rent out some Japanese manga which I can't read, or some of the small collection of English novels. At least theres net there if for any reason I have to stop thieving from my current source.
Went to a really really cool traditional Japanese tea place. The whole place was made out of Japanese cherry oak, had tatami mats and an awful lot of artwork and decorations. Each room had a view of the central oriental garden - should have taken my camera. Had some green tea ice cream which was surprisingly nice.

Noticed how there really aren't many people who speak any English whatsoever. Your typical Japanese person knows about 5 words, and a few of them know 1 or 2 phrases. I think I've seen 4 people altogether that are fluent, one being in Tokyo, the rest being hospital staff. About 10 people know some phrases, and the rest... well nevermind.

Afterwards we were taken on a tour around the hospital, given some name tags and such, introduced to some people and then promptly pwned when they told us we were to attend a board meeting and introduce ourselves with a speech.

Well actually, while I hate speeches with a passion (or anything that involves standing up infront of an audience), I was sorta looking forward to it as a means to make use of my Japanese.
My partner was a bit apprehensive, but he wrote a fairly good one using textbooks.
The speeches were met with a fairly load clapping so I guess we did ok. We had the option to do all or bits of it in English, but that's for lame people.
Here's my final speech if anyone's interested (I had a rough draft which I went through with Mei beforehand):

Konnichi wa minna-sama
Hajime mashite
[insert bow here]
Watashi no namae wa Yin desu
Jyuu hachi sai desu
Watashi wa Igirisu kara kimashita
Ima wa kagaku o benkyo shiteimasu
Shashin to dokusho ga suki desu
Sore ni, supotsu o suru no ga suki desu
Budo to badomintonu ga suki, saikuringu ga daisuki
Takayama wa totemo ii tokoro desu
Sugoku kirei desu
Ima wa kono basho ga sugoku tanoshii desu
Eto, minna sama dozo yoroshiku onegai shimasu
[insert longer bow here]

I don't think it's too bad for something I pulled out of my head almost entirely (Mei helped with a few bits). Well, if you ignore how disjointed it is (I mean, count the desu's lol).
We didn't know it was gonna be a massive executive board meeting though, otherwise we wouldn't have put our interests and hobbies in such detail *cough*

That reminds me too, I have to write my name as "in", cause since it's a foreign name, it has to be written entirely in katakana, and there isn't anything in the katakana "alphabet" that allows me to write it properly.
There's also the problem with people pronouncing my name. Never thought it was so hard to say Yin Lee - Indee isn't quite right, and neither is Winry.
Shut up.
What's prolly worse is, the nurses seem to have taken to calling me In-chan (they don't call my partner weird things, goddamnit, I blame you, whoever you are reading this).
Stfu.

Anyway.

I'm starting to get along with my partner pretty well, and he's learnt a bit of the hirigana/katakana so it works pretty well in that I can only speak it and can't read anything, while his speaking and pronounciation is a bit off but at least he can read signs and stuff.

Oh and I've finally seen a proper Japanese toilet. It's somewhat disturbing in that it appears to just be a hole in the floor with water running through it.
Now I know why they specifically mentioned how we had western toilets in our apartment.

We also got paid today (paid for nothing mind you), 50,000 yen a month, which is pretty good since we don't need to pay for much aside from 2 meals a day and general living equipment. Also changed over the rest of my money into yen, which brought me up to 69,000 (about £350) in total as far as my funds for Japan are concerned.

Was slightly cooler today, so me and my partner decided to go on our bikes down to the nearest "home center" for some stuff (maybe it also had something to do with the fact we got paid today, hmm). Ended up buying a bathroom mat, disposable gloves, giant cushion for sitting on and some other stuff.
Found that one of the local shopping centers houses a McDonalds (this must be one of the rare large places in the world where McDonalds hasn't taken over)
There's also a coffee shop here called Mr. Donut.
No comment.

Funny enough, the main shopping street in the city (looks like any other street, but whatever) has jpop playing constantly throughout the day, and since it's also sheltered, it's become a frequent part of my cycling route. Just gotta dodge the people, but the school students seem to frequent it a lot, and there are tourists around which I can actually speak in English with.

Damn, ended up being a proper entry after all.

Next weekend we've been invited to go to Shizuoka to watch the Red Cross Baseball finals, which is where hospital baseball teams around Japan compete against each other, and our local hospital is a finalist. We aren't really interested in the baseball, but Shizuoka is a fair distance away and we get a free trip + a nights stay, so hey, why not. The guy who invited us hates baseball, but he goes with the team to get drunk lol
I like him.

In other news, my wifi signal seems to be much stronger today for some reason or other, so less cutting out.
Must be the weather.

Oh and it turns out this "Pink House" I'm staying at is aptly named, cause, aside from the walls, it's originally meant to be an apartment block for female nurses.
Hmm.
Well I'm not complaining too much *cough*

Looks like the rest of this week and the next consists of mostly Japanese lessons (4 subjects a day with different hospital staff each session).

My room's also descended into an incredible mess already, hope no one pays me a surprise visit. Right now the floor is a mess of books, towels, cushions, clothing, boxes, empty plastic bags, random bits of rubbish, papers, documents, speakers, camera bits, some random boxes, random food, used wrappers, envelopes, remote controls, stray luggage, my bag and etc. I think I actually like it like this, makes the room an awful lot more cozy and welcoming - a lot more like a home if you know what I mean.

Trying to get photos back up, should be there by the time you're reading this, but who knows.