I'M WAAAAAAATCHIIIIIIIING YOOOOOOOOOOU

"Last Week's Alcohol" has been stuck in my head for about three hours. And that has nothing to do with anything, but I felt like saying it anyway. (I'm waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatchiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing yoooooooooooooou.)

Also, I changed the blog template so you can actually view the pictures non-cropped! YAAAAY!

So, lessee, what happened today?

I had class, which was pretty okay and then lunch and then the weekly group meeting with our residential director, and then I went home and did some laundry and homework and had dinner (which was...well, you know the drill) and then did some more homework.

Also, I had to rewrite 「ゾウの時間、ネズミの時間」(Elephant's Time, Mouse's Time) as a presentation for 4th graders. I have no idea what words Japanese 4th graders know (circulation? intestines? metabolism?), so I made it super simplistic. (In hindsight, I should have asked my host brother, but I just finished and it's 11 p.m., and I think he already went to bed.) ALSO, I think ゾ is my least favorite katakana EVER, because no matter how hard to I try to write it pretty, it winds up looking like ン with a tenten. HRRRRG.

Something funny I have discovered: people's personalities tend to change when they switch between Japanese and English. Our meetings with our residential director have to be carried out in English (program rules, oh well), and (aside from being ridiculously amusing to listen to everyone failing at speaking English and slipping back into Japanese) it's interesting to see how people's personalities shift between languages. Some people become more introverted, some become more extroverted, some have their sense of humor shift. We were discussing how much of it has to do with our competency in the language (definitely some of it, 'cause I get a lot quieter and more introverted when I'm speaking Japanese) and how much of it has to do with outside factors. We haven't come to a definite conclusion yet.

Also, for some reason, everyone's speaking voice shifts upward a few notes when they switch into Japanese. My English speaking voice is waaaaaaaaaay lower than my Japanese speaking voice.

Also, seven words: That's What She Said jokes in Japanese. I wish I were kidding. Some of the guys in my class started doing it, and they have gotten progressively weirder. (「奇妙だね。」「彼女もそう言った。」) Then, during the residential director meeting, one of the guys pulled a That's What She Said joke in English, and promptly decided that while it was hilarious in Japanese, in English it was just skeezy. So I guess I'll be hearing a lot less "That's what she said" and a lot more 彼女もそう言った.

Crud, that song is STILL stuck in my head. And I can't sing it. I guess I could translate it into Japanese and sing that...? 私はあなたを見ている。私は私を見ている。私は私たちが落ちるのを見ている。Somehow that just isn't quite as catchy... (Hey, at least I don't have "Topeka" stuck in my head, 'cause I have no idea how to say "catalytic converter" in Japanese. Heck, I'm not even entirely sure what a "catalytic converter" is.)

Sleeping time! G'night!

(Wait, I just looked it up. According to Wikipedia, "A catalytic converter (colloquially, "cat" or "catcon") is a device used to reduce the toxicity of emissions from an internal combustion engine." Okay, so now I know what it is. YE GODS, "CATALYTIC CONVERTER" IS ACTUALLY IN MY DENSHI JISHO. It's apparently 触媒式排気ガス浄化装置. So I guess that would make the first two lines of "Topeka" 私はある月曜日の夜に神様をトピかにある触媒式排気ガス浄化装置の中で見つけた。夏のことを考えると、血を味わう。事実ならば、かなり楽しむ。AND IF THAT ISN'T THE NERDIEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.)

Okay, I'm going to sleep for real this time.