This post is actually a bunch of conversations strung together

So last night, when I went to take a shower, there was no hot water. Not a big deal, 'cause it was hot and I would have taken a cold shower anyway, but kind of strange, since the hot water's never run out before.

When I got home today after school...

Host mom: Oh, by the way, last night did only water come out of the shower?

Me: ....what?

HM: When you took a shower last night, did only water come out?

Me: ....yes...? Water came out...? Um...

HM: No, I mean only water came out, right?

Me: Yes....?

HM: But not お湯 (hot water)?

Me: OH WAIT, when you were saying "water" (水) you meant "cold water" (冷たい水）right?

HM: ...that's what "water" means.

Me: [headwall]

In any case it turned out that there's a special hot water button and I didn't press it so the problem won't occur again.

Why in three years of Japanese did no one ever tell me that 水 only refers to cold water? AUGH.

Also, today we had our meeting with our residential director so we had to speak English for about an hour (and we all failed spectacularly as usual).

Guy in my class: [to I-san (pronounced EE-san), whose name isn't really I-san but we call him that] You know, your voice is really different in English.

I-san: What? What do you mean? Isn't it the same?

Guy: No, you've got...you've got, like, an accent in English.

[I-san was born in Russia, for the record.]

I-san: Okay?

Me: And you sound a lot more sarcastic in English.

Guy: And your voice is lower.

Me: Everyone's voice is lower in English. Mine drops an octave and a half or something.

I-san: Yeah, I know. Every time you start speaking English, I think you're a man.

Me: [headdesk]

Good to know I only sound female in Japanese.

Also, today we were learning how to say "there is no___more___than__." And somehow it turned into a complimenting contest.

B-san: There is no person who is better at dancing than I-san.

I-san: There is no person who is better at flattery than B-san.

F-san: There is no person in this class who is sexier than S-san.

S-san: In this class? How about in the world?

Me: There is no person in this class who is better at conversing in Japanese than A-san.

A-san: There is no person who is better at finishing her homework than Cal.

Sensei: WHAT KIND OF COMPLIMENT IS THAT?

Also, had to cut up my reading 'cause my sensei decided it was too long. SADNESS. I cut the paragraph with Seiji soliloquizing about getting a part time job and the radio girl maybe being called a beautiful woman instead of a beautiful girl. Now I just need to write up 内容質問 and then I'm done!

Okay, I'm off to read more 「来訪者」 (still hoping for a kidnapping) and maybe some 「デュラララ!!」 if I'm lucky.

P.S. In response to the question about bandanas, nobody wears them. Seriously. Barely anyone even wears hats or hair bands. They all carry umbrellas instead. And since I ALWAYS wear something on my head, I stick out like a sore thumb. I guess this is the problem with having crazy hair in a society where pretty much everyone's hair is poker straight.

P.P.S. オパル、警笛警笛ピピピのピ。誠二は本当に狂っていると気付いたのは血の付いた服を着ながら、のんびりラーメンを食べている時だ。怖い!

P.P.P.S. Yummy things I ate today:

spicy potatoes (in the cafeteria; they are seriously amazing)

renkon (lotus root, according to my host mom) tempura

satsuma imo tempura

myouga (YUUUUUUUMMM)

all of dinner in fact

P.P.P.P.S. Apparently I make some very strange faces when I'm talking to people. One of my classmates told me that I make faces like an anime character. Another one of my classmates starts cracking up just sitting across the table from me. I don't know. Maybe it's 'cause my Japanese isn't as good as everyone else's, so I have to compensate somehow?

My thinking face looks something like this: >:I

(That's the face that gets laughed at the most.)

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.