DAY 12

STAR FESTIVAL !!!!!!!

Tanabata (七夕meaning "Evening of the Seventh") is the Japanese Star Festival, originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival.

Everyone dressed in comfortable yukata, (浴衣) a casual summer kimono usually made of cotton, and worn during exciting festivals, such as Tanabata. Part of Academy tradition calls for wearing the yukata to dinner before the night's activities and wear them we did. Capturing the eyes of other people at the cafeteria at once, many students of the academy were as to the nature of their peculiar attire. Overall, it was exciting being in the spotlight for a night.

After dinner, the Star Festival officially started. We watched a play that the company hosting Tanabata had prepared for us, sang along to the traditional song sung specially for this day, and performed a dance that the teachers taught us with much difficulty and laughter. At the end, following traditional custom, everyone wrote a wish and hung it up on a bamboo tree. The night ended with smiles on everyone's faces.

Kevin

Day 10-11

Classes
The beginner classes have begun writing sentences at this point. They can ask people’s ages （なんさいですか）and can even write long, silly sentences such as, "My dad’s friend’s dog’s name is Ichiro." They’re trying their best to keep up with the endless vocabulary. Today, the beginners learned their first kanji, including water （水）and day（曜日）. They also started to sing a song in Japanese. The learning is tough, but there’s plenty of work to make the days fly by!
The intermediate class spent a majority of their day learning and practicing grammar. They took a test to enable their teacher (せんせい) to make sure that they all understood what they had learned. Afterwards, they researched Japanese summer activities and created PowerPoints to present. This was a great window into the culture, in addition to the language, of Japan.
The advanced class has been acting out skits from the textbook they use. They’ve also been having timed speaking practice. This everyday use of Japanese is helping them to increase their confidence and proficiency in their language abilities. Like the beginner classes, they are also singing Japanese songs. All the classes are having a great time while they learn!

Katelyn


Culture Class

This evening’s culture class surpassed previous days thus far. A majority of the instruction was interactive and hands-on, with students participating in a Japanese literature discussion, a formal tea ceremony, and the tying of yukatas in preparation for Tanabata. Incidents occurred in the bustle: students making faces and spitting out the bitter green tea, knots coming undone or tied too loosely, and a general, playful mayhem. Thought to be the least interesting of the trio, the literature discussion on Kenko’s Tsurezuregusa turned into a period for students to express their opinions, academic or otherwise. Kenko was exposed as a recluse, another human possessing contempt and disappointment; with himself and with the world.
After that session, taught wonderfully by Riggins-sensei, we moved to the next room for captivating instruction on the famous Japanese Tea Ceremony, originally started during the time of Tokugawa. Much more goes into the ceremony than one may expect: everything involved is a symbol and, if chosen incorrectly, could be offensive and break tradition. A chasen, a tea wisk carved out of bamboo, is used to mix the water and matcha, crushed and dried green tea leaves, into a frothy tea then drunk by the guest. Before one drinks, however, the host must turn the cup twice so the decoration faces the guest and follow a series of procedures before, during, and after.
The most exciting aspect of tonight’s culture class was being able to try on and learn to tie the obi for the gorgeous yukata we will be wearing tomorrow night. Childhood fantasies and dreams came true as the girls and boys both decked themselves out in floral cotton robes. Yukatas consist of more than tying a robe and wrapping a big “belt” around one’s waist, as some may think. Much lifting, folding, and tying takes place even before the “big belt,” or obi, is wrapped tightly around the waist. Making a bow in the back of the robe is the hardest, however. Steadiness of hand is required to fold and make a bow Japanese-style out of fabric roughly as thick and textured as a seat belt. Everyone conquered the challenge thankfully and now feel prepared enough to dress for the Tanabata events tomorrow night.

Jillian

Day 8-9

Culture Class- Kimonos

This evening’s culture class was a fantastic presentation on Japanese wear, specifically kimonos. Kimonos are worn at all times of the year; thicker fabric used during the winter and “breathable” fabrics during the summer. Yukatas, another common type of clothing, are worn in the summertime and are 100% cotton, making them light and flexible. But there is more to the preparation and appearance of these gorgeous outfits than meets the eye. As Cullison-sensei showed us clip after clip of putting on a kimono, we were amazed by the number of knots and steadiness of hand necessary to keep the kimono together. Most Japanese people cannot put a kimono on by themselves and need to go to a professional “kimono parlor” for the special occasions kimonos are worn. Several of these occasions include Shichi-go-san Festival, Coming-of- Age Day, weddings, and even funerals. The first kimonos were created during Japan’s Heian Period, the time of the nobles. Juni- Hitoe is the most famous of these Heian kimonos; Juu ni literally means “twelve,” representative of the Juni-Hitoe’s twelve layers. One layer is complicated enough; I can imagine it must take hours to put these gorgeous kimonos on, still worn by the royal family today.
The videos shown to us by Cullison-sensei were meant to prepare us for Thursday’s festivities, in which all 37 of us will be wearing traditional yukata and will be practicing techniques for tying them. The class left us hanging in anticipation and ready to get another taste of Japanese life.

Jillian

Day 7

Language class has been going on normally. Today, the beginner classes read a new story in hiragana about a Japanese family at dinner. They practiced writing hiragana on white boards and had a quiz on retention. Everyone has a lot of new vocabulary words to study!
In the intermediate class, the students learned more kanji. They played a game so they could better remember the stroke order of the kanji; stroke order is the way in which you write a character. In addition, they learned how to talk about comparisons such as ‘I like this more than this’. All are working hard to learn at a high level.
The advanced classes did some AP practice to prepare themselves for the AP Japanese exam. They also wrote in their journals to exemplify their growing mastery of the language. Otani Sensei played a Japanese song while the students read the lyrics and tried their best to sing along.
Everyone is anxiously awaiting Monday, when lunch will be a no English zone!

Katelyn


Culture Class: Bansai
In culture class, Sones-sensei gave a powerpoint presentation about Japanese gardens. To the Japanese, gardens offer a source of peace, meditation, rest, and repose. Furthermore, all the elements of Japanese gardens are specifically placed so that as one is walking through, he or she can experience a new view. Sones-sensei also taught us about Japanese artistic symbols and motifs. For example, bamboo represents strength, adaptability, and flexibility, and the sun signifies renewal and rebirth.

Lizzi

Day 6

Undokai

Two hours of mental and physical strain, champions against champions. Head to head, the six companies raced to become the winner of the day’s events, including a three-legged race, chopstick and bean race, water race, frozen t-shirt contest, whipped cream eating contest, and, for the finale, a ferocious water balloon fight. Undokai took the place of morning language classes, quite a treat for tired teenagers. Even though there were only three winners, everyone had a ton of fun cheering for their teammates, the opposing teams, and being crazy. Dressing up was also a big deal. Crazy costumes stuck out everywhere one turned: a red Power Ranger mask, a superman cape, a Pikachu hat, music note war paint. If teams lacked in physical strength, they certainly made up for it in spirit. Weldon won the Spirit Award for his prize winning war cry and Samir and Monica won the Ganbarri Award for the best effort shown. They certainly were up to the tasks laid out before them.

To top off the morning, rewards and punishments were given to the winners and losers respectively. A tradition at the Academy, the losers are forced to take on tray duty for the rest of the Academy; winners were rewarded simply with the privilege of not having to do this. Simple but effective; the entire event was successful, prizes or no. Having to work as a team brought us closer together, the fast paced nature of the activities gave us a chance to stretch our legs before sitting in a classroom, and many pictures and memories were made. Everyone left tired and with smiles on their faces. (:

Jillian

Photos from San-J

Rajio Taiso

What do you feel about the radio exercises done every morning?
Calyssa: “ I love them! I have always wanted to try them. I feel accomplished and I have enjoyed them sincerely.”
Clara: “They were really embarrassing to do in front of people waking by who knew nothing about what we were doing. It’s hard to be serious about they. They feel goofy.”
Melanie: “ They crack me up!”, she said while laughing. “I always watch Otani Sensei because he is serious about the exercises. I mean it’s a great way to start the morning. It’s not heavy and it brings people together. The music that goes along with the exercises is really funny, cheesy, classical music that makes me smile.”
Wei: A very serious student who plays amazing basketball says, “Rajio Taiso helps me wake up and be able to focus in class. I saw it in a movie once but I never knew that it was so widely popular.”

What do you feel/think about the dorm life so far? Is it tiring? Hot? Comfortable?
Calyssa: “It’s a little different and I do get homesick sometimes but I will persevere. That’s the word I love.” When asked about the comfort of the dorms, Calyssa responds, “It’s hard, unbearable, hot, very hot, flaming, combusting. I could go on and on.” Then she gets serious and says,” It’s a good experience. It feels like the real world.”
Melanie: “It’s very tiring to constantly socialize but I love the dorm life. Though I hate the public bathrooms, they suck. Now if we had Japanese toilets it would be more comfortable.”
Wei: “I have experienced the dorm life before but it’s the first time I have had a roommate. Its unique. I need more adjusting time though. “
What do you think about the language classes? Are they challenging? Note: All the answers listed below are from the students of the beginner classes.
Melanie: “ We could be watching Netflix movies, sleeping, or hanging out with friends. It’s hard to get yourself motivated but I am motivated because of my table buddies in class.” After giving a serious thought to the question she said, “Now that I am here I want to make the best of it.”
Calyssa: “I like that I am finally in a classroom. I like the experience of receiving a proper teaching given in the classroom.”
Clara: Who has had no prior experience with Japanese said, “It’s really extensive and long.”
Wei: “The classes are definitely moving at a faster pace than the regular class setting.” When asked about how she feels about the upcoming classes she said, “ I am excited.” She said this with a big grin on her face.



Monica