Japan is hot and humid! Aizu's really not so bad since we're up north and get some mountain weather, but I bet most places south of here are blazing. Speaking of which, I'm going to Tokyo tomorrow! Yeah, I didn't know until yesterday either! Jamie's cousin is flying into Narita tomorrow afternoon, so we're catching a bus at 6 am and meetin' up with Jamie's friend Nobu. Even though we're only gonna be there for about 3 days, it'll be a good time.

Things have been goin' slow in between and somedays I feel like I've accomplished nothing, but I suppose that's something I've got to take into my own hands. I've been given an amazing opportunity to get research done in Dr. Wilson's lab, and I just keep putting it off.

Despite that, at least my Japanese is getting a little bit better day by day. I study in some way or another each day, whether by spending time with Japanese people, reading textbooks, or trying to translate manga, which are Japanese comic books. I've been reading a specific manga a bunch lately, but the going is real slow when you've got to look up every other word. It turns out to be great practice for reading and kanji recognition, but the characters tend to talk in very casual slang which isn't always the real way things are said.

See, Japanese has varying levels of politeness in speech depending on several things: the speaker, the receiver, familiarity between them, social status, position rank at work, school, etc, and sometimes gender. Overall, these levels of speech are called keigo, but they divide like so:

• Teineigo (polite speech) is the standard form of speech that is first taught to those learning Japanese, and is almost always safe to use with anyone. (Times in which you could get yourself in trouble using it are with someone conducting an job/entrance interview or working as a store clerk. Both are situations in which a higher level of formality is required.)
• Sonkeigo (honorific speech) is used to praise another and his actions. This is nearly always used by store clerks to show respect for their customer, and can never be used to refer to one's self.
• Kenjougo (humble speech) is used to lower one's self and actions. The idea is to express that your actions are being done in order to assist the other party.
• Bikago (word beautification) is used to honor a word and essentially refine one's speech. As a consequence, it's often used to praise deeds or gifts received by an individual.
  

Then there's the plain ol' informal speech with is used between friends and those who know each other very well. If used improperly though, it can get you into trouble. You might end up really insulting someone or appearing extremely full of yourself. I accidentally offended a friend once by being too harsh with my words. Luckily, a lot of Japanese people will just chalk those sorts of mistakes up to being a foreigner and not fully understanding the language.

Anyway, these differing levels of speech make it really tough for non-natives to learn the language. It's one of the biggest make-or-break differences that determines whether or not someone will ever be fluent, and consequently one of the biggest reasons why people give up.

Ganbarimasu!

Bye Bye Andrew

Time is really flying by, just like I knew it would. Riding past the Washington Hotel a few nights ago reminded me that it was just over 3 months ago that we stayed there with Hirotani-sensei. Classes officially ended on the 11th, and Andrew caught a real early bus to Tokyo that morning. So to give Andrew a proper sendoff, we had a farewell party of sorts that really ended up being 4 or 5 straight days of wallet-killing fun.

The start of it all was on Friday when we went to Karaoke during the daytime with Hiroshi, then we hung out at Super Star for the rest of the night. Kawaguchi-sensei even made an appearance, which made the night one to remember. We figured it'd be the last time going with Andrew, but of course Hoshi-san asked us to come back on Sunday so he could give Andrew a farewell gift.

The first half of Saturday was spent recovering. I had a lovely Chinese remedy of sorts that's supposed to make hangovers a more bearable process, but a low-hanging doorway saw to it that my misery was just prolonged. We made some delicious hamburgers (which are really expensive here!) that evening from a recipe that Jamie practically made up. On deliciously full stomachs, we set out that night to another round of karaoke with Eri, Kanako, and Mai. The only recreational beverages this time around were melon floats and cola, though.

Sunday saw Andrew's final visit to our favorite nomiya, so everything was on the house for him. Dunno 'bout the other guys, but I assumed that was the extent of Hoshi-san's farewell gift. Instead, Andrew was given a banner sporting the local Lion's Club's name, a traditionally decorated Japanese fan, and wind chimes made from domestic Japanese iron. Of course, antics ensued and even though I ducked out a bit early due to 6 hours of class the next day, Jamie and Andrew stuck around for a good ol' time.

Tuesday was Hiroshi's birthday. The festivities were also a good chance for Andrew to say goodbye to several people he might never see again. Things started out at a nice little izakaya where people ate, drank, and were merry, but by the end of the night everyone migrated to karaoke.

Poor Andrew spent most of the day Wednesday finishing papers for class and packing. It was at this final moment that Andrew realized: we hadn't even been to eat sushi once! After much hurried tossing of clothes and omiyage into suitcases, we head into the city to everyone's favorite modern adaptation of an ancient Japanese food-art, kaiten-zushi. Kaiten means rotation, everyone knows what sushi means, and if you stick the two together, you get a veritable sushi-go-round! Sushi plates featuring everything from egg or pork to squid or mackerel make their way around the store via a conveyor belt that passes by booths where the customers sit. If you don't trust a dish's freshness, you can order a fresh one from the kitchen. Depending on its price, dishes' plates are color-coded and tallied at the end of the meal to give you a final total. Of course, this makes it really easy to slip a plate or two onto your unsuspecting friend's stack. Gochisou-sama deshita, Jamie-chan!

I've been doing my absolute best to try new things and put away old inhibitions when it comes to food. So, I'd been hesitating all night on whether or not to take the plunge and meet my childhood rival face-to-face in its uncooked, rice-accompanied form. After Jamie accidentally ordered two plates of salmon-sushi, I decided to swallow my pride (along with some salmon) and hope for the best. And...it was actually pretty tasty! Maybe my tastes have changed a bit over the years, or maybe only ever having mega-preserved, not-so-fresh fish in Indiana has managed to bias me. At any rate, dinner was delicious and Andrew was a happy kid.

And suddenly, it was Thursday. Since the bus was leaving at 8:30 a.m. sharp, a bunch of us met up at the local Mister Donuts that morning to officially see Andrew off. Andrew was happy that Tatsuki, Hiroshi, Kunitaka, Mai, and Eri all made it out. The girls made a pretty neat photo album for Andrew to remind him of all the good times he'd had in Aizu over the past 3 months. Even though we're all living together when we get back to school, I swear Jamie was going to cry at one point (but he'll deny it 'til the end!) Andrew stayed stoic throughout the whole affair, but I dunno if I'm going to be able to handle myself that well when my time comes 'round.

Speaking of which, ticket prices dictate that the return flight is most likely to be somewhere 'round the end of August. Sure, that means I'm going to have almost no time before classes start up again, but that also means less time for me to sit around and mope about not being in Japan.

Enough about the end...I've still got 2 months left and plenty of traveling to be done!