Doing My Best to Learn Japanese

Hello! I should have posted sooner, but didn't get apartment wide wi-fi until yesterday! I guess I could have posted from my phone, but I didn't want to, so I didn't. With this blog, I'm not totally sure what to post, so I want to ask- what sort of stuff do you guys want to read about? I don't know if I'll have an answer, but I can see!

Anyway, today's post topic is something that's been worrying me since I came to Ashikaga. I came to live and work here without really knowing any Japanese. So far, people have been really kind and helpful, so it hasn't been so bad, but I feel like I want to get from where I am to at least the level where I can order at a restaraunt or ask questions at a store. The girl who ran the fitting room at Uniqlo today stayed really pleasant and perky, even as she realized that I had no idea what was going on, but I want to avoid that sort of thing as much as possible.

Until yesterday, I took some really basic lessons at the Ashikaga International Association, which was really helpful. I learned some pretty simple things, like how to tell time and dates, count money and pay for things, and how to describe where buildings are. I need to study a lot in order to remember all of this, but I'll get there. My favorite thing about lessons, though, was that my teacher was really nice, very helpful, and put up with my constant digressions. Plus, she kept giving me food, which I always appreciate.

Early on, she gave me the above gift- some soba tea, which sounds weird, but is really refreshing, rice crackers, and pineapple cookies. On our last lesson day, though, probably because I'd come in the day before exhausted from biking in the heat, she presented me with this, a big chunk of watermelon and matching pink blood orange flavored Orangina:

I tried to reciprocate with small gifts of candy and a handmade dishcloth, but I don't think I quite returned the favor. As slow as I was in class, I really felt overwhelmed by how kind she was to me! I feel like I need to study the material from that class hard to prove that I didn't just take the snacks and run.

With those lessons over, though, I think that I'm going to take one of the Ashikaga International Association's weekly night classes. Online materials are helpful, but even if I didn't learn perfectly, it was a lot better to try and talk to someone in the Japanese that I was learning.

Aside from that, though, I also need to learn how to read the language to get by. So far, I've been working on a never-ending workbook to learn hiragana and katakana, which I hope to finally be done with in the next few days. When that's over with, though, I bought myself a super classy kanji learning workbook that I'm pretty sure is intended for first graders.

I'm pretty sure that this book is still going to be slightly past my level, but I am determined to get through it. I mean, look at that cat on the front! That's a corporate mascot who is concerned for my well-being. She's so excited about learning kanji that even though she seems to be freakishly large, she is not using this advantage to eat the cartoon birds that surround her or destroy the nearby house. Most cartoon cats don't have that sort of restraint. With the help of this friendly, pastel workbook, I will learn at least a few kanji.

For today, that's all, but I hope to post again soon! I'm having a lot of fun here so far, and have a lot of nonsense to talk about. I just need to decide which nonsense to focus on for any given post.