happy birthday and congratulations to me
i passed the level 2 japanese proficiency exam and the only way i can communicate to you how truly awesome that is is by using way too many exclamation points!!! level 2 is ridiculously hard as it requires memorizing at least 1,000 kanji and grammar that is impossible to remember because it never comes up in everyday conversation. very few exchange students at kobejogakuin have attempted it. my teacher tried to discourage me from taking it more than once and was convinced i would fail. i had to study for 3 months nonstop. only 3 people (including me) have ever passed level 2, 2 of whom were korean, making me the only caucasian EVER at kobejogakin to have passed the test! CONGRATULATE ME!!!
before starting this entry i went down the list and emailed practically everyone i know in japan to tell them the good news (god, i sound like a jehovah's witness), including my host mother at the hiratos. she saw firsthand how hard i studied for the exam and actually drove me to the test site (i could have easily taken the train and walked from the station just like everybody else). afterwards she picked me up and we stopped at an upscale bakery to buy cakes and tarts to celebrate.
man oh man have i got some stories to tell you guys about my host mother. she is hands down the sweetest woman i have ever met. i am determined to introduce pat to her someday. the day i left japan she confided in me that her 10-year-old son thinks that out of all the exchange students they've hosted over the years (i can't even tell you how many) i have worked the hardest. for me that was more satisfying than actually passing the test. but don't get me wrong - i am bouncing off the walls i'm so excited!
it's been 21 days since i last updated. i'm already here, so i should probably update.
first, here are the rest of the pictures from jackie's birthday party. i finally got them developed. the pictures i took at byerly's are grainy. sorry. i wasn't thinking.
at the sheep and llama farm:
my 18th birthday was february 25th! now not only do you have to congratulate me, but you have to wish me a happy (belated) birthday.
i had prepared myself for only a so-so birthday, but despite the fact that no plans were made in advance i actually had a lot of fun.
the night before, di and i threw a "your mom's not dead" party for jackie because her mom successfully had a brain tumor removed. the three of us plus carl celebrated at IHOP, where di and jackie did raspberry syrup shots (i don't know either). after dinner they flagged down the waitress and before i knew it there were like 10 waiters/waitresses clapping and singing off-key. i hid by buring my face in di's cleavage and did not look up until the singing had stopped. at least i got a free ice cream sundae out of the deal.
i dressed up for my birthday. i wore a black bodice, a jean jacket, a designer skirt straight from japan, and a pair of black strappy heels. i even used the purse jackie made for me as a welcome home present. i didn't take a picture (well, actually i did, but i've since deleted it) so you'll just have to believe me when i say that i looked SEXY.
di picked me up around 7 a.m. and gave me a balloon. here's a picture i took of it with my webcam when it was still in its prime:
and another picture taken with my cellphone:
surprisingly enough it is still flying high.
anyway, di handed me the balloon while quoting one of my favorite scenes from napoleon dynamite: "i caught you a delicious bass." i laughed for like 10 minutes straight.
di, matt and i had breakfast at caribou, the midwest's answer to starbucks. every day caribou has a new trivia question and if you get it right you get 10 cents off your drink. the question on my birthday was, "what is wasabi?"
during my first month in japan i was very diligent about asking what each and every food on my plate was, but eventually it got to the point where i just couldn't take it anymore and i gave up. sometimes i wished i hadn't asked; sometimes i looked it up in my japanese-english dictionary and i couldn't find it; sometimes i could find it and i still didn't know what it was. now i only ask about dishes that i especially like.
i do, however, know what wasabi is: horse radish paste. bam!
before school i showed jackie my delicious bass. she took one look at my outfit and said, "why are you so dressed up today?" and i said, "because it's my birthday." wow.
halfway through 1st hour seniors were excused for class portraits. i sat next to a boy in special ed. who is well known for asking out any girl who so much as looks at him.
my japanese teacher and her intern threw a small party for me 4th hour. 7 or 8 of my friends came. there was sushi, green tea, and a pink gellatinous dessert. i don't remember what it's called but it was sweet and mild and tasted a little like anko (sweet bean paste). with the exception of di everyone was extremely suspicious of it. di and i had to convince them that it was tasty. eventually they all came around and actually liked it. i don't get why americans are so afraid of japanese food! jesus christ, it's not going to kill you to have one bite. the worst that will happen is that you won't like it and you'll have to spit it out. grow up!
after school i had piano lessons. once they were over, di and matt picked me up and resa's head popped up from behind the back seat, where she had been hiding. before i left for piano lessons resa and i had been chatting online and she said that james was on his way to pick her up from college. so when i called di later and she said that james had had a fight with his parents and resa had no idea when she would be getting home, i was suspicious but believed it. that's how james' parents are. needless to say i didn't believe a word di said after that.
the four of us ate out at p.b.loco, a store that specializes in all things peanut butter. di, who is very adventurous when it comes to food, had a PBLT sandwich with sun-dried tomato peanut butter, bacon bits, lettuce, and cream cheese. surprisingly it was delicious and all of us were envious.
then i had a pep band to go to. oftentimes there are so many percussionists that i have to fight for a snare drum, but this time i made it clear to the freshmen that i was going to play the whole game.
when my band teacher found out it was my birthday he was surprised i was spending it at a pep band. i told him that my friends were coming to kidnap me after halftime and he was perfectly okay with it. sure enough, di and resa showed up during halftime. then it was off to the HOL (house of lan - nick's lan center), where i got my birthday bawls and DDR'd. my skirt was too constricting to play, so bill lent me his pants and walked around in his boxers instead. i had to borrow di's belt just to keep the jeans from falling to the floor. i also rolled them up to my thighs so i wouldn't trip. luckily i didn't get the chance to see myself in a mirror. i'm sure i looked ridiculous.
jackie showed up later on. shortly thereafter we went to di's house, minus resa, who had already made plans with james. i don't remember what we did at di's, except that i got a back massage and that i made faces at jackie to make her laugh. i made faces at her when no one else was looking. i told her that the next time a friend informs her that his/her parents have just died i'm going to make a face at her without the friend knowing and she's going to burst out laughing.
i got home around midnight. di kicked us out early because she had to wake up at 6 the next morning for japan bowl, a japanese language competition. i stayed up past 2 or 3 talking to pat on the phone.
all in all, a nice birthday.
p.s. to jackie: this is all i have to say to you:
