These are transcribed entries from the journal I am writing in at school. I started the journal for a number of reasons, one of the main ones being that I didn’t have internet yet so I couldn’t post things online. The other being that I had free time on my hands. These entries are slightly modified, but mostly for grammar. I suppose you’d never know either way. Surprisingly, I had way more to say than I thought. Unsurprisingly, I have been bad (abysmal) at keeping my online entries up to date with my written ones. Someday, the dates will match but for now…These are the voyages of a long time ago in a galaxy far far away:

May 12, kayobi (Tuesday)
I'm looking forward to writing in my journal now. Its a nice way to break the tedium of the day, and I feel like its a small refuge from the Japanese language. Most of the time I spend at school I spend studying the language, and the rest of the time I am immersed in it: trying to understand teachers, trying it understand students, trying to read the daily schedule. Not only is the whole ordeal (and by ordeal I mean daily life/my job, lol) tiring, sometimes it makes my brain hurt. It also can be very frustrating when I realize that there is such a mountain to climb. I'll get excited about learning 10 or 20 words in a day (today it was the colors and the frist 10 kanji characters that 1st graders learn) only to be bombarded by the dozens - hundreds, thousands! - of words I haven't even begun to learn, spoken at a speed I can't even comprehend. I still need to learn to say "a bit more slowly please." (on an odd note, I'm pretty sure I can ask someone to speak more quickly: hayaku hanashite kudasai)

But in my journal I get to write unadulterated, unfettered English. Not Engrish, not sentence fragments, no repetition needed, no self-censorship for vocab and structure. (Ok, but I still can use sentence fragments if I want) I can use whatever vocabulary I want without having to worry about simple synonyms and syntax.

Speaking of real English things - or as one of my first years, ichinensei, says "America:..." (when she means "in English") - I found the gaijin ultimate team in Tokyo, and they look pretty legit. Their team name is Iku, which is a Japanese verb that means "to go." In Japanese slang, iku also means "to cum." Kind of crude, but very ultimate frisbee. Also, I'm pretty sure that they are a good team, because, well, they have their own website. Not only that, but on their website, they say that they have been placing in the top 4-5 spots at tourneys with over twenty teams: yes please! They even have a sister (read: B) team named Kuru, which means "to come" in Japanese. Like I said, very ultimate frisbee. I think they pass initial inspection,and I'm now super excited about playing with them. They have pick-ups on Sundays in a part of Tokyo that is about 2.5 hours and 1500 yen away by train. More money but only 1.5 hours away by car. (Because by car, you have to cross this really epic bridge/tunnel that costs about 2000 yen each way) I've decided that if I can be thrifty this week, I will go to check it out, maybe even buy cleats for the occasion.

Even more exciting, mixed nationals is on the 30th of this month. My hope and dream is that if I play my cards right, I can find my way on to one of these teams, or really any team, and play at the tourney. That would be beyond bomb. So, here comes a week of curry rice, tonkatsu, water, and gin (meh, its the only alcohol I have in the fridge, and I already bought it) with dreams of frisbee for desert.