Well this week was the beginning of a lot of things. First off the semester has started as I said below. I am in my Japanese class from 9 am to 12:30 pm Monday-Friday. There are about 10 of us in the class. Half of us are from the US, with the rest being from France, Germany, Scotland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Some people went to regular Japanese, while some choose to come to intensive. I think by Monday we will be set on who is in the class as people are still deciding on what to do.
So far I really enjoy it. I feel like we are going at a pretty good pace and we spend a good amount on each grammar point. We generally do about 2 to 3 grammar points a day plus kanji. This does not seem like a lot, but considering we did a complete chapter in three days and have had two test so far we are making pretty rapid progress. I also have three teachers who are assigned to our class on certain days, which is nice because you do not get tired of the same person up there the whole time. The teachers are really funny and seem to enjoy what they are doing. Also the class as a whole seems to be doing well and at times is very entertaining, I think this is the most I have laughed in a class in a long time.
The only down side to class was that a guy from our dorm was sitting by me and he has such a negative attitude. I would want to do the dialogues with him and he would just put his head down and sleep or he would be text messaging. I think there is something else going on with him, but his attitude was really making my experience a crappy one. What complicated things even more is that the tables and the space between the tables is so small that once you are sitting by the wall you are pretty much stuck there so I was pretty much cornered. Another guy from my dorm, Matt from George Mason University, just joined the class yesterday so today I made it a point to sit somewhere else and told Matt to sit by me. The day went by so much nicer sitting next to Matt and others who really want to learn Japanese and have a positive attitude. It made the day go by so quick.
I know most of the kanji and some of the vocabulary, but the grammar has been stuff I have forgotten or never really understood. The only problem is that at the dorms all of the foreign students revert to Japanese, which is not very helpful. Some of us try to speak in Japanese, but we always revert back to English. Also Japanese people always want to talk to you in English so they can practice. It drives me nuts.
Work has started and so far so good. Basically, James, my boss, only has like two students who he gives English lessons too. However, there is a guy, Kotaki-san, who uses James’ office space to conduct his own English classes and I am sub-contracted out to this guy to help him. I spent about 3 hours reviewing papers that students have written. Some were rather long and discussed complicated issues. Reviewing these took forever and I think the Kotaki-san was hoping I would go through it faster. But, some of these sentences need to be completely reworked and it was just more difficult then eh thought. I think he just wants a native speaker who can listen and edit things. In the future he wants me to make small presentations so that students can hear a native speaker. Next week I am listening to some audio recordings of his students and making comments about them.
This job will easily give me my 10 or so hours I want a week. One problem that I am facing is that I have to spend a lot of money on food. Even though they provide 2 meals a day, I normally have to buy lunch and when I work I do not make it back in time for dinner so there is another meal I need to buy. Also they do not provide meals on Sunday and on holidays, which seems to be every Monday. There is no really any fridge space so most of us eat ramen or other things. I do eat at a local ramen shop a lot, but I am trying to cut back. The one thing that is nice is that if you go to 7-11 after 11pm the bento lunch boxes are 50% off. I am going to grab one after I am done writing this. I also think I am losing weight as some of my pants are starting to get really loose. Also it does not seem like I am getting enough protein and I am starting to get sick of eat rice for 2 meals a day. I don't mind having the miso soup twice a day, but the white rice everyday is starting to get to me.
Also does anyone know if fake crab has protein? Or is there no real value to eating it other then the fact that you think its crab?
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2 comments:
Hey Tom,
Hang in there! I'm glad that you removed yourself for the negative in your class. Press on, as they say! :)
Twyla :)
I found this info. on imitation crab. I hope it helps.
Imitation crab is made of minced pollack, blended with many other ingredients. Things like sugar, sorbitol, wheat, egg whites, and vegetable or soybean oil are often used to mimic crab's natural texture. Flavorings extracted from real crab or from boiled shells are also used to make the faux fish taste authentic. As for the nutritional content of imitation crab, 4 ounces of the stuff has about 110 calories, 1g of fat, and 17g of protein (btw, real crab contains around 125 calories, 1.5g of fat, and 25g of protein in 4 ounces). As you can see, the nutritional stats for the imitation and real crab are very similar. Just like the real deal, the imitation crab is low in fat and calories, and is high in protein. And, of course, it's a lot cheaper and more convenient to prepare than real crab.
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