Golden Week In Japan

Well, the holidays are here in Japan. This Monday, for most people (since some people don`t actually start the holiday until Wednesday-such as myself), is the beginning of Golden Week in Japan. I am going to do a homestay program where they put me with a Japanese family for 3 days (starting this Wednesday I think) and I observe the daily Japanese life. That should be interesting I think. I kind of wish that I would not have signed up for the program a little because I wanted to go to Shiraishi Island and visit my favorite writer for the Japan Times (who has send me, and any of her readers for that matter, an invitation to the island. I will have to use a regular weekend to do it I think. For the homestay program I am going to a city named Tsu. I am told that it is an average Japanese city. I have not seen my host family yet (strange, because all of the other people who decided to do the homestay program received a photo of the people that they would be staying with-but I was told that the family that I would be staying with has been decided). It should be fun I think, and even if I completely embarrass myself their should be some interesting stories to tell. Golden Week is the longest holiday in Japan from what I understand. It is actually several holidays strung together to make one large holiday. My birthday in American is on the 4th of May, but in Japanese time that would probably be the 5th of May, which is Kodomo No Hi (Childrens Day). I will be at my host families home from the 3rd to the 5th I think.
So how was my week??????????? Well, this is a difficult question to answer. I have trouble falling asleep at night sometimes, so during a couple of classes I was not thinking very well and I was having trouble with simple Japanese (which I have been able to speak for years). However, I got alot of sleep the other day and I was understanding alot more than I normally do (and that was good).
Today I met with a girl who is going to do language exchange with me (i.e. We speak in English for an hour and then we speak in Japanese for an hour). I also me with the person from the Japanese partnership program again and his wife. We spoke for about 3.5 hours.
Yesterday was a good day. I had basketball practice and I am almost back on my game. I did not have trouble keeping up with anyone this time (I think I hurt my leg a little-I`m getting old). The tall Japanese person that I was talking about in a previous article is actually an interesting guy. He is a bit younger than I am, but he wants to be a medical doctor. Getting in to medical school in Japan is very difficult I am told (it is the same in America ofcourse). My friend from the lab, Shaq as I call him, is actually a very good basketball player as well.

There are some small things that bother me in class. I don`t like the teacher looking over my sholder and I don`t like the other students looking at what I am doing (they are all Cambodians except for Paul(from Equador) and Donney(from Indonesia). I am sure that the Cambodians mean no harm, but that laugh at every single mistake that anyone makes (I make many Japanese gramatical errors when I don`t have enough sleep, but when I do get enough sleep I usually don`t make any). I find this kind of rude. Although, it is probably different because of culture I think, so I will continue to over look it. About Japan, there is nothing that really bothers me here yet. Although, when I am walking (I usually walk with my head looking at the ground) I can see out of the corner of my eye people looking at me. People looked at me in America to, but probably for different reasons. I don`t think that really bothers me. There are alot of foreigners in Nagoya, so I don`t think that I am such an unusual sight, although my friend Shaq told me that I am the first foreign friend he has had.
I kind of caught myself doing something that I don`t remember ever doing in America with my friends. I was making fun of another American that goes to school here (although I have never met him). I was wrong of course to do this. The other American sticks out alot more than myself I think. Japanese people rarely wear shorts and a friend of mine made a comment about Americans always wearing shorts. Ofcourse I said that this is not true, but then out of the corner of my eye, someone wearing a bright yellow short sleeve shirt (on a cool day) and a pair of shorts (that are popular in America) walked past. Ofcourse this made me look as if I did not know what I was talking about. It should also be noted that, for the most part, I have not noticed any Japanese people wearing bright cloths, always something that does not grab the eye`s attention. Sorry.
I think over golden week I will tour some of Nagoya (I want to buy a camera first so I can post the pictures to my blog if I ever get around to it). Tomorrow I meet with my group and professors to discuss my research process. That will be interesting I think. I think that things are about to become busy. I have homework to do before class tomorrow, so as always I have the quote of the day (and next article will have the quote of the month).

I am not sure where this nursery ryme comes from (but it is fun):

"Their once was a lady named Bright, whose speed was far faster than light.
She departed one day, in a relative way, and returned the previous night."

(It`s a ryme about relativity-If you travel faster than the speed of light you go back in time-But, one cannot travel faster than light, it is forbidden.)

also, one more (I have long since forgotten the author):

"I sleep away the years in my puney cosmos, while I should be dusting the stars."

See you later. Ja, Matta Ne