Interlude 4: Kazoku

Well, I am happy to report that today's speaking test definitely seemed (note I'm saying SEEMED) to go better than the last ones. I blame my lack of familiarity with the testing procedure for my problems on the first speaking exam. Taking my time, thinking through each answer carefully, and then answering with the appropriate response worked a lot better this time around than blurting out the first thing that came to mind and hoping somehow the Shinto gods would turn it into competent Japanese. The one thing I dislike about this testing procedure is that it discourages creativity, and this is true for one very important reason:

They are evaluating your speaking ability, and the more you speak, the more mistakes you're gonna make.

Japanese people are raised on "cram and spitback" procedural exams, not on creative answers. So creatively answering a question and trying to speak more Japanese than required will only screw you over in the end. That's what class is for, not the tests. This makes sense when looking at things from a Japanese mindset and I probably should have anticipated something like that would occur.

I played hookie this afternoon (yeah, I know) in order to pack and prepare to move to my host family's house. Admittedly I was worried sick because I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into, how far away they would be from the school, what kind of commute I'd have to take to get there, etc... plus I wanted to make sure I didn't accidentally leave anything in the room. After packing up and getting picked up, I was moved into the host family's home, a few miles away from the school and a 10-minute ride by train.

The family is wonderful. The grandmother is very nice and seemed relieved that I could speak Japanese. According to her, the last student that was hosted by them could not speak a word of Japanese and didn't really want to use the stuff she was taught in class in order to communicate, instead relying on English and hand signs. I must look like a superstar to them.

The parents are both very nice. The mother is a housewife and the father works at Mitsubishi Motors. Pretty typical Japanese arrangement. They are in their early 40's and own what I think is a VERY nice house by Japanese standards. It's very tall, and each floor is relatively small in size (similar to the big game centers in Tokyo). Each floor has one or two rooms only and a small, narrow staircase leading to yet another floor. There are at least four floors in this place but I'm only going where I've been shown out of courtesy.

The 6-year-old daughter, though she appeared nervous when first meeting me, is not shy. Gaijin that are the size of Godzilla apparently don't scare her, as it only took me an hour of being here before she popped into my room with her fashion game on her DS and started talking to me. She is Japanese cuteness personified and I think I'm going to learn quite a bit of Japanese from just talking with her and the others in the house. I am told that the others that stayed here were mostly otaku, so I'm going to do my best to make sure that I leave a good impression of both Yamasa and Ameritaku (yes I just made that up and I'm keeping it) by the time I leave. I'm very much looking forward to what is going to be a life-changing experience for me.

はじめまして！　　＾＿＾