Wow .......... it really has been quite a while, huh?

Sorry about that, but like I said I was very busy and then I didn't really feel like writing anything. I still don't really feel like typing right now, .... for no special reason!!
Anyway I'll try (^-^)>

Quite a lot of pleasant and not so pleasant things happened at work. There will be some huge changes it seems.
I don't wanna talk about that today, though, and will write about it some other time instead :)

Last week we had the "tea party" I was talking about in one of my previous entries.
In short: 1 "native" English teacher + 1 Japanese teacher + #xxx mothers of students + a lot of cake, tea, cookies etc.
It was the first time we did that. It was in the morning before working time (~ 2pm), so it was a little bit tiresome to work from 11am-10pm 2 days in a row. I was the only one who (had to) join(ed) both days!!!
On the other hand it was a really nice experience. It was free for the mothers. They were invited to come and talk to us teachers and ask any questions they might have or even just have a random conversation with us. We didn't know how that would end, but in the end it was really nice ^-^



As it was the first time not really many mothers came, but that was all the better because this way we were able to really talk intensively :)
Somehow all the conversations ended up to be in Japanese. While I understood almost everything I always was afraid of answering things in Japanese because I don't wanna be impolite while using the wrong .. politeness level and stuff and I SUCK AT SPEAKING OR OUTPUTTING JAPANESE!!!!



Due to those conversations I started thinking about what I came here for and what the hell I'm doing every day. The mothers were surprised (in a positive way) when they heard that I basically spend my whole time studying Japanese. On the other hand I'm almost 30 years now and ..... all I do is sit around in my apartment and study Japanese ... every.single.day!!!!
What did I come here for again?
On the other hand I'm pretty sure I would (at least try to) do the same thing back home as well. But WHY am I in JAPAN again??? ... I'm not sure if I'm wasting my "precious" life-time or not. Well, of course studying Japanese is what I want to do and becoming fluent is one of my big dreams, but life is not just JAPANESE, right??? But with a full-time job AND my studies there's NOTHING left!!! Nothing else I can do! Of course there are other things I'd like to do .... things I maybe only can do while I'm still younger while studying I could also do when I'm older .... sometimes I really don't know what to do anymore.
Of course it's a tiny problem and I'm very happy to be given the chance to study before work etc., BUT ...... I'm allowed to worry about these things, right???
It's especially frustrating, because lately I don't feel any progress anymore. I know it's normal once you've reached a certain level, but it's FRUSTRATING!!! (x___x) ... *sigh*
I still can't produce any output. If you give me something to translate INTO Japanese I wouldn't be able to do it. It's so ridiculous!!! I've done a few more mock tests for the JLPT.
While I even can pass the vocab/kanji section of level 1(!!!!), I still have some problems with the grammar of level 3(!!!!!!!) and 2 is killing me!!!!!
Maybe grammar and "output" ability in general is really something you just CAN'T learn all by yourself.
My plan to go to a Japanese language school full-time is not really .... something I'm considering anymore. Mainly because I don't wanna spend THAT MUCH money on such a school. Maybe I should try and find a private Japanese tutor here in my small city who can correct essays I write or whatever. I really don't know what to do anymore. Sometimes it's really frustrating!! I feel I'm stuck!
I can't even write Hiragana and Katakana properly while kanji is no problem! This is so fucked up! (-___-'')>


Sorry about that rant ...

In other news I have to start planning my long awaited winter vacation !!!! Yay!!! (^______^)v
I haven't been travelling in Japan since APRIL!!! (O_________O)> ..... It's about time, huh????
As much as I'd love to go to Tokyo again, this time I wanna spent my winter at a warmer place! I yet need to decide where to go, though.
SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!!!!
One of my coworkers is sooooo sweet!! When she heard that I'm gonna spent "omisoka" (31st) and "shougatsu") (1st) alone she invited me to join her and her family!! I'm very tempted to accept her kind offer :)
Although that means I'll lose a few days of my winter vacation which is probably from December 29th to January 6th, I think it might be nice and interesting ^-^
Her family lives in Fukuoka, so wherever I go it'll be from Fukuoka to ...?
Actually I only have 2 things on my list right now: Okinawa and Kyuushuu!
I've already been to a few cities in Kyuushuu, though: Kokura, Kagoshima, Nagasaki and Kumamoto.
Anything you could recommend that might also be INTERESTING IN WINTER??????? And for only 5-6 days????? Is it stupid to go to Okinawa in winter??? AAAHHHH!!! *headdesk*


And because I haven't done it in a while some snack photos ^-^



I found some cheese that actually was not SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXPENSIVE (aka below 10$ x_X ....)
The blue cheese tastes horrible, though ;____; ...... I'm usually a huge fan of blue cheese, though.



On the left: mochi snack I got as an omiyage from one of my conversation students ^-^ ... have yet to eat it!!
On the right: a really yummie vegetable-fruit-juice! :)



The marron snack was disappointing :/ ..... the choco cookies are okay, but not as good as the same stuff from another brand I used to eat in Germany :/


Poupéegirl



Yes, I like apples! XD But the reason I'm posting this pic is the watch!



The cool thing about this is that it shows the actual time and it moves just like a real watch! Awesome! XD



Today's outfit. It actually helped as it didn't rain today XD .... if I knew that I could have done my laundry (　´_ゝ｀) .......
That umbrella was quite expensive (x_X) ....

Okay, that's all folks!