It could be worse, really, but it still makes me sad. It's that my district has only 6 exchange students right now (5 are new, 1 came earlier), and so everyone is far away from each other. In other exchanger-rich areas like Kanazawa and Sendai, etc, they can meet more frequently and hang out. Not here. The closest person to me is at least 1.5 hours away or so, and it can get very lonely. I like my school and stuff, but I'm still having issues with the language barrier (of course, I've only been here 3 weeks), so it's hard to talk to the students. I've been working hard on my Japanese, but there's a point at which my brain fizzles out and needs a break. At that point you could probably say things I know perfectly well by now in Japanese, and I still probably wouldn't understand. I really am just dying to talk to the other exchangers- right now, they're the ones I have the most in common with, the ones who understand what all of this is like. We have a meeting near the end of this month, which is great, but for now, oh well. The good thing about all of this is that I think I'm progressing well with Japanese, and I AM making friends at school. I'm really thankful for the students who have been so patient with me and my attempts to speak with them- they're the ones I know will be good friends :)
And GOSH I can't believe I've been here for almost 3 weeks. It feels like I've been here so much longer and so much less at the same time. There are still times when the feeling of "Holy Jeezus, I'm in Japan?!" hits me out of nowhere. It's a little bit disorienting ^^ And these past few days, I've been working so hard on, well, EVERYTHING that I'm pretty much endlessly tired and hungry and thirsty. The fact that I'm getting regular exercise (I know, wow) and that it's really hot here could have something to do with it, but ya know ;) I am SO glad I have a 2 day weekend this weekend as opposed to 1 day. SLEEP SLEEP (movies) SLEEP!!!
Talk to ya'll laters! Jaa ne!
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I know I'm not an exchanger, but you can call and talk to me ANY time. I would LOVE to talk with you! I love you!
ReplyDeleteYou'll keep making new friends, baby. And the language barrier will, believe it or not, become less an issue sooner than you think. It's like... you'll hit a wall with your studies, get frustrated a bit, and then one day you'll make a big jump in understanding that you didn't expect. That's the way it goes.
ReplyDeleteI know it's lonely for you at times. But always remember that you've got family and friends, though half a world away, who think about you all the time... and who are proud as punch of you.
Call mom.. call me... heck, I'd say call Tim, but you know how he is about answering.
Hang in there, Teresa. It's been three weeks, like you say. Just think of how far you've come in that short period of time. You're doing way better than ever I could have done!
I love you!
You are such a terrific writer; I really get a kick out of your blogs... even when you're feeling sad and blue. You are awesome, brave, courageous and bold, and long may your story be told! (I think I stole those last few words from the Wyatt Earp theme song on TV... wonder if you've ever heard of him?)
ReplyDeletefrom Barb in N'ville