日曜日 Sunday

Today was not all that eventful(as in no planned events) but I want to try and start being more diligent about writing my observances. So here we go:

It being a Sunday, I got up about 8 or so and went to 9am Mass. Today was the first day I remembered to bring my Bible with me so that I wouldn't have to rely on my own mental translation of the Readings. At Mass here I feel like a total foreigner, I can only understand the what is going on if it is written in front of me and even that is a stretch. However, I have all the responses down and timing for a lot of things figured out. The Homily, for now, is completely beyond my understanding because the priest speaks at rate of speed equivalent to a machine gun. Having been here in Japan for over 2 months now, I am quite surprised at how much I can actually understand at Mass. The first day, on the other hand, at Mass here in Japan was quite entertaining for all those around me at Mass, or so I think.

With the exception of going to the Machi with Ouji it was a pretty ordinary Sunday afternoon and evening. I did things like clean my room (haven't done that in a week or so), the laundry, cooked chicken for supper, and studied for the JLPT level 1 and for one of my classes.

Okay, to make a start. "The Machi" is what we term the downtown section of shizuoka. It's literally machi(町) which means town, but that is beside the point. Not a lot there, except stores and restaurants. Okay, so the fact the place is almost always packed on the weekends should tell you that it is actually kind of the place to be. Today, however, the crowds seemed worse than usual. The only reason for that I can think of is that it's the Christmas Season here. That means commercialism here in Japan. Since it is mostly just born from the Japanese perspective of America's Celebration style there is almost no religious aspect at all. The streets in the Machi here are lined with many "Merry Christmas" decorations and, yes they are written in English. Occasionally you see a Christmas tree or something. Regrettably, Japan's idea of Christmas is the near reverse of America's view. Christmas is for the couples to go out together while on the other hand New Years is the Family(sometimes friends) Holiday. Or at least that's what I am told, I will find out soon I suppose.

Well, returning to visit upon a very important question, why go to the machi? Today I went to return a video I had rented and to join Ouji in shooting things at the local arcade. We play TimeCrisis4. We've got it down to a science, well not really but we do go in there with one goal. In order to not spend too mcuh money, we play on 5 credits each and see how long we can last. Thus far we have only made it halfway once. Today was entertaining though. We had an audience. A group of about 5-6 kids gathered around and watched us. Nothing like watching two foreigners, talk in Japanese while shooting things....? Wow, I bet we were actually kind of entertaining now that I think about it. I get kind of theatrical with the gun aiming and shooting occasionally. For example when there are no enemies I might turn the gun sideways and hold it with one hand and act like I am cocking it with the other. That and when Ouji and I are successful on a mission we give eachother a high five. I wonder how normal that behavior is here in Japan.

Just so you know that it is not all fun and games, Ouji and I returned to the dorms after that and studied together for the JLPT. It's a standardized test that is related showing proficiency in Japanese. If you can pass level one you have fulfilled on criterion for getting a job in Japan. Our goal is to be able to take the test a year from now, so we picked a really difficult book to study from. 　Wish us luck!!

That's all for my Sunday life, at least today...

えっと。。。
今日はちょっと普通過ぎたと思うんだけど　
教会へミサに参加しに行った　　初めての日で　僕の英語の聖書を持って行ったんだけど　まだ　ホミリー（homily）が　全然分からない。
王子と僕は「町」へゲームをしに行った　　僕達はTimeCrisis4というゲームをするのを見る為に　子供達が集めた。　すごく面白かったんだけど　まだ上手じゃない。。。
「町」はクリスマスの装飾「装飾」がいっぱい　飾っている！　　でも　宗教の関係があまり無いので　日本のクリスマスの祝い方はちょっと残念だと思うけど　すごくきれい！　 ゲームしたあと　帰ってから　日本能力試験　一級のために　べんきょうした。
そして　今日僕は　洗濯したり　部屋を掃除したり　若鶏を焼いたり　した。
それは今の日曜日の生活。　　じゃあね。