Xuebing Du
#extradirty
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Today's Document
EXPECTATIONS
Misplaced Lens Cap
Not today Justin
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
Show & Tell
we're not kids anymore.
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
Jules of Nature
The Stonewall Inn
titsay
roma★
Love Begins
Game of Thrones Daily
Origami Around
d e v o n
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Bangladesh
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from Malta
seen from Poland
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from South Korea
seen from Indonesia
seen from Germany
seen from Italy
seen from Türkiye
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Argentina
seen from France
@ryejapan
the promised aquarium pics! i took more videos than pics so i decided to make a few of them into gifs. also the first pic is the sunfish! i spent like 20 or 30 minutes chilling by them while my host parents checked out other marine life because I just really love watching them swim.
9/28/16 i feel live ive been really making a breakthrough with my japanese because of my classes, its great. im understanding more and more every day and can see myself regularly communicating comfortably within a couple months. that might sound like a lot but it feels like a blessing as i wasnt expecting that point to come until well past the 6 months in. over the weekend i visited the osaka aquarium with my host parents, it was amazing! i got to meet my favourite kind of fish: sunfish! i will post pics of that after this. going to the aquarium transformed a mere desire to try scuba diving into more of a demand. ive been looking into it since arrival but its been hard to find much. my prefecture has world famous dive spots and scuba diving is very popular in the south, but i live inland in the north so people here dont care as much, and googling info is very difficult since...you know, japanese. last night i finally made a breakthrough though thanks to a post on an obscure diving forum from 2006. now i am having a teacher who dives help me out with solidifying plans to join a class in osaka. I just have to find somebody else who is interested, since I cant go into Osaka alone....So far, none of my school or exchange student friends have stepped forward, but i plan on being fairly annoying and persistent about this. october and november are the best months for diving, so I wanna get this show on the road. A few days ago i told my friend that I wanted to go to Universal studios sometime soon with her. Since there are exams, i figured we would start planning in the next couple weeks once my friends are done staying up until 3 every night studying and have time to breathe. however, they went together and decided to come up with a plan! so, next weekend i will be going to USJ with them to celebrate finishing exams. im thrilled. i have had a dire need to go shopping for school supplies, but i've been terrified to go shopping alone and didn't want to ask anybody because, again, exam prep. but today my friend mentioned to me she had a few hours of free time before cram school began, so i asked if she wanted to go shopping. and so we went! it was raining super hard so i got sooooo soaked. walking around the store i felt like a zoo animal, everybody was staring at the soaked gaijin. it was also really funny because at the store we ran into my host dad. it was super random, my friend was really flustered and it was adorable anyway, ill post those pics but i have to go for dinner. i promise im trying to keep updates regular!
1 & 2: some pics of the rice fields that i took on a bike ride a few days ago...i went biking just at sunset, it was beautiful! 3-5: some pics of my friends and i from the sports festival. i'll be making a youtube video with more about the sports & cultural festivals 6: a picture of my whole class @ the sports festival tomorrow im gonna hit up the osaka aquarium with my host parents. they tried bringing me last weekend (it was a total surprise because they know im interested in marine bio, it was so sweet) but traffic was way too terrible and instead we went to harukas 300, the tallest building in osaka. this time we'll take the train so theres no worry about traffic!
9/21/16 I've been awful at updating this blog so I'm gonna try a new approach. Instead of just making monster posts every week or so I'm gonna (try to) do at least a small update daily. Even if it's literally 1 word or a photo with no context. Hopefully I'll be able to do more, but you get the idea. Anyway, today's update: The sports festival was today!Rather, part one. Yesterday there was a typhoon so there wasn't school so the schedule of the sports festival got all messed up. Tomorrow is a holiday so there's no school, and assuming the weather is permitting and my host family doesn't have any plans I will take another day trip to the coast.
9/8/17 The past couple days have been full of excitement. On Monday, I stayed home sick from school, so that's exempt from "the past couple days". Getting back to school yesterday felt SO good -- I was really starting to get cabin fever. At school I was given a schedule of the upcoming month, and it is going to be crazy. Next week is the school's culture festival, and the week after is the sports festival. Both of these are huge parts of Japanese highschool life, so they will get their own posts. Also at school, since I was recovering from illness, I had to wear a medical mask. Wearing medical masks around is very common here, as Japanese people are much more health-conscious. It has even become somewhat of a fashion trend. Wearing it was hot, but after a while I forgot I was wearing it. Yesterday I also ate lunch with another exchange student. She is Japanese and just got back from a year in America, through my same program. She invited me to come over to stay with her family for a night. I'm so stoked about it. A bonus is that her dad is Canadian, so I will be able to speak some sweet, sweet English. Last week my host parents mentioned to me a concert in Osaka that they were going to on Wednesday, and invited me to join them. I wasn't sure if they were going to let me come still since I'd been so sick, but sure enough I went along! It took probably 45 minutes to an hour to get there by car, and the drive was beautiful. I wish I'd taken pictures, but I was too busy soaking it in. We hardly walked around Osaka, just from the parking garage to the concert venue, but the little I saw was so cool. It was the cleanest city I've been in ever, and unlike here in the country people weren't staring at me everywhere. I want to go back to Osaka as soon as possible. Today at school, we were playing volleyball in gym. We have been since I got here, and I've been loving it. I heard the volleyball coach is very strict, but it is still something I am considering joining. I just need to figure out somebody I can ask so I can go and watch practice. I have a few ideas, but they're not people I see often. After school I went to English club, which was very fun. My friends from my class were there, and some of my favourite teachers. Including Elise sensei, an english teacher who is not only from America but from Appleton! The Australian student was also there, and he was talking a bit about wanting to go scuba diving at a world-famous spot in our prefecture. I had been scoping the spot out myself, looking into tours, but I was hesitant to go alone for something like that with my limited Japanese. His is far better than mine (He has been to Japan before and has studied Japanese for five years) so next time I see him, I'm gonna find out if he'd want to go with me. The only possible problem is that I'm a minor, so it may not be an option without a guardian. Halfway through English club, a group of students showed up asking for me. I didn't know any of them, except for one guy who is in my class and sits by me, but I think we have exchanged about three words before. They had somehow found out I had some interest in Kendo (who told them?) and invited me to come watch Kendo practice after English club. They were so friendly, I couldn't believe it. So, after English club they came and got me and brought me to the gym where they practice. I watched them spar for about half an hour, and it was so cool. I'd never seen any Kendo, I just knew a really little about it, but it was awesome. After they were done sparring the students all came over to me (they had set a chair out for me to watch) and tried their best to ask in English what I thought, and thanked me about a thousand times for coming. When I told them I thought it was "sugoi", they seemed so ecstatic and one of the guys told me "That makes me happy". It was such a welcoming experience. They invited me to come back on Tuesday, and said that I will be able to wear a uniform next time. Those things look hot, but I'm very excited to try one. Leaving after Kendo, I passed the gym where volleyball practice was happening. I was looking in and somebody inside recognized me and called my name. I couldn't tell who it was, but I hope they reveal theirself because something about volleyball is still just really calling to me. I have a feeling I will have a tough decision coming up. I'm only going to be able to be in one of the two clubs: Volleyball or Kendo. Most of what people have told me about voleyball suggests that it wouldn't be a good idea for me to join. But still, I can't stop my curiosity about the club and excitement about the sport. For now, I can relax though. I don't have to make that decision yet, as I haven't even attended volleyball club and though I'm going back to Kendo on Tuesday, I haven't yet made any commitments. Whichever one I do join will become my life in Japan. There is practice almost every school night and many Saturdays too. I just got home from Kendo and I left early, but it's seven. So I do need to give this a lot of thought. This got long, but this feels like a pivotal point in my exchange. The first couple weeks were exciting, but also full of jet lag and homesickness and culture shock and a killer cold. But now, I feel like I've gotten my feet back on the ground.I know that the coming weeks will be super exciting. This weekend I get to meet other Rotary exchange students from the district, and on Monday a new exchanfe student arrives at my school. Then there are the festivals, a couple holidays, and some days off school. I'm ready to plunge into all of this, and I am just so excited.
9/3/17 It seems that within a month or so of beginning their exchange, most exchange students get some sort of nasty sickness. I am among them. My host parents brought me to the doctor yesterday and I got some meds. Whatever I have, I got from my host mom who has been sick for about a week, but hopefully since I got meds right away it won't be so long for me. Today I'm gonna rest up lots. Anyway! Even the experience of going to the doctor is pretty interesting in Japan. First of all, when my host parents told me they were going to bring me, they kept telling me it was the hospital. It took a while of me internally dying to figure out that they just meant a normal doctor's office, and hospital was the only word they knew for it. Japanese Doctor's offices are so much nicer than American ones. Seriously, it was by far the nicest building I've been in since arriving here. I would have taken pictures but that felt a bit strange with other patients around. The doctor spoke a little english, however his accent was so thick that I couldn't even tell he was speaking english to me. So, my host parents became translators for us. The pharmacy was right next to the Doctor's office. We left the Doctor's office and walked about five meters to the right, and then went in and got my perscription within five minutes. Also, unlike American pharmacies, the pharmacy was just a pharmacy. No candy or snacks or cards or toys or holiday themed aisles. It was just a small building with a main desk and all the meds in the back.
August 28 2016 Info dump time! Im so bad at updating this blog, oh man. Last night my town had a festival and I got to wear a Yukata! It felt sooo fancy. The festival was so pretty, though we didnt stay for too long. Just long enough to get a bit of food (mango shaved ice, a chocolate covered banana, and some delicious chicken) then watch some sort of gun show. I dont really know what the gun show was for, but it was loud. After the festival we went back home and had a delicious barbeque. They grilled slices of meat & veggies on a super low flame and everybody got their own bowl of sauce that we put the food in. It was one of my favourite meals I've ever had. The reason we went back home is because after the festival there were fireworks, and their house could not be in a more perfect location for watching them. After seeing those fireworks, I really think America needs to step up its Firework game. Along with pics of the festival I also have a couple pictures of stuff regarding my school life! The bike is what I use to get to school every day, and thats pretty much how all Japanese bikes look. The next pics are of my classroom, that my class stays in all day, and the final ones are my school's beautiful courtyard!
8/24/2017 Here is what my daily lunch looks like! I've only had lunch at school twice so far, but both times it has been delicious. My host mom took me to the store to pick out the box, and she makes me the lunch every morning to bring. I'm still struggling with jet lag but every day it's a little better. Hopefully by this weekend I will be totally adjusted so I can sleep in a little (At least past 6) and catch up on sleep. Today will be my third day of school, and so far it's going pretty much as well as possible given that in almost all cases I have no idea what people are saying. I've already made two good friends, and one of them invited me to come to tea ceremony after school today. I will update on how that is! There's also an Australian at my school. We talked a lot on my first day but I only saw him in passing on the second day. I hope to see him more and get to talk soon. It would be very refreshing to have a full, easy conversation in English where we can both understand each other 100%. Oh also, there was fish & shrimp in dinner last night and I didn't die when eating it, so thats good. The fish wasn't my favorite thing but I could eat it, and the shrimp was in something else (only god knows what that "something" was, but it was delicious) so I couldn't taste it, but I had no problem eating it. My biggest problem/complaint right now is just that I can't understand people. It's pretty frustrating and while it does make this into a bit more of an adventure I'm already so tired of it. I was hoping that I would get a Japanese teacher or something here, but it seems I will be in all Japanese classes. I could really use some guidance or resources from someone. Since I thought I would be in a class with other exchange students (I didnt know there would be 1 Australian, I was expecting 5 or 6) I figured I'd get a Japanese textbook or something but I haven't yet. I only brought 1 book to study Japanese from just for the plane, since I thought this. And the book kinda sucks. I'm sure it will work out and it is only going to be my third day. It's beautiful and I really love it here, and I'm so excited for this year to unfold.
8/21/2016 Some photos from last night after I got to my host family's house! This already is starting to feel like home, and it hasn't even been 12 hours.
8/19/17 Im on my flight to Tokyo!!! I have 11 hours left of this flight and then a 4 hour layover in Tokyo and then I fly to Osaka to meet my parents and drive an hour or so to their house. I still have a looooong day ahead of me. I decided that during my flights and layovers I'd try initiating conversation with everybody I sat next to and so far I've succeeded. I didnt think I had it in me but its gone easier than expected. On my first flight, I was the last one on the plane because I was so hesitant about my goodbyes, and I got on while still pretty much sobbing. But I sat by a really really nice man who helped me with my (very annoying) bags and who ignored the fact that I was crying and just asked me about where I was going and why. We also talked lots about our dogs. After the flight he then guided me right to where I needed to go, because I told him I could get lost in a paper bag (a phrase accurately applied by my dad). When I got to my gate I found a group of five other exchange students on their way to Taiwan. We talked for a bit, but got split on the flight itself. I'm sitting by a couple from Florida who are going to Tokyo for a short vacation. I helped them with a few Japanese phrases and told them a bit about why i have so many gosh dang pins on my blazer. I did really doubt if I had it in me to do all this -- to pack up my room and belongings, to leave home with my dog behind, and to get onto an airplane completely alone right after saying goodbye to some of my favorite people in the world. But I did it all, and I feel surprisingly okay now. Excited, even. The goodbyes and the packing looming in the future made me forget a bit about how exciting all of this is. But now, even one half day in, I have a better understanding of what I can do and can handle. And I'm so excited to get to Tokyo and for this journey to really begin. This got really long but this is a day that I really want to remember. Plus, I know certain readers (I'm looking at you, mom and dad) will want to know every detail about whats happened so far anyway.
8/9/16 i was terrible and didn't update in a while again when I probably should have, but hey! I have kind of an excuse! I was out of state for about three weeks. Thats not much of one though considering this blog was made to talk about my year abroad. Anyway, it turns out that I'm actually leaving on the 19th! I found this out a while ago now, but it's kinda shocking considering that's only ten days away. Ten days. Man, I have a lot to do.
7/13/16 Its official, I am leaving on august 17th! That is 35 days away. I'm screaming.
紀三井寺裏門
By : shin Suzuki
7/12/16
Everything is kind of a mess right now. Yesterday I posted so confidently but now I am unsure of my departure date.
I was initially told to leave between the 23rd and the 25th, but now my host dad and counselor think the 17th would be best.
My correspondent, who is much higher up, is the one who suggested the 23rd-25th though so there might be a specific reason why he suggested this.
I know this isn’t a huge problem at all and it will be solved, but I’m lowkey freaking out about this. I just wanna know when I’m going and that whatever date it is works well for my counselor and host family, since they are the ones that will directly be dealing with me.
I also don’t to step on any foots before I even begin my exchange.
Ugh!
Cheat Sheet for New Exchangers Going to Japan!
Okay wow it’s been over a year since I wrote my Japanese Tips post and I’m glad a lot of people found it very helpful…. So one of my very good friends is currently on her way to Japan for a 3 week trip sponsored by Rotary and since my summer has been incredibly stagnant of activities so far, I decided to spend 2 hours making her a list of phrases that she will probably need to use! And I decided that many of these phrases could be incredibly useful for exchangers as well! So I decided to make a few adjustments and share it with you guys!
Now this list is really just based off of my experience as an exchange student in Japan and I’m sure I haven’t included everything that’s relevant and maybe if it’s requested, I’ll make another cheat sheet or grammar lesson thing lol
Okay here we go:
Exchange student cheat sheet
Japanese phrases & general knowledge cheat sheet for exchange students!
Pronunciation: • a-> “ah” sound(like in father); i-> “ee"sound (like in sleek); e-> "eh"sound (like in neck); o-> "oh"sound(like in coke) ; u-> "oo"sound(like in tube) •If there is a line over the vowel then it is extended •su す can just be pronounced as an "s” sound , so just don’t bother pronouncing the “u”
Abbreviations: •inf= informal; f= formal; sk= use when subject is known; snk= use when subject is not known -if you want to convert sk->snk add watashi wa 私は in front -if you want to convert snk->sk remove watashi wa 私は from it
General rules: •if you are listing things and the list goes beyond what you say use ya や as and , but if you are listing things and you say everything in the list use to と as and -place either to or ya in between each word in list •if you want to change like to dislike add janai じゃない to the end of suki 好き
Greetings/ basic phrases: •Nice to meet you(beginning of convo)- hajimemashite 初めまして •Nice to meet you(end of convo)- yoroshikun onegaishimasu よろしくんお願いします •Good morning- ohayō gozaimasu おはようございます •Good afternoon (or really any time of the day)- konnichi wa こんにちは •Good evening- konban wa こんばんは •Goodbye (f)- sayōnara さようなら •See you later (inf)- mata ne またね ; jā ne じゃあね; jā mata ne じゃあまたね; jā mata じゃあまた •Goodnight- oyasuminasai おやすみなさい(f) ; oyasumi おやすみ (inf) •How are you (used more with people you know but haven’t seen for at least few days)- genki? 元気？ (inf) ; ogenki desu ka? お元気ですか？ (f) •Thank you- arigatō gozaimasu ありがとうございます(f) ; arigatō ありがとう(inf) •You’re welcome- dōitashimashite どういたしまして(f); ī yo いいよ(inf, literally means “it’s good” so it’s like it’s all good, fam) •I’m sorry/ excuse me- sumimasen すみません(f); gomen/gomenne/gomennasai ごめん/ごめんね/ごめんなさい (definitely inf, absolutely cannot use in formal situations)
Introductions (start with konnichi wa and end with yoroshikun onegaishimasu , especially if it’s like a speech where only you do the talking): •I’m ____- _____ desu ____です •My name is _____- watashi no namae wa _____ desu 私の名前は_____です •Please call me _____- watashi wa _____ o yonde kudasai 私は____を読んでください (f snk) ; _____ o yonde kudasai _____を読んでください (f sk) ; _____ o yonde ____を読んで(inf) •I am ___ years old- watashi wa ____ sai desu 私は__歳です(snk) ; ______sai desu __歳です (sk) •I am an American- watashi wa amerikajin desu 私はアメリカ人です(snk) ; amerikajin desu アメリカ人です (sk) -so basically if you want to say you’re a citizen of a country you basically put jin 人 at the end of the name of your country in Japanese, i.e. Turkey-> toruko トルコ and Turkish -> torukojin トルコ人 •I am from ______- ______ kara kimashita ______から来ました(sk) •I go to ______ High School- ______i kōkō ni ikimasu _______高校に行きます (sk) •I am a high school student- kōkōsē desu 高校生です(sk) •I like ______ - ______ ga suki desu (sk f); ______ ga suki (sk inf) -this works with verbs too, for example: I like to sleep -> neru(infinitive/ present of sleep) ga suki 寝るが好き ; but to make it sound slightly more proper, add a no の at the end -> neru no ga suki 寝るのが好き (it’s not completely necessary but it’s slightly more grammatically correct) (also if you want to make it f then add desu at the end) •My hobbies are _____- watashi no shumi wa ___ ya ___ ya___ (etc) desu 私の趣味は___や___や 。。。です •My interests are____- watashi no kyōmi wa ____ ya ____ ya ___(etc) desu 私の興味は___や___や。。。です •My favorite subject(s) are/is____- watashi no sukina jugyō wa ___ ya___ (etc) desu 私の好きな授業は____や。。。です •I want to become a(n) ____(noun, career maybe?)- _____ni naritai ____になりたい (sk inf); _____ ni naritai desu ___になりたいです (sk f) •I want to study ____ in college- daigaku de ____ o benkyō shitai desu 大学で___を勉強したいです(f sk); daigaku de ____ o benkyō shitai 大学で___を勉強したい(inf sk) •My favorite ____(s) is/are _____- watashi no sukina _____ wa ____ ya ___ (etc)desu 私の好きな_____は___ ya __…です (f)
Wants/ Needs: •I’m hungry - onaka ga suita desu お腹が空いたです(f) ; hara hetta 腹減った (inf cannot be f even when you add desu) •I’m tired- nemui desu 眠いです (f sk) •I want to sleep- netai desu 寝たいです (f sk) •I’m thirsty- nodo ga kawaita desu 喉が渇いたです •I want to drink ____- _____ ga nomitai desu ____が飲みたいです(sk f) •I want to eat ____ - ____ ga tabetai desu ____が食べたいです (sk f) •I want _____(noun)- _____ ga hoshī desu ____が欲しいです(sk f) •I want to go to the bathroom- toire ni ikitai desu トイレに行きたいです (sk f) •I want to go _____ -_____ ni ikitai desu _____に行きたいです(f)
Basic/ important questions: •what is your name? - onamae wa nandesuka? お名前はなんですか (f) ; onamae wa? お名前は？(f but not as f); namae nani? 名前何？ (inf but can become incredibly rude if said rudely) •and you? (After someone asks you a question) - anata wa? あなたは？ (f but can be inf if the situation is inf) ; kimi wa? 君は？ (inf, DEFINITELY use with people you are on the same “level” as) •where is ____ - ____ wa doko desu ka? ____はどこですか？(f); _____wa doko? ___はどこ？(inf) -the bathroom- toire トイレ; my room- watashi no heya 私の部屋; the bath/ shower- ofuro お風呂 •when will (subject) ____(verb)- itsu _____(infinitive of verb) desu ka? いつ____ですか？(f); itsu _____ (infinitive of verb)? いつ ____?(inf) -eat- taberu 食べる; bathe- ofuro ni hairu お風呂に入る; go (out of a place you are currently in)- deru 出る; go home (to the place you’re staying)- kaeru 帰る; sleep- neru 寝る; go _____ (place it’s been decided that you’ll go to) - _____ (place) ni iku ____に行く •What is _____ in English- ______ wa ēgo de nandesuka? ____は英語でなんですか？(f); _____ wa ēgo de nani? _____は英語で何？(inf) •What is _____ in Japanese- _____ wa nihongo de nandesuka? ____は日本語でなんですか？(f); ____ wa nihongo de nani? _____は日本語で何？ (inf)
And there you have it… If you need any help with forming these phrases or if you don’t understand something please feel free to ask!!
じゃ、またね！
A long-due update
2:36 PM 7/11/2016
Hi guys!
It has been a while. A loooooong while.
There’s not an excuse for my absence really, except for that up until this past weekend there has been next to no progress, so there wasn’t anything to update y’all on.
This weekend though, suddenly everything came together.
It was the central states conference, which was a blast, but that will get its own post. I have lots to tell from that and lots of photos to share.
But outside of central states, I got so much information.
I learned that I will be going to school at Naga highschool in Iwade, which means I will be in Wakayama rather than Osaka!
There was a girl at central states who is currently an inbound here, but she actually goes to my school. There was also a rebound who went to my school. Between the two of them, I learned so much about it.
I also heard from my first host family, which just consists of a Rotarian who seems so so nice and his wife. They also have a daughter, but she lives in Tokyo.
My guarantee form is finally ready and about to be handed to the consulate, so I should get my Visa and flight information within a couple weeks.
I was told that I will be expected in Japan between the 23rd and 25th of August, so the plan now is to leave on the 23rd. My host dad did mention the 17th though, so that might be a possibility as well.
With all this information, it’s all really coming together. I could not be more excited. I’ve set up a countdown on my phone, and if things go according to plan I am leaving in 1 month and 12 days.
I need to pack and I need to study, but I feel so ready to go despite this. I want to be there now.
On the topic of studying, I feel my Japanese is starting to pick up again. I plateaued for a few months, since I was so busy I couldn’t study hardly at all and was not getting the language down. But now more than ever I feel motivated to just study, study, study.
Anyway, like I said before I’ll be writing another post about Central States, but now I have to go unpack, clean, and study. Expect that post latr tonight
2016-17 Exchange Callout!!
Hi! Nice to meet you, my name is Hannah~ I’m off to Japan through RYE, and want to make tons of exchange friends! Reblog this if you’re headed abroad this year, and where you’re going! :D
sup hannah! im going to osaka!
