Tests, School, and Videos?

Got up early today for my 8:30 Japanese class which started with a test. I studied Kanji last night before I went to bed and this morning on the train and with the help of God I was able to remember all of the ones I needed for the test!

Kanji isn't my strong point for a number of reasons. Many Kanji have more then one way to read them depending on the word or if they are combined with another character. The Japanese use about 2000 Kanji on a regular basis. Kanji was imported from China so many Chinese speakers can understand some Japanese without knowing the reading. Sometimes the meanings between Japanese and Chinese differ. The Kanji for a "letter" like I wrote a letter, means "toilet paper" in Chinese. Some Japanese will see another person's name written in Kanji and have to ask the person how their name is said, there are also shows on TV where difficult Kanji are displayed and people have to say what they are to continue to the next round.

The picture is of the Main Temple building, they have that cool Metal thing out front with a big "T" on it. Today after class I was in the cafeteria with some friends and and camera crew came in. They started filming and Interviewing students, one of them being me. They were making a DVD or possibly videos for the website to let US students know more about the school. Hopefully you'll be able to see me soon in a school promo video!

After that I headed home, studied and watched TV. There is a show called "Hey Hey Hey" It's a talk show and the one tonight focused on musical artists. They have 2 hosts that are pretty funny who run the show and banter off of each other. Aiko, who is a singer that has been around for a while was on and she has improved since I first heard her in 2001 but still can't hit all the notes. Next was another Singer, Koda Kumi. She is Half Japanese and Half black and currently a Junior in College. It was interesting because she was saying how she would ride the train to school just like anyone else and occasionally people would come up to her and quietly ask if she was Koda Kumi. Tonight they also had Ne-Yo the R&B artist from the US on with a translator and kept calling him Neo. It was pretty funny. Apparently he had been to Japan 3 times before, maybe for other shows. They asked him if he liked Japanese girls and he said yes, then they asked him if there was anyone in the audience that he liked and he said all of them. It was pretty funny.