Ｊｏｕｒｎａｌ Ｅｎｔｒｙ ＃２

So I mentioned my second day of class on my previous post called "Journal Entry #1". I will give an everyday account of the 5-day summer class until it ends. I didn't mention what my first day of this Japanese class was like , so I will casually talk about it.

じゃあ、きのうは　クラスに　いきました。　
Well, yesterday I went to class.

On the first day of class, I was surprised to learn that there were only 3 students in the class. Tali, a Jewish high school student who recently moved here from Israel (I believe), Taylor, a 6 feet white American dude who surprisingly is only a middle school student, and me, a soon-to-be college student and the oldest in the class. Interestingly, they look older than me or about the same age. A great combination, isn't it? Middle school student, high school student, and college student in one class. During our breaks though, I did have a conversation with them. Despite our huge age differences, we did have similar interests because we're all into Japanese language and pop culture.
I definitely enjoyed this class compared to the adult equivalent that I took a month prior. This one was more interactive and fun while the latter was boring and redundant as hell. Since I'm 18 years old, I got the best of both worlds; I am eligible to go to both the class for teens and the class for adults. Anyway, what I most enjoyed in this class was the freebies; an Erin (mascot of Japan Foundation's website) pen, practice notepad, Hiragana & Katakana poster, folders, and anime stickers. I didn't get shit in the adult class. We learned to introduce ourselves, but of course it was just review for me and Tali (Tali has been self-studying for 2 years on-and-off). It was totally new for Taylor, who has the worst Japanese pronunciation in class to be honest. He could only read Romaji, so you can guess how he introduced himself in Japanese; imagine him enunciating all the "u's" with an American pronunciation of all the Japanese words. Despite my criticisms of his Japanese, he is a great guy. I enjoyed talking to him today and yesterday and he sounds pretty mature for his age. What I found most interesting about him was that his fave anime was Revolutionary Girl Utena (seriously?) and that he is obsessed with tbat Rilakkuma bear even though it is girly. What we do have in common is our obsession of Japanese school supplies. We buy as much as we can if we're near a Japanese shop because American school supplies are of poorer quality and unstylish in comparison. About Tali-san, she is a sweet, pretty girl with near-perfect Japanese pronunciation. I enjoyed talking to her too; she is into Japanese folktales and shonen manga. I think we might keep in contact after class ends since we exchanged skype usernames. So to sum it up, we learned greetings, classroom expressions, introductions, here/thank you/sorry phrases, Katakana, numbers, and additional random worlds like food & interests.

My introduction in class was: はじめまして。わたしはジョーンです。だいがくせいです。　いちごとホラーがすきです。よろしくおねがいします。My other two classmates said exactly the same sentences but applied their own names and likes, since we had to use the phrases from the board.

テイラー:　（In a Romaji-derived accent) はじめまして。わたしはテイラーです。私はちゅうがくせいです。私はオレンジがすきです。　よろしくおねがいします。　

タリ:　はじめまして。私はタリです。　私はこうこうせいです。　そばがすきです。　よろしくおねがいします。

Intro's in translation:
Joan: How do you do? I am Joan. I am a college student. I like strawberries and horror movies. Nice to meet you.
Taylor: How do you do? I am Taylor. I am a junior high school student. I like oranges. Nice to meet you.
Tali: How do you do? I am Tali. I am a high school student. I like soba. Nice to meet you.

Now that I think about it, our introductions are pretty laughable. wwwwwwww