Nihongo

Learning Japanese has become a game to our group. There are certain words we deem as "our favorite," each time we learn new fun one to say. Right now, mine is "Di jobu desu," which means "It's okay." Erin and I try to find every opportunity to say it, and when we do, we almost sing it.

On our road trip from Miyako back to Morioka, Erin would pick a word from the dictionary, and we would all guess what it means. We were never even close.

It's frustrating sometimes though. I feel like I learn a new phrase only to have another one evaporate from my mind.

I was told that everyone here speaks English, and I'm finding that that's not necessarily true. Most of them know snippets of the language, but have a hard time forming sentences. They have a hard time understanding us when we talk, even if we speak slowly. It adds an element of challenge to communication. But even this population speaks better English than we do Japanese, which is a sad commentary on Americans.

Lesson learned: Nihongo amari hanase imasen. (I don't speak much Japanese).