Typhoon Guchol

A large typhoon just passed over Japan. It is the first typhoon to make landfall in June since 2004. Earlier this week, when they were first setting typhoon forecasts, it looked like the typhoon would head more to the west of us and send a little wind and rain our way. As often happens, the typhoon changed course and we took a brunt of the weather.

At 3pm yesterday, the American base in Yokosuka declared TCCOR 1 (pronounced T-Core). This means the base was closed except for essential personnel. Stores on base closed at 3pm and everyone hunkered down in their homes. Prior to 3pm, I put together the last of my emergency kit which included bottled water and a cooler. It's not that I fear structural damage from storms, but I want to be prepared in case we lose power for a few days.

At around 6pm, the winds started to increase and the rain started to pour. At 9pm, the wind was so strong, it was swaying the entire house. Japanese homes are made to be earthquake-proof, which means the entire home is designed to sway to one side or the other a few degrees. The wind was literally pushing the house. I shut my typhoon shutters at about 10pm to try to block the wind from rattling the windows so hard.

We lost power very briefly. Some towns to the south and west of us were evacuated to escape the high winds. Luckily, we were not told to evacuate. The winds continued to blow until about 4am. John and I got very little sleep as we'd doze off and then the wind would rattle the house and jolt us awake.

This morning, it's sunny and cool albeit still very windy. They predict another typhoon on Friday. The typhoon on Friday looks like it will again pass right over Yokosuka, I'm not even sure I'm going to re-open the storm shutters on the spare bedrooms until after Friday.

Japanese II

I'm so excited to be starting my Japanese II class next week. For those following along, I received a scholarship to go to a college on base to get my certificate in Japanese Language Studies. The community center on base offers plenty of free Japanese language classes, but I learn better in an environment with deadlines and grades. I personally think one of the best things any American living here can do is learn the language.

My first Japanese class was taken in a physical classroom setting. I learned a lot, but it was mostly written. I can now read Hiragana and Katakana words almost as fast as I can read English words. In a classroom setting, each student may be called on once in each class to speak, so you don't really get to practice speaking much. I still have a lot of anxiety about speaking Japanese. I mostly mumble under my breath and hope I'm saying the right thing.

Tonight I had a chance to review the syllabus for my Japanese II class. Each week the students are required to record themselves speaking Japanese and submit the recording to the teacher. I'm truly hoping that hearing myself speak Japanese will help me to overcome the anxiety I have about speaking it.

Wish me luck in my second semester of class!!