Philosopher's Walk/ Feylesoflar Yolu

On Monday after the test, we decided to treat ourselves to some more sakura. We still had the Philosopher's Walk and some temples in the area in mind. That's what we did.
In our experience, sakura got better and better. The number off trees in a given area increased day after day. I can go on and on about how amazing it was, but pics will tell more. So here:

Pazartesi testten sonra, biraz daha sakura gorelim de icimiz acilsin diye Feylesoflar Yolu'na ve cevresindeki tapinaklara gittik. Bir alanda gordugumuz sakura sayisi da gunden gune artti. Ne muhtesem oldugunu anlat anlat bitiremem, o yuzden fotograflar anlatsin biraz:

On the way we went into the Ginkakuji Temple. The stone gardens were very impressive.

Yolumuzun uzerindeki Ginkakuji Tapinagi'na da girdik. Cakil bahceleri pek muhtesemdi.

*Please note the shoes the lady on the left bottom pic is wearing to a quite demanding climb.

*Epey egimli tapinak yolunda sol alt kosedeki hanimkizin giydigi ayakkabilara bakiniz lutfen.

Friday is Nice / Cuma Guzel

The school week is over and I'm pretty much crushed. I think yesterday I've had to study 4-5 hours outside the classroom. So it's full-time. I'll be using most of the weekend preparing for the next week. I've asked my teacher for the lesson plan, now I'll be better prepared. We are currently doing 2 units a day or so. In amsterdam we were doing one unit per 3 weeks, it's that kind of increase. 

We've had 4 quizzez so far and I've got a 100%, a 96%. The other 2 I'll hear about on Monday. One should be OK , the other will be more like 30%.

Okul haftasi bitti ve ben de bittim. Dun siniftan sonra 4-5 saat ders calistim galiba.  Yani tam mesai yapmaktayim.Haftasonu da onumuzdeki haftaya hazirlanmakla gececek gorunuyor. En azindan ogretmenime ders planini sordum, biraz hazirlanabilirim.Simdiye kadar gunde 2 unite yapiyoruz. Amsterdam'da 3 haftada bir unite yapiyorduk. oyle boyle degil hiz.

Simdiye kadar 4 test olduk. Birinden 100, birinden 96 aldim. Digeri ikisini de Pazartesi ogrenecegim. Biri iyi gelecek ama digerinden 30 anca alirim.

Class Starts / Dersler Basliyor

I said I was going to post new pics, but that will have to wait, since our tourist days are over. I was so focused on the test that, once it was over, I relaxed and didn't prepare for the first lesson. I didn't know what to prepare anyway since we didn't know our level. I should have prepared for the worst, which always happens :-)

What I mean by the worst is that I'm going to the intermediate kind of level, which is actually advanced beginners with a lot of intermediate students in it. This should be considered a success, since I was studying towards attending this class. So little did  I know what I was getting myself into.

After the opening ceremony, which was actually a welcome speech and announcement of test results, we went to our respective classses. Caline and I are in different classes. I felt  like a kindergarden child when I heard it, but Caline actually was happy to get rid of me ;-) 

We are actually at a level in-between what we were each sent to. So Caline is the best in her class and I'm probably the worst. I felt so in any case.

I have, it seems, a way to fake knowledge in exams. Everyone else was fluent in my class. I have no clue why and how I'm sitting in this class. Anyway, I had a decision to make today, whether I want to turn this trip into a lot of studying and less entertainment or vice versa. Because I'm a masochist, I've decided to stay where I am.

The funny thing (or not so funny thing) is Caline and I are the only students in the Kanji class. We are being privately tutored. Her classmates will have to learn Kana first and my classmates already study 300 Kanji book. There seems to be noone else in the entire school who speaks Japanese as much as we do and as illiterate as we are.

I have a lot of  homework and 8 kanji to learn just for starters. Caline knows them all, so she enjoyed her day out after class. Come to think of it this makes me the worst in Kanji in the entire school!

Until I get this shock out of my system I'll be posting less. So wish me luck :-)

Yeni fotograflar koyacagim buraya dedim ama biraz bekleyecek. Maalesef turist gunlerimiz sona erdi.Benim aklim fikrim testte imis, sonra bir gevsemisim ki hic hazirlanmadim derse. Gerci neye hazirlanacagimi da bilmiyordum ama. En kotusune hazirlanmakk lazimmis, gordum bugun.

En kotusu dedigim de suymus: Orta seviyeye verdiler beni. Aslinda ileri baslangic duzeyi ama siniftakiler daha cok orta duzeydeler.Ben bu seviyeyi hedef alarak calismistim, o yuzden bunu basari saymak lazimdir ama hapi da yuttum yani.

Acilis seramonisinden sonra (ki o da bi hosgeldiniz-bes gittiniz, bu da buyrun seviyeniz konusmasiydi),herkes kendi sinifina gecti.Caline ve ben ayri dustuk.Ben duyunca anaokulu bebesi gibi mahsun kaldim ama Caline gule-oynaya gitti, sevindi herhalde benden de kurtulduguna.

Biz aslinda bu iki seviyenin ortasinda bir yerdeyiz.Yani Caline sinifinin en iyisi, ben de benim sinifin herhalde en kotusuyum...en azindan ben oyle hissettim.

Gorunen o ki ben bu test islerinde -nasil beceriyorsam- olmayan beceri ve bilgiyi varmis gosteriyorum. Benim sinfta herkes bulbul, dutu bir bana yedirmisler. Bugun o yuzden bir karar vermem lazimdi. Ya bol eglence, gezmece ya da bol inekleme. Ben mazosist oldugumdan ineklemede ve bu sinifta kalmada karar kildim.

Isin komigi, ya da traji-komigi, Caline ve ben Kanji sinifinda yalniziz.O yuzden ikimize ozel ders. Onun sinifindakiler daha Kana yazmayi ogrenecek, benim sinifimdakiler de 300 Kanji kitabina basladi. Tum okulda bizim kadar Japonca konusabilip de bizim kadar okur-yazar olmayan baska  kimse yok.

Yiginla odevim, yarina ogrenecek 8 kanjim var.Caline hepsini zaten biliyor, cikti gezdi dersten sonra. Bu da demek oluyor ki koca okulda kanji'de benden kotusu yok!

Ben bu durumu yedirene kadar pek birsey yazamayabilirim buralara. Sans dileyiniz lutfen :-)

The Test / Test

My sleeping pattern is not quite established yet. I get sleepy during the afternoon and wake up very early in the morning. It is unusual for me. 

On the morning of the exam I woke up at 6.30.  I'd intended 8 o'clock. I didn't go back to sleep and just enterained myself on google maps, laying a more efficient route to school, since I'm lazybones. At around 8.30, I went up to Caline's room for a quick cup of coffee and a ciggie.

We left at around ten past nine. But then I had to run back to check if I locked the door. I think I've done this every single day so far. We walked quickly and we were at the school half past.

We've met the staff and the teachers, got into our slippers and headed for the exam room. Up until then, I'd felt quite confident since I understood all the commands. Soon enough that was remedied.

We were given a written test of 4 large pages. It started off with writing the Kana tables. Kana is the two out of three Japanese "alphabets". That means 48x2 letters (actually syllables). Hiragana was alright, Katakana was shaky... and I've been studying these for 2 years now. Typing is a killer, apparently you soon forget how to draw it properly.

It just so happens that they ask you just the bits you don't know. This test was no exception; I left the last two pages blank, which is worth another 2-3 years of study anyway. And I could show very little of what I've been learning in the first two. So let's call it "epic fail".

Then we were invited to the oral exam. I was driven into difficult subjects, like what is Ankara famous for, or why is it not an interesting place (I said it wasn't interesting). Even in Turkish I'd say "There isn't much there' and everyone agrees. It seems I've never thought it through,though. In the second round of questions I tried to recover ground by turning the subject to Amsterdam, and it worked much better. Still, it won't save me and I'll be going to "watashi wa" class. I'll find out tomorrow morning after the opening ceremony, yes indeed.

After the exam we treated ourselves to some temples and sakuras again, which I'll get around to posting about probably tomorrow with pics and all.

Uykum henuz duzene girmedi. Ogleden sonra uyukluyorum, sabahin korunde de uyaniyorum. Sinav sabahi da 6 bucukta uyandim, niyetim 8 idi. Sonra da uyumadim ve tembel teneke oldugum icin Google'dan okula daha kestirme yollar aradim. Saat 8 bucuk gibi bir kahve ve sigara icelim diye Caline'in odasina ciktim.

Dokuzu on gece gibi evden ciktik. Ama ben yine kosa kosa dondum ve kapimi bir daha kontrol ettim. Geldim geleli her gun boyle oldu bu. Sonra hizlica yuruduk ve dokuz bucukta okuldaydik.

Ogretmenler ve calisanlarla karsilastik, tanistik. Terliklerimizi giyip sinav odasinin yolunu tuttuk. Ben o dakikaya kadar soyleneni anladigimdan pek bir kendimden emindim. Kisa sure sonra hepsi uctu gitti.

4 sayfalik bir test verdiler. Once Kana tablolarini yazmamiz istenmis. Kana uc "alfabeden" ikisi. O da eder 48x2 harf (hece). Hiragana'yi kotardim, Katakana'da biraz afalladim. Iki senedir ogrendigim seyler bunlar ama iste klavyede yazmaktan elimle cizmeyi unutmusum galiba.

Zaten hic bildigin yerden sormazlar. Bu sinav da aynen oyle oldu. Son iki sayfayi bos teslim ettim. O son iki sayfa icin benim iki-uc sene daha ekmek yemem lazim. Simdiye kadar ogrendigimi gosterecek pek de soru cikmadi. Neticesi Hatice, soyadi Nanay.

Sinavin ortasinda bir de kaldirip sozluye aldilar. Ucu bagli konulara girdik, cikamadik. Bana tutup Ankara'nin nesi meshur diye sordu, ben de " elmasi" diyiverdim. Ne bileyim aklima bisi gelmedi, uzum diyecek olsaydim diyemezdim zaten de...sonra, "ilginc bir yer de degildir" demisim,, e anlat hadi bakalim niye oyle. Su gune kadar 'E pek biseyi yok iste Ankara'nin" dedimse itiraz eden olmadi, ben de durmamisim uzerinde. Ikinci yarida konuyu amsterdam'a getirip durumu biraz kurtardim ama yeterli oldugunu sanmiyorum. Yani gorunus o ki "watashi wa' sinifina gidecegim ben. Yarin sabah acilis seramonisinden (vallahi de billahi de) sonra ogrenecegim.
Sinavdan sonra yine kendimizi mabetlere attik, sakuralara verdik. Yarin da fotograflarla onlari yazarim artik.

First Long Walk and Hanami / Ilk Uzun Gezinti ve Hanami

On Sunday we decided to go out to explore our surroundings a little. This exploration expedition turned into a 20km walk with a conservative estimate. I couldn't get the GPS to work, so we took many "alternative" routes.

Pazar gunu cevre kesfine cikalim dedik. Bizim bu kesif gezisi 20 km'ye vardi neticede. GPS* isinibeceremedigim icin biraz geze geze gitmis olduk. 

We had to find out where the school is located. It looked easy enough on the map, but took us well over 45 minutes to reach. It was supposed to be 17 minutes.

Okulun yerini tespit etmek de listemizdeydi. Haritada kolay da gorunuyordu ama 17 dakika surmesi gerekenyolu 45 dakikada anca katettik. 

We had Honganji Honganji Temples on our route. We checked them out briefly. It's so near where we stay (5-7 minutes), we'll visit them more in depth later on.

Yolumuzun uzerinde Honganji Tapinaklari vardi. Kaldigimiz yere o kadar yakin ki (5-7 dakika), sonra daha detayli gezeriz.

 We located the school and hung around quite suspiciously for a while.
Okulu bulduk ve biraz da suphe uyandirici sekilde bi sure orada takildik.










  


Then we popped into a shopping center kind of place with a large podium in the middle. Festivities were full on. Quite unexpectedly, we saw some troupes from Osaka performing.
 
Sonra adini bilmedigim, alisveris merkezi sayilabilecek bir alana girdik. Ortasindaki podyumda turlu gosterilervardi. Osaka'dan gelmis gruplarin gosterilerini izledik.

We were at this point quite undecided about where to go for the hanami (sakura viewing) bonanza. Caline is a sturdier woman than I am, she could push on. So, I pleaded with her that we should go and check out the Kyoto Gyoen (Imperial Gardens) instead of the Philosopher's Walk, which is further.

Hanami (sakura izleme) cilginligi icin nereye gitsek diye kararsiz kaldik. Caline masallah benden direncli birkadin, basti mi gider. O yuzden daha yakinda olan Kyoto Gyoen (Imparatorluk Bahceleri)'ni gorelim diye kendisine birazcik yalvardim. Merhamet etti sagolsun. Yoksa, Feylesoflar Yolu denen yere yuruyecektik ki, o da cok olurdu.

It was spectacular!
Harikaydi!

  We took the West exit and came across the Ryōan-ji Temple. It is a Zen temple, also known as "The Temple of the Peaceful Dragon". I was able to take a sneak shot of the dragon. When you clap your hands just below the dragon you hear a very deep echo.
Bati kapisindan cikip Ryōan-ji Tapinagi'na girdik. Burasi da "Huzurlu Ejderha'nın Tapınağı" diye de bilinen bir Zen tapinagi. Bendeniz gizlice bir fotograf cekiverdim. Ejderhanin altina gelip de el cirpinca cok derin bir eko oluyor.






  

  
It was a very satisfactory day despite lack of any planning.
Hic program yapmadigimiz da dusunulurse cok da tatmin edici bir gun oldu.

*Anneye not: GPS, uydudan yerimi konumlayan bir  sistem. Cep telefonu o isi de goruyor.

Journey/ Yolculuk

We've met with Caline and Ton at the airport.

Caline ve Ton ile havalimaninda bulustuk.

I've convinced Caline she didn't need all those study books, we would have enough to study all around us. So she took some books out of her luggage.

Caline'i o kadar cok Japonca kitabinin lazim olmadigina ikna ettim de valizi biraz hafifledi. Kitapsiz da her tarafimiz Japonca olacak zaten.

Boys waived us goodbye.

Beyler bizi ugurladi.

We boarded this plane.

Ucagimiz da buydu.

 

I did what I do during the flight.

Ben ucusta her zamanki aktiviteme devam ettim.