[Yuuji]

Originally Posted by katelynisspecial

Yes, Japanese is their first language ^^
Saina, her older sister Kai, and their little brother Reiju were all born in Japan and raised there for several years, obviously Kai the longest. I think Saina was around 10 when they moved to the US? She came here speaking almost no English, or none at all, can't remember. Would she have had any English classes at age 10? Either way, she had to learn our language, and take classes in it! Her grades didn't count for awhile though, hehe.

I do not know when the Japanese school system starts teaching English. I think it's in Middle school, and that's 12+ I think.

Interesting about how she had to learn English (and how she was graded) once she got over here.

1) How is her accent?
2) Do they plan to become US citizens?

My school is a public school, but it's the only one in our area rated excellent, it's a very very good school ^^

Ah, so ka.

Hehe, yeah I have comfy shoes!

Good.
I know it was something I had to deal with, when I started working the floor at an Electronic store.

As for my parents.. they're happy/proud I've gotten a job, but the whole Japan thing... I think they think there's NO WAY I'll be able to save the money =P

Hmmmm.
*scans back to see how much you have to get within 14 months*

$5,000.

At $7 an hour, that might be a little tough in only 15 months. Especially since most of it will be seasonal, and you'll only work part time.
Or do you plan to work full time over the summer?
And do they have an automatic pay raise, after a certain amount of time?

The good new is your parents will probably be thrilled if you put together $2,000 in a short period of time. And probably astounded if you get $3,000. (which has its own benefit - one of which will be one hell of a sense of accomplishment IMHO.)

Here's a suggested battleplan:
1) Don't think of the long-term yet, and just enjoy as long as you can your new job.
(I had a horrible habit of thinking waaaay too far ahead, and spoiling any enjoyment of what I was doing at the time...I was a clock-watcher at your age, and it SUCKED. And, of course, it tripped up my long range plans because I began to hate what I was doing)

2) If your pay can be direct deposited, ask your parents (or look for yourself) any bank advertising a bonus plan.
Back when the economy was doing good, I kept switching my bank every 4-6 months. Usually for $25-$75 dollars to start a free checking account (with free bank card) as long as I setup a direct deposit.
Hell, one place offered a free 1gb Ipod Nano (this was almost 2 years ago), so I turned to them (they were worth $100 back then), turns out the plan was so good they ran out of 1gb ipod nanos. So they shipped me a 2gb one instead (value: $150).
As a matter of fact, its not 12 inches from me right now, recharging.
Now the economy is not as good, but I did recently receive an advertisment from Chase bank for $75. Unfortunately I'm already signed up at Chase, so I cannot use it.

3) Next setup a free savings account (yeah, savings account and checking accounts are different)- try to do this only when:
a) It offers interest.
b) It offers a bonus of some kind to sign up for it.
(Again, for a $500 deposit I got an extra $25. So the interest rate is tiny, but its better then nothing. And your account will get to grow. Heck, I could have gotten an extra $15 if I setup an immediate deposit from my direct deposit into the account...but I couldn't do that as I need the money to live on. Think of the extra $40 as 5.5 hours worked (at a rate of $7 per hour). Plus it looks good on a credit report.

4) Again, take #2 and #3 with a grain of salt, because you don't want to ruin the fun you should have with #1. Don't do what I did. Besides, you have finals coming up soon enough.

5) Once you get up a good deal of savings (like $1500 or $2000), plus the added bonus of an account --- I bet you can start to sweet talk some of your older relatives to 'donate' into the 'Kate-Japanese-Trip-Fund': And *ploink!* in goes the money into that savings account. Take that Mom and Dad!

6) Yeah, #5 is a bit more of a political technique....but it kinda irks me to what your parents 'believe' (unless I've misread your comment, and that your parents do plan to give extra help if you say - pass the $4,000 mark)

I've got $250 right now >_>
I'll get paid for orientation and then working, I get $7/hour.
About the language.. that's not a really big deal for them. Neither of them speak anything but English, and they don't see my passion =P

Oh...*heh*
I can understand what you mean. But too bad....other then video games I was hoping they enjoyed their own original language more, and thus would be a good resource (fun too).

While I was over in Japan I ran into a bunch of elementary school kids....and a 6' blond(ish), BLUE-eyed American was almost like having an alien walk into the room. I got swamped, and for the first time in my life had people asking me for my autograph. It seemed a name written in cursive was the coolest thing for them. It got down to me signing napkins until my other half pulled me away. Then again, being that I had no idea where I was (it was a school she was working at) there really wasn't anywhere for me to go. But the kids loved it.
But for me, back then, I had no idea what the big deal was - and why those kids swarmed me.
Being that this was 8 years ago, I've grown older and have a better understanding.

Techically, Japanese is my third language, haha. I consider myself nearly fluent in Spanish. Other than a few conjugation mistakes, I read, write, speak, and understand it very well =D

Ah, congrats.
Language and me never matched...yet....
When I have more time, I still hope to truly become fluent in Japanese.
(I took Spainish for 4 years, but other then counting, I remember very little)