Elena’s World Vol. 5 Part 2

The mists of time have clouded recollections of how early-teen me thought and felt. So I’m appreciating Lady E.’s changes with respect and curiosity. My only request for this round of Q&As was that she be genuine. One hope is the following verbal exchange provides an accurate depiction of this wonderful young person in bloom, and captures her moment in time for future enjoyment.

Courtesy of the Japan Times; typical exam hall in Japan

What is your greatest challenge now?

It’s juken (ed.:it means studying for entrance exams) to get into high school.
Q: So your challenge right now is getting into the high school you want to get into.
A: Yeah.
Q: Why is that important, because it's a tough high school to get into?
A: Yeah, but if you get into that school it’s a good thing.
Q: If you don't get into the school you aim for, what happens?
A: I’ll probably get into another school that's ranked lower.

What makes you happy about the way the world is now?
I’m in a part of the world that is relatively peaceful. And, I am not worried about the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s been going for a year, things are getting normal again here now, and I’m not worried about getting it. Soon I am getting the vaccines.

So you’re not worried about getting sick from COVID?
No, because I don't go anywhere. At first, when we still living in America, I was a little worried about getting COVID are first, but it's like normal now. It's everywhere so…so people have gotten used to it. Some of my friends got COVID but they were OK afterward.

Do you believe in an afterlife?
Oh, it’s happier to think that there's heaven. Then, thinking that there's nothing left when you die... I think there's heaven.
Q: Do you think you'll go to heaven?
A: Well, I haven’t done anything particularly bad, so yes.

What makes you sad about the way the world is now?
I feel a little sad that lots of people have died because of COVID. But some people are just going around without a mask so those people, it's their own fault. But it's genuinely sad for workers who work at hospitals that get sick.

What goals are you trying to achieve these days?
Getting into certain high schools. That’s all, really, right now.

Any other questions you want to answer or any other things you want to tell your future self when you read this on the blog?
I just hope I have a stable life, enjoyable, happy life, and not in any crisis. Yeah, enjoying life and genuinely being happy with friends.

Do you think you're a good person? What makes you interesting?
I don't think I'm a bad person. So…what’s interesting so far is that I have lived in three countries.

Are you nice or are you mean?
I'm nice. I think I'm nice. Well, it depends on the person. If the person is doing a bad thing, I don't care about them, but if I care about them I'm nice. So I'm nice to you guys, my family.

And do you have many friends?
I think so. I'm not lonely; I have friends to be with. I have, like, a lot of people who I can talk to you, but not really close. When a person says, you know, they're friends with somebody, but they're not that close, I don't call them friends. I have like six… no I have like 10 close friends.
Yeah, I think I have friends. I also have friends in America, there are a lot of them.

Are you getting along with your sister?
Yes. I'm nice to her. But we fight.
Q: Do you think you fight more than other sisters in the world?
A: No, I think other sisters are as bad as us, from my friends’ stories.

Last question. How would you describe your relationship with your little sister, The M.?
Awful, terrible. And wonderful, good. And one more way--close to each other.

Are you really sure about that?
Yes, for sure.

Really the last question. Any question you want to ask me?
Q from E.: Okay, there's something I want to ask you--are you ever gonna stop drinking beer?
A: Never.
Response from E.: Okay, I hope you live long.

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Elena’s World Vol. 5 Part 1

Subtitle: Lady E. is a resident of the Mercurial Teenager Territory
This blog offers snapshots of in time of the Rising Daughters growing up. This latest round provides an overview of Elena’s current lifestyle and thinking by way of a Q&A. Her environment in Yokohama is relatively unchanged, but this kid is transforming thanks to her experiences and unique personality. She’s a work-in-progress.

A typical teenager: hormonal and icily logical. Querulous yet obedient. Apathetic but overactive in areas they shouldn’t be. And self-absorbed.

These days, society encourages dads to not describe our daughters in gender-centric, stereotypical terms like “pretty” and “my princess.” As my Lady E. teenager learns and progresses toward adulthood, things are gonna get interesting.
Without further ado...

Not her school, by the way

What's been the hardest thing to readjust to since you moved back to Yokohama?
School, especially math. Yes, school in general, but especially math, science and social studies since they’re different from what I took in America.

Anything different about your lifestyle or things that are hard to readjust to?
Something hard is to make new friends. Maybe it's not that hard because I already have friends here from four years ago. So there's nothing especially hard, but in general it’s just different, not that hard to readjust to.

What are your favorite clothes these days?
Ah, favorite clothes. I only wear my clothes two times a week, because I have my school jersey [tracksuit]. So, maybe my jeans, and my band hoodie. It's big, it's like a huge size that makes me look like it's a one-piece black hoodie. That's probably my favorite.
Sub Q: Is it the hoodie from your band days at middle school in Tennessee? 

A: Yes.

Any new hobbies or sports?

I played tennis this year as a club activity at school.

Why did you decide to play tennis?
Because I originally liked badminton but they don’t have badminton available at school. So it was either table tennis or tennis, and mom used to do tennis, and it seemed quite interesting.

What's your favorite ice cream/or candy?
I have a lot of flavors I like. I like the original flavors from Baskin Robbins, and the chocolate banana super scoop ice cream. Also, gummies, chocolate, super tough gummies. Or just gummies in general but hard gummies--stuff like that, and milk chocolate.

Who is more fun to play with, boys or girls?
Girls. Yeah, I don't have any boyfriends. It’s easier with girls and girlfriends. I don't have anything in common with the boys. We just don't talk to boys in my grade. No, no, no, none of my girlfriends have friends that are boys. There's this complete line, a wall between boys and girls in our class.

What's your average day like?
Yeah, well I go to school around 08:00 I usually have five or six classes on school days. I have lunch around 12:25.

What kind of lunch?
A bento box lunch that mommy makes. It’s usually good. It's like different every day.

Do your friends all have school lunches from their moms?
Yeah, well some of them buy lunch but most of them have bentos. Only like two people in our class buy lunch.

Tell us about the past year. What have you learned?
Yeah, we've been here over a year now. But the subjects are all new.
Math is new, I’m studying graphs, and some functions and relations, but it’s just math. We all take the same math. Okay, it's different from America so there's like no algebra and smart people classes. We are all learning the same stuff. I learned new kanji characters, and Japanese history in social studies.

What books are you reading lately?
Reading Harry Potter and this Japanese book that I find interesting. I forgot the name of the Japanese book. I read it a month ago so it's, it's something like 40 days of being somewhere like in a dream, about two people from different times, like completely different timelines. I read a lot.

What’s your favorite TV show these days?
Comedy shows.

What would you like to say to your future self, when you’re 21?
I'll probably be a university student. I hope I'm happy, and have a stable life. Yeah, I hope I'm a not rock and roll star or a TV celebrity. Just living a normal life as a university student. I want to be peaceful. I know I want to be normal. I want to travel, but don't want to do like super high spec stuff. And, I’m watching a lot of American TV shows and Japanese anime shows, so I’m becoming expert in both.

In what place are you happiest?
I'm happy talking to my friends at school or just anywhere in general because it's fun. Also, I like sleeping. So, those two. Yeah, talking to my friends just anywhere, and then doing stuff with my friends and also sleeping and relaxing.

To be continued...