Ohmygosh-imas

"What are you doing?" my husband asked me the other day.
"I'm practicing how to bow very low," I said from the floor.
"Oh," he said. "I thought you were trying to do a push up."

Tomorrow I have my Japanese class. My first lesson in three months. And, I am very nervous. Very, very, very nervous. I will have to admit to my sensei that I didn't study--at all--this summer. And now, now, I've got my -mas' all messed up. I can't keep my Japanese verbs straight. I don't remember if I'm coming or going, taking or drinking, eating or existing. Nomimas, norimas, mimas, kaimas, kaerimas, ikimas, tabemas, aimas--OH MY GOSH-IMAS!

"And, that's not all," I said to my husband who is a very diligent student, "I definitely, definitely have a particle problem."

I reviewed my old notes.

When saying "also," I need to use "mo."
For possessives, that's a "no."
For "and", that's "to".
Drinking, eating, watching, use "o."
Buying a peach, that's a momo.
Confusing mo, no, to, and o--now that's a no-no.

"Well," my friend said to me. "At least, you know the difference between kudamono and kodomo. The other day I went to the store for fruit and mistakenly asked to buy children. "

"Don't worry. It will be fine," my husband comforted me this morning. "Just think of it this way. If I can climb Mt. Fuji, you can figure out Japanese.....And if not, well, it looks like we'll be eating a lot of peaches."