More Kendo Thoughts

After laboring for hours last night, I finally got the diary entry written. I don't remember the last time I worked so hard or long on such a short amount of writing. Here is how it translates, only maybe this makes a little more sense than it does in Japanese:
This week, only the 11th graders where at at practice, so it's been run a little different from usual. This month, I've learned a lot. Kendo has taught me a lot about Japanese culture. Everyone works really hard all the time. Sunday is the only break. I was really suprised to learn this! The most difficult thing for me is distance. In karate, being close is better for people my size, so I'm nervous when I'm far away from my opponent. I haven't learned how to use the shinai at such close distances, so I always hit with the wrong part. Also, I don't understand the shiai practice we do everyday. In karate, we use two hands and two feet, but kendo just uses one shinai. That also makes me nervous. As expected, Japanese is also difficult. Everyone speaks to me slowly, but sometimes I can't understand. When I don't understand, it makes my heart tired. I'm especially disappointed because I can't understand Sensei's Japanese at the end of class. Darn. I want to understand. Explanations are important, but everyday, I don't understand.
Please tell my how to say this in better Japanese.

You know. Not terrible. Not anything I'm really proud of. I wish I could have written something really thought provoking, beautiful, and skilled, but this is the best I could do. I had a lot more I wanted to say and on many occasions, I started to explain something and then gave up and changed directions. That was frustrating. Additional thoughts that I really wanted to share but obviously didn't:

I've really been excited about kendo lately. Incredibly excited. Every day is jam-packed with material. I've learned that I really am stuck with martial arts. It's become such a part of me that I don't even know how to live without it. While kendo is augmenting my martial arts for sure, I really miss karate. I'm not sure how I'm going to do next year when I don't have any cool Japanese dojos and no White Eagle to study at, but there's no doubt in my mind that I'll stick with martial arts for quite a while. I want to talk about it with someone who is interested in martial arts. Anyone out there?