May 9, 2007
Connections
Anyone else remember this series? It was a great staple in otherwise really cheesy TLC chanel programing. A smart show. I miss feeling kinda smart; I borrowed Brain Training from the gf and it kicks my butt.
May 7, 2007
Seven reasons why Izakaiyas are horrible places for me to learn Japanese
Ah izakaiya's. The bars where you can eat tasty kara'age. Many people recommend going out and drinking your way to fluency. But I don't find them useuful cause:
1: You have to spend at least thirty minutes explaining the same things each time. Where you're from, what you do, if you have a girlfriend; which leads us to the next couple points.
2: Getting the crude questions about your girlfriend, and then having to explain that Americans don't do crude questions.
3: Getting offers for drinks. I just say I'm driving, since it is a lot easier for them to understand.
4:The sad realization that Japanese people don't do language questions. Part of it is no doubt my lack of fluency, but really, Japanese people just don't think about grammar. Try mentioning the 形容詞 form and watch their eyes glaze over.
Which brings me to my next point...
5: The guys that spend their time at an izakaya are not the brightest group, especially in the inaka. Recently I've run into a guy that could not read the kanji on a bottle (I was trying to confirm the reading of 古酒). Last night, a guy forgot the character for "ハ" and wrote "へ" instead. On a map of America, that he drew around my map, cause he didn't realize I had drawn America. He thought the America shape was my state.
6:They are probably, in their defense, not on their game because they are drunk and in the more intoxicating presence of a gaikokujin. In any case, they aren't gonna be much help; they are to wasted and distracted.
7:The local dialect is horridly thick.
So why do I go to izakayas? For the food! The free food that you are bound to be given doesn't hurt. If you want to learn something, you may be better off talking to the マスタ than the patrons.
1: You have to spend at least thirty minutes explaining the same things each time. Where you're from, what you do, if you have a girlfriend; which leads us to the next couple points.
2: Getting the crude questions about your girlfriend, and then having to explain that Americans don't do crude questions.
3: Getting offers for drinks. I just say I'm driving, since it is a lot easier for them to understand.
4:The sad realization that Japanese people don't do language questions. Part of it is no doubt my lack of fluency, but really, Japanese people just don't think about grammar. Try mentioning the 形容詞 form and watch their eyes glaze over.
Which brings me to my next point...
5: The guys that spend their time at an izakaya are not the brightest group, especially in the inaka. Recently I've run into a guy that could not read the kanji on a bottle (I was trying to confirm the reading of 古酒). Last night, a guy forgot the character for "ハ" and wrote "へ" instead. On a map of America, that he drew around my map, cause he didn't realize I had drawn America. He thought the America shape was my state.
6:They are probably, in their defense, not on their game because they are drunk and in the more intoxicating presence of a gaikokujin. In any case, they aren't gonna be much help; they are to wasted and distracted.
7:The local dialect is horridly thick.
So why do I go to izakayas? For the food! The free food that you are bound to be given doesn't hurt. If you want to learn something, you may be better off talking to the マスタ than the patrons.
Things that never happened are so messed up
Today was body horror day. By which I mean the genre perfected by the likes of David Cronenberg.
First there was the dream. A man being inflated grotesquely, then deflated. It repeated that part many times until I got disgusted enough to wake.
Then I watched the new Doctor Who episode which not only was another body horror thing but also really violated the laws of conservation of mass*.
And then one of my fans sent me a link to this:
So I feel a little messed up with all the body horror in one day.
*Oddly enough time travel and a sonic screwdriver don't violate my suspension of disbelief though.
First there was the dream. A man being inflated grotesquely, then deflated. It repeated that part many times until I got disgusted enough to wake.
Then I watched the new Doctor Who episode which not only was another body horror thing but also really violated the laws of conservation of mass*.
And then one of my fans sent me a link to this:
So I feel a little messed up with all the body horror in one day.
*Oddly enough time travel and a sonic screwdriver don't violate my suspension of disbelief though.
May 4, 2007
This is me and my girlfriend
I did record an actual conversation, but she made me promise to not post it. So it sits in my video ipod. Enjoy this rough approximation...
May 2, 2007
I sometimes wonder
I sometimes wonder.
I think that the moon, in it's gibbous state, colored auburn--what they call a harvest moon-- seems to be ambivilantly and unapologetically both giving ominious and peaceful feelings.
That's nature: danger and beauty wrapped in the same package.
It is dark.
I am lost somewhere in a mikan field in the mountains. With trimmed heges jutting up like monoliths.
Who trims headges around a mikan field?
Maybe the man who lives at that giant country house.
But the man is not there to answer that question.
And he would probably think me odd for being here in the first place.
It is dark.
I am alone.
And I wonder...
I think that the moon, in it's gibbous state, colored auburn--what they call a harvest moon-- seems to be ambivilantly and unapologetically both giving ominious and peaceful feelings.
That's nature: danger and beauty wrapped in the same package.
It is dark.
I am lost somewhere in a mikan field in the mountains. With trimmed heges jutting up like monoliths.
Who trims headges around a mikan field?
Maybe the man who lives at that giant country house.
But the man is not there to answer that question.
And he would probably think me odd for being here in the first place.
It is dark.
I am alone.
And I wonder...
April 26, 2007
Panorama shots
My cheap camera rocks. Also, thank goodness for photoshop gallery automation. In this photodump: A birthday with absenthe, an Inari shrine, and an old hotel you know.
Wish I would have done that before...
Lots of people seem to hate the JET programme's free language books. Mostly cause there is a list of words in each chapter, and the book tells you to find the definitions yourself. I came to appreciate it though; typing all those words into the wwwjdic site got me used to typing in Japanese, and helped me memorize which words have long vowels.
Last month I tried something new; I checked off the words I knew and studied the words I had learned up to that point in the book each day. I really wish I would have started doing that before this month's book (it being the last). Oh well, there is always the translator's course I will probably take next year.
Anyways, it was a bit of a time cruncher, so there were a couple chapters I didn't do this for. I also started scribbling out the furigana above the words to make sure I completely knew words before checking them off.
BTW, no more essays to subject you to, cause the last book doesn't have that sort of test. However, I may well try doing a sort of language-blog exchange with my gf; having her correct me through skype was most helpful.
Last month I tried something new; I checked off the words I knew and studied the words I had learned up to that point in the book each day. I really wish I would have started doing that before this month's book (it being the last). Oh well, there is always the translator's course I will probably take next year.
Anyways, it was a bit of a time cruncher, so there were a couple chapters I didn't do this for. I also started scribbling out the furigana above the words to make sure I completely knew words before checking them off.
BTW, no more essays to subject you to, cause the last book doesn't have that sort of test. However, I may well try doing a sort of language-blog exchange with my gf; having her correct me through skype was most helpful.
ザ・ラスト・ナイム
This was my advice to a guy that has people in school only call him by his first name. What do you think? Is the whole calling foreigners by their first name thing disrespectful?
I said:
Actually, I think it is disrespectful. Let me guess, 9 times out of ten they don't bother to affix an honorative to your name, such as さん or 先生. They want to set you apart because you are foreign.
The compromise I reached was to have everyone call me Mr. B. I explained this is how we handle teacher's names in America. Therefore, it's easy for them and I feel like I am getting some respect.
Now, it's gonna be an uphill battle, but here is my plan for you. Start an English radio show on the annoucements at your school, and make sure the teachers room can hear it too. Do the show during lunch.
One of the first things you will talk about is how to properly address a teacher in an American school. Then say, "だから、今から、君たちは僕にミスタXとよんでくれませんか？" and follow up with how it is rude to call a teacher by their first name, even for other teachers.
Also introduce yourself on the show each time as "Mr. X". Correct students and teachers every time. Soon, with luck, they may learn. But don't count on it for your current students.
EDIT: sorry I had to hide the comments; I am starting to get paranoid about my last name being online!
I said:
Actually, I think it is disrespectful. Let me guess, 9 times out of ten they don't bother to affix an honorative to your name, such as さん or 先生. They want to set you apart because you are foreign.
The compromise I reached was to have everyone call me Mr. B. I explained this is how we handle teacher's names in America. Therefore, it's easy for them and I feel like I am getting some respect.
Now, it's gonna be an uphill battle, but here is my plan for you. Start an English radio show on the annoucements at your school, and make sure the teachers room can hear it too. Do the show during lunch.
One of the first things you will talk about is how to properly address a teacher in an American school. Then say, "だから、今から、君たちは僕にミスタXとよんでくれませんか？" and follow up with how it is rude to call a teacher by their first name, even for other teachers.
Also introduce yourself on the show each time as "Mr. X". Correct students and teachers every time. Soon, with luck, they may learn. But don't count on it for your current students.
EDIT: sorry I had to hide the comments; I am starting to get paranoid about my last name being online!
April 25, 2007
Which season do I like?
Another essay for my secret masters. Feel free to laugh, as long as you point out what's wrong where.
さあ、実はアメリカでは秋が好きだった。
でも日本には春がなかなか好きになっちゃった。
なぜなれば、日本の春は植物がきれいなみどりになる。
泣けるほど美しいさ。さらに、その頃、雨が多いので、
苔がしげている。苔むした神社やお寺が大好きだ。
つまり、古い場所に行くことは僕の趣味なのだから、
春だろうが、いつだろうが、行ければいい。
春は僕の趣味とあっている。
さあ、実はアメリカでは秋が好きだった。
でも日本には春がなかなか好きになっちゃった。
なぜなれば、日本の春は植物がきれいなみどりになる。
泣けるほど美しいさ。さらに、その頃、雨が多いので、
苔がしげている。苔むした神社やお寺が大好きだ。
つまり、古い場所に行くことは僕の趣味なのだから、
春だろうが、いつだろうが、行ければいい。
春は僕の趣味とあっている。
It just keeps going up
I love being an egomaniac.
From the chat logs:
J: dude i just noticed you're now up to 308 subscribers
me: yeah
I'll make a self-congradulating video soon
;)
J: your subscribers demand it to be so
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)