It comes up more often than you’d think – what “you want to be”.  English teachers in Japan rarely plan to do it for life.  There’s something else we’d like to become but for now, for whatever reason, teaching English works just fine.

When I say I want to be an interpreter the response has been more negative than positive.  “Oh my friend is an interpreter, she has all these awful stories.”  “Don’t do that, there’s no money in it!”  “I hear the market for Japanese – English interpretation is going down… Chinese would have been more practical.”

My answer to all those people is RAGH!  Commenter number one – I have “awful stories” from every job I’ve ever held.  Your point?  Commenter number dos – I’m not looking to be a millionaire, just to make a living doing something I love.  Commenter number 三 – what’s the point of studying something for years and years if you don’t like it?

I recently came across a song from Marina and the Diamonds that expresses my point perfectly:

People like to tell you what you’re gonna be
It’s not my problem if you don’t see what I see
And I do not give a damn if you don’t believe

So there.  Pfffffffffft.

A whole bunch of people thought that knitting something challenging for the duration of the Olympics would be fun.  I agreed and picked out a crazy project – a lace blanket over six feet across that uses 1700 yards of yarn.  After many late nights, 60+ hours of knitting, and a blocking session during the men’s gold medal hockey game (grah!) I’m proud to declare myself a successful Knitting Olympian/Ravelete.  Meet Girasole.

Full project info on Ravelry.  I loved the pattern but I can’t say I’ll be making another one any time soon – I need a break.

The general concensus seems to be that knitting the edging is torture but I say phooey.  After a loooong circular slog the edging was like eating potato chips.  And not just any chips, but Pringles.  A huuuuge can of Pringles.  I couldn’t stop.

I didn’t have enough pins for all 213 points so I did the Olympic thing and sacrificed a few straight blocking wires to the cause.  They came out slightly bent but I dare say it gives them more character, not to mention war stories to tell the grandkids.  (“Do you remember the Girasole of 2010?  My, how limber we were back then!”)

I’m glad I decided to take up this challenge.  I grew as a knitter, watched more curling than I’d care to admit, and now have a kick butt blanket for napping on the couch.  Win, blank end, win.

The following took place in a mix of Japanese and English.

5th grader:  Karla-sensei, the lead actress  in the Friday Night Movie looked just like you!

Me:  Friday Night Movie?

5th grader:  Yeah, it was all about fashion and stuff.

Me:  …The Devil Wears Prada?

5th grader:  That was it!

Now people on both sides of the Pacific think I look like Anne Hathaway.  I’m definitely not complaining!

Okay, I’m going to try and ease back into this posting thing.  I’ve been going through some old pictures and while they may not have a large overarching theme they’re still neat.  Later I want to write some more posts about learning Japanese… but let’s start slowly, slowly.

First:  Odaiba, an island in Tokyo Bay, has all kinds of shopping and television headquarters and touristy hot springs.  They also have this:

Think what you will.

I spent yesterday finishing up some nearly done projects and taking pictures of my latest knitting.  Yea knitting!

Armwarmers!  [project rav link] These are called Toast by Leslie Friend [pattern rav link] and are nothing but a stockinette tube.  The original instructions don’t have any shaping but I started a little smaller at the wrists and increased a few stitches at the forearm because I can’t leave a good pattern well enough alone.    I wear these every day now – I love that I can have my fingers out for train pass grabbing or more-or-less covered when I’m walking.

I call these Shipwrecked [rav link] and they’re just what they look like – striped socks.  The Knit Picks Felici yarn is really soft and wears okay so I think I’ll be getting some use out of these.

And here’s something that’s waiting for a block:

I should get to that.

There’s a neighborhood in Kawasaki called Mizonokuchi.  At first I thought it was Mi*zu*nokuchi, or literally “mouth of the water”… maybe where a creek emptied into a river, or a river into the ocean.  Romantic.  Poetic.  Then I looked up the kanji:

溝ノ口

It turns out mizo actually means “ditch”.  Mouth of the ditch.

Not so poetic.

When I first started studying Japanese I watched a lot of anime. I got hooked on the likes of Cowboy Bebop, Inuyasha, Fruits Basket, and Escaflowne, all with English subs. Some fansub groups write transliterations of song lyrics so you can sing along even if you can’t read Japanese.  It can be hard to follow, though:

Nee, aishitara dare mo ga konna kodoku ni naru no?
Nee, kurayami yori mo fukai kurushimi dakishimeteru no?
Nanimo kamo ga futari kagayaku tame, kitto

Blech. I would loop the song over and over, trying to get my tongue to match the crazy mashup of letters. I went over it enough that I ended up memorizing the sounds but had no idea what I was saying.

Every once in a while after that I would go through the original lyrics and see how much I could read. The Japanese looks much prettier, by the way:

ねえ　愛したら誰もが
こんな孤独になるの?
ねえ　暗闇よりも深い苦しみ
抱きしめてるの?

何もかもが二人輝くため
きっと

As the years went on I grokked more and more. Today I reached a milestone – I can read and write all of the lyrics. The last kanji to fall was 闇, or darkness. There is a whole lot more to Japanese than a single song but I still feel like I conquered a small, personal corner of the language.

Oh, I couldn’t leave you without the song!  It’s the opening for Escaflowne and is called 約束はいらない or “No Need for Promises”.  All of the spoilers are in the last 30 seconds if you care about that kind of thing.

The song lyrics are here, along with a translation of passable quality.

Haven’t felt much like blogging lately.  I’ve been on a real study kick, trying to squeeze a bunch of new kanji and vocab into my brain.  I’ve taken to tackling lists of things I think I should know – government ministries, planets, major organs.  I’m discovering some neat things while I’m at it.  Example: I’ve always associated Venus with love and pretty goddesses, but in Japanese the word is 金星 or “gold/money planet”.  Now I picture the goddesses’ pockets overflowing with cash.

Another cool word – appendix (the one in your gut) is 盲腸 or “blind intestine”.  Fitting as long as you don’t think about it too hard.

I’m not only studying lists, of course.  I’m working my way through a novel and some test prep books as well as watching a bunch of tv… even getting into anime for the first time in years.  The first show I’m watching is called 君に届け or “Reaching You” and is a high school love story.  Exactly my sort of thing.

The second is just weird.  Six hot guys are physical manifestations of stations on Tokyo’s Ooedo subway line that ride around on a “miracle train” and solve people’s problems.  To see the Japanese definition of hot guys watch the intro:

The show itself is littered with facts a train nut would love.  Did you know that Roppongi’s Ooedo station is the deepest in Japan at 42.3 meters (138 feet) underground?  The train trivia even leaks into the characters.  Shinjuku is the most visited station on the line, so Mr. Shinjuku is the most popular guy in the group.  Shiodome station was the last to be completed so he’s played by what looks like a 14 year old.  And so on.

I think part of me is just thrilled that I can understand most of what’s being said.  It’s brain candy.  Sweet, romance-soaked brain candy.

Nom.

The most beautiful sky is after a typhoon barrels through.  All of the smog is blown away and all that’s left is the sunset and Mt. Fuji.  Wow.

I’m getting a little better at the bento thing.  Here’s what I’ve been taking to school recently:

Roughly clockwise from left: salmon, rice, broccoli, two kinds of pickles, persimmon, garnished with a lettuce leaf.

One day when I opened this some of the sixth graders actually clapped.  But others soon chimed in – the bento box is too small, I need more rice, aren’t there too many veggies in there?  Tough crowd.