Japanese Me

..and studying. Adding cards to Anki, an amazing open-source flashcard program.

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I wasn’t always a morning person.  In high school I stayed up late studying and would sleepwalk to the shower each morning.  During college mom knew not to call before noon or else hear the mumbles of a freshly awoken daughter. Then came San Francisco, Starbucks.  I opened a couple of times and ended up [...]

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The Japanese Language Proficiency Test (日本語能力試験、or JLPT) is coming up in 11 days so I’ve been hitting the books pretty hard.  I passed a practice test but I want to give myself some more breathing room so kanji and vocab it is. I originally thought reading was my problem but when I looked at the [...]

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I know you like steam engines but in Japan this is the best I could get. Happy father’s day, Dad!

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I teach English in Japanese elementary schools but I’m not directly hired by the schools.  I actually work for a contracting company that takes care of things like schedules, communication with the school boards, visas, and the like.  They also provide training and observe one of my classes once a year.  That was this week. [...]

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Touristy shopping in Asakusa, Tokyo.  Best viewed in this large version.

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Now that I’m typing more Japanese I’m finding I make different kinds of typos.  In English I mostly make letter order mistakes, such as liek for like.  Every once in a while I make a “visual” typo like replacing a p with a b. Here’s a Japanese phrase I was trying to punch in just [...]

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Gotta love paychecks–I can use them to buy games! This is Rhythm Tengoku Gold and it’s just as addicting as it looks with 50 mini games plus loads of unlockable fun.  Don’t read Japanese?  There’s an English version, too.  Yea!

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Japan is nothing if not full of wonderous sights and sounds.  I’m lucky and get to experience them every time I walk out my front door, so for my friends around the world I present Uniqlo’s “calendar”.  Click and watch all the wonder that is Japan float before your very eyes.  Your screensaver will turn [...]

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マグロ (maguro), i.e. tuna, at my local supermarket.  There was a guy right there preparing cuts of sushi, droning on about how fresh the fish was. Head of tuna – roughly $10.  Knowing where your food comes from – priceless.

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