Docile Whale

Here’s one of those little things that amuses me far more than it should: my wife gave me this notebook to use at work. She said, “It’s friendly. The children will like it.” And it is and they do.
But I like it because of its friendly and charming little poem. Across the top it says: [...]

Test Day

Well, the test is done with for another year or four.  I think I did ok, but I don’t know if I actually passed or not and won’t find out until February.  The first section of the test kicked my ass, so it remains to be seen if the second and third portions, where I [...]

Studying

Had  a nice group study session after a piece of work today that went very nicely.  The job was fun and paid well, and after, to be able to sit with friends who are taking the same test, was incredibly helpful.  After having done so, I feel much more ready to deal with this thing [...]

Malaise

I hadn’t really intended to take a break from blogging, it just sort of happened.  Rather than trying to play catch-up for the past weeks worth of (non) posts, I’m just going to roll my notes over into this weeks worth of posts.  I hope.
Things are going ok, but the number of times I have [...]

Impractical Linguistics

It’s no secret that I love languages.  It’s also no secret that I think learning languages is a royal pain in the fundament.
My students know that I study Japanese and Spanish, although I freely admit that I usually only study the later when I am thoroughly sick of the former and can not stand the [...]

Brain Fried

This morning I woke up early, again, and got straight to work again.  Did the dishes, picked up the debris stewn around the living room, cleaned and repaired M’s bicycle, washed and vacuumed the inside of both our cars, paid some bills, and went grocery shopping. 
But you know what made me tired?  You know [...]

Learned

Have you ever tried to learn a foreign language through a foreign language? I ask because that was my afternoon.
On Tuesdays, between afternoon and evening classes, I usually go to the pool and get my swim on. Today, however, and unbeknownst to me, the pool was closed. So I went back to [...]

Simplicity

Traditional Japanese art and culture celebrates simplicity and form.  In Ukiyo-e, wood block printing, white, or blank elements are left on the canvas to emphasize the pureness of the forms depicted.  In Ikebana, flower arrangement, single colors are chosen to contrast with container and setting, but never more than one or two so that the [...]

Blogging from Work

At my job, I have free reign to use the guest cubicles as a place to log on to the internet for a bit of e-mail and newsreading.
While I appreciate the facilities being placed at my disposal, they have gone a long way towards reminding me why I hate working in cube farms.
The guest cubes [...]

From a Student Today

Me:  Hi, (name) what’s new?
55 Year Old Grandmother Student:  My son bought present for me.  He bought washlet.
Me:  Like the toilet?
Student:  Yes!  It is wonderful!  It has hot seating and very comfort!  It has two bidets…for two holes!

Student cackles and puts her head down on the desk in embarrassment, giggling madly.
Me:  So, uh, [...]

Last Kyoto Notes

Saturday night, heading back to our hotel from the Gion area, the cab driver took us to the wrong hotel. We had piled into the cab and I spoke to the cab driver in Japanese, telling him the name of our hotel. He leaned over and yelled that there were two hotels in [...]

Tourist Talk

Kyoto is a beautiful city. There are hundreds, literally, of shrines, temples, gardens, and historic places to visit. There are also some fantastic restaurants and shops tucked into the back alleys and side streets. I have now visited Kyoto four times and noticed some changes that I thought were quite interesting. [...]

Couldn't Make It Up If I Tried

There’s this TV show that M and I love. It’s called “Trivia” and features little stories about true, well, trivia. There are several commentators on the show, each with their own little buzzer that generates a “hey” sound, the phrase “he” in Japanese a kind of “seriously, really, wow” only without being a [...]

CSS

I’m thinking about building my own website again, just so I can have a little more control (yes, it’s all about control) over the layout and design. However, to do this, I need to learn CSS and Javascript. That’s a serious investment of time on my part with no real payout other than [...]

Hotel Kitchen Late Night

Ezio opened the door, a scowl on his weathered face. He pointed to the sign on the door that said the hotel closed and locked the front doors at 11 pm. Even for students.
I shrugged and said “per favore?” Ezio’s scowl deepened, until he saw Patricia standing behind me, looking as sheepish [...]

So Self-Concious

One of the hardest things for most Westerners to overcome while living in Japan is their own body conciousness.  Traditionally, the Japanese are much less physically shy than we might suppose.  However, a long history of public bathing has reduced the modesty limitations in this culture.  In addition, bodies and their functions are generally discussed [...]

Rail Pass

Rail Pass
Originally uploaded by SunToad.
During June of 1994, I was lucky enough to be part of a student exchange program to Italy to study the Italian language and environmental practices. The trip was sponsored through St. Thomas university in Miami, and I was one of two kids from outside the Southern U.S. to be [...]

Cheat Sheet #1

Right. Back into studying. Reviewing level 3 before getting serious stuck into level 2. Got 82% on tonight’s quiz which is ok, but not great. Anyway, here’s the first cheat sheet.
For these grammar points, drop the 〜ます at the end of the verb and replace it with the appropriate ending.
１。 〜かた [...]