Having second thoughts now about my somewhat recent decision to get hip to Japanese fashion, when my experiments result in the unfortunate pairing of ruffled smock-top dresses with turtlenecks or the wearing of slightly blousy sweaters adorned by bows. If it sounds cute, it’s not – at least not on a non-Japanese woman over the […]
Japanese
Spaz-tistics
Stats taken during the 4-kyuu exam, as collected during sweeping surveys of room 404: 3 test segments 104 questions 40 test takers 17 Caucasians 4 annoying college girls who giggled and bragged about answers they got right in between exam segments 13 moments of panic 6 moments of insecurity 30 potential test-taking minutes wasted by […]
Chomsky Revisited
I should be studying for tomorrow’s big test, but I am not. My sheafs of grammar and exercises would be cold to the touch, if I actually unhuddled myself from my frozen ball and touched them. It is warm to be hunched in front of the computer, the screen emitting a soft, comforting glow and […]
Time Machines
Some pretty pictures from yesterday’s visit to The Open Air Museum of Old Japanese Farm Houses in Osaka …. On the way in – Paradise of Kids! All the world’s a stage …. A lovely afternoon of solitary wandering amid the pretty leaves … I’m one of those people who feels slightly bummed when summer […]
Hooked on J-Pops Worked for Me!
In 1976, my parents emigrated to the United States. In as much time as it took them to get through customs, they realized that their quickie Berlitz course (taught by Brits) had done little to prepare them for the realities of the American English-speaking world. My mother still tells the story of the day a […]
Scribbling
It’s been about a year now since I accepted my teaching position here in Japan, and about 10 months since I began learning Japanese. I endeavored, first, to master the writing system – at the time, I thought this consisted mainly of hiragana and katakana; kanji, as it was explained on the website, seemed superfluous. […]
From Arigatou to Zed
I would like to direct your attention to the newest member of I Eat My Pigeon’s Pages family: The Glossary. The Glossary was born at 2:48 p.m. Tokyo time and provides story-and-joked-filled descriptions and definitions for various terms I often use in my blog entries. Said terms range from Arigatou to Zed. It is also […]
Words of the Week Part 2 or “Fluff Post in Lieu of Something Better”
I have several potentially interesting posts brewing in my head, but until I can sit down to give them the attention I hope they deserve, I give you another round of “Words of the Week.” ototoi – the day before yesterday. Perhaps meaningful only because it was the last word I wrote down in Western […]
Words of the Week part 1
At first, I blamed my none-too-frequent blog posts on a lack of internet in my own apartment. Now, about a month after the happy home internetting event, I find myself still posting intermittently so, in an attempt to post at least once a week, I shall begin to chart my growing grasp of Japanese in […]
status
after 6 weeks in Sakiio i have: signed up for my internet account, through the magical help of my Japanese friend Carnitas (cheaper than yahoo bb and supposedly will arrive in about 3 weeks) arranged for my first Japanese class (tomorrow!) I still not have: paid my phone bill (due the 25th) secured my health […]