Trip to Niigata

I only have 6 days left in Japan, so I'm trying to make the best of the rest of my time here. I've recently been lucky to make a few new friends and we've really hit it off. Anyways, this past weekend Miho and myself took a tour bus to Niigata prefecture, famous for whine, mountains, and friendly people.
We got to visit a whine factory and sample a lot of different types of whine - I got a bit tipsy as Miho kept giving her samples to me in what was surely a conspiracy to get me drunk =P.
I got a lot of video but haven't had the chance to properly put it together just yet, so for now here are some pictures, please enjoy!


To get to Niigata prefecture, which is on the west-coast of Japan, we had to travel up and over, around, and often THROUGH a tonne of Moutains. Going through mountains was scary sometimes - the tunnels are up to 18KM long and they DO sometimes collapse but generally after earthquakes or heavy rains causing mud-slides. Anyways, we survived and came out in the middle of the mountains to be surrounded by beautiful fall colored tree covered mountain ranges!

We took a number of rest stops, one at a service area somewhere on Mount Akagi - my mom went there when she was here but it was my first time around Mt. Akagi - and another at a large dam. The above pic is Miho and me on that dam, the view was spectacular.

After we visited the winery and were treated to a very Japanese meal of rice, fish, natto (fermented soya-bean gue stuff, that actually to spite the smell was not so bad and is said to be really good for you.) We boarded a kind of cruise boat and took a tour down the river through the mountains. It was all very beautiful and ironically the scenery reminded me of Canada and Japan at the same time.

On a side note, I've been studying Japanese a lot while I still have time to be immersed in the language. I've become fairly fluent, at least to some degree, if I may say so myself, but learning new vocabulary is an ongoing process. For straight vocabulary-building, I've found a great (and FREE) website called IKNOW that has a number of games and spaced repetition systems available for learning vocabulary and Kanji (Chinese written symbols). I've embedded a couple gadgets in the right panel of the blog here showing my study time and even showing a review of the latest vocabulary that I've been learning. Many of the words I already know but hadn't learned the Kanji for yet so I'm trying to play catch-up in that regard as to not remain illiterate in Japanese. =P
Well, I'll try to get some video of my trip posted up here soon.

Tim

日本語でブログを書く

I figured Id start posting my Japanese blog entries to this blog too since I refer my Japanese friends here from time to time.

日本語で日記を書くのは久しぶりですね
このサイトを登録した時「もしかしたら　一日おきに日記を書けるかも」と思ったけど・・

もうすぐカナダに　かえっちゃうから　本当にさみしくなちゃった・・
日本にいる間できるだけ生活を楽しみたいと思います。

カナダにいたとき、YESJAPAN.COMというサイトで日本語を勉強しました・・　そのサイトに、1ヶ月かん２回日本語について番組が出ます、日本に来る前によく見ました・・　　この間、その番組に出ている人たちと渋谷へパーティに行きました！　　本当にたのしかった！　　その番組を見てたので、なんか有名な人に会てた気がした。　　あとは、そのパーティで友達を作れた。　またいっしょに遊びに行くと思う・・

今、カナダに帰りたいと思う気持ちもあるけど、本当はあまり帰りたくない・・　ちょっと寂しい気になった・・

YesJapan party in Shibuya!

George and me in Shibuya -
Well I feel really lucky right now. I had a rare opportunity to meet up with a bunch of fellow members and some of the hosts of YesJapan.com where I studied Japanese by myself before coming to Japan! Everyone had a really awesome time, and I will even say I've forged some new friendships. Two of the other members that came are living in Japan because their husbands are stationed here, and the other girl Rachel is here for pretty much the same reasons I am (study Japanese Language and Culture), so yea, everyone there was super cool! We all met at Shibuya's Hachikou statue (famous statue of a dog @ shibuya crossing) and then headed to Shakey's pizza in Shibuya to enjoy all-you-can-eat pizza and drinks and lots of good times. It was awesome to meet George and Hiro in person after seeing them on the YesJapan webcasts so many times over the years! I ended up missing the last train home (sinse I live far from Tokyo and have to transfer, that means the 9:07pm train) but it turned out for the better as we went to a bar in Ebisu to meet a bunch of foreign models (and some cute Japanese girls too) and enjoy drinks and chit-chat. Hiro and I really hit it off too and he's such a cool guy that he let me crash at his place. Great memories all around. I brought my camera of course, and did manage to throw a video together but unfortunately I didn't film as much as I'd of liked to in hind-sight since I was too busy having fun! Here's the video, check it out:

Video Memory

Well, I had promised a few posts ago that I would start to put up some of the unseen footage I had gotten when I was in Fukuoka. If you read my blog you already know that Fukuoka and my experience at Genki JACS school, aswell as the dorm I lived in there have easily become some of my favorite places in Japan, and I made friends at this dorm (most of whom are in this video) that I'm still in touch with and hope to meet again someday.

So here's the first video I've thrown together, taken around valentines day. Students of both Fukuoka Industrial University who live at the dorm together with students of Genki Japanese and Culture school all celebrated Valnetines day together by playing a chocolate-covered-strawberry blindfold game, enjoy:

Tokyo

Just thought I'd share this gem of a video with everyone; This video really captures the essence of all that is Tokyo. I still say my favorite city in Japan is Fukuoka, but Tokyo would take a healthy second place for sure. Please watch the following video:

Good times in Oota

Not a heck of a lot exciting is happening in Rural Gunma prefecture. As such I'm hoping to do some traveling soon (details to come later). To be honest, I really miss Fukuoka lately; More specifically, I really miss the dorm life I had there. I found some old never-before-seen video from back at the dorm in my computer and I think someday soon I'll throw it onto the blog here.

Anyways, last night I went to Oota city to have dinner with Miho at one of our favorite Italian restaurants =). After, we went to the game center (arcade) and played a bunch of strange but cool Japanese games - unfortunately I only had the camera on for a little bit at the game center though, was too busy playing and sort of forgot to take footage. After that, I introduce my favorite dessert of Japan; The Japanese Crepe (I know it is french, but the Japanese version is just so much better so it deserves to be distinguished as the "Japanese Crepe" because I've had the french version too and this is just so much better).

The video is not overly edited and mostly is just strung together raw footage; To be honest it's more for my own memory's sake than anything else so I'm pleased with it. Enjoy!

Hey all, what's up?

This weekend was pretty frickin hot outside so I spent most of it in the comfort of my AC. However, I had a great time hanging out with Miho and I went to Japanese class on Sunday - which was pretty cool but the grammer we studied I already know like the back of my hand, however the kanji part of the class kicked my butt as usual. It's interesting going to this class because I'm the only student who speaks English, and a lot of the other students are Chinese (and the rest are brazilian, indian, etc.) The Chinese people in the class have one really big advantage and that is they can already read and write kanji for the most part. I feel really pressured to "catch up" with them somehow in the writing part, but I really think that will take a few years.

Anyways, I also finally went down to the post office and sent a package of goodies back to Canada to some friends back home (you know who you are), so I look forward to those being recieved finally. The package I put together was mostly filled with Manga, but also included stickers, some crazy Japanese erasers, and a postcard from Asakusa.

Lately this J-pop girlband has really gotten popular here, I'll post a video of one of their songs below, but it's interesting that a) they are not that cute (they are kinda cute though I guess, but I dont see why they're *all that*), b) their songs are catchy but get annoying quickly, and c) who the hell knows what their real voices sound like (take a listen to the track below to see what I mean).



There is also this song which realllly sounds like the 80s has returned. It's also featured in a commercial on TV so I hear it quite often; Catchy but too artificial to make it on to my favorites list.



And last but not least, everyone's favorite チョコレイト ディスコ Chocolate Disco


I just figured I'd share the ultra-pop music that is currently the top of the charts here in Japan. hehe. Mata~

七夕

Hey everyone! Well, the summer is definitely here. Temperatures are so hot here I truly would take the cold Canadian winter over it any day!
However, with summer in Japan comes a wide variety of festivals, fireworks, and get-togethers.

This past week was my city's Tanabata festival. I previously showed a video I found on youtube of last years Tanabata, but I finally had the chance to make my own memories of it. So, to celebrate the occassion, Miho and I went out and bought Yukata and Jinbei. I made a video of the whole thing, so please enjoy.

Something funny

Well, life has been pretty relaxed lately here in Gunma, Japan. There's honestly not a heck of a lot to do in this really rural place.. But, I'm making the best of it, for the most part. Lately I've been studying Japanese, Kanji, and even MATH.
I've also been hanging out with Miho a lot. We generally go to the Mall, or to the game center or Karaoke, etc. And we usually eat dinner at either Primo - my favorite italian restaurant - or this Japanese ramen restaurant with a REALLY cute waitress.

Also, this is extremely unrelated but I found this and found it really funny. As far as political satire goes this video is one of the best I have seen. Better still, the website this video is from allows you to put yourself in the video, so look for me (kind of towards the second half. hint: my first appearance is marching with a campaign sign in hand).. Anyways, here it is:

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

And for an extra bit of fun, I made this one of Miho and myself:

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Long overdue update!

Well, I'm FINALLY updating my blog after a month+ long hiatus! Lots and lots has happened! Lately I have been seeing some great movies at the theaters around here. I'm finding it's a great way to enjoyably practice my Japanese listening skills.

Recently, I finally saw the Hana Yori Dango: Final Movie! Which, although good, was just not as good as the TV series. It was still a great movie though!

Miho and I also went on a date and saw a cute romantic comedy called Boku no Kanojo wa Cyborg and I enjoyed it so much. However, when I looked around youtube for the trailer for the movie I found that no one had yet translated / subtitled it so I decided to translate+subtitle it myself for practice! (I would love to get in to Fan-subbing of J-drama or maybe even Anime someday) Anyways, here's my subtitled version:


Also, to play catch-up a little with the time I haven't posted anything in. Just before May we went to Tokyo and watched a baseball game - which was a totally amazing experience and in some ways completely different from seeing a major league game back home. I put together a little video of that adventure:


And finally.. Being that summer is definitely here (the temperature is crazy outside), the summer festival season in Japan has come into full swing. Yesterday I was teaching an English class for an NPO in Maebashi, and got the chance to participate in the festivities of Tanabata - Summer Star Festival. This festival was really really great and I regrettably didn't bring my Camera, but my city will soon have its own Tanabata and I'll be sure to get some pics / video. In the meantime, here is a great video I found about Tanabata, check it out:


Well, that's all for now, but I'll be sure to get my blog back into gear. I promise!
- Timothy

Earthquake Update

Well, I thought they were over for a while, but I was wrong..
This morning at about 9AM Japan time, there was ANOTHER quake, and this one was not from Mikagi prefecture (the previous two were, and Mikagi is a ways away in the north part of the main island of Honshuu), the quake this morning was centered IN the Kanto area (where Tokyo is and where I live). It wasn't very big, but now there is some evidence from researchers and sensors that, you guessed it, it is related to the previous earthquake as the movement of one tectonic plate inevitably effects the plates around it. Now there is speculation that in the next while we may have another fairly large earthquake because one of the plates offshore from Tokyo appears to have shifted a little due to the previous quakes. No one knows for sure though, all I know is that to spite being semi-excited about being in an earthquake before I came to Japan, now that I've been in a couple (and they weren't even that strong, just average), I REALLY would prefer NOT to have any more of them. I don't trust the integrity of my house either, as it's a bit old (19 years - yes that is considered old here as most modern houses have a shelf life of about 30 years due to the earthquakes they have to endure) and theres now a small crack in part of my wall from the shifting that the ENTIRE HOUSE does when a quake hits.

Phew, sorry to rant, but I have quakes on the mind now.. Anyways, I'm brushing up my disaster plans as I write this - in my head - that's how I can do that and write this at the same time.

Anyways, take care until next time.

Day Trip / Earthquakes

Well I havent really done the best job lately keeping this blog updated. It is not due to a lack of excitment, in fact lately I have been rather busy and I have some great pictures and video that I will soon get around to putting together and posting up here.

So, two big things to mention for now though. First, we had a rather sizable earthquake last night. Actually, not sizable but only average.. However, this one lasted for a good 30 seconds, and about 2 minutes later there was another one that was even stronger than the first. Then there were some small aftershocks, and then it was over... so I thought.. about 2 hours later at about 3am I felt another big tremour.

Secondly, today I sort of did a spir of the moment thing and decided to take a train to Asakusa, Tokyo. I just really needed to go out exploring, and find that feeling that reminds me of why I came to Japan.. And that feeling of being able to go anywhere and blaze my own trail by myself. And to that goal, has been SUCCESS.. I am really looking forward to starting my Japanese class this sunday.

Anyways, until next time when I post some cool videos and stuff.. This is Timo, signing off..

*NEXT TIME* Gone to a baseball game in Japan, totally different experience, and geek-kingdom of AKIHABARA.. check it out here soon.. I mean it SOON..

Mom Came to Japan

Above: Mom and me under some Sakura trees while cherry-blossom viewing at the park near my house


Well, it's been some time between updates and I appologize to everyone who has been waiting to read. Anyways, my MOM came to visit me for two weeks and we had an AWSOME time! I was really happy to see her, but there are lots of people I miss from back in Windsor too and for everyone who can't come visit me I hope my mom can fill you in on my life here better than my blog does.

My mom stayed at my place in Gunma, but because Gunma has basically nothing cool to see or do (that's not true either as my mom found out) we also stayed in Tokyo for a couple days to see the sights and I think my mom fell in love with the city of Tokyo as much as I did when I arrived.

During her time here, she volunteered at the international kindergarten I was working at, saw many different sides of Tokyo including Shibuya crossing, Asakusa, Ebisu, Harakjuku, and so on, and even ventured for a hike up Akagi mountain here in Gunma. Aside from that, when she was stuck in the house while I had to work, she was brave and went exploring by herself and found her own favorite place near here - the local grocery store.

Akemi-san was also very kind and showed my mom around the beautiful city of Yokohama (part of Tokyo) and they really had a great time together too I think.
It was great to see my mom, but also felt kind of strange to have her close by after being over here on my own for the past 4 and a half months. Anyways, I miss her every time I go to the grocery store (kind of inside joke). I got a tone of pictures, so I'll upload some of them below...


above: Mom and Akemi in Yokohama - My mom was very lucky because the Sakura trees were blossoming just when she arrived and it only lasts for about a week in terms of full bloom, so the timing couldn't of been better.


My mom had the chance to visit Yokohama, a very beautiful and modern city in the Tokyo area.


We made a point one night of venturing out to Tokyo Tower, which is pretty much a must-see. My mom and me both ate some cheap 7-11 Bento food for dinner afterwards to escape the high prices of the area's restaurants, but it was a memorable night anyways.


We also visited Harajuku (where the free hugs picture above was taken) and saw the great emperial garden/forest there. Here my mom stands under a giant Tori gate.


We got really lucky when in Asakusa one day and happened to see a young Maiko (apprentice geisha), she was so beautiful!!!


My mom was also a hit at the school I was teaching at! They don't have many clowns in Japan so she was a special treat!

Picking up Mom

Well, I am sitting in the internet kiosk room thing at Narita international airport in Tokyo. I'm waiting for my mom to arrive. Will she arrive? haha, I only say that because I can't be sure if she made her transfer in Chicago, if she is on the right plane, etc. We have no way to contact each other until she comes out of the arrivals gate.

Anyways, I should have lots of interesting posts about our time together. I am really looking forward to showing her around Japan! Right now though my head kind of hurts, but I think it's because of a slight anxiety about meeting my mom, I haven't seen her, or anyone else from my home town for that matter in over 4 months(except Mr. and Mrs. Taguchi who moved back to Japan from my home town after I came here by chance). Anyways, we have a long day of trains ahead of us to get back into Tokyo and get to Sakura Hostel where we'll spend the night before heading back to Gunma tommorow.

From the countryside in Gunma..

Hello everyone, I am still alive. I just happen to live in the middle of nowhere at the moment and thus have no internet access except at the internet cafe or manga cafe.

Anhyways, it seems like I found a place to move to in Isesaki which is about a 5 minute walk from the train station there and thus I can commute to Tokyo or Ota where Miho lives rather easily (however the train to Tokyo takes about 2 hours, but its really cheap, about 15 dollars if you convert from yen)

My mom is comming in just a week or so, so I`m hoping that there are no snags in her travels. It also looks like maybe I will move to my new apartment before she arrives. I am really looking forward to touring her around Tokyo and generally spending time with her. I`ve also started a second job part time just on saturdays teaching English at a school called COSMO. The pay is decent and its a lot of fun. In fact, I think its very similar to GenkiJACS except they teach english instead of japanese. ^.^;

I have been havig a hard time adjusting to my other job though - the kindergarten teaching job - it is so not teaching actually its just a really really giant babysitting job. At least this is how it feels most of the time. Every once and a while though I really like it. Most of the time though I just feel overwhelmed.

*NOTE: This is my second post in one day, so make sure you read my other post (below this one) about my adventure today!
Anyways, I've been hearing this song a lot everywhere here as it's racing to the top of the charts here in Japan. For some reason I like it even though it's not really my type of music. The first time I saw this music video was actually on the side of one of the buildings at Shibuya Crossing (see picture):

The singer is Utada Hikari - the same singer that sings one of the theme songs for Hana Yori Dango season 2 (mom you know the song, it starts with the word arigatou), anyways this song called Heart Station took a minute for me to recognize when I found it on youtube, but at about 1:05 it changes pace and I immediate recognized it. Give it a listen, maybe you'll like it, maybe you wont:
A little note on the translation that is in the video: The one line she says at about 3:29 in the video is himitu no herutsu which can be translated in 2 ways actually and I think it's a play on words. The translator put "Secret Frequency" because they took Herutsu to mean "Hz" as in Hertz - this japanese word is borrowed from english, but Herutsu can also mean a word borrowed from German meaning Herz which means Heart.. SO.. it could be interpretted as Secret Heart OR Secret Station/frequency which is a really good play of words because the song is called Heart Station hehe.. I have to admit I'm proud to have figured that out! haha. Enjoy the song:

Kamakura

Well, today Akemi-san and her friend Junko-san took me to Kamakura - a small town outside of Tokyo that she described as a "mini kyoto" because of its many many ancient temples and shrines and extremely traditional Japanese culture. I must say that it was absolutely wonderful and enchanting. The entire feeling of the place was like I was back in time, not to mention I sincerely enjoyed the pleasant company of Akemi and her friend Junko.
Right: I took this picture for my Mom, this tree was just absolutely amazing looking, the picture doesn't do it justice but my mom would love it!


I was extremely lucky though, as I had the chance to observe a Japanese wedding ceremony - 2 of them in fact - taking place at one of the shrines. Akemi said today is a "good luck" day on the Japanese calender - some days are bad luck, some normal, and some good, today is a good one, so many people may choose to get married today.

Anyways, I also bought an Omikuji kind of a fortune, you pay 100 yen, shake a small barrel, and a stick comes out that determines which fortune you get. Mine was a good one (I've improved, until now I always get so-so or even bad ones - but no fear because if they're not good you just tie them to the tree or to the rope and the bad luck is said to be taken away by the wind - see image below)


I finally have put together another video outlining todays events including a full bit about the wedding that I really really felt moved by, please watch it:


This is also my second last day staying at the Taguchi's house as I'm moving to Gunma from tomorrow night. They have been amazingly wonderful to me and I really hope I can make it up somehow some day! Anyways, I had a really great day today and it was nice to feel enchanted about being in Japan again. The novelty of this trip was slightly rekindled today to say the least. ^.^ Hope you all enjoy the video (see above)

I have been extremely busy lately trying to get everything sorted out in terms of my job and where I will live. Things are still rather up-in-the-air right now. I actually spent a day at ICS on Saturday with a class that I might be soon taking over by myself. I think it will be ok, but the problem is that ICS is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so the closest place I found I could live in is like 5km away. And for some reason there is no train station or anything like that in Tamamura, so going to Tokyo or even to neighboring Oota to visit Miho would be difficult.

Anyways, Miho suggested also looking at another school called OES that has a school right next to oota station (which would mean I could easily go to anywhere in the Tokyo area). So on Tuesday I had an interview and I think it went well, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Anyways, between all the craziness, I have tried to keep enjoying myself.. I went to Shibuya and Asakusa (areas of Tokyo) a couple times. I bought a souvenir in Asakusa, and grabbed a picture of one of the weird stores in Shibuya (see below).


I also have some photos from my last few days at the dorm that I want to upload to here. We ate french style crepe. I really miss Fukuoka lately. *la sigh*


A group shot of a bunch of people at Tomo dorm in Fukuoka. I'm the nerdy white guy in the glasses

This wont be too long, just wanted to note that I'm having a great time with the Taguchis! However, they are both busy today so I will be going out to explore Tokyo a bit. Haven't decided where I'll go but Akemi gave me a subway pass to use. It's called Suica and it has an IC Chip in it, so you don't have to swipe it or anything you just keep it in your wallet and when you pass through the gate, you wave your wallet past the sensor and it beeps and lets you through. So convenient compared to the subway pass I bought in Fukuoka.
Anyways, I hopefully wont get too lost wandering around by myself, Tokyo is huge after all.
PS - found out today that my mom is finally comming to visit! I am so excited to show her around!
PSS - I will be doing my first training class this Saturday at the school I'm teaching at, feeling kind of nervous, but looking forward to getting my feet wet.

I survived!

Well, after what had to be the worst plane flight I have ever experienced, followed by a skillful landing by our pilot, fighting against unpresidented and fluxuating gusts of winds, onto a fog-covered, near zero visability runway, the people in ANA flight 254 gave a small standing ovation to the crew of the aircraft.

Anyways, it was quite the experience. Needless to say, I`ve arrived in Tokyo.
I spent the weekend with Miho trying to find an apartment for myself, buy a cell-phone and such. Japan is very strict about apartment rentals and usually requires a Hyoushounin (Co-Signer) if you are a foreigner or if you are not a full time worker.

Also, there are a number of other fees attached renting an apartment from　most places. Key-Money is usually an extra month`s rent paid up front on top of the first and last months rent, and this is not refunded it is a present for the landlord. There is also a security deposit which is about 2 months of rent worth, and a cleaning fee of about 10,000 Yen (100 dollars). The security deposit is refunded, the cleaning fee is not. There is also a commission paid to the realtor (you dont rent places here by shopping for houses with for-rent signs. Rentals are only advertised at this large rental agency offices).
Anyways, there is this paper about the whole headache of the process someone already wrote in their blog, but I can`t find it right now, but basically, your $800/Month apartment will cost like $6000 upfront or something ridiculous like this, regardless of if you are a foreigner or not.
So how do people do it? Well, most smaller places (what we would call a bachelor) don`t have some of these fees attached, while some student-housing companies and such have basically no extra fees at all. So, Miho was going to be my co-signer and get this all set-up, but because she is a contract worker, even though she works full time, they could not accept her as a co-signer, and in-fact if she were to rent an apartment herself she would require her mother to co-sign even though she is Japanese.
So yea, it was kind of annoying and as of right now I am not %100 sure where I will live yet but we will figure something out.
In the mean time, Mr. and Mrs. Taguchi have invited me to stay at their place for 2 weeks in Tokyo. They are so generous and kind people. Today Mrs. Taguchi and her friend and I will go out shopping in Shibuya, not that I have a lot of money to spend, but it should be fun anyways I think.
またかくよ・・

Like Bambino...

Well, it has come time for me to leave my little nest in Fukuoka and go to Tokyo..
If you have seen the Japanese TV Drama Bambino (hint hint, Shaye), then this might sound familiar. Truth be told I have not seen much of that show yet (just started watching it).. Anyways, this post is mostly unrelated to that.

Today was my last day at Genki Japanese And Culture School (aka GenkiJACS) in Fukuoka, at least for now. Apparently I've put in 284 hours of study there according to my certificate of completion. But it is hardly a time for me to brag, I really owe so much to everyone that made my experience there so great! They topped it off with a huge farewell party at a local Izakaya (Japanese Pub), and it was fun like our parties always are!

ABOVE: Just a sign from Hakata station. On the way home from today's farewell party I became very nostalgic.

The past three months have really flown by too quickly, and while I am excited to be going back to the Tokyo area, I could not help but shed a couple tears on the way home, walking down the same streets and corridors that I have walked every day for the past 3 months on the way too and from school. I have REALLY come to fall in love with this city of Fukuoka! I really feel that GenkiJACS is more than a language school but also a family. I will write a formal review of the school sometime soon (not right now because it would admittedly be too bias as I'm missing it already having just said goodbye to everyone an hour ago or so).

Anyways, for now I just wanted to say I really had an amazing experience, I've picked up some great study habits and improved my language skills noticeably. I will miss everyone at GenkiJACS very much, and I definitely am planning to return.

So, like Bambino, I will be leaving Fukuoka tommorow to go to the big city of Tokyo, the adventure will continue, but I will never forget this city. It kind of feels like my Japanese hometown of sorts.

I tried to get a snapshot of my friend Peter and his girlfriend, but Chihomi sensei somehow snuck in to the picture aswell, haha.

Well, Miho came to Fukuoka over the long weekend this past weekend and we had a really great time. I have never felt like a tourist in Fukuoka until this past weekend. I am not sure why there was a long weekend but perhaps it was kind of related to valentines. In Japan on valentines girls give chocolate to guys.This might sound one sided until you find out that later on March 14th - known as white day - guys are expected to give a much more expensive gift to the girls that gave them chocolate..
Anyways, I got lots of chocolate from Miho, so I am saving my Yen to buy her something nice hopefully around March 14th.

It was really interesting having her visit - she has never been to Kyuushuu (the southern island of Japan that Fukuoka is on) before and to spite being non-Japanese I was the one who was the guide around town, having lived in this city for the past 3 months I've gotten farmiliar with most of it, but we still managed to find new adventurous places to explore.

We spent a lot of time at the mall around Canal city where we played some type of metal-coin gambling machine which was dangerously addictive. The hightlight of that game was when we won the Jackpot and thus with only having spent 500 yen were able to keep playing for about 2 hours before our coins ran out.


Miho finally got to try Tonkotsu Ramen - the famous Ramen of the Hakata area, and she loved it I think (Miho loves Ramen in general). We also went to Karaoke with Hiroki (one of my friends from the dorm I live at) and had a blast belting out songs. Again we ate Yakiniku (pictured here) which is becoming one of my favorites though its a little on the expensive side.

One of the other cool places we went was Fukuoka Tower, which is built right next to the beach and thus was extremely windy and it was a little unnerving seeing the top of the tower shake, but in a city that gets plummeted by typhoons every year I think the tower is built to withstand much stronger wind.

Next to Fukuoka Tower is a TV station building, and inside there is a Robotics Center called RoboSquare which has a TON of amazing robots and gadgets - a geek's paradise! There is even a workshop where you can build some robots and write computer programs for them if you've got some coding talents (although I love to write apps in C and VB I didn't give it a go) There is also a demonstration/tour put on every few hours and some competitions held there sometimes where students from local universities showcase their latest research by competing automated bots against each other in rounds of soccer. There were even a bunch of robots for sale including the automatic vacuum bot that I so want to buy. Here are some pics we took:









Also check out this video we took of one of the robots there. This one basically can move around the house and play music, and you can call it to your room when you want music or it can act as an alarm that runs away or it can dance to the music. In this video its stuck on a platform so it basically just "dances" but it was cool none-the-less.


Anyways, I had a really really great time this weekend with Miho! I will be heading up to Tokyo in 2 weeks, so in my final stretch at GenkiJACS I am trying to hit the books and study hard! Mata ne!

First Signs of Spring?

I am in great spirits lately, and enjoying the mild weather especially. I really look forward to spring coming into full bloom here!

I was surprised when I looked out of the window of my dorm today and saw that the plum tree across the street from the dorm had begun to spring some buds. Meanwhile, my hometown in Canada is being plummeted by a snow storm as I type this.

This weekend in Japan everyone will be celebrating Setsubun, which literally means the change of seasons but in this case specifically is a celebration of the comming of spring or something like this.



A few ceremonies are performed, the most famous of which is Mamemaki, which means "Bean Scattering", and basically... well, I will take an excerpt from Wikipedia because I don't feel like explaining this:

Pan-heated soybeans (called irimame) are thrown either out the door or at a member of the family wearing an Oni (demon or ogre) mask, while the throwers chant "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (鬼は外! 福は内!). The literal meaning of the words is something like "Demons out! Luck in!" The beans are thought to symbolically purify the home by driving away the evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health with them. Then, as part of bringing luck in, it is customary to eat soybeans, one for each year of one's life, and in some areas, one for each year of one's life, plus one more for bringing good luck for the year to come.

I think tommorow a bunch of the Japanese from the dorm, and myself will go to one of the temples/shrines to take part in the celebrations.

Japanese Study Resource Round-Up

Well, I am pretty much back in the groove here, studying lots! I really don't have any adventurous stories to write right now, so I thought I would take a moment and share some of the resources I found really help in my study of Japanese, so anyone else studying Japanese or any other language might be able to benefit.


Tokyo Mokyo's Kana and Kanji Practice Sheet Download Page
I really recommend this page for anyone starting to learn Japanese and wanting to learn the basic writing system. It includes PDF format practice-sheets for both Hiragana, Katakana, and some of the elementary level Kanji.

Genki JACS
I want to keep this post more focused on internet resources and books, but I have to give a shout-out to my school first! GenkiJACS has practically been my home in Japan for the past 2 months, and 5 days a week I attend school there to learn Japanese. The teachers are very approachable, fun and loving people, and the quality of the classes are top-tier. We always have a great time there too, both in and out of the classroom. It is a bit on the expensive side, but not deathly unaffordable, and completely worth every penny I think.

YesJapan.com

I cannot say enough about YesJapan.com, it is in my opinion the best way for someone studying Japanese by themselves to learn the language. Compared to many of the books I've read and used, YesJapan's lessons are much more interesting, engaging, and easier to stay motivated with. The site requires you to have a monthly subscription to use it though, but is relatively cheap and even has a free 7 day trial to check it out before-hand. Along with the lessons, (complete with a free ask-a-teacher service for when you get stuck) YesJapan has quizzes, games, and lots of useful tools to aid in your studies as the site was designed from the ground-up for the self-studier. It also has a very fun and interesting Japan/Japanese language related video webcast that explores different cultural aspects of Japan and teaches the language in ways that textbooks never could. Here's a clip they uploaded to youtube from an episode about Taboos to Avoid in Japan:


- FlashCardExchange.com

I use Flash Card Exchange mainly for pounding new vocabulary into my head, but it is honestly a really great tool for any language learner, it lets you make your own flash-card sets which can be studied any time using a friendly interface, and from anywhere in the world where you can log in to the site. When I am chatting online with my Japanese friends and they use a word that I don't know, and look up the word in my dictionary and think "Hey, that's a cool word/phrase, I should remember that", there are two things I do. First, I try to use the newly learned vocabulary ASAP, the sooner you use it, and the more you use it, the more it sticks.. but also, I log in to my account on FlashCardExchange and throw the new word into one of my flash card sets..

www.sharedtalk.com

SharedTalk.com is a voice-chat website that is setup for the soul-purpose of language exchange. It is free, and is a really great place to meet people to practice speaking the language you are studying with, in exchange for helping them practice speaking your native language. Unlike a lot of other chat sites, sharedtalk is specifically set-up as an international language exchange community, and thus you wont find perverts, weirdos, and other low-lifes there, but rather just people who are students of language and who want to exchange culture and language with you. It's also tonnes of fun!


Genki: An integrated course in Elementary Japanese (book)

Although I find the content of the book to be more class-room geared, and not as engaging for the self-learner as YesJapan, I have to say I am thoroughly impressed with this set of books (there are 2 textbooks, 2 workbooks, and a set of CDs which can be purchased, but really you only NEED the textbook).


Minna No Nihongo
I have only looked at this book briefly when one of my classmates at GenkiJACS showed it to me after I asked him how he learned Japanese, and I was impressed enough that even without having read it from cover-to-cover myself, I thought it deserved a mention. Minna no Nihongo (みんなの日本語) is a book written completely in Japanese using the Japanese syllable-based writing system (see This Page for an explanation of that writing system), so maybe it sounds intimidating for complete-beginners, but as a complimentary tool to other tools like YesJapan, I think this book has a lot of great content and a sound teaching method.

Well, I feel like somewhat of a salesmen for these links, but I thought in the spirit of academics I would share some of my resources with everyone, in case anyone else reading this is interested in learning the language of the rising sun.

Study Slump

Well, for some reason lately I have felt kind of "stuck" in my studies. It is not because my class got exceptionally hard or anything like that, no. I seem to be having a hard time finding my motivation.. Especially last week, but it is comming back now, finally. This is normal I think. Learning Japanese is not an easy task, and I (unfortunately) am a perfectionist sometimes. Furthermore, because of my bad habit of comparing myself to others, I am left with a feeling of apathy (yes I am still Canadian) every time someone waltzes into the room and rolls off a ton of Japanese very fluently that I may (or may not) understand, but sure as heck cannot speak myself, especially not that fluidly.


Above: Flash-card sets, these are really common in Japan for all types of students.

Some of the factors that used to really motivate me don't anymore. Things like the sheer novelty of being in Japan - this has mostly warn off. I am still thrilled to be here, and generally smiling from cheek to cheek, but more and more because of the people I am with and the fun things we are doing than the feeling of "Hey, I made it to Japan!" that used to make me grin so much.

Also, no longer being on the look-out for a girlfriend kind of takes away a big chunk of motivation. I wont lie, I often dreamt of being able to speak more fluent Japanese so I would have more to say to the cute girls I meet. This is sort of a none-issue now.

Well, luckly.. the lack of motivation is passing.. And, honestly, this is nothing new or strange. In fact, doing a quick Google search, I found a few forum posts from other people going through the same types of feelings while studying foreign language. The key is to keep studying anyways. It is really difficult to see your progress, even more so when you get past the basics.

Above: A pic I snapped of a white board during class at GenkiJACS, usually the lessons are not quite THIS illustrated.

Anyways, I have 4 more weeks of GenkiJACS and I want to make the best of it. Some of my motivations now are taking the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) and some professional goals such as working as an interpretter for IT firms. I try to keep those in focus when the "funner" motivations are harder to grasp on to.

On a side note, I went to Dazaifu temple the other day with 2 guys from my dorm (A Japanese and a German). It was really really amazing, the video I got unfortunately does not come close to doing it justice.