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Itch scratched
In my article The three month itch last week I had a really good moan about my school, the course, and my problems learning Japanese. I was in a really bad mood, if you couldn't tell. Well, things are quite a lot better now.
The course director obviously got wind of my discontent, because he came and sought me out on Thursday, and spent over ( Read more... ) -
School's out
I am on holiday for the next two weeks! Woohoo! Many others from the ETP programme are going back to their countries, but I'm spending the time in Japan.
これから２週間学校で休んでいくよ。ウレシー！ETP野学生はほとんど国へ帰るが、私は日本で休みを過ごそう。
It's a great relief to have a break from the school. A few of us went out last night and I drank more gin and tonic than I ( Read more... ) -
Short shameful confession
I ate lunch at Denny's.
Actually, I'd got into that state where my blood sugar was so low that I didn't know what I wanted to eat, and didn't have the brainpower to figure anything out. At such times, safe food is best. I decided that a Japanese ersatz version of Denny's poor quality diner food would be OK. After all, I haven't had two eggs ( Read more... ) -
臭味について
Here's one I prepared earlier. Last Tuesday afternoon we had to stand up and talk about something that interested us, and then field questions from our classmates and the teacher. I wasn't very spontaneous, and scribbled a speech down in my notebook. This is what I wrote, with some very minor corrections, and a translation. I'm pleased to say ( Read more... ) -
Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge
Tokyo Damage Report's article on bad walkers already covers the basics of Japanese behaviour in crowded places (shops, trains, on the street). I've been trying to observe it carefully in order to work with it, since it's extremely annoying at first.
日本人の込んでいる所での歩き方について「Tokyo Damage Report」の「bad walkers」という記事の中に書いてある。その歩き方が初めにとても難しいので、 ( Read more... ) -
Neatly tied up
I promised I wouldn't post these, but this one I can't resist. I just had one of those "only in Japan" moments. Tomorrow is recycling collection day. On the pavement just near my apartment is a neatly tied up bundle of porn, about a foot high.
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The three month itch
It's three months into the Japanese language course at the Naganuma School, and I'm in crisis, and not sure how to proceed.
I first came to Japan in 2001. Before I came I spent a couple of months of mornings studying Japanese from An Introduction to Modern Japanese. When I arrived I took a three week course at the YMCA in Tokyo. After that I ( Read more... )
