Learn Two, Get One Free!

I'm loving learning Japanese. Finding patterns and figuring things out is very satisfying. This week, I picked up a few tidbits:

.

Sometimes two words combine into another related word:

mitten (tebukuro) = hand (te) + bag (bukuro)

zebra (shimauma) = stripe (shima) + horse (uma)

.

Words which deal with transportation end in sha:

bike = jitensha

car = jidosha

train = densha

.

Insect names end with mushi:

ladybug = tentomushi

snail = dendenmushi

.

I find that figuring out language is like a puzzle (with the three alphabets being an added level of difficulty) which is something I really enjoy. Incidentally my lovely fiancee laughs at my (effective) memory technique in which I try to create "hooks" for new words. For example, for the word ladybug (てんとうむし = tentomushi) I picture 10 ladybugs on my toe!

English and Japanese

As I'm trying to learn Japanese (the book I'm working on is for a 4-year old -- how's that for a knock on your ego?), I'm realizing things about both Japanese and English. Both Yumi and my language partner, Minae have lots of problems with articles (a, an, the) because Japanese doesn't have them. They are kind of silly if you think about it. They don't serve a purpose and we use them seemingly indiscriminately. To wit:
.

He is going home.

He is going to the store.

.

I want coffee.

I want a candy bar.

.

Why does store have an article but home doesn't and why does coffee not need an article while candy bar does?

.

Just musings from a curious mind.

Six-Word Memoirs

I heard about this idea on NPR (Talk of the Nation) and thought it was really neat. Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway was asked to write an entire story in 6 words and replied: "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn."
.

So two authors (Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser) picked up the idea, got thousands of responses from people, and have put them into a book called "Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs from Writers Famous and Obscure." There is also a website where people continue to submit memoirs.

.

A few others*:

After Harvard, had baby with crackhead.

She said she was negative. Damn.

Joined Army. Came out. Got booted.

I still make coffee for two.

Baby teeth. Buck teeth. No teeth.

Finally a mother. Destination China. Exultation.

.

Here's my first shot at it: Itinerant idealist. Six continents. Still searching.

.

I'd love to see your six-word memoirs in the comments section.

.

*by: Robin Templeton, Ryan McRae, Johan Baumeister, Zak Nelson, Harlan Stanton, Michelle Allen.

White Day

Today (March 14th) is White Day in Japan. It is the other 1/2 of Valentine's Day. Here, women give men presents on Valentine's Day and men reciprocate on White Day. I like that better; that way clueless men like me know what to get instead of buying something too big which makes her feel badly or too small which makes her angry. That is probably one reason why Christmas gifts can be so anxiety inducing -- trying to figure out the appropriate amount you should spend on a gift (or whether to get a gift at all!).

More on Green Japan

Three more pieces of evidence that Japan is much more environmentally conscience than the U.S.:
.
1. There is a very cool, new, innovative electricity generator already in use at a train station here which produces energy from people walking across a plate as they enter the station! It's absolutely ingenious. I wish I had thought of it. Maybe if the U.S. government (i.e. Bush) would stop denying global warming and dragging his feet on solutions, U.S. companies would be doing the innovation.

.

2. Many Japanese stores charge ¥5 (about 5¢) per plastic bag you get which encourages people to use reusable, canvas bags and the like. This was recently implemented in Ireland and has been a smashing success.

.

3. Most Japanese apartments have only a washing machine and not a dryer. I'm not quite sure why this is. This was also true in Belfast and Papua New Guinea. I must admit, I like using a dryer -- not only it is a pain to hang laundry and take it down, but I like how the dryer makes the clothes softer and gets out more of the lint out. Nevertheless, dryers consume a lot of energy. Some people don't like seeing other people's laundry hanging out, but I don't mind -- it reminds me of how energy-conscience the country is. The picture below is taken from our new apartment -- you can see all of the laundry out. Our apartment looks just like the ones in the picture.

.

Engrish

First a caveat: no one should be too critical of bad English in a foreign country because we, who come from English-speaking countries, rarely speak a second language at all, so who are we to criticize? Nevertheless, Japanese Engrish can be quite amusing. My quite fluent fiancee has a t-shirt I make fun of which says, "Dogs is Best Friend." I actually took the associated picture at the train station closest to my house for a website I regularly read called Japundit which is all about Japan (and I listen to the weekly podcast, as well). The website has all manner of things-Japan including funny things like Engrish. (P.S. If you couldn't figure out what the sign is supposed to mean, it's instructing us not to run to catch a train).

Prelude to Sakura

For 7 months now, I've been hearing about Sakura (さくら = Cherry Blossoms). The trees' pink flowers bloom for about a week in late March /early April and it's supposed to be quite beautiful. It appears to be *the* event of the year. People travel the length of the country looking at them (even though they are everywhere), people hold parties (we've been invited to 2 already), and there are even regular "Sakura forecasts" on the news. I know that people in D.C. also get quite excited about the Cherry Blossoms in spring but I think the Japanese have taken it to another level. A funny aside: the trees in D.C. were a gift from Japan. One time when Yumi was visiting me in Cleveland and we were headed to visit friends in D.C. in spring, my Mom told her we might get lucky and see the Cherry Blossoms in bloom and asked her if she'd ever seen them before.

.

In any case, Sakura is still a couple of weeks away but the prelude is here - Ume (うめ = Plum Blossoms). Today we went to Sankeien gardens here in Yokohama and saw the tail end of their blossoming. They are quite pretty, too. Bright white. It was a beautiful day and nice to get out after a stressful week of Ph.D. work and craziness at school.

The Gift

Things are absolutely crazy here right now. In addition to the PhD, move, and wedding, things at school have been very stressful. There are some "financial irregularities" which have everyone worried. I'll write more about later as I know more. In the meantime, I'll try to reduce my backlog of topics which have been accumulating.
.

I'm no expert in Japanese culture, but I have noticed that gift-giving (おみやげ = omiyage = oh.mee.yah.gay) is particularly important here. One such situation is when you move into a new place. So Yumi and I went to a local drugstore and schlepped home eight 5-packs of kleenex (picture 40 boxes of tissues!) to give to the people who live in each apartment which share our stairway (we are on the 5th floor which is the top - there are 10 total apartments on the stairway, of which one is ours and one is vacant). Then we knocked on each door, introduced ourselves, and gave the tissues. I have to say it is a nice tradition and certainly pushes me outside of my natural hermit tendencies. Interestingly, several people we met said that giving omiyage to new neighbors is becoming less and less common with younger generations.