former student, sara c. wrote:
Well, I wish I knew how to say "Hi" in Japanese! I just happened to visit the website a few days ago, and when I read that you were going to Japan I grew insanely jealous. I bet it's amazing over there... Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get to go someday.
you say: ohayo goizaimasu, to say good morning in japanese. konichiwa means good afternoon. kombanwa, good evening. don't be jealous that i'm in japan... heck, it's only an 11 hour plane ride away... geeesh... but you're right, it is amazing here, everything is sooo different... and yet, watching kids play at school and in the park yesterday, i was really struck with how similar some things are too... kids play the same everywhere!
i hope you get to come here someday too... advice: get a nap on the airplane or you'll be up at 4am for the next several mornings, like i am right now!
on nov 14 several people wrote to me: thx everyone!
chris g. asked:
how is it injapan? it is getting cold over here.
thx for the quick note, chris. i am having a great trip, so far; thanks for asking. it's pretty chilly here too. i hope it snows there soon so that i can ski when i get back.
mr. coe's class wrote:
Dustin wants to know if you found a bike in were ever you are?
i have seen a bunch of bikes here... almost everyone rides. but, i haven't had the chance myself yet... really haven't even seen a bike shop, but that's probably because they're not on the main roads but rather on sides streets and places like that... still think i might try to rent a bike on saturday, maybe. but no one here wears helmets and everyone here rides on the sidewalks... two things that make me pretty nervous.
Did you find a store to buy any finger nail clippers?
dont need them yet. but there are dozens of konbini (convenience stores) near here when i'm sure to be able to find a set of clippers.
When do you get your days off?
this saturday and sunday. and they are my ONLY days off for the rest of my time in japan...
One more thing how do you know how to talk to people, if they only know how to speek thire way?
a VERY good question! what would you do? maybe learn a few words, by listening to what people say around you? yep; i've done a lot of that. learned anigashimasu (a form of thank you) by listening to they way the japanese speak to each other.
then what would you do? maybe buy a book with important things to say listed in it? did that too. it's helpful, but mostly for study, not for using while you talk, unless you want to have a very sloooow conversation... this worked okay on the airplane with uewaki-san, but it's not so good hanging around town, ya know.
fine, what else would you do to talk to people in another language you don't speak? gesture with your hands? make noises? act things out? yep. i may look silly doing it, but sometimes our gestures and facial expressions really help get the point across.
would you avoid talking just because you can't speak the language? no. the best way to figure things out is to get with someone who speaks the language you want to learn and then just speak it as best you can with them. they will correct you and help you learn. a good example: yesterday, at breakfast, one thing mr. ishisguro taught me was to 'speak more flat' and not be quite so animated when i speak to japanese, especially men. 'be more like a man,' he told me. he said it is important in his culture for men to act this way. i've been practicing... :-)
anyway, it's not hard to learn another language, humans naturally "get" languages, i think; but learning a language takes a lot of time and there are no shortcuts... i'm excited to get this chance...
literacy in japanese, however, is a whole other subject for another time... oh, man, have they got it tough when it comes to reading.
chris g. asked:
how is it injapan? it is getting cold over here.
thx for the quick note, chris. i am having a great trip, so far; thanks for asking. it's pretty chilly here too. i hope it snows there soon so that i can ski when i get back.
mr. coe's class wrote:
Dustin wants to know if you found a bike in were ever you are?
i have seen a bunch of bikes here... almost everyone rides. but, i haven't had the chance myself yet... really haven't even seen a bike shop, but that's probably because they're not on the main roads but rather on sides streets and places like that... still think i might try to rent a bike on saturday, maybe. but no one here wears helmets and everyone here rides on the sidewalks... two things that make me pretty nervous.
Did you find a store to buy any finger nail clippers?
dont need them yet. but there are dozens of konbini (convenience stores) near here when i'm sure to be able to find a set of clippers.
When do you get your days off?
this saturday and sunday. and they are my ONLY days off for the rest of my time in japan...
One more thing how do you know how to talk to people, if they only know how to speek thire way?
a VERY good question! what would you do? maybe learn a few words, by listening to what people say around you? yep; i've done a lot of that. learned anigashimasu (a form of thank you) by listening to they way the japanese speak to each other.
then what would you do? maybe buy a book with important things to say listed in it? did that too. it's helpful, but mostly for study, not for using while you talk, unless you want to have a very sloooow conversation... this worked okay on the airplane with uewaki-san, but it's not so good hanging around town, ya know.
fine, what else would you do to talk to people in another language you don't speak? gesture with your hands? make noises? act things out? yep. i may look silly doing it, but sometimes our gestures and facial expressions really help get the point across.
would you avoid talking just because you can't speak the language? no. the best way to figure things out is to get with someone who speaks the language you want to learn and then just speak it as best you can with them. they will correct you and help you learn. a good example: yesterday, at breakfast, one thing mr. ishisguro taught me was to 'speak more flat' and not be quite so animated when i speak to japanese, especially men. 'be more like a man,' he told me. he said it is important in his culture for men to act this way. i've been practicing... :-)
anyway, it's not hard to learn another language, humans naturally "get" languages, i think; but learning a language takes a lot of time and there are no shortcuts... i'm excited to get this chance...
literacy in japanese, however, is a whole other subject for another time... oh, man, have they got it tough when it comes to reading.
good morning, everyone. (well, it's morning to me... the morning of the 15th... i intended to post this last night, but blogger wasn't working...)
I am still very tired, but I’m hoping to get some much-needed sleep very soon (i did!!!); right after I upload today’s pictures and finish writing this message to you.
I am learning a lot here and, looking back through the meishi (business cards) I’ve been given, I’ve met a lot of interesting people who have taught me a great deal about Japanese language, culture, and a bunch of other stuff, too.
I had breakfast this morning (again, at the restaurant at the top of the new otani tower) with ishiguro-san (mr. ishiguro) who is the senior advisor to the fulbright program here in tokyo. just like uewaki-san, I just bumped into him in a line, struck up a converstion in my broken and awkward japanese, and after a few moments, we found ourselves sitting at a table over breakfast, talking about grammar. he helped me review that japanese sentences are subject-object-verb phrases, not too unlike english with its subject-verb-object way of speaking. I think japanese is simple to understand sometimes because of this similarity. ishiguro-san also reminded me that putting the letters –te at the end of a verb changes it to a request especially when used with the word kudasai (please) , and -ishite changes a verb to the past. Now all I have to do is learn a few more vocabulary words and, whamo, I should be speaking fluently before I come home… yeah, sure… but it’s worth a try. I think people enjoy trying to talk to others when they’re trying to speak in another language. anyway, people here have been very kind to me… it’s that kind of a place.
Today we went the diet building, which is where the government of japan meets to make laws. Japan’s system of government is similar to ours but, since it’s a parliament and not a congress, the way they make the laws is very different. The building they make laws in is very interesting and we had a nice tour of it,
Later we went to a buddist shrine called asakusa. It was a very busy place filled with thousands of people and pigeons. I enjoyed watching the pigeons surround people with food. The people being surrounded seemed to enjoy it too (most of the time) until the mass of pigeons became a bit scary and then they just make a run for it and the birds all seem to explode into the air, all of them at the same time.
I miss you all and know everything is going well with you and mrs. White. Thanks soooooo much for you note yesterday. It was nice of you to wish me happy birthday.
Tomorrow I am in meetings most of the day, but I hope to get out into Tokyo at lunch or dinnertime, perhaps to get some maki-zushi or kaiten-zushi or nigiri-zushi; I’ll bet you can guess what all of those different foods are…
I am still very tired, but I’m hoping to get some much-needed sleep very soon (i did!!!); right after I upload today’s pictures and finish writing this message to you.
I am learning a lot here and, looking back through the meishi (business cards) I’ve been given, I’ve met a lot of interesting people who have taught me a great deal about Japanese language, culture, and a bunch of other stuff, too.
I had breakfast this morning (again, at the restaurant at the top of the new otani tower) with ishiguro-san (mr. ishiguro) who is the senior advisor to the fulbright program here in tokyo. just like uewaki-san, I just bumped into him in a line, struck up a converstion in my broken and awkward japanese, and after a few moments, we found ourselves sitting at a table over breakfast, talking about grammar. he helped me review that japanese sentences are subject-object-verb phrases, not too unlike english with its subject-verb-object way of speaking. I think japanese is simple to understand sometimes because of this similarity. ishiguro-san also reminded me that putting the letters –te at the end of a verb changes it to a request especially when used with the word kudasai (please) , and -ishite changes a verb to the past. Now all I have to do is learn a few more vocabulary words and, whamo, I should be speaking fluently before I come home… yeah, sure… but it’s worth a try. I think people enjoy trying to talk to others when they’re trying to speak in another language. anyway, people here have been very kind to me… it’s that kind of a place.
Today we went the diet building, which is where the government of japan meets to make laws. Japan’s system of government is similar to ours but, since it’s a parliament and not a congress, the way they make the laws is very different. The building they make laws in is very interesting and we had a nice tour of it,
Later we went to a buddist shrine called asakusa. It was a very busy place filled with thousands of people and pigeons. I enjoyed watching the pigeons surround people with food. The people being surrounded seemed to enjoy it too (most of the time) until the mass of pigeons became a bit scary and then they just make a run for it and the birds all seem to explode into the air, all of them at the same time.
I miss you all and know everything is going well with you and mrs. White. Thanks soooooo much for you note yesterday. It was nice of you to wish me happy birthday.
Tomorrow I am in meetings most of the day, but I hope to get out into Tokyo at lunch or dinnertime, perhaps to get some maki-zushi or kaiten-zushi or nigiri-zushi; I’ll bet you can guess what all of those different foods are…
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