This word has been brought to you by my rant on the insanity of some Japanese verbs. Tsukeru is not normal. You'll see why below.
Today is a day of little pictures and little words, and I'm sorry for that. Nothing interesting happened today though, save the fact that I got to bang on Yoshiko-san's door this morning to wake her up. Masahiro-san usually does that, but he was on an overnight business trip to Kyoto, and thus, the duty fell on me to be the alarm clock at 6:15. Luckily, we all know I'm usually awake by then.
Anyways, I spent this morning starting my new and wonderful fic. I'm so into it right now, and I'm generally very excited that writing has come back to me. Lord knows how long I've gone without feeling the writing vibes, and it feels great to have it back. I missed fiction writing a lot more than I thought I did when I didn't have time for it (say, the past two years). But now, woohoo! Eugepae (Latin for "hooray")!
I left for school as late as I could today, wanting to talk to Anna, since we didn't get a chance to talk much at all over the weekend. I ate some nikuman (pork bun) for lunch, and on my way from the Asakusa line to the Yamanote line, I spied this beautiful obi in front of me. I like it how it's so simple and it doesn't have a smaller repeating pattern, but rather has a larger one. It was had such a nice effect.
School didn't deviate from the usual. I spent my time drawing, paying attention, checking my email, learning new kanji that they didn't teach us, etc. Our kanji speed is way too slow. We learn five kanji a day. That's only twenty-five a week. At this rate, it'd take me years to get where I want to. That's why I've been learning about an extra five each day—ones which I find are used often in every day life, like 楽 and 戸, to name a few.
It was Ian's birthday today, too, though I didn't catch him before or after class. I heard from him later that he and a couple guy friends from school went out for all you can eat sushi after. They forced him to eat umi, which is sea urchin (that stuff feels like what you would think uncooked tongue would feel like, and it has the aftertaste of sea-waste, I swear). He didn't enjoy it one bit, but it was all in good fun. Luckily, Ian has a good sense of humor.
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| Green tea Kit Kat! WAY too sweet. |
For dinner, I had pizza from Costco's. It was so weird to hear of such a familiar chain in Japan. I mean, of course other chains exist in Japan that I feel is inherently American in every way (like the fact that the Costco's I know will sell bulk discounted macaroni and cheese), but Costco's? Does that feel weird to anyone else that my host mother just went shopping at "kosutoko" earlier today? Who knows. You and I could be using the same toilet paper. o.o
I finished them, the last two stations I plan on drawing for a bit (my mood is shifting to writing now, rather than drawing, but I'm sure it'll shift back at some point). It's finally time to unveil their identities: Ginza & Roppongi. That's right! Two of the more badass stations out there. I love them the most, I think, since they're the most interesting. Thus, be prepared for the long explanation that's about to follow. You've been warned.
Ginza and Roppongi have been friends since they met sophomore year of college. They both went to business school and graduated pretty high up in their class. Both of them went off to work in their respective areas, Ginza working as the top manager for quite a few malls in the area, while Roppongi works for the Japanese government in foreign affairs, somewhere high up. Needless to say, they're both pretty rich and successful, and it just so happens that their tastes in spending money are compatible: good food, lots of fun, and nice clothes.
Ginza seems a lot more serious than Roppongi, especially to those who don't know him, but when you get to know the both of them, you realize that they're both equally silly. Of course, they're both hard workers, but they definitely know how to unwind. Ginza spends his unwinding time trying new delicious food, shopping for the most expensive and best quality clothing (Gieves & Hawkes is his favorite suit store, of course; nothing beats suits from Savile Row). He also can hold his own drink pretty well, and thus goes drinking often with his coworkers.
Roppongi spends his relaxing time at clubs, dancing his heart out. He likes to drag Ginza along too, who doesn't mind as long as Roppongi buys the drinks (though he acts grumpy about it, complaining about the noise). They're both pretty good with the ladies, too, which means that they always cause quite a stir when entering clubs together, turning many heads. Although they're both the same age, Roppongi definitely acts younger than Ginza, his 'woman attraction factor' being more of an outgoing fun-loving type, whereas Ginza's 'attraction factor' is the mysterious knowledgable gentleman type. No matter how you look at it, they always make a killer pair, with women, at parties, hanging out at bars—dating all the way back to their time at school together. They're more inseparable than the Corner Trifecta.
As you can see from the long explanation, I love these two quite a bit. Maybe that's because I love their actual stations as places, since they have such interesting stores and areas, like Roppongi Hills. Hopefully, you get a vague idea of what these locations are like based on the characters. Ginza and Roppongi both have a lot of businessmen and office buildings. Ginza is known for its high end international stores and good food. It also has a lot of bars. Roppongi is home to quite a few embassies and houses of rich foreigners. That's why Roppongi's hair is dyed blondish, in support of his "gaijin" (foreigner) population. Roppongi is known for its vibrant night life, international affairs center, and, of course, Roppongi Hills. They're both pretty fun and very international places. See how they're so compatible?
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| Left: Ginza; right: Roppongi |
On to the last thing: Japanese verb insanity. Now, Japanese is not as insane and as difficult as some other languages *cough*English*cough*. I mean, it actually makes quite a bit of sense, as Asian languages, I find, tend to do. Conjugation rules work out almost always (I mean, there are only two irregular verbs. Ever). Though (some) adjectives conjugate as well as they differ in tense and meaning, that's really not that bad.
The thing that I find difficult, though, is the specificity of Japanese. In English, you "put on" whatever it is that you wear: glasses, scarfs, pants, necklaces, etc. But in Japanese, there's a different verb for each of those. You "haku" pants, but you "kakeru" your glasses, and you "maku" your scarf, and you "tsukeru" your necklace. I mean, yeah, as mentioned at the beginning, "tsukeru" does mean "to put on," but it means, more specifically, "to put on (with some implication of fastening something somewhere in there)." But then, with that definition, you would think that putting on a watch works the same way. But no. You "suru" watches, which literally means "I do my watch" when you say "tokei wo suru." See how this gets frustrating after a while?
Anyways, hopefully, I have enlightened you somewhat today on Japan, either on its geography and on Tokyo itself, or on the craziness that is the Japanese language sometimes. Again, sorry for the lack of photography, seeing as nothing interesting really happened. But at least I can use this extra space to write about some other unrelated things, right?
See you tomorrow (which is definitely going to be more exciting)! Good night!
マギー
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