仕事: True work involves serving others

Today's word should be memorized by anyone who wants to work in Japan. That word is:

仕事

( しごと / shigoto )

Or in other words, "work" or "employment" or "occupation" if you really want to get technical. You can use this word as a noun or you can use it as verb with the addition of "suru" (する). 

A closer look at the kanji will probably give you a closer look at Japanese society altogether. The first character means "serve" (仕) while the second basically means "business" (事). All in all, if you put these two together, your roughly get a feeling of a business based upon service.

I think the Japanese really live up to the word "shigoto" and you can see it in everything that they do. The customer is on a higher level (especially in terms of formal language) and is treated with the utmost respect. Even the lowest of workers (at least in Americans' eyes) are trained to serve the customer with outstanding dignity and respect.

Anyways, learn this word and then enjoy this picture of a gas attendant in Japan (and hopefully chuckle a little, ok?)

Japanese gas workers will do anything to serve you, even if they are really short

Anyways, keep studying and がんばって！

芋: Japan's Sweet Potatoes

Well, I've told many people that when I went to Japan I would become a farmer. Well, I have kept my word. I have begun to live off of the land. Truth be told, I'm not really doing anything other than "glorified weeding", but hey, a samurai's got to start somewhere right?

Today, I started off by chopping some vines that normally grow around the potatoes. My wife's grandpa (ojichan) would cut the vines and I would chop them up with a fancy samurai/farming blade contraption. I'd take the chopped pieces, load them into a wheelbarrow, and then drop em off at the compost area (actually I don't know what it's called, but, hey, I can't be too far off). 

Repeat the process four more times.

Some of you might be thinking that this is pure drudgery and slave labor, but I actually enjoyed it. I love testing myself and finding fun ways to do boring things, so I made it into a game (where I was the only player). I would try to do the process as fast as I could and even ended up running with the wheelbarrow. I'm sure all the neighbors were goggle-eyed at seeing a foreigner running across the street with a wheelbarrow full of vines, but alas 'tis the price of having fun.

Ojichan then handed me the hoe and let me harvest the potatoes. Oh, what a great experience! I really didn't do much, but I honestly enjoyed the fact that I was "kinda" farming and not just "weeding". Well, for those of you (like me, a few hours ago) who don't know how to harvest potatoes. You basically hoe the earth a bit away from where you think the potatoes are, pull up, and then smile as you see potatoes start breaking free from the ground. After that, you simply stick your hands in, grab the potatoes, and then yank em free.

And that's what these suckers look like. Now, this picture gives no justice to these bad boys. Some of them are actually quite big. In fact, let me show you:

Say hello to my little friend

This imo was like the size of a coconut! Look at that thing! Imagine if you saw that on your dinner plate. I mean, I've never seen a potato so large. Anyways, after the hoe-ing, we used some blade-like tools to cut off the roots and smaller vines from the potatoes and then called it a day.

I would say that I have successfully leveled up my farming skills today. I hope that in a few more levels, I can change classes and maybe become a fisherman. Until then, またね～

安心：Peace of Mind

Well this is an easy word that is used a lot:

安心

( あんしん / anshin )

The word means to have "relief" or "peace of mind". If some one is worried about something or stressed out, you can say to them, "anshinshite kudasai". To roughly translate, this would be, "please have peace of mind", or easier, "calm down please" (I like this one better).

This word is made out of the characters for "peace/peaceful" (安) and "heart" (心). Put it together and you have a "peaceful heart", or in other words, "peace of mind". Makes tons of sense right?

Love and Peace!

Well, when you're studying, don't get too excited! Anshinshite kudasai!
相変わらず、がんばって！

教会: Church

This is the perfect word to memorize for Sunday:

教会

( きょうかい / kyoukai )

This is the word for Church. I've known it for a while, but it was only within the last couple months that I learned the kanji for it, so I thought I'd share it today.

The characters that make up this word are "to teach" (教) and "to meet" (会). For me the meaning could be seen as the "place where people meet/gather to teach each other". Of course it could also be seen as the "place where people meet to be taught", but I like my first one better.

Anyways, it's been a long day of Church, so...good night!

LDS Temple in Tokyo

Always keep studying~ がんばって！

教室: Classroom

If you're going to teach in Japan, this is probably going to be a very important word to remember:

教室

( きょうしつ / kyoushitsu )

Every teacher needs to know the word for "Classroom". 

The characters that make up this word are "to teach" (教) and "room" (室), and with many other Japanese words, makes total sense. The "room that you teach in" is indeed your classroom.

if you wanna watch a good school j-drama watch Nobuta wo Produce

Well, study your Japanese everyday, and I'll see you next time~ がんばって！

気持: Feeling/Mood

This is a word that probably all learners of Japanese are familiar with:

気持ち

( きもち / kimochi )

This word means "feeling" or "mood" and can be used the same way you use it in English. You can have an uneasy feeling, a bad feeling, a good feeling, etc. 

The individual characters here are "spirit/energy" (気) and "to have/to hold" (持). So, what kind of spirit/energy do you have at the moment? That is your mood...isn't it?

i love Calvin and Hobbes

Everyone, good luck! みんな、がんばって！

トミー・リー・ジョーンズ: Tommy Lee Jones

I have decided to label any posts dealing with the mundane and crazy things of Japan as "JapaCrazy"; and a fitting name it is. Japan is full of so many crazy things that even the natives have little WTH moments from time to time...well, more like 「何やて！」moments, I guess.

Anyways, for today's cultural post may I present to you the boss of all bosses---Tommy Lee Jones....さま.

woah is that "K"?

Tommy Lee Jones is the biggest gaijin (foreigner) to hit Japan's shores since Tom Cruise saved the samurai in 1876! You can find him in commercials for companies like Boss (Coffee) and Softbank (Cell phones). 

TLJ is extremely popular and has appeared in a variety of Japan panel television shows as well. He shares the screen with some of Japan's most popular Japanese idols and even speaks Japanese from time to time.

When you see him in commercials (CM's) he's usually portrayed as an alien with abilities ranging from being able to create shockwaves, shooting lasers out of his eyes, whipping electricity from his fingertips, creating force fields, possessing insane human strength, and much much more. In Japan, TLJ is god-like!

Well, the reason he became so popular is a mystery to me (other than TLJ is the man), but I must say that I'm impressed with how far he's gotten. It will be interesting to see which foreign idol will grace Japan's airwaves next.

In the meantime, enjoy these videos below, featuring the man, Tommy Lee Jones:

Tommy Lee Jones as a an alien teacher

Now as an alien housewife who can talk to dogs

Okay, hope you "learned"(?) something about Japan! Until next time, またね～

新着: New Arrivals

Well, I just saw this word on TV and wanted to add it to my vocabulary (and yours too if you want). The word is:

新着

(しんちゃく / shinchaku)

This word means "new arrivals", and is used when a store gets a new product or item in their line-up.

The individual characters are "new" (新) and "arrive" (着); very, very logical, don't you think?

Anyways, that's it!

Cheers! 日本語がんばって！

PS. When I first started learning Japanese, I used to hate Kanji! It was so extremely hard and I thought that the lines and strokes had no rhyme, reason, or logic behind them...but after studying Kanji more diligently I have found that it is one of the funnest parts about the Japanese language. So if you're studying Kanji at the moment, don't fret! Just keep studying and it will all come together soon!

勉強：To study

Well, since you're here you might as well learn some Japanese. So, if I learn something interesting in the Japanese language, I'll share it with you. Maybe this is more for me...but hey, maybe you'll get something out of it!

And the word of the day is:

勉強
( べんきょう / benkyou )

Individually, these characters mean "try hard" (勉) and "strong" (強).

So, if you think about it, if you try really, really hard to do something, it is in effect studying.

That's it! Super simple huh? Well hopefully since I blogged about it I can remember the darn characters...

study hard everyone!

Until next time, がんばって！

銀行：Convenient Banks

Money, money, money...can't live without it. There are times that I wish we could go back to the old days and just live off the land (I would love to just go spearfishing all day), but unfortunately we gotta deal with this issue of money.

Well, Japan has some of the most convenient banks I have ever seen! Come take a visual tour with me: you walk into the bank and immediately you are greeted by practically everyone smiling, bowing (well a small head nod), and saying, "irasshaimase/いらっしゃいませ/welcome!"

Then you walk over to this robot below:

domo arigatou mr. roboto

You say hello to the robot, you press a few buttons, and then bam! Suddenly the robot shines your shoes, combs your hair, gives you a massage, and then puts $100 into your pockets...ok not really. It's not really a robot, but you do press a button. After you press it, out comes a strip of paper with your number. Then you simply sit in an empty chair and enjoy your life.

Why do I blog about this? Well, in America, you walk in the door, go through a crazy maze of a line, and then, after standing in line for who knows how long, you end up talking to a grumpy old lady about some money issues. Yeah, sitting down is a hundred times better than that. 

It's not that the chairs are spectacular in any way, it's just that you get to sit down, end of discussion. Entertainment-wise, there are a couple of televisions showing what-the-heck-who-knows-what-they-are commercials, but, hey better than elevator music.

The rest of the story is quite uneventful; the bank teller calls your number, you do your business, and then you walk out. Simply put, my first time in a Japanese bank was amazing. I wish all banks had crazy robot-machines and let you sit down. Well, I wonder how long it will take America to catch on.

*On a side note, the bank also had this cool set-up on one of their tables. If you look closely you will see three reading glasses and three stickers: blue, yellow, and red. The stickers and their respective kanji (characters) basically describe the strength of the glasses.

super convenient, if I say so myself

Here's what they mean:

Blue = 弱 = Weak

Yellow = 中 = Middle

Red = 強 = Strong

I know this is not really life-changing, but I do think that this is extremely convenient. As the years go by, my eyesight gets less and less effective and my glasses get more and more heavier, so I'm really happy to see that the banks care for us people with bad eyesight.

Well, hope you learned something today, and America I hope you drop the whole maze system and let us sit down when we go to the bank! Until next time, またね～

トイレ：Amazing Toilets

Yes, another post about toilets. I know, I know, not the best topic for the beginning of a blog, but the toilets in Japan are amazing! Now, perhaps other Asian (or other countries as well) have their own magnificent versions of the "John", but for an American living in Japan, the toilets here are truly amazing works of technology.

So let me present to you what I call the "most economic toilet in the world":

Take a good look at this superior, yet simple technology. You simply do your business, flush the toilet,....and voila~ water automatically comes out from the top, allowing you to wash your filthy hands! Ok, ok, I know what you're thinking..."I am washing my hands in my pee/poop", but do you really think that the people who brought us 

the Nintendo,

the Playstation,

and the Gundam

would wash their hands in feces water??? I think not!

Well all this is my own opinion of course, but I really think that even this "simple" Japanese toilet is ingenious. It saves water, space, and I'm pretty sure it saves money.

Anyways, that's it for this toilet, but stay tuned next time for my introduction to the super-high-tech toilets of Japan. またね～！

一番のポスト：The first Post!

"Darn another blog"...I know, that's what you're thinking. But, people pressured me, I swear! Well, this blog isn't going for any professional points because I simply want to share my experience here in Japan. If we're friends on Facebook, you can probably just look at all my pictures there, but hopefully in this blog I can give you a better feel of what it's like to live here in the land of the rising sun.

For my first post and category in this wonderful new blog I am proud to present:

"Japangrish"

This category will cover random posters, signs, etc that portray the use of English in Japan. When Mami and I run into these words we get a real kick out of them, and so I hope you do to.

---

NO SMOKING in Toilet, please.

but I like to get my feet wet at the same time...

If you haven't smoked IN a toilet before, you are missing out!!!...um...just kidding, I don't smoke. Well, English students, here's what it should say: "No smoking in the restroom, please". If you leave it like it is, it would mean: "Please do not stand inside the toilet bowl and smoke at the same time". Well, at least they said please.

Although incorrect and funny, the interesting thing is that for Japanese people, this sentence is fairly correct. Japanese people actually use the word TOILET (トイレ) as an equivalent to "restroom", "comfort room", "powder room", "wash room", and etc. and it doesn't necessarily just mean the toilet bowl. So, they missed the article "the" but they could have done worst. Basically they just said "No smoking in restroom". Not as bad as you thought huh? 

Well, I hope you learned something, and remember, please, please, please, do not smoke while putting your head inside the toilet bowl! Bye bye~ またね～