Thursday, November 28, 2013

How To Tell Someone You Love Him Or Her

I'm thankful for my blog readers!! XD


Of course you know how to say "thank you" in Japanese, right?
ありがとう for everybody (^O^)/


Actually I haven't heard full of this music before... lol
Can you understand its story line?

At the first scene, a man and a woman got off the bus and met their old friend. They were good friends in junior high school. They came back to the school they graduated from. And they remembered their old days. They remembered their teacher.

The scene around 4:00 on this video is their graduation ceremony. Japanese graduation ceremony is like that! But normally, there're more students and teachers in a hall. This story is about a school in rural district, so there were only three students (them).


In Japan, graduation ceremony is in March.
Oh you know what? There's an unique custom in graduation ceremony.
On graduation day at junior high and high schools, a girl junior ask a boy graduate his 第二ボタン/daini botan/, the second button from the top of his uniform.

What should he do if he was asked by several girls?
Then he would give his second button to the girl he cares the most. And then, other buttons to other girls. If you saw a boy wearing a school uniform without any buttons on graduation day, he must be very popular among girls. lol



Well, when I graduated from high school,  several girls junior came to ask my second button. It's true. But you know, I AM A FEMALE.




*Japanese Word of the Day*

先輩(せんぱい)、ずっと好(す)きでした!
/senpai, zutto suki desita!/
I've always loved you.
付(つ)き合(あ)って下(くだ)さい!
/tsukiatte kudasai!/
Can I be your girlfriend?


こ・・・こくられた!!!!??(私女なんだけど)
/ko... kokurareta! (watashi onnna nandakedo)/
Was I asked to be her boyfriend!!?? I am a female, though.



*告白(こくはく)する:a girl tells a boy that she loves him (or a boy tells a girl he loves her)
Young guys often make it short and say こくる.
こくられる is the passive, and こくられた is passive+past tense.

*先輩(せんぱい):Junior students call senior students 先輩.


Monday, November 25, 2013

What a coincidence!!

I didn't do anything last weekend but today was a very good day.
How was your weekend? Did you have any fun?

Today I went to go hang out at my new friend's house.
She's also Japanese, who lives in Taiwan. It was the second time we met,
but we became a good friends. We have many points in common.


You know, I go to foot massage lessons once a week.
The first day, after the lesson my classmates and I went to have lunch.
That was the first and last time we went for lunch together... (-_-;)
Anyway, we introduced ourselves to each other at first.

The lady sat next to me told me that she knows a girl whose name is very similar to me.
Her name is Tomoe, too. And there're many ways to write Tomoe in Kanji characters.
I have met a few people whose name is Tomoe before,
but I haven't met Tomoe which is written in the same Kanji characters as me.

And, my full name has 4 characters in Kanji.
2 are the Kanji of Tomoe, and the other 2 characters are of my family name.
My new friend Tomoe's name's three-fourth are the same characters!! Wow.

The classmate introduced me that girl, and two Tomoe became friends.


Not only our names.
We are the same age, we're from very close cities in Japan,
we got married in the same year, and we came to Taiwan because
our husbands have been transferred here.

You ain't seen nothing yet!
My husband is 6 years older than me, and her husband is also!
I asked her where he is from. And yes, our husbands are from the same city... =O
Have you ever experienced like this? They went to the same high school...

It's amazing to meet the person like her in Taiwan.
The area I live in isn't much popular for Japanese people who live in Taiwan.
But we live in the same area. Oh my...!



*Japanese Word of the Day*
すっごい偶然(ぐうぜん)だね!!
/suggoi guuzen dane/
What a coincidence!! Isn't it?!

*すごい/sugoi/ very, a lot, amazing, cool... etc
*偶然/guuzen/ coincidence, chance


We often say or write like this to emphasis the word すごい.
You also say "verrrrrry" right? It's like that.

It's hard to explain how to pronounce it, so I put an audio file today! Yay!


So, すごい=) → すっごい=D → すっっごいXD

I've forgotten about this audio tool until now. I used to use it to practice speaking a foreign language and to get feedback from native speakers. (But only used for 2 or 3 times..)


Oh, I feel a little embarrassed by my voice...

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Crazy Horse Races

The internet connection of my laptop is really bad recently. : <

Anyway, do you ever watch horse races? I don't, but I like horses.
When I was small, my parents often took me to the park which is surrounded by a race track for horses. There were small ponies, and I loved looking at them.


I was not interested in betting on the horses, but I liked playing computer games of horse racing at that time. I managed a farm, bred horses, made them compete the races. It was fun. : )


I found a video of Japan World Cup.
Ah, don't take it seriously! It's kinda joke. Lol


The commentator speaks really fast, but you'll find it really ridiculous and funny if you understand what he's saying.

This game was released on JRA(Japan Racing Association)'s official website. Anyone could play it. I mean you could bet on the horse you want (of course not paying real money!) and see what would happen. This video shows you several patterns of these race results.


Which horse do you like the best? =)



*Japanese of the Day*
サンコン、手を使わずにチャックを閉めようとしている!
(Watch 8:00~ of the above video)
Sankhon is trying to close a zipper without using both hands!


By the way, if you found someone's zipper is open, what will you do?
Will you directly tell him (or her) "Hey, your zipper's open!"?

In Japanese, we say 社会の窓 to avoid saying direct words.
社会(しゃかい) means "social" and 窓(まど) means "a window".


So, if a girl blushed over her face and bashfully said
あの・・・社会の窓が・・・ (Well... your "social window" is...)
you should check your zipper on pants.



Thursday, November 14, 2013

Be Hooked On Drama

Though I currently live in Taiwan, I watch Japanese TV news every morning.
Oh, you know what? Do you remember the TV drama "Amachan"?
*If you've forgotten, click here!

"Amachan" was so popular in Japan. The drama ended in September, and some people were affected by it. Some became spiritless in the morning because they can't watch Amachan anymore. And some got insomnia. The symptom's just like Pet loss, so it is called あまロス症候群 (Ama loss syndrome). I don't know whether there're still sufferers.


Anyway, it started broadcasting again in Taiwan with Chinese subtitles! XD
I can watch Amachan again! YATTA!!



When it comes to talk about the most popular TV dramas in Japan, "Hanzawa Naoki" is indispensable!! This drama achieved over 50% ratings in Kansai area. It was awesome...!!




Everybody couldn't help watching even though they were in a business hotel. Lol
It was really really really interesting drama. I hope you can also watch it with English subtitles.



*Japanese Word of the Day*
こんなにハマるなんて思わなかったよ!
/konnani hamaru nante omowanakatta yo/
I didn't expect to be into watching dramas!

*ハマる
= to be into, to be crazy about, to be absorbed in, to be hooked in...
*こんなに~なんて
= such, like this, in this way (emphasize the following word)
*思う → 思わない(negative) → 思わなかった(negative + past tense)
= to think, to expect, to feel

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Refresh the Spirit

Hi, there! How was your weekend? =)
I've had muscle pain since yesterday because I went for mountain walking last weekend.
I'm not mountaineer, but like hiking in the mountains. It makes me feel really good.


I started walking at 6 in the gray of the morning. I looked up the mountain which I was gonna walk up, and felt uneasy. It looked very high. (Actually it was high and hard to walk...)

the entrance to the road up a mountain
The path led me to the thick woods. It took about 2 hours from here to the observatory.


It wasn't easy at all. I lost my breath, and my heart had been pounding since I started walking. My legs felt heavy as lead. But, it gave me a big sense of accomplishment when I got to the top of the mountain.



It was awesome. I overlooked the scenery from the observatory. The clouds and haze were just like the sea and the shore.



*Japanese Word of the Day*
気分(きぶん)爽快(そうかい)!!
/kibun sookai/
I feel refreshed! I felt great!

*気分 : feelings
*爽快 : refreshing, crisp

Have you felt 気分爽快! lately? =)

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Speak Foreign Languages Fluently

I'm often surprised that a lot of Taiwanese people can speak Japanese very well!

Last week I went to a convenience store, and the cashier found I am Japanese, so he talked to me in Japanese. It often happens in Taiwan. In Japanese style restaurants like ramen(noodles) shop, they say いらっしゃいませ! when I enter there.

*If you have been to Japan, you would have heard this phrase (いらっしゃいませ) a lot!




This clip was really fun. XD You can enjoy it with English subtitles!
I especially like the last part of it. I hope I also would be able to speak foreign language fluently like them!! Awesome!


*Japanese Word of the Day*
えっ 何(なん)のために持(も)ってるのか?
/eh nan no tame ni motteru noka?/
Wait, why am I carrying this?
(Watch 17:22~ of this video!)

*Yodobashi Camera is a big electronics store.
The man on this video from 17:22 loves shopping at Yodobashi Camera.
He showed his laptop and said he can't do anything without it so he always carrying it.
And he said....


Monday, November 4, 2013

Move To Tears

Did you have a good weekend?

I originally planned to go to the hot springs, but I thought it wasn't good day to take the hot springs bath because it was little hot and humid. I'd like to go to the hot springs in a colder day. It's very comfortable to take a bath in winter =)


After all, my husband and I had traditional Chinese food for lunch and then went shopping. We found a movie theater in the shopping center, so decided to see a movie by the way.


The title of the movie we saw was そして父(ちち)になる /soshite chichi ni naru/.
*そして then, after that, after all
* father
*~になる become, get, turn, grow

The English title is "Like Father, Like Son".
(Official Homepage is HERE!)



It was very sad but a nice movie, I was moved to tears a little bit. =')



*Japanese Word of the Day*
この映画(えいが)、泣(な)ける・・・
/kono eiga, nakeru/
This movie moves to tears...

君(きみ)って、涙(なみだ)もろいよね。
/kimi-tte, namida-moroi yone/
You are easily moved to tears, aren't you?

*涙もろい (adjective) be easily moved to tears, be sensitive,


Are you 涙もろい person? Or have you ever been moved to tears by watching a movie or reading a book? Right, I'm kinda 涙もろい. =P

Friday, November 1, 2013

Knock, Knock, Trick or Treat?!

How was your Halloween night? Had a lot of fun?

I met my Taiwanese friend to practice speaking Chinese and Taiwanese yesterday. I wanted to buy some creepy items to surprise her, but I couldn't find any interesting goods! =( There were some posters which advertise Halloween designed candies, but not so many shops actually sold them.

So I gave up, and bought a pair of glasses with a big nose.


I put on these glasses and prepared to surprise my friend while she left her seat. No one dressed up or put on masks in Taiwan. I needed a bit of courage to put on these silly glasses among people who don't care about Halloween at all. lol

Well, I didn't expect she wouldn't come back for a long time from the bathroom, so I had to sit alone with these glasses...

Anyway, I was successful in making her laugh and making some people feel weird.



On that night, there was an earthquake. It was kinda big quake.

My heart fluttered and wanted to go to the bathroom.
I walked to the bathroom and confirmed the door wasn't locked.

I opened the door and saw...

おばちゃん(a middle-aged woman) was sitting on the toilet.

It was the unexpected, it was the unforgettable big surprise on Halloween night...

like this
Of course I was surprised that the door wasn't locked, but the most shocking thing was that she was sitting on (stooping down) the toilet. You may see what I want to say by seeing the picture above.


I've heard that not a few Taiwanese people use a western-style toilet just like as when they use an Asian-style squat toilet. It's true. I saw it.


*Japanese Word of the Day*
トイレのカギは閉(し)めようね。
/toire no kagi wa shimeyou ne/
You'd better lock the door of the bathroom.

*トイレ : bathroom, lavatory, toilet
*カギ : key
*閉める : to lock

*カギを閉める(=カギをかける) : to lock the door

In this case, I use /wa/ to emphasize the topic of the sentence トイレのカギ.



I should have knock the door...