Jonathan's Japan Journal (ジョナサンの日本日記)

今朝話すテストができた。すばらしくなかったけど、あまりよくないと思う。合格すると思う。新しい文法は全部使わなかったけど、それは多分少し問題かもしれない。でもがんばったよ！今日のテストは新井先生と。（どうやってそんなことが言える？)先学期のさいごの話すテストも新井先生がしたけど、ざんねんだったから、今日のテストはよくならなければならなかった。じゃ、眠いから日本語が悪くなったね。

Today's speaking test wasn't great but it wasn't that bad either, I think. I'll definitely pass it, even though I didn't use all of the new grammar that I was supposed to. I don't like situations where I have to speak using a certain subset of what I've learned. It's awkward. Today's test was with Arai-sensei, and because the final test of the previous term was with her and I performed terribly, I had to make sure that this one went well.

おそくなっている！おなかもすいたし、眠いし、帰りたい。あ、僕はまだヤマサのコンピュータールームにいるんだ。母と大切なことを話している。

え？コンピュータールームはもうすぐ終わるとヤマサの社員は言った。

今Skypeというインターネットコミュニケーション算譜で両親と話している。トピックは９月の終わりまでより１２月の終わりまでヤマサで勉強することです。３０分前に気分がちょっと悪くなったけど、いい友達と話したから、気分がよくなった。ありがとうね、ヨツバちゃん。まだ負けないよね。

Right now, I'm sitting in Yamasa's computer room IM'ing my parents via Skype. We're discussing possibilities for extending my stay past September. It's tough. But though I was in a questionable mood earlier, I got to talk with friend of mine just now who got me in a brighter mood. Thanks, Yotsuba-chan.

Today, I obtained a digital camera, borrowed from a friend! I was a photographer in America for about three years and I really miss taking photographs all the time. Expect to see more in the way of visuals here, folks. (And those who know me, watch out for the real me to appear behind this camera. Bwah-ha-ha!)

今日友達がカメラを貸してくれた！すごいな！僕はアメリカで３年ぐらい写真者だったんけど、あの時からたくさん写真をとるチャンスが少なくなった。今うれしいよ！これからもっと写真をとってここにポストするつもりだよ！ハハ～！

今日、今学期の一番目のテストの成績をもらった。聞くテストは３３／４０で、書くテストは９７／１００だった。聞くテストはあまりよくなかったけど、ちょっと残念だった。書くテストは９６／１００だったけど、見てくれた先生がちょっとまちがえたから、もう１点をもらった。

I got the results of my first test of the new term. My listening comprehension test score was 33 out of 40 (81.5%) and my writing test score was 97 out of 100 (97%, duh). The listening test was a bit of a disappointment but it wasn't so bad. Originally, my writing test score was 96 but the grading sensei made a slight oversight and so I got an extra point.

月曜日話すテストはある。心配している。会話もよわいし…。しかし、心配すぎなかったらいいと思う。

The speaking test, the one I'm worried about, is Monday. I'm concerned about it, since my conversation ability isn't particularly strong, but as long as I don't overworry, I'll probably be fine.

今日授業が終わってから、初めて有滝先生としゃべった。有滝先生は日本語の学生の問題がよくわかったと思う。アメリカで一人で日本語を勉強していたとき、辞書形からの動詞活用を勉強したから、「みんなの日本語」の『ます形』から仕方はそのほかの仕方よりむずかしくて、おそいと思う。（ワ！あの文はむずかしかった！）

(Oy.) After class ended today, I chatted with Aritaki-sensei for the first time. I think she understands students' issues pretty well. When I was studying Japanese on my own in America, I learned to conjugate verbs from their base dictionary forms, but our textbook, Minna no Nihongo, teaches conjugation from the "-masu" forms, which I find more difficult, slow, and awkward.

今日早く寝るつもりだ。

I plan to head to bed early tonight.

今ごはんを作っている。今日今まで何も食べなかった。うん、まだ食べていない。だめ！

I'm making rice right now. I haven't eaten yet today. Yup, I'm in a state of non-eatingness!

明日クラスメート四人はヤマサの週末旅行で富士山に登る。すごいな。もちろん僕はお金もないし、それに富士山に登るのはちょっと大変だね。でも一度登ったほうがいいとみんな言う。（授業で習った新しい文法！）

Tomorrow, four of my classmates are climbing Mount Fuji by means of a Yamasa weekend trip. Pretty cool. Of course, I don't have money for such a trip, but also, climbing it would be a bit of a hassle, I think. I have mixed feelings about it. But everyone says that you should climb it at least once.

もうすぐロジャーという友達はアメリカに帰国する。残念だけど、仕方がないな。

Soon, my friend Roger will be returning to America. (Well, he's not really American citizen, I think. Whatever the case, it's there he's going.) It's disappointing but there's no choice, of course.

最近アメリカに住んでいる友達と「ナルト」というマンガシリーズについて話している。本当に上手に書いたよ。

Lately, I've been talking to my friends in America about the manga series Naruto. It really is well written, I've found—moreso than I thought.

じゃ、すぐ食べないと。

Well, I need to eat soon.

ダイノバックラー！

今晩先生三人と友達十人ぐらいと晩ごはんを食べた。みんなが好きで、楽しかったけど、気分が悪くなった。僕はパーティーが大嫌い。これはパーティーじゃなかったけど、人が多いときに居心地が悪くなるんだ。友達なのに時々そうなる。でも今晩人がもう少し少なくなったとき、気分はもっとよくなった。今晩の晩ごはんの終わりごろまで、僕は本当の僕じゃなかった。そんなときに、いろいろなことを考え始める。「ジョンさん、大丈夫ですか。」とみんな聞いていてくれた。大丈夫だけど、実はあまりＯＫじゃなくて・・・。パーティーで楽しくなかった経験が起きたし、それで子どものときからパーティーや人が多い集いがふつうに好きじゃない。たいてい楽しいけど、気分が悪くなれるから、大変だ。

でも、今晩は全部で本当に楽しかった。

しかし、新しい言葉をまだ勉強していない。朝の言葉のクイズはたぶんちょっと大変だと思う。

ヨ！みんな、元気？昨日午前４時に寝たから、また僕元気になった。明日のテストについて、多分９５点だと思う。今日の授業が終わったら、ほかの学生６人と勉強していた。クラスメート一人は日本語の文法がだいたいわかったから、僕は先生になって、教えてあげた。難しかったけど、面白かった。あの学生は英語と中国語がわからないんだから、時々大変だ。日本語で説明してあげた。先学期のＭクラスの学生が多かったんだけど、よかった。みんなよくがんばった。

それから、友達と自転車でSeiyuに行った。でも郵便局のお引き出を忘れてしまったから、何も買わなかった。一人でうちへ帰って、郵便局で引き出しをして、それにもう一回Seiyuに行った。いいな。

今ねないと…。

I've taken the liberty of constructing a chart that I think represents my Japanese skills as they stand right now. I measured according to the level that I believe I should be at at this level of study (Minna no Nihongo II, lesson 31). Obviously, I particularly fall short on the aural and vocal sections of the chart, but overall I don't think it so bad.

My biggest problem is that I'm harder on myself sometimes than anyone else could possibly be. I tend to hold myself to unrealistic expectations only to inevitably be disappointed in myself. I'm working on keeping this in check. I'm too uptight. I need to relax. So that's what I'm doing. And thus far, I seem to be meeting with success.

これは僕の日本語のアビリティチャートで、僕の意見で作った。会話と聞き取りが一番よわいと思う。

まだ寝ていなに。今日のしゅくだいが終わった。聞く練習はとても難しかったけど、一番目の質問がぜんぜんわからなかった。思わしくないと思う。CDの人は速く話すから、わかりにくい。いくら何回も聞いてもむりだった。（それは本当にもう勉強したことば？）とのかく、がんばったけど、ちょっと足りなかった。

眠くなっているけど、眠いもまだ寝てはいけない。もっと眠くならないと。

この間けいたい電話を買った。だから、今両親と便利に話せる。しかし、この電話は英語がないから、使い方があまりかんたんじゃない。いい練習だけど・・・。じゃ、インターネットで取扱書があるから、だいたい大丈夫だ。けいたいがあって、よかったな。

最近クラスの作文はふえたから、いいと思う。自由に書けるときにうれしくなる。いつも漢字を使ってみる。漢字を使わなかったら、忘れやすくなれると思う。

あ、昨日の漢字クラスは楽しかった。人が多かったよ。先学期の漢字１には三人いたけど、今学期の漢字２には十二人いるよ。ちょっとざんねんだった。でも人が多くても大丈夫だね。先学期の三人もいる。もう一度一緒に勉強して、がんばろう。漢字を習ったら、日本語がよくわかり始めるね。

「臼」は少し変な漢字だね？「日」の真ん中から何かが出た？

日曜日三河おっさんと岡崎の近くの山道をドライブしてくれた。けしきもすごくきれいだったし、田舎もしずかだったし・・・。霧がたくさんあったから、時々何も見えなかった。もっと言えるのに、三河おっさんのことばは僕のよりきれいだから、読んだらいいと思う。雨山というダムの近くの石碑があったよ。

僕は今週今まで気分が悪い。元気じゃないし、頭もよわくなったし・・・。しかしながら、あさって今学期の一番目のテストがある。ちょっと大変になっていると思う。勉強したくない気持ちがあるんだ。じゅぎょうが終わってから、友達とよしのやでごはんを食べて、コンピューターを使って、それに６時ごろ昼寝をした。昼寝したらぜったいに元気になると思った。違うな。今ごはんを作っている。もうすぐ晩ごはんが食べられる（～～）。

I've felt like crap so far this week. I've got no energy and my head (I almost typed "atama") ain't so good. But we've got our first test of the term Thursday. It's a bit of a pickle. (英語がわからない人へ：「pickle」は日本語で「ピクルス」で、時々意味は「ピンチ」の同じだ。この文は「ちょっとピンチだ」という意味がある。) Sorry, I was explaining my use of "pickle" for some reason. Anyway, after I got out of school, I went to Yoshinoya with a friend, came home and used my computer for a while, and then took a nap at about six. I thought I'd feel better after the nap, but not quite. So now I'm cooking rice and will soon eat dinner.

Tonight, I think I'll stay up late, as I have the strange idea that this will help the situation since I believe the source of the problem to be sleep-issue–related. I have got to start feeling better before the test.

今晩遅く寝ようと思っている。睡眠が足りない問題だから、そうしたらいいと思う。木曜日のテストの前に元気にならなければならない！

10:18 PM. もう元気になっていると思う。 I'm already starting to feel a lot better. 僕が作ったぎょうざを食べたんだ。 I ate gyoza that I made. 今インターネットでスーパー戦隊がよくわかった。面白いな。 I've been doing some reading about Japan's long-running "Super Sentai" series. Interesting stuff. Much bigger than I thought. YouTubeで『恐竜戦隊ジュウレンジャー』を見ているよ。 I've been watching Zyuranger episodes on YouTube. Rita's a lot more likeable and sympathetic and things make a lot more sense in this show, though I'm pretty shocked that Goldar doesn't talk at all.

Wednesday, 6:47 PM. Well, my plan worked. I stayed up until past four in the morning and have felt just fine today. Thank goodness. I'm pretty much as ready as I'm going to be for my test tomorrow. きのう午前４時に寝たから、体は元気になった。少し変だけど気分がよくなったから、問題がないと思う。明日のテストについて、大丈夫だと思う！ハハハー！

Man, am I tired. Today wasn't a particularly great day for me performance-wise because of this, though things picked up toward the end of the day. I was late for class for the first time today as well. (Baaad.) But today was this term's first kanji class and it went very well.

There are a number of summer festival–related events coming up that I'm participating in, but I'll have to describe them later. Well, one of them is helping to carry a portable shrine on the fourth of next month (much like the current second photo on the left on Yamasa's home page). Should be something. And on the fifth, I'll finally get to see Okazaki's famous fireworks.

For now, though, I need to head home and relax. I'm laying low tonight.

週末！つかれたから、よかった！今週の授業はちょっと大変だったんだ。つかれたのに、うれしい。週末の中に復習しておくつもりだ。とりあえず、何もしていない。今コンピューターで日本のポップスを聞いている。もうすぐ寝るけど。

僕は写真のギャラリーがあるよ。見たことがある？三年ごろアメリカで写真家だったんだ。結婚式の写真が好きです。サイトは全部英語だから、ごめんなさいけど、写真のほうが大切だね。

Greetings. Have I been neglecting my English-only speakers? Hm. I only know of two, and they're friends on vacation, so ...

This week was quite good. We encountered some difficult and awkward grammatical constructions but I've been able to manage them so far. Everyday, I've been staying late at school to make sure that I'm in good shape. Next week, we have our first big test. In truth, I'm not really worried. I think that I'll be just fine—especially since I don't think there's a speaking test. Some of the vocabulary, though, I need to be sure to work on.

My four sensei—Hikosaka-sensei, Arai-sensei, Aritaki-sensei, and Hada-sensei—are all fantastic and the classes have been very interesting. I don't have Sano-sensei this time around, but we see each at least a couple of times per week, so it's all right. Tateishi-sensei is taking a few months off for health reasons. I need to ask about her next week.

My fellow classmates are great. After the original M class, I was worried that my next class would, you know, suck. But they don't. I am pleased. I've been visiting L class next door to check up on the rest of my old classmates and have met a couple of interesting folks in that class as well.

You know what I hate? I can't stand the people at concerts that yell at the performer. Right now, I'm listening to a Noriko Sakai live concert and morons just keep yelling "Noriko! Norikooo!" "I love you!" "Noriko!!!" It's just so ridiculous.

Here's an amusing typo I made just a few minutes ago in a chat session:

Actually, I have to leave soon to eat myelf.

Obviously, I mistyped that. I left out a space.

最近の授業はむずかしくなった。「～のです」と「～しまいます」と「～てあります」を勉強しています。もうすぐ「～てあります」も勉強する。使い方はちょっと大変だと思う。それに、新しい言葉はたくさんある。でもまだ楽しい。授業が終わったら、よく教室で勉強している。

今日５時ごろまで教室で復習しておいた。復習しながら、ひこさか先生が入って、来週の時間割をかべに張っておいた。今あの時間割は張ってあるね。来週漢字の授業が始まる。今まで勉強した漢字は１３２です。ひこさか先生は今学期の漢字の授業を教えてくれるが、新井先生は読むクラスを教えてくれる。すごいよ！今学期はすばらしい！

「～ながら」を勉強しながら、新井先生にこの文を見せた：「音楽を聞きながら、テレビしたり、勉強したりします。」新井先生はほかの先生に相談してくれた。答えは意味が二つある。

①　音楽を聞きながら、テレビを見る。それに、音楽を聞きながら、勉強する。
②　音楽を聞きながら、テレビを見る。それに、勉強する。

日本人は多分あまり言わないと思う。質問だけだった。

じゃ、明日のレッスンを予習しておかなければならない。

もうすぐ電車で岡崎のレストランへ友達と晩ごはんを食べに行く。実はこんなお金がないけど、友達の誕生日だから行ってあげる。（友達の二ヶ月ごろ前のアドバイスはまだいい：「Don't eat too much.」いつも同じだな。）それに、もうつかれたよ。

第２９課と第３０課の新しいことばはむずかしい。時々いみはあまりちがわないんだ。しかし、第３１課のことばをこのことばよりあまり難しくないそうと思う。

昼ごはんのとき、Ｋクラスの友達とほかの学生と話していた。それは楽しかった。友達一人はすき家というレストランについて知らせてくれた。すき家の牛丼はとてもおいしいと言った。牛丼の上にチーズがあるよ！そうか・・・。じゃ、しかたがないよ。（あの人はあたたかい心があるよ。ハ！）Ｋクラスの学生はみんな僕は牛丼をよく食べることを知っている。面白いなあ。どうやってみんなもう知っている・・・？ハ！ぜんぜんミステリーじゃない！

おなかがすいた。

時々ほかの学生は「ジョンさんは日本語が上手です！」と言う。え？！僕はそうは思わない。どうしてみんなそう思う？僕よりほかの同じのレベルの学生はとても上手なんだ。たぶん何か「上手のオーラ」がある。催眠術なんだよ。イルージョンだな。実は僕は時々あまり下手じゃなくなるけど、時々すごく下手のことになる。とにかく、がんばっているよ。

ほかの何かニュースがある？ないと思う。時間が少なくなったから、いいよね。それで、行ってきます！

今日はよかった。でも多分明日は大変だと思う。「みんなの日本語」の第２９課は新しいことばはむずかしくて、たくさんあるんだ。自動詞の勉強だな。「ドアが開く。」「電気がつく。」あまりかんたんじゃない。今日６時１５分まだ学校で勉強していたけど、このことばの勉強は足りなかったと思う。明日の朝のことばクイズは多分大変だ。（それに、「～んです」の使い方はわかりにくいと思う。まだちょっと考えている。）

今日雨が降っている。授業が終わったとき雨がなかったけど、家へ帰るとき雨がたくさん降っていた。親切な友達はパーカを貸してくれてから、ずいぶん大丈夫だったよ。

じゃ、今寝ないと・・・。

After class yesterday, I attended the conversation class that I attend every Monday afternoon. There were a number of new volunteers there and I ended up speaking with a kind upper–middle-aged gentleman by the name of Ootake-san.

This ended up being the best conversation I've had there yet. For one, Ootake-san's way to speaking was perfect for me: it was not too fast but not too slow, it was clear, and he wasn't using a heavy Kansei dialect.

On top of that, I was in rare form. My conversation abilities sprouted in a way that they rarely have before, if they actually have. I felt comfortable and as result, I was speaking more smoothly and with better intontation (more naturally) than ever before.

Ootake-san and I spoke for over an hour about many, many things. Without posting too much of this life history, he's always resided in Aichi and has, except for when he was in college, always lived in Okazaki. He's married with three grown sons and will soon be leaving to teach Japanese in China. (Figures. But he'll be leaving in September, which is when I'm slated to leave too, at least.) We talked about our own histories, earthquakes and earthquake safety, differences between our countries, my future, my parents, types of Japanese literature, and so on. It was pretty much hands down the best conversation that I've had yet.

I was on fire.

I've since cooled down some, but I'm riding the wave from that high. My confidence in my abilities has grown some. I now realize—really realize—that it's not always my own failings that cause a conversation to go badly. Sometimes it's mostly the other person. Sure, it's easy to say "duh," but even know I'd say I "knew" that, I hadn't taken it to heart.

Another thing that I've taken from this is that I've got to get more Japanese conversation in my daily life, like becoming friends with some of the locals. You can't become an expert swordsperson by learning sword techniques and practicing them a couple of times a week!

昨日のノリタケへの旅行は楽しくて、面白かった。日本人１０人ぐらいとヤマサの学生三人と一緒に行った。学生は少し少なかったから残念だったけど、行った学生は日本人とたくさん日本語の練習をした。ノリタケはすごい製品がたくさんあったよ。その製品の値段は高かった！でも、うれしかった。

今日の授業はよかった。僕は今週クラスの一番会話が上手の人の隣に座っているから、ちょっと心配している。僕は会話が下手なんだ。でも、あの人はすごくやさしいから、大丈夫だと思う。いい練習だな。よろしく！しかし負けられないよ！僕は世界の明るい星なんだよ！（なぜ、いつも変な話を言ってるなあ・・・？）

今日は海の日だね。そうなのに、ヤマサの社員はまだ働かなければならなかった。大変だ！でも、学生も学校にかよわなければならなかった。しかし、問題がなかったから、よかった。

じゃ、今タイプする時間がないんだけど、あとでもう一つポストを作るよ。

今日のジョナサンが作った分は・・・「立ちながら座りました」です。

今日チューさんという友達と２時間ぐらいセイユの近くのマクドナルドで勉強した。楽しかった。このマクドナルドの２階で勉強していた。僕は『みんなの日本語Ⅱ』の第２６課と第２７課をレビューしていた。それに、第２８課もちょっと勉強した。新しいことばと文法がたくさんあるよ。じつは、今週僕の勉強はたりなかったと思う。今日からがんばらなければならない。来週毎日授業が終わったら、教室で勉強したい。家での勉強はあまり面白くないんだ。しかし、リラックスをすることも大切だね。

明日名古屋にノリタケを見学に行く。ほかのクラスメートも行くつもりだ。ん～、僕はカメラを持って行きたい？フィルムは少なくなったから、考えている。僕は今まで２回名古屋に行ったことがある。明日は３回目の旅行だね。行こうよ！

今日うちのインターネットが故障したから、ヤマサのコンピュータールームに行った。はだ先生に出会って、先生とちょっと話した。先生について、土曜日も働かないといけない？大変だと思う。

ほかのヤマサの女の人の社員はアイスキャンディーをくれたよ。（アメリカで「popsicle」だけど、イギリスで「ice lolly」だ。）さむくて、おいしかったよ！僕はうれしかった。もう一本、おねがいします。アイスキャンディーをもらうために毎土曜日学校で勉強に行きたくなった。もう２本をいただけませんか～♥。（ワーッ！ハートが出た！はずかしい・・・。）

今、梅雨？雨はまだ少ないんだね？でもすごくあつくなったよ。ヒューストンの同じだ！汗水もいつもあるし、早くつかれたようになるし、よくせんたくをしなければならないし、ぜんぜん楽しくないと思う。（第２８課の新しい文法だけど、使い方はいい？）４月ごろの天気はすばらしかった。もう一度、来ない・・・？（来ていただけませんか。来てくださいませんか。・・・来なさい！）

もうすぐ漢字の授業がまた始まる。残念だけど、一週間に一回しかない。ほかのオプショナルな授業は書く練習と読む練習だ。一つ選んでくださいと先生は言った。大変だったよ。どっち？どっち？わからなかった！どっちも欲しいよ！えらびたくなかったけど、仕方がなかった。読むクラスを選んだ。でも、まだ考えている・・・。

『大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ』というニンテンドーのゲームをする人がない？残念。多分僕の伝説の術はみんなが怖い。

ん～、これは足りると思う。長いなぁ。つまらないとみんな言っているでしょう。

One of my classmates' hobbies is collecting the currency of various nations. She pulled out her wallet and showed us some of the bills she had. One of these was Brazilian and, to my delight, had "REAL" printed in large letters on it. I thought that was just hilarious—'a fantastic counterfeiting countermeasure, that,' I joked. But Brazil's currency is indeed called the real. (Of course, it's pronounced differently than the English word.) Just one of those interesting cross-language amusements.

Of course, Wikipedia still provides the section header entitled "Commemorative versions of the one real coin." Sounds like a Lord of the Rings item.

"You shall not cash!"

This morning, I attempted to surprise someone I know with something that could be called a favor and, apparently, almost caused that friend a small personal catastrophe in the process. Even though I wasn't really in the wrong, and some quick thinking on my part salvaged the situation quite well, I felt kind of bad about it. It was just a surprise factor that was wholly unexpected. It was a close call but I was told that everything's okay and the possible crisis was averted. Man. ("Boy, you try to do something nice and it just blows up in your face," I said. "That's it—I'm never doing anything nice for anyone again.") My friend could have become quite cross with me but didn't and handled the situation quite admirably and was straightforward and honest about everything. And, no, no further details are forthcoming. (Them's the breaks!)

On Sunday I'm going to visit Noritake, the oldest pottery-maker in Japan, I believe. It's part of the local cross-cultural circle here in Okazaki.

Other than that ... I'm still tired. Utterly exhausted.

今日はおやいず先生の誕生日だった。先学期のＭクラスの学生８人とおやいず先生とお好み焼きへ食べに行った。（僕はもう一回行ったことがある。）おやいず先生は僕が書いた絵がもらいたかったから、僕は考えて、がんばって、絵を書いてあげた。先生は少しうれしくなったと思う。

すごくつかれたけど、土曜部と日曜日やくそくがあるから。今ねなければならない！

My plan to nap went unfilled. I lay in bed for over an hour without a shred of sleep, though I think that I came close enough to not be sleepy enough to sleep now. But once I shower, I think I'll be able to snooze. Nothing like that "clean feeling" to make one able to sleep. Or maybe that's just me.

Through an arcane path of events that I really don't recall, I ended up looking into Mighty Morphin Power Rangers this evening. I actually watched the show for a while when it first come on in the early '90s, back in the days of Tiny Toon Adventures. It was good, cheesy fun. I was surprised to learn that Thuy Trang, who played Trini, the Yellow Ranger, died in a car accident a while back.

So anyway, this led me to read about Kyouryuu Sentai ZyuRanger, the show from which the American series was derived. Some of the differences, as one can imagine, are pronounced. For one, five "teenagers with attitude" (that have an abject lack of attitude) weren't summoned, but instead five ancient warriors from long-gone civilizations were revived from stasis. These guys are far cooler than the decidedly attitude-bereft American teenagers ever were. Except maybe for Tommy. (I mean, come on ... Tommy was the man. Apparently, he's gone on to become a legend within the Power Ranger series.) But apparently, the original Japanese sixth ranger might have been even radder than Tommy, the way Wikipedia describes it:

He was resurrected by Gnome's grandson and attacked the ZyuRangers. Geki soon learned that Burai was his older brother, the son of the Black Knight. Burai was about 8 years old when Geki was born. Their father, the Black Knight, was a prideful man who showed utter disrespect to his monarch, Yamato King. The childless King, rather than executing him, penalized the Knight with his younger son, Geki, adopting the boy as his heir. The Black Knight was unable to come to terms with this loss and led a rebellion to take back Geki only to be killed in a duel by the Yamato King. Burai, witnessing his father's death, swore revenge by stealing the Yamato Kingdom’s Dragon Armor treasure and vowed to kill his younger brother. Burai eventually made peace with Geki and joined the team, helping every once and awhile. It turned out that Burai's life was limited; his sleep chamber had caved in and crushed him, but the Dinosaur Gods had brought him back to life because his Guardian Beast Dragon Caesar would be needed by the Zyuranger [...]. When he eventually died, he passed to Geki his Zyusouken (to summon Dragon Caesar) and the Dragon Armor. In the finale, Burai's spirit appeared before the ZyuRangers to tell them that the Guardian Beasts were in Bandora's Magic Realm.

Personally, I don't think even Tommy can compete with that.

My curiosity piqued—I'm pretty interested in how American series I know were changed from their original Japanese versions—I found the first and second episodes of the series posted at YouTube. Right now, I've only seen the first. There are no subtitles, but of course, it's quite easy to follow what's happening regardless. It's odd seeing the bad guys looking exactly the same but the good guys being completely different. Until they transform, of course. (Looking at some of the things they do, I can't help but think that there were some serious tongue-in-cheek vibes going.)

Anyway, excuse my nostalgic rambling on such a ridiculous topic. See what happens I can't sleep? People suffer.

Heh heh. "Radder."

I'm having a lot of fun watching clips of this show. Man, Burai's so bad that in his first encounter with the Rangers, he barged into the MegaZord, dragged all five Rangers out of it, and then beat them until their transformations wore off. And he'd only just come out of statis. "All right! A new Ranger ally!" indeed.

今うれしいけど、眠い。授業が終わったら、速く帰って。ちょっと昼寝したり。それから、勉強する。

今日ありたき先生に会った。ありたき（有滝）という名前について、日本で少ないと言った。ありたき先生が紹介しているとき、日本人も「え？ありた？ありたけ？」と言う。面白いね。「有」は「ある」の漢字で、「滝」の意味は英語で「waterfall」だとありたき先生は説明した。すばらしい名前だね。ありたき先生もやさしいから、うれしくなった。今学期の先生もいいよ。

ありたき先生はひこさか先生は剣道がとても上手だと言った。明日僕らはひこさか先生に聞くつもりだ。ククク…。

今日新井先生は「見える」と「見られる」の使い方を教えてくれた。むずかしいけど、わかりにくかったよ。インターネットで調べている。

時々言葉の可能動詞はスクービー・ドゥーというアニメキャラクターの「スクービー・ドゥビー・ドゥー！」のようになる。

What I was trying to say is that, sometimes, Japanese's potential verbs (e.g., "can eat") can sound kind of reminiscent of Scooby-Doo's call. In the picture, he's saying "taberareruuu!" which means "can eat." Come on—certainly you can see it.

The rest of this was just about the class events of the day. We met Aritaki-sensei for the first time and she was quite likeable. She said that one of our sensei is quite good at kendo, so we'll be asking about that tomorrow.

I was also saying that I'm tired, so I'm going to nap for a bit.

今昼寝する！じゃ！

今日は楽しかった。

まずは、ひこさか先生が「～んです」の使い方をせつめいしてくれた。この使い方はずいぶん難しいと思う。ルールがたくさんありから、大変だ。でも僕はよくわかる。（テストの時間まで覚えている。）今まで僕の使い方は違った。

つぎは、はだ先生が可能動詞を教えてくれた。アメリカで可能動詞を少し勉強したけど、あまり難しくなかった。（おりられる、おりられる、おらりろる・・・くそっ！）だから、今上手に可能動詞を使える。日本語がよく言える人と話したらいいね。帰ったから、晩ご飯を作れて、食べられる。（この使い方、いい？）じゃあ、足りると思う。

これから多分授業が終わったら教室で勉強する。昨日一時間半ぐらい教室で勉強した。僕のマーカで教室のホワイトボードに書いていた。漢字と絵を書いたけど、楽しかった。今日の授業の後で教室で友達と勉強した。僕はうちに帰ったときにエナジーがなくなるから、しゅくだいをした。

明日新しい先生に会える。今までヤマサの先生はみんな優しい、僕は心配していない。新井先生も教えてくれる。

今ごはんを作らないといけない。食べてから、しゅくだいをみるつもりだ。

A couple of nights ago, my Internet connection died while I was instant messaging with the classmate that returned to Taiwan and with Mikawa Ossan. It was dead all night and hasn't been right since. I was pretty upset about the timing of it, but oh well, right. It's been frustrating. But class has been going well.

僕は学校のコンピュータールームでタイプしている。うちのインターネットは調子が悪いから。残念だな。でも、今時間がない。授業はもうすぐ始まるんだ。

今まだ、授業はすばらしいと思う。うれしい。昨日、はだ先生はみんなに「好きな日本語は何ですか。」と言った。わからなかった。考えていてから、大きい声でこれを言った：



たしかに、変だね。ごめん、先生・・・。

Yesterday, my new sensei, Hada-sensei asked us what our favorite Japanese word (or, ostensibly) phrase was. I couldn't think of anything, so after some thinking I said what I said in the picture above: "Besides studying Japanese, there's nothing!" In the picture, Hada-sensei is saying that I'm a bit strange. Which is true, of course.

I want to draw pictures to upload to the Web, but I don't have a scanner or a fancy Wacom tablet, so I'm just using MS Paint right now to emphasize the cheapness of it all. I think I'd like to continue doing this, for I find it interesting.

本当の絵が書きたいけど、スキャナがないから、無理だ。MSPaintで絵を書いたら、いい？これからもMSPaintで書きたいよ！

Well, gotta run to class!

I just realized something! While writing my most recent entry, I mentioned that I couldn't remember Hikosaka-sensei's name. Well, I went to Hikone Castle yesterday and both words use the same kanji (彦) for "hiko." Ha! What a great and absurdly convenient mnemonic.

あぅ！今、何かわかった！今日、彦坂先生の名前は覚えにくいと僕は言ったね。でも、昨日彦根城へ行った。一番目の漢字が同じだね？そうだから、覚えやすくなったんだよ！すごく便利だね。

This morning, I got to school at about 8:30 and looked at the class assignments posted on the wall and discovered that I have "graduated" from class M to class K! This is, indeed, a true Level Up.

Unfortunately, though, they split my classmates and me in half. The ten people from last quarter's class M who progressed were split into two classes, K and L. So there are 10 people in my new class and half of them are from my old class M. Fortunately, most of the rest of my classmates are right next door, so it's not difficult to talk with them.

Class L got Oyaizu-sensei as their tannin-sensei, but we have Arai-sensei teaching us a couple of times per week. My new tannin-sensei, Hikosaka-sensei (whose name I'm having a lot of trouble remembering, for some reason), seems quite nice and capable, though. So who needs Oyaizu-sensei! (Just kidding, just kidding! Come to think of it, I think that Hikosaka-sensei is the sensei that Oyaizu-sensei pointed me out to the other day, which would explain that, I think.) My new classmates all seem to be good folks, fortunately, so that's one concern that I can toss out. (There's someone from Mongolia, of all places. Interesting.)

Today, as expected, was almost entirely introductions and reviews. But we began studying the glut of vocabulary of lesson 26, the first lesson in my new book, and we have homework to do tonight as well. Playtime's over, peoples.

After class, I went with a friend (チューさん) to the "Let's Speak Japanese with Japanese People!" weekly conversation practice, which also resumed today. For reasons I'm unable to fathom, I expected it to resume next Monday. Good thing I ran into someone who set me straight.

So then, I'm optimistic about this next three months. I'm going to have to work harder to keep up this time around. I think I'll be better able to pace myself this time around too. I performed very well today too. Here's hoping that the next three months will be even more awesome than the first three.

今日新学期が始まった。今、僕のクラスはＫクラスだよ！すばらしいね？先学期のＭクラスの学生は分かれられた。残念だと思う。ＫクラスにＭクラスの学生は５人いるけど、ＬクラスにＭクラスの学生は５人いる。Ｋクラスの学生は全部で１０人いる。ほかのＭクラスの学生は隣の教室にいるから、一緒に話すことができる。

おやいず先生はＬクラスの担任先生だけど、Ｋクラスの学生は一週間に２日新井先生に日本語を教えてくれている。（「２日」の使い方はよかった？）新しい担任先生は彦坂先生です。やさしくて、頭がいいと思う。いいな。ほかのＫクラスの学生はいい学生だ。

今日みんな紹介して、レビューしていた。でも新井先生と『みんなの日本語Ⅱ』の新しい言葉を勉強した。それに、もう明日出さなければならない宿題がある。

Ｋクラスについて、気分がいいんだよ。もっとがんばらないといけない。僕のペースに気を付けている。この夏学期は春学期よりすばらしかったら、いいと思っている。

Ring the bells and bang the drums, for Mikawa Ossan has a weblog! It shall undoubtedly prove to be quite interesting; and furthermore, reading it will be great practice for me! Check it out!

今日はすばらしいよ！どうして？三河おっさんという友達は新しいブログがあるんだから！名前は「人生は暗中模索」なんだ。（それはそうだね。）ぜひ面白いと思う。それに、三河おっさんは日本語がすごく上手だよ。みんな、よく読んで！

Well, despite a great trip to the Gifu Prefecture today, I don't have time to write about it right now. That's because tomorrow is the first day of my second quarter at The Yamasa Institute.

Tomorrow morning, I'll find out what my class assignment is, what classroom I'll be in (I'm hoping for a corner room with lots of windows again), who my sensei will be (rumors indicate that my head sensei will remain Oyaizu-sensei, at least), and who my classmates will be (rumors indicate that my previous classmates and I will be pretty well separated, unfortunately). I was tired for most of the day today, so I'm going to be sure to head to bed early tonight. I might even eat a well-balanced breakfast in the morning. (Riiight.)

I'm actually fairly anxious about it all. I hope things go my way as I step into Minna no Nihongo II.

今日友達と岐阜県へ行ったけど、今日記を書く時間がない。明日僕の二番目の四半期の授業が始まるから。明日たくさん質問を答えられる。どのクラスレベル？どの教室？（窓が多い教室が欲しい。）どの先生？クラスメートはだれ？（同じ人じゃないとクラスメートは言った。それは残念なんだ。）新しいクラスメートは何人？少し心配している・・・。

じゃあ、今日眠かったから、今晩早く寝て、いい朝ごはんを食べるつもりだ。

心配だな・・・。

Today, Mikawa Ossan drove Roger and me to four great places in the Shiga Prefecture. Despite the awesomeness of the day, time is, unfortunately, short so this won't be too long of an entry.

This morning, we set out at seven in the morning. I hadn't gotten enough sleep, so I was really groggy and in a bit of mood. (Those of you who know me know how I get.) But we headed out to Shiga, even though I sleep a good chunk of the way.

First we visited Hikone Castle in Hikone City. When we got there, we met a lively older gentlemen and his (silent) wife. It was his last time visiting, he told us (or rather, he told Mikawa Ossan, who could actually understand him), because he was 80 and he'd be too old to come next year. (Not very optimistic, said Roger.) As for the castle, the stairs were numerous and the steepest I've ever climbed. A bit unnerving, that last detail.

Next was the Azuchi Castle ruins and the Azuchi Castle museum, which included a recreation of the top part of the castle. We climbed about five times the amount of stairs at the ruins and then got stuck in the rain for several minutes. (Rain. "Let's wait for it to clear up." More rain. "Hmm. A bit longer." Torrent. "Just a biiit longer, now ..." All surrounding ambient air replaced with water. "Hm." Mere rain. "Now!!") At the museum, I splurged and bought the small whatchamacallit that you see pictured on the right. (だれかが教えてくれない？)

On the way out of town, we stopped at a small and quiet but very interesting shrine (whose name none of us could remember). Apparently, it's had experience with Japanese royalty. We (meaning Mikawa Ossan) spoke to the gentleman in charge for several minutes and we (Mikawa Ossan, and Roger and I via Mikawa Ossan) learned interesting things.

Kanji success of the day: 「八日市駅」, correctly read at "youka-ichi-eki." (The Kanji Man caaan.)

今日友達二人と彦根城と安土城を見に行った。面白くて、すばらしかったと思う！

今日の漢字成功：僕は「八日市駅」の読み方を解読した！スッケー！僕の最近のあだ名は「漢字マン」なんだよ。だんだんわかっている！

日本語で少しだけを書いて、ごめん！時間がないんだから・・・

ゆるしてくれ。

Mikawa Ossan discovered that the mammoth exhibit that we planned to see tomorrow has, actually, been over for a month. So ... that's most certainly that.

Still, he, Roger, and I decided to hang out today and because Mikawa Ossan felt the desire to see the sea—and of course I had no problem with this idea—we headed to Gamagori. This was my second trip there with Mikawa Ossan, but was Roger's first time there. We toured the island shrine and walked around on the beach. There were nowhere near as many people as there were when I first came during the clam-dig event.

After this, we ate at a Yoshinoya-like restaurant named Sugita (I think) in Gamagori, where I ate a small (namimori) bowl of gyuudon, the food staple which I've become known for in my days in M class. As we were leaving, Roger asked what the most well-known food in Texas was. I dunno. Barbeque? I then said that it was children—specifically bad children. "Whoa," said Mikawa Ossan, "that sounds like 'A Modest Proposal'!" I gleeful replied, "Yes! We took him up on his offer."

After this, we visited a shoe store (so Mikawa Ossan could get some sandals) and saw some very amusing bad English on some sandals. We then stopped at a strange store named Bulldog that sold some very usual items, including hats with fake hair attached (I was told that I looked surprisingly good in one of them) and squishy flesh-colored balls with nipples protruding from them. (Strange seeing that kind of thing in a store that kids also frequent.)

After this, we returned to my place and spoke for a long time about international relations between east Asian countries, culture clashes, differing cultural value systems, Asian history, and all manner of such things. Take my word for it—it was fascinating.

But there's no time to dwell on today. While the mammoth exhibit turned out to be a wash, we three are getting together to drive to see Azuchi Castle (安土城) near Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan. We're leaving tomorrow at seven in the morning, so I need to get to bed with the quickness. Class resumes Monday morning, so we can't be out late.

I hear that today (which is now yesterday) is (which is now "was") Tanabata. I wonder if there are any events going on in Okazaki.

おそいけど・・・今日は七夕だね。岡崎でエベントがある？僕の願い事は・・・これからもだんだん日本語が上手になりたいですよ！いい？二番目の願い事は僕がすてきなガールフレンドを見つけることです。え？一つだけ？しまった。

I'm pleased to report that I'm feeling much better today. Many thanks to the well-wishers. I wasn't ill in the sense of a virus, but instead I fell victim to my irregular sleeping and eating habits of late. I rectified the issue and, as a result, feel much better.

I'm sorry for the radio silence of the past day or so, but my mission for the day yesterday—and part of my mission to improve both my physical and mental well-being—was to get out of my apartment. I've spent a bit too much of this break in front of this monitor and not enough in front of books—Japanese books, that is.

So let's go.

Yesterday

A financial transfer that I'd been waiting on had been deposited into my American bank account, so my first goal was to head to the nearby post office in order to make use of their ATMs. I decide to walk because the weather was excellent and I didn't want the trip to end too quickly. Everything at the post office went smoothly.

Next on my agenda was breakfast. I wanted to eat out but didn't know where to go outside of Yoshinoya (too far away to walk there and not in the mood for it), Bikkuri Donkey (not in the mood), or McDonald's (ditto). So I decided to traverse the neighborhood in a direction I'd never been in and see what I could drum up. But I returned home to get my bike first, as it was warming up. While I was there, I cut my hair, took a shower, and changed into nice clothes. I was lookin' good, too. From zero to hero, just like that.

I found nothing that I felt comfortable with in the neighborhood—whether I'd be able to order properly was a concern, and I determined this by certain visual cues—so I headed down Highway 48 to the west. I rode for several kilometers. I stopped in front of one quiet-looking restaurant and was looking at the signs when a lady come out and say that the restaurant would open "from tomorrow." (I don't know if she meant that it was a new restaurant or that yesterday was the restaurant's yasumi, but it was sufficient enough for me to continue, wondering if I'd ever find a decent place.

I finally came across a Gusto. Mikawa Ossan and I had eaten at one before, so I was even reasonably familiar with it. After a few minutes of indecision and worrying about being able to handle my business, I decided to enter. Worst case scenario, I'll point at the pictues of what I want, I thought.

After a brief wait, I was given a table in the non-smoking section (which I asked for, thank you very much) and offered a menu. I couldn't make out too much of the menu, but there sure were some purty-lookin' pictures what needed some pointin', so once I had my nerves together, I pushed the "call waitress" button.

I pointed and told her that I wanted this hamburger meal, #1. (I avoided Bikkuri Donkey only to end up ordering the same type of food. Nice.) Then ... then she asked me something. I couldn't make it out. She repeated herself, pointing at some other pictures beside the one that I'd pointed at. These pictures were variations of the set meal that I had pointed at first. I tried to ask for the first one again and she asked the same question again. Okay. How about #2, one of the ones she'd pointed at? The same question. And she didn't seem to be simplifying it at all—just repeating herself, like I'll magically understand.

I had no idea what was happening, people nearby were staring, and it was lunchtime and this waitress probably wanted to wring my neck. I dropped down to the next section on the menu and tried ordering the nice-looking meal in that picture. She asked some other question, then, which I tried answering but didn't understand too well. But she took the order and that was that.

It was terrible. Just terrible.

But from there on out, everything was smooth (largely because I didn't have to speak or try to understand anyone, of course). I saw there studying and eating my meal, using the chopsticks instead of the spoon that I was also offered. I should start eating with chopsticks at home too—it'd be too practice. The rest of the trip was unremarkable. I was pretty frustrated about the ordering process, but them's the breaks when you're studying a new language and you're trying to communicate with someone who can only speak with you using forms of that language that you've yet to study.

After leaving Gusto, and feeling pretty good, I took my time returning to my neighborhood. I stopped at a dollar store and looked around for a minutes. (I didn't get any kind of "Irasshaimase!" from the lady in there, and it felt odd.) My next stop was a used CD and DVD store. I still haven't seen the original Ghost in the Shell and I also rented it, but I wasn't sure if I'd have region issues with the disc or not, so decided against it.

But I did breakdown and buy one gem, thereby fulfilling one of my smaller goals of the trip. The CD was MISIA's "Mother Father Brother Sister." This album and Kohmi Hirose's "THE BEST Love Winters" were the first two Japanese pop albums I'd ever heard and they still remain among my very favorites today. I've been wanting these for a while, so now I'm halfway there. I looked for that Kohmi Hirose album, but no luck. But I bought MISIA's CD used, in great condition, for 150 yen. That's currently about USD$1.30! Freakin' awesome. (I have uploaded the first track of the album, an all-strings overture, that you too may experience the type of music that sets my heart aflame. The strings, people, the strings ... Most of the album is not like this, though—it's more good R&B-tinged J-Pop.)

So after this, I rode to Yamasa to buy the textbooks for my next three months of study, the Minna no Nihongo II set, of which I've heard ominous rumblings. (The building looks even more under construction than before, as they've covered up the scaffolding with a nearly-opaque covering.) You buy the book on the first floor and actually pick them up on the second floor, but I didn't know this and did some unnecessary travelling; yet I soon held, in my own hands, my own copies of the books.

I sat on the second floor in front of the sensei's office (this area overlooks the first floor and is a nice place to sit) and looked through the English translation book, since there's not much I could do with the Japanese at this point. I look over the vocabulary and grammar points. The truth is, I don't think that it looked all that difficult. Not easy, but certainly not the thorn-filled obstacle course that I expected. Time will tell, though.

I sat there looking through the book for a little while. (There was one big, ominous surprise that I found: I thought that I knew something, what with learning "ageru," "morau," and "kureru," but that, apparently, was only half of the battle.) Then I continued my review of the first Minna no Nihongo I books once again. I got to see Oyaizu-sensei, Sano-sensei, and even Kurumiya-sensei, which was nice.

I sat there for a while. A couple of sensei asked if I was okay studying there on that bench, and I said that I was fine and asked if studying there was all right. Yes, yes, it is! they said. Okay then. The first floor classrooms are just too classroomy sometimes. (I could search for better adjectives, but that sums it up pretty well.)

Interestingly, at one point, many of the sensei started leaving their office. I saw Oyaizu-sensei walking with another male sensei. When he saw me, Oyaizu-sensei indicates toward me and says, in Japanese, "That's Jonathan." The other sensei nodded in understanding. Well, the question then becomes, "Am I famous or infamous?" All in all, it was pretty funny. I'm sure you can imagine the confused amusement on my face, those of you who know what I look like.

I think that's about all that happened yesterday. I soon returned home, cooked dinner, masochistically suffered through the stupidest filler episode of Naruto yet (the latest manga shall apply the salve to my self-inflicted wounds), and went to bed.

But the thing is, after yesterday, there was a little thing called "today."

Today

See?

So. This morning I awoke and cooked a nice breakfast of rice, beef, and cheesy topping—a meal that should, from here on out, be referred to as "the norm." I decided to ride my bike to the small riverside bench where I saw that kingfisher the other day. On the way there, I ran into a classmate who was going shopping with her younger sister. We talked for a few minutes and then I continued on, lest I bore her with my endless drivel.

I studied for a while in peace until the mosquitoes arrived a good two hours sooner than they had the other day, so I went to Yamasa and studied