Tuesday, February 28, 2012

best and worst word of the week






Studying Japanese can be interesting.

It doesn't seem to make sense that できるだけ (dekiru dake), which literally means "to be able, only" actually means to do as much as possible.

But, if you think about it, we probably have words like this in English too. And, what does Jack have to do with a wind-up box that pops something up out at you? The Japanese have a much better name in my opinion, びっくりはこ (bikkuri hako), which means "surprise box."

This week also held some very fun events in ministry. Especially having a celebration for graduating students and meeting with the gospel choir FREE (pictures included.)

It is also fun to mention that tonight, I got to see my uncle!!! He's been to Japan on business twice already in just short of 6 months that I've been here! I'm so blessed.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Valentines



In Japan, Valentine's Day is celebrated by women giving chocolate. There are different kinds of gifts, including:

A. purchased chocolate for male co-workers
B. purchased choc for female friends
C. hand-made or very special chocolate for husbands, boyfriends, love interests

The idea is that a guy must return the gift, but 3 times as expensive, on White Day, March 14th.

Well, the guys of Campus Crusade for Christ wouldn't have that, so they decided to treat the women to a special meeting during the week of Valentine's Day. They ran all the usual events, including worship, a message from the Bible, and dinner. They also had a fun game, flowers, and cake for afterwards! My friend said it was the first time she saw men giving for Valentine's Day, and all of us LOVED it!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Is Japan different...

It's a bit difficult to imagine how different a foreign country is until you visit. My Japanese friend did a homestay in America, and yesterday we started talking about the differences between the U.S. and Japan. I don't think I can do them justice, but here were a few of our thoughts...

A. food. she missed sticky rice and miso soup, and I miss readily available and cheap pizza

B. dress. in Tokyo the style is so much more formal overall. sweatshirts and jeans are far less common, and the vast majority of people are very fashion conscious. frills and feminine touches are also everywhere

C. space. Everything in Tokyo is condensed and small. stairways can seem like a joke to me. water glasses seriously look like shot glasses sometimes. Japanese people are so good at packing things into small areas

D. rules. There is a particular order to follow for everything in Japan. In America, going to the bank and the grocery store are in the same category: errands. But in Japan, places like the post office and bank are taken more seriously, and they have procedures and check-points that take a bit longer.

E. this is random, but in Japan the shower and toilet are in separate rooms. my friend thinks it's so inconvenient to have them together. she just doesn't understand :)

Sunday, February 5, 2012

まちがえます (make a mistake)




Yesterday I started to wonder, what percentage of the time do I have miscommunications? I think if I knew, I'd leave Japan. Last week's blunders (that I'm currently aware of):

fireworks⇔flower vase
son⇔daughter
janitor⇔doll
milk⇔beef
20 years⇔20 years old


Another fun note about life in Japan~they have a monster instead of a groundhog. The traditional calendar marks the beginning of February as the beginning of spring, or Setsubun. To celebrate, you throw beans at someone dressed like a monster, to drive away evil. Then you eat the number of beans of your age, because traditionally they didn't celebrate individual birthdays in Japan but aged together at the new year.