Yuki's Passion

Probably as with so many other things in this great country that have no rhyme or reason, there is no answer. This is gonna go down in gaijin lore as one of Japans greatest mysteries. Where do those wonderful little things go in the summer? Nikuman are so good after a sweet day on the mountain before heading to an onsen.... damn, its still hot as hell down here!!! Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Danz, Nani sutterun no? Kimarimakurun jyaro? Nothing better in the morning than waking and ....

danz, cheers for the info mate!!! Wish I had broadband or something. My connection at school is so slow I can load a page, go teach a class and its still loading when I get back...

Ocean11, What you said in your last post hit the nail on the head - of course if a persons native language has sounds more similar to Japanese then they could, technically, be able to pick up the pronunciation without much effort......but But, what keeps ringing in my head when I hear gaijin, from all different English speaking countries speaking Japanese like they were speaking English - they dont or cant stop sounding like an aussie, a brit, an american, etc... the pronunciation may be better but after bar after bar of listening to guys doing their best nampa lines, you could

mort, Do you have any live CDs/MDs to trade? Widespread Panic, Flecktones, Allman Bros. etc is also good if you have any of that...

Ocean11, Im not offended at all by your comments or by anybody who is more fluent than I am. To me, it has to do with how badly somebody wants to master the language. As for the vowel pronunciation itself I find it pretty easy - especially when you hear it daily its quite easy to pick up. Maybe for students at Uni who have just a few hours per week their accent might be poor... Probably the hardest thing for me is for words like ryuuchou (smooth, fluency) riyuu (reason), shouryaku (abbreviation)words which have rya, ryu, and ryo sounds I sometimes still find myself slowing dow

Sake. There are some amazing bottles of sake from Nagano, Niigata, Akita, etc.. Daiginjo - two words: buchi umai! Ocean11, Got a favorite bottle of Sake? Davo, thanks for the laugh - had similar thoughts but kept thinking that I didnt wash my running socks for a few days...

curious-georgia: Are you in the Peach State?

Are you in the Peach State?

Ocean11, First, yeah, I did screw up using the damn bird instead of pidgin. Won't do that again. Next, the link you provided, while interesting, had no bearing on my previous question. It showed, as I already said, differences between pronunciation within different regions in the US, and also included Canada, but no relation with the U.K. nor did it prove that somebody from a certain area in the U.S. would speak more like a person from the U.K.;and, therefore sound more fluent or native than an American. Don't try to infer something that's not there mate. "I'll go one s

Danz, We camped out at some park about 20mins outside of the city. The next morning, I thought a typhoon was coming through!! That was crazy wasnt it?? Did you try to balancing one of those poles on your head? I raised it up and when I tried to look at the top of the pole to balance it almost fell on my a$$!!

Dont think it matters which you do. Ive seen skiers pull off 540 rodeos, back flips, D-Spins, etc... The new skiing revolution doesnt just stick to racing or moguls - both of which just dont appeal to me. For real skiing pick up an issue of FREEZE and see what Brad Holmes, Skogen Sprang, or Tanner Hall are doing. A few words to describe the way they ski: sick, extreme, buchi dekai kintama!!!

I recently just got back from traveling up in Tohouku for a few weeks. (Quite envious of those who live up there!) What a beautiful place it is. Saw both Nebuta Matsuri in Aomori and Kanto Matsuri in Akita and by far Kanto was much more interesting! Has anybody seen those? Which do you like better? One more thing, I miss the weather there already!!! Geeze its MELTING down here...

Sharon, Great topic idea! Something interesting Gao Xingjian: Soul Mountain Miyuki Miyabe: All She Was Worth Travis Hugh Culley: The Immortal Class Murakami Haruki: South of the Border, West of the Sun Wei Hui: Shanghai Baby Pacific War Research Society: Japan's Longest Day Murakami Haruki: Dance, Dance, Dance Sorry its not just three.

NoFakie, Obviously the tests are far from perfect as you well pointed out. I mean, how can you have a language test without BOTH an interview and a written test? How many people who study these test can write the Kanji correctly, recall them from memory without a dictionary, and not just recognize them as whats required by the current standards? That is one of the most obsurd things Ive heard of for a "foreign language test"!!! Not sure I really grasp your point though about the "school textbook" passages youre referring to. The passages that are used for the test come from a

Whoa, Didnt know that I posted a new thread - I thought I was just replying to somebodys remark about music!! LOL. Sumanno? Maybe I couldve used a drink, eh? big-will, at that point I probably didnt have a point, nope. Couldnt find one myself. All I was getting at were the styles that were popular back then and how funny it looks... gotta agree with oo on that one.

The 80's is the decade that shouldve been skipped over! The 70's I can understand, still had the hippies in full swing. Thats cool. I can understand wanting to get f&$#ed up and get it on in the back of a VW van. Who cant, right? I guess if I was in Japan then Id have been looking for a Mira or the predecessor to it...

I got a sweet motorcycle!! Nothing beats that in Japan. While all of you are waiting at the lights, Im the bloke flying 6 inches between your car and the person next to ya. That, and I got a nice pair of chains for the winter and a heli pack!!! Just grab my skis and head for the slopes!

Ocean11, "Hiroshima-fu okonomi yaki is verrrr nice, especially at an open-air stall in the summer." Where did you eat okonomiyaki at a Yatai in Hiroshima? There are none unless you happened to be at a festival in the city at that time, and then I doubt if there were seats for you to sit down. But, I do agree that Hiroshima Fu is by far the BEST! Kansai Fu just cant hang, hands down. "Also, the resorts in Hiroshima got the first snow last season, although after the first few dumps, it didn't seem to get that much." Once again, if youre talking about Jinkou Yuki, sure,

Best theme park in Japan - Space World in Kyushu goes off!

WITHDRAWL??!!! Nope, Ive always got some buds...

HALO: I love all the phrases the aliens say when youre kicking their asses! By far the best game ever. I got a 64 back in the day cuz of Goldeneye. HALO makes that look like pacman!

C.Frog, Ive been to Ushimado in Okayama and stayed at the villa there over looking the ocean. What a sweet place that was. Really "Doinaka" but nice to get away... Best place in Japan - well as far as cities go, once you seen one, youve seen them all. I would have to say its the country side of Japan that sticks out in my mind as the most beautiful places. That, and LOVE HOTELS!!! Oh yeah, in case you need a rest as they say, kyuukei wo torouka?

I think most of the replies in this thread are right on. Japanese is a hard language. Basically, if you dont put in a lot of effort, you wont get anywhere with it. Ive seen gaijin living here for years and cant hold a simple conversation, read a menu, or ask for assistance when shopping or buying something. Once you get a base after learning the kana and some general kanji its pretty easy. Grammar isnt that difficult, its just backwards from English. I think once you get past level 2, it gets really hard as all you do is study Kanji. Level 2 and 1 grammar is pretty similar; but the