Hi all,
There are new files / pictures of "Cambodia", "Tokyo Karaoke" and "Tokyo" uploaded in the gallery.
Just a quick note to let you know that I am settling in nicely. I am on my second week now and slowly but surely, more and more Japanese phrazes and terms are taking hold in my mind, although it is quite another matter trying to decipher what people are actually saying. Class work is getting a bit more difficult. Today we had a test in Hirakana, which is one of the three writing systems here. I have set myself the task of learning the 46 characters in a month, but regardless of this a mock test came today. We all didn't do too badly, I was able to recognise and write down the main ones, but I need much more work before I am able to identify all of them. What's more, it will be a while before I'll be able to write down a random one without first going through the alphabet from the beginning. I'm sure it'll come.
As there is no Hapkido here, I have decided to keep my hand in with a bit of Jiu Jitsu. I was quite lucky because Kyoko-san's former student, Hayakawa Mitsuyoshi-san has just opened his own Dojo, and has offered me the chance to train there. The dojo is fairly close by and new. I have been for a look a few times and it all seems really good, so I recon I'll give it a go. You can visit his website to see some pictures and to learn what it's all about here
On Monday, I had the pleasure of experiencing what I think was my first earthquake. It hit a few hundred miles away, and meansured 2-3 on the scale (a baby really). I was at the table revising when the house shook quite forcefully. I found Kyoko-san to talk about it, quite excited, but she didn't share my excitement. Aparently more powerful quakes (as you would expect) are quite frightening, and they are not fun. Kyoko explained to me that she has no glass objects on shelves, and as I looked around, I did notice that the whole house is quite quake proof, for instance the glass in the cabinets is reinforced with lead, something I thought was just decoration......
Anyway........
