American Gaijin
-
Why I’m learning Japanese
I have mentioned several times on this blog that Ihave no idea why I’m studying Japanese. Well, dear reader, I’ve figured it out. And I may quit. My mother tells me that from a very early age I loved learning. And Iguess that’s true. But there’s something else I’ve also loved, and that’s collecting. I…
-
Metablogging
There are times when I hate writing this blog. No, I like to write, that’s not the problem. In fact, I have probably a half dozen drafts sitting in the “draft” section that may never see the light of day. Some are pretty deep, some are pretty personal, some just aren’t the kind of quality…
-
Biden: My President, Not My Leader
As you know, sometimes I post about political things on this blog. I do not make a habit of it, as it is generally not an appropriate topic. However, it’s my blog, and I try to bring the “whole person” here, so if you don’t like it, please, skip this entry with my blessing. It…
-
Is My Past Life Japanese?
I feel like I should post something – it’s not a pressure, really, but just a kind of nudge. But I don’t know what. So I’m just going to write a stream of consciousness post tonight and see what comes out of it. Maybe it’ll even be good. I am… not sure what I believe…
-
Jealousy
I think in this world we have a kind of mental illness – or at least a misunderstanding about how it works to be a human. We find ourselves wanting to be something, and rather than trying to understand why it is we want to be that thing in the first pace, we just immediately…
-
Flash Point
I have always somewhat prided myself on thinking for myself and not going by what other people tell me I need to think or believe. Some events have happened in my country recently that I think I need to speak on. I also think it’s important to come at them from a different angle than…
-
Writing Japanese names in English
So for those of you who don’t know, Japanese family names come first. In English, Takahashi Minami, for example, would be “Minami Takahashi”. This, frankly, causes no end of confusion, because it’s really difficult to decide when to use the English word order. One could easily say “never”, but to be honest, that doesn’t sit…
-
Why I Deliberately Do Not Correct Typos (Most of the Time)
If you go back to my previous posts, you will find typos. Some of them are pretty prominent. I am aware of them, and I don’t correct them, unless they substantively change the meaning of a sentence. See, I write this blog, usually, on a chromebook. Some of the keys are not very responsive (particularly…
-
Crucible
I don’t think I would be coming even close to lying if I said the past two weeks have been some of the most difficult of my life. This year started out bad, and it seems like things just compounded on each other. First coronavirus, then the riots (and if you don’t like me calling…