Japanese Word of the Day #3
Todays word of the day is otanjoubi （お誕生日）or just tanjoubi. Does anyone want to take a shot as to why...? Before you guys all shout out the answer (because clearly you know what otanjoubi means), I'll give you one hint. It starts with mybirthday and ends with isjuneseventh. Okay, otanjoubi doesn't actually mean all of that, but it does mean birthday, and mine happens to be on June seventh.
So maybe you didn't know what otanjoubi meant but I'm sure you'll guess what oriental cuisine I fancy for my otanjoubi dinner. Now for those of you that are saying 誕生日プレゼント忘れちゃった！しまった！(because obviously you say this all the time) it is totally cool that you forgot a present because you can easily give me a money contribution present with the chip-in button on the right. I think I'd rather go to Japan for eleven months than get some strange rainbow knit toe socks redolent of cat litter and box wine anyway. I know most teenagers are dying to get things of that nature but please, don't, please?
I know some people/religions recognize each otanjoubi as some sort of milestone where you have become significantly more mature. I'm sure that when I was younger I found an excuse for every birthday to be special too. Entering double digits, becoming a teenager etc. To my chagrin, similar to that of an elderly man who doesn't acknowledge his own otanjoubi, my otanjoubi has become frivolous. Just another day, another number, another cross on the calender, one day less till departure.
So maybe you didn't know what otanjoubi meant but I'm sure you'll guess what oriental cuisine I fancy for my otanjoubi dinner. Now for those of you that are saying 誕生日プレゼント忘れちゃった！しまった！(because obviously you say this all the time) it is totally cool that you forgot a present because you can easily give me a money contribution present with the chip-in button on the right. I think I'd rather go to Japan for eleven months than get some strange rainbow knit toe socks redolent of cat litter and box wine anyway. I know most teenagers are dying to get things of that nature but please, don't, please?
I know some people/religions recognize each otanjoubi as some sort of milestone where you have become significantly more mature. I'm sure that when I was younger I found an excuse for every birthday to be special too. Entering double digits, becoming a teenager etc. To my chagrin, similar to that of an elderly man who doesn't acknowledge his own otanjoubi, my otanjoubi has become frivolous. Just another day, another number, another cross on the calender, one day less till departure.
--The Japanese Hakujin, Zachary Shimmel
Japanese Word of the Day #2
Today's Japanese word is Kin'yobi (金曜日). Kin'yobi in Japanese literally means golden day, and a golden day it certainly is. My school does have 4,000 students but not one Japanese person. So by the time 2:47 rolls around on Friday I hop from my chair with alacrity and ride the first train to Manhattan to see friends to practice my Japanese with. Friday is truly golden.
Days come and disappear in a haze. I feel like every day is just one less I have to wait for before I am on that plane to Japan. I think I have less then 7,000 more hours to go. Until then I just have to sit and wait for time to tick by before I can sit in an uncomfortable leather seat for 14 hours with feelings of pure sanguine and accomplishment. Sometimes I wish school was 7 days a week so I could just be done with it and move on. Waking up early to ride the train to the middle of nowhere, seeing herds of students with hormone levels to match the the amount of calories in their daily Big Gulp from 711, and going home feeling phlegmatic and irritated and filled with ennui.
Kin'yobi is a golden day. Now please hurry up and get here!
--The Japanese Hakujin, Zachary Shimmel
Days come and disappear in a haze. I feel like every day is just one less I have to wait for before I am on that plane to Japan. I think I have less then 7,000 more hours to go. Until then I just have to sit and wait for time to tick by before I can sit in an uncomfortable leather seat for 14 hours with feelings of pure sanguine and accomplishment. Sometimes I wish school was 7 days a week so I could just be done with it and move on. Waking up early to ride the train to the middle of nowhere, seeing herds of students with hormone levels to match the the amount of calories in their daily Big Gulp from 711, and going home feeling phlegmatic and irritated and filled with ennui.
Kin'yobi is a golden day. Now please hurry up and get here!
--The Japanese Hakujin, Zachary Shimmel
Japanese word of the day #1
While embarking on my journey to learn Japanese I am always coming across new words and I thought I would share them with you. Today's Japanese word of the day is Namari(訛り). Namari means accent. I am trying very hard to work on my namari, but as you can tell from my video it still has a long ways to go. I have heard from many people who have set out to learn a new language that the best way to lose your namari is to live in the place where that language is spoken. I'm hoping to test that theory out!
Today I ate Takoyaki (Japanese octopus fritters) and Karre (Japanese curry). When I ordered these dishes in Japanese the woman didn't understand me at first. Besides the immediate shock of seeing a white boy with blonde hair speaking Japanese throwing her off, I realized that she did not understand me because of my Japanese, but because of my namari.
NAMARI = ACCENT
--The Japanese Hakujin, Zachary Shimmel
Today I ate Takoyaki (Japanese octopus fritters) and Karre (Japanese curry). When I ordered these dishes in Japanese the woman didn't understand me at first. Besides the immediate shock of seeing a white boy with blonde hair speaking Japanese throwing her off, I realized that she did not understand me because of my Japanese, but because of my namari.
NAMARI = ACCENT
--The Japanese Hakujin, Zachary Shimmel
