Friday, February 13, 2004

Hey, Friday morning and I've got nothing to do until 13:40. So I have resorted to typing nonsense onto my weblog again. I want to leave school early today to go night skiing at Ajigasawa, so I'm going to lie to Kudou sensei, my supervisor, and anyone else who asks me where I'm going, and I'm going to tell them that I need to go to Aomori for something offbeat (they won't ask questions if I just use the word 'something'). They'll be a bit miffed if they think I'm missing so much school just to go skiing. I took a day off on Monday (Hakkouda), and Tuesday I went skiing with another school (I told you in my last update). So, 'sneaky, sneaky, catchy snowy' is the motto for today.

It's Valentines day tomorrow, and in Japan on the 14th of February the standard set-up is for the woman to treat the man to a day of luxury and pampering. Instead of the man having to face the knicker aisle at Marks and Sparks destined for the cheapest G-string, clearing himself of any lack of consideration, forgetting that Valentines day is a day of love and for lovers, not just expenditure, often forgetting to tell her that he even remembers her name - in Japan the woman is the one who carries the weight and she carries it well. Aki just booked two tickets to see Lord of the Rings III on Valentines day. She will probably cook dinner for us both in the evening. She'll do little things all day as a token of her appreciation of me. And she'll genuinely mean it. What I'm trying to say is that Valentines day is always a failure left to men, so why don't women take over the reigns? It works in Japan!

Right, I'm going to do some language study now, but before that I'll give you a brief illustration of what I learned last night with my sensei.

appuru pai hodo oishimono ga aru deshou ka
which means:
Is there anything as delicious as apple pie?

or-

appuru pai hodo oishimono wa arimasen
which means:
There is nothing as delicious as apple pie.

also-

ano hito wa sumousan no you ni tsuyoi
which means:
that man is as strong as a sumo wrestler.

finally-

kyousou dewa kare wa donna ni hayakutemo katemasen
which means:
No matter how fast, he cannot win the race.

laters