アメリカ人サムさんの日本語ですよ！

今まで、10年間前から、ビガン［野菜だけを食べる人］の人生をしました。
先週の日曜日から魚を食べ始まった。ちょっと健康のテストです。
もしかしたら3ヶ月後、体がもとヘルシーな気持ちにならない、魚を食べやめる。
頑張ります。スモークサーモンが大好き。


日本の友人の日本語ですよ！

10年前から、ベガン［野菜だけを食べる人］の生活をしてきました。
しかし、先週の日曜日から魚を食べ始めました。ちょっとした健康テストです。
3ヶ月後に、もし、魚のおかげで体が健康な状態になったと思えない時には、
魚を食べるのはやめるつもりです。
頑張ります。ところで、魚はスモークサーモンが好きです。

How can I describe someone in Japanese who has a generally positive outlook on life? Someone who sees the world through ‘rose-colored glasses’? Also, how is a person with a negative disposition described? I do not mean a good person or a bad person, I am referring to a person’s tendency to be positive or negative regarding the choices they make, the results of their choices, and their personal views of their future choices.

If you are studying Kanji using the Heisig method then you might be interested in a little tool I built.

Features:

* Based on Remembering the Kanji 1 (Fifth Edition)
* All 56 lessons included / 2042 unique Kanji
* Lesson is re-shuffled every time you access it
* No username / password required
* No advertisements
* Simple, clean HTML for lightweight mobile web browsers

The initial menu screen displays a link to all 56 lessons. Clicking on a link will pull up a shuffled set of Kanji for that lesson. Every time you access a lesson it is automatically re-shuffled. The next link is the first item, so getting to the next Kanji is fast and easy. Clicking on the keyword will display the Kanji along with the Heisig number.

The intention was to write something that was simple / lightweight so that mobile web browsers wouldn’t have any problems using it.

You can access this from your mobile web browser at:

http://heisig.sammorrison.com

Yeah, this is pretty messed up. First of all, in regards to creationism there is nothing to stay neutral on: it is a story from a fictional book.

I am always surprised when I meet someone who thinks the Earth is 6000 years old. Or someone who believes that evolution is a theory. I stumbled upon this video and my jaw dropped. I can’t believe we allow people to continue thinking things like this. I understand that people have the right to believe whatever they want, but why do we allow them to teach our children these things? When will the world wake up and not accept this nonsense anymore? Isn’t time we move on?

So my question is: do people in Japan believe these sorts of things? Do any Japanese people believe that the world is ~6000 years old or that evolution is a theory?

I am happy to report that my final wisdom tooth is finally ‘erupting’. As painful as it is going to be, it is the last one I have to deal with. Fortunately it is coming in vertically and should not impact. The last time one of my wisdom teeth came in was back in ‘04. I had just moved to Honolulu and wasn’t working so I didn’t have dental insurance. It wasn’t fun. This time is going to be similar, but at least I know what to expect.

One day, a man walks into a dentist’s office and asks how much it will cost to extract wisdom teeth.

“Eighty dollars,” the dentist says.

“That’s a ridiculous amount,” the man says. “Isn’t there a cheaper way?”

“Well,” the dentist says, “if you don’t use an anaesthetic, I can knock it down to $60.”

“That’s still too expensive,” the man says.

“Okay,” says the dentist. “If I save on anesthesia and simply rip the teeth out with a pair of pliers, I could get away with charging $20.”

“Nope,” moans the man, “it’s still too much.”

“Hm,” says the dentist, scratching his head. “If I let one of my students do it for the experience, I suppose I could charge you just $10.”

“Marvelous,” says the man, “book my wife for next Tuesday!”

Sorry about that, it wasn’t my joke

Yuzu Kosho is a spicy, hot Japanese condiment made from yuzu rind, chili and salt. It is a rough paste with a citrus flavor. A speciailty of the Kyushu region of Japan. There are two kinds. Green Yuzu Kosho is made from green yuzus and green chili peppers, while orange (or red) Yuzu Kosho is made from yellow yuzus and red chili peppers.

Typically when the average American things about Japanese “spicy” foods they think of wasabi. Which is not really the type of spicyness that us Americans are used to. Yuzu Kosho is exactly the type of spicyness that we are used to. It is great mixed in with ramen and soups. We bought a case of Cambell’s Tomato Soup at Costco, and adding a bit of yuzu kosho makes a huge difference (along with some olive oil and crushed red peppers). If you like spicy food then I suggest you give yuzu kosho a try.

Recently I stumbled upon a couple articles discussing this topic. I wasn’t sure if what I had noticed was only occurring to me, or part of a larger problem. Since middle school I had started to realize that the majority of people I knew considered being ignorant “cool”. Most people I know seem to be proud about not knowing their history or how the tax system works or why they shouldn’t drink soda all day.
Here is an excerpt that seems to get right to the point (from The Washington Post):

That leads us to the third and final factor behind the new American dumbness: not lack of knowledge per se but arrogance about that lack of knowledge. The problem is not just the things we do not know (consider the one in five American adults who, according to the National Science Foundation, thinks the sun revolves around the Earth); it’s the alarming number of Americans who have smugly concluded that they do not need to know such things in the first place. Call this anti-rationalism — a syndrome that is particularly dangerous to our public institutions and discourse. Not knowing a foreign language or the location of an important country is a manifestation of ignorance; denying that such knowledge matters is pure anti-rationalism. The toxic brew of anti-rationalism and ignorance hurts discussions of U.S. public policy on topics from health care to taxation.

Have any of you noticed this too? Also, any of you living in Japan, do you find this mindset similar to other Japanese or is this only an American issue. I don’t personally know enough Japanese people to argue one way or another. Here is another link to a similar article over at the New York Times discussing American’s hostility to knowledge.

Well, today was the big day. Here in Tokyo it is already Feb. 14th. This was the only weekday that Naomi had off within the last couple of weeks. We went down to the local family registry office, filled out a couple of forms and paid 300￥. We are going to be getting some professional pictures taken, and I will post them when they are ready.

I also received my “Certificate of Alien Registry” card. So now I can open a bank account. I will be filing for my spouse visa next week and hopefully receive it by the end of March. Then I will be able to start working. I will keep you posted.