Sorry Kids!

I have been busy with studying because I actually sent off the payment for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. There's no going back now. So I've been trying to read various stuff to improve my vocabulary. I've also being keeping a diary, of which I've only missed one day due to tequila slammers on the way home from work.

In other news, I'm an extra 20% more Japanese today than yesterday because I managed to have natto (fermented soybeans, to foreigners as Kryptonite is to Superman) with my dinner last night.

Should be blogging more soon.

What I should be doing is studying...

So I picked up the application form for the Level 2 Japanese Language Proficiency Test for this summer. With some luck, the wind behind me and a hell of a lot of study, I might not fail too badly. I do predict a failure but I'm really just taking the test to check my progress. I've been doing some independent study, including keeping a diary in Japanese (something I advise my students to do in English, but which I never really do myself apart from the brief bits of bad Japanese at Light Plays Tricks), but really there's been little to brag about.

And I still haven't written my novel's synopsis yet.

Have an old photo with some (easy) Japanese on it:

Not Doings

I'm not really doing much apart from working lately, and my girlfriend is job hunting. I have been taking photographs which are up on Light Plays Tricks and my Flickr account.

I have new films to try out too, and library books to return.

Hopefully I will write something provocative and interesting soon, but those of you who read often will know that I am likely just to keep blathering on about my poor progress with whatever books I'm reading and/or Japanese study.

Blowing my own trumpet

19 months
One lost job
One overseas move
Two domestic moves and a week of hotel surfing
One divorce
And one fantastic new relationship later
I HAVE FINISHED MY NOVEL IN PROGRESS.

I haven't written the synopsis yet, and if I can't find an agent and all that hoopla I might well put it up on the internet for free.

But it is done, which means I can give The Brothers Karamazov/Japanese textbooks the attention it/they deserve.

Cookery corner / Poverty path

One of the major downfalls in being a wage slave rather than a hunter-gatherer is the monthly malnutrition that the fiscally challenged among us face.

Some golden greats I've got through this week are: Thai curry (approx cost 450 yen, serves 2, or one twice); Chicken tagliatelli (about 200, serves one who has walked about 4km, or 2 people in ordinary circumstances); toast with almost everything on it after running out of everything sane in the fridge; and milk.

I have also walked quite a lot and have enjoyed the environs of Mejiro (sans camera but I will go back there) and various bits and bobs around Shinjuku's back streets.



I'm not moaning, though. It's been quite happy.

This has nothing to do with R.E.M.

I've been reading the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website lately and am almost fascinated by it. It seems to cover a lot of news that the other news outlets I read ignore (that means The Guardian, The BBC and The Independent). It's really interesting, and generally left-leaning liberal so quite up my street.

The only thing that's bad is that it triggers 1 a.m. Wikipedia searches about Azerbaijan. I should have been sleeping!

Bloomer

I'm currently in the middle of an overtime marathon at work due to training and (my) cash concerns. However, I haven't been an idle bum at home. I have:

Had a 20-minute cherry blossom viewing at Yasukuni Shrine with my girlfriend, where the okonomi-yaki stall holder called me onii-san (young man). I was very happy.

Walked quite a bit, and enjoyed the view of the cherry trees along the Kandagawa.



Finished reading Banana Yoshimoto's N.P. which was rather fantastic and reminded me of why I love reading her stuff. Next stop on the book express is The Brothers Karamazov.

Took some photos that I still can't afford to get developed yet.

Tidied my flat to find a file that wasn't here but was somewhere else. This meant I rediscovered my floor.

Redrafted quite a few chapters of the novel in progress. Hopefully it will be finished by pay day. That's what it looks like anyway.