As I write, the greater Tokyo area is being treated to probably the most spectacular thunder and lightning show I’ve ever seen. Well, I said “treated” but I suspect I’m one of the few who’s actually enjoying it. Certainly our dog and cat are not. Too bad however that there’s still horendous humidity outside which is keeping me from enjoying the show from a position outside on the veranda. On further thought, with all the various hanabi (fireworks) shows this summer, this may be the gods’ attempt to get in on the action and show who’s really boss of the skies.
Apologies for the paucity
I apologize for the paucity of posts lately, I’ve been trying to kick up my Japanese language studies up a notch and this and work and some good ol’ offline reading has put the blog on the temporary back-burner.
In the meantime, you could do a lot worse for yourself than to check out the gaijin stylings of a Scot in Kanazawa who publishes Gaijinworld. Some great, humorous writing here. E.g., this dandy from his archives (scroll down to April 20th) on one of the banes of my existence, the levels of politeness in the Japanese language (called keigo):
[…] finally they are teaching us about “futsu-kei” or “ordinary form.” Which is the manner in which 96% of conversations here are conducted. For the first year or two, they teach us how to say things whose English equivalent would be something like “forsooth, my fine gentleman, sorry as I am to have to trouble your peace, wouldn’t you be so kind as to assist me in my travails as I attempt to run aground an ordinary mercantile in which one may purchase books?”
Typhoon on the way
There’s apparently a typhoon on the way to the Kanto region of Japan. Today the “calm” before the storm brought intermittent but very heavy rains, and the loudest thunder I daresay I’ve ever heard in my life. Just now (almost 2am Wednesday morning) there was another spectacularly loud thunderclap. I’ve never been in a typhoon before. Perhaps this will break me of my love for the rain which renders me “okashii” (strange) and a “tenkeiteki gaijin” (typical foreigner) in these parts. (My seemingly unreachable goal in life is to find one Japanese native who will claim that they love the rain.)
Satellite images of the typhoon are here (via consumptive.org).
Incidentally, looking up typhoon in my Japanese – English dictionary I noticed that it’s pronounced “tai-foon” but has a Kanji (Chinese characters) reading. Usually foreign or “loan words” as they’re sometimes called have katakana readings. So curious as to the etymology of typhoon, I looked it up at dictionary.com. Quite a fascinating history.