Did Nora Ephron Read My Blog?

So, I was driving to pick up my daughters from school and listening to Talk of the Nation, which featured the glorious Nora Ephron. She was talking about how inspired she was for the "Julie & Julia" movie, which she wrote the screenplay for. And, THEN, she said that anyone who can read can learn to cook; that it wasn't like you could learn how to speak Japanese from a book. Yeppers! That's what she said. Drawing the same parallels I did to my first blog here yet? So, this makes me wonder. Did Nora Ephron read my blog? Because that would be sooooooooooooooooooooooo cool!

Speaking of Julia Child (however indirectly)! Here are some tango (words) she probably would've had to learn had she been writing recipes for the Japanese:

appuru pai (apple pie)

asuparagasu (asparagus)

naifu (knife)

supun (spoon)

pan (bread)

Too Many Questions?

Like their myriad of key question words, the Japanese like a variety of frozen yogurt flavors.

I've been struggling with this second lesson from my Japanese in 10 Minutes a Day book. It just seems like a lot to take in. The lesson is about the key question words of the Japanese language: doko (where), nan (what), dare (who), naze (why), itsu (when), do (how), ikura (how much), and ikutsu (how many). Still after a solid week of drilling it through reading and trying to enter them into my common English parlance (which was confusing for everyone, but really quite amusing too), I have succeeded in memorizing their meaning! Hooray! I can even sort of put them into a few terribly simple phrases. For instance, now instead of saying "toire" to a security guard and doing the pee dance, I can say "Toire wa doko desu ka?"

Still, I was disappointed that it took me a whole week just to figure that much out. So, when I was reading the Duval County Public School's list of community classes, I couldn't believe my luck when I spotted the Beginner's Conversational Japanese class at Neptune Elementary School. A book and a CD are fine and dandy, but classes work much better. And, really, how many Japanese language classes do you stumble upon? Still, Neptune Elementary School might as well reside on Neptune the planet. It would take me around 45 minutes to travel there. I haven't completely abandoned the idea, however. I just have to ask myself some questions before making a decision. Questions like "Nan will this class really be like?", "Ikutsu other people will be there?", "Naze is this so important to me?", "Itsu would I find the time to travel that far for a class?", and "Ikura can I really afford to spend on this endeavor?" Of course, after reading that awkward mixture of Japanese and English, maybe I really should seriously consider getting all the help I can get!

Ways To Save Money Visiting Japan

So, I enjoyed my first lesson in Japanese yesterday evening. It was a simple lesson on Japanese pronunciation. I believe this is the best part about the Japanese language. There's no guess work involved in how things should sound. There's one way and one way only. Now, I could bore you readers here strictly for entertainment value with a detailed list of these. However, I would rather share this site with you, which does a pretty good job sharing exactly what I learned. I would like to add, though, that another important aspect to Japanese pronunciation is that there aren't really any syllables emphasized more than the others. On the one hand, that means you don't ever have to guess the cadence of any given word. On the other, it's a lot more difficult than you might think to speak like that. Especially, if you have a Scotch Irish heritage like me.

The main point of this blog is to share what I've learned about saving money traveling to Japan. It's common knowledge that going to Japan can be more expensive than just about any other trip you'll ever make. However, consider that I've never made more than $15 an hour in the best of times and support two children on my own. If I can do it, just about anyone can.

The first major expense involved with a Japan trip is, of course, the astronomical flight expense. Well, it's at least a huge sum if you go through some typical travel website or through an airline. However, getting your tickets from a Japanese travel agency like this one can cut your fair dramatically! My round trip ticket to Tokyo (or really Narita Airport) was $900 including taxes and fees. I live in Florida, so that's an incredible deal!

Next major expense are lodgings. The number one way to save on this is to make really good friends who already lives there and stay with them; like I did. However, if this isn't possible, there's another incredibly affordable option; the Love Hotel. You've probably guessed that a love hotel is a place where people go to get it on. Well, yes and no. They are designed for discretion, privacy, and short to long stays. You pay very little money like you would for any cheap pay-by-the-hour establishment in the States. However, many Japanese simply use them for peace and quiet away from their crowded homes. They are safe as about any other place in Japan, which is a lot safer than staying at a Holiday Inn in New York. They are themed rooms ranging from wacky to tacky to sexy to good clean fun. Some even have a complimentary karaoke machine. It's a cheap and possibly fun place to stay. You don't have to be a sexual deviant to stay there...unless you want to be and I'm not here to judge.

Then there's food. You can't really cook your own food, unless you've chosen the "stay with friends" option. So, you're going to have to eat out every meal while you're there. Still, you don't have to throw your money at swanky restaurants. Train stations, subways, and convenience store can provide hot and cold meals for low prices often from their enviable vending machines. Also, when in Japan do as the Japanese do. Eat from vendors off the sides of the road. Eat sushi and rice. That food is cheap, good for you, and is really what you should be eating anyway to fully experiencing this new country.

Last money wasters are souvenirs. You can't leave the country without at least twenty people asking you to get them something. You also will want to bring home a little something to remember your experiences. Don't waste your money on stuff in tourist traps! I had to learn this the hard way when I spent over 10000 yen ($100) in one hour on trinkets alone. Later on, my sister-in-law introduced me to 100 Yen stores. It's a dollar store, but not like any dollar store you've ever been to. You can buy food, garments, toys, chopsticks, purses, edible underwear, porn, you name it! I managed to get a souvenir for everybody left on my list of "get me something" and a few cute things for myself for about 2000 yen. Again, don't waste your souvenir money anywhere else. You'll find what you need for a buck at a 100 Yen store.

As for getting around, another big expense, let's just say that you should get good at walking for a long time now and use the subway and trains minimally. Don't even waste your time with a taxi.

That's really all I can think of right now, though I'm sure I'll think of stuff later. If you have any questions, let me know! I'll help if I can.

Diagnostic First Lesson

So, remember when I said in my last blog that there was a part in the beginning of my Japanese in 10 Minutes a Day book that claimed if you could speak those statements correctly you could learn Japanese? Well, I'm still highly amused with the diagnostic test. So, I've decided to share it in video format for you here. Be prepared to watch me speak Japanese. I promise you this is verbatim. No typos.



So, as you can see, the best way to tell if Japanese is a feasible language for you to learn is to find out if you can ask what sake is, tell yourself what sake is, and ask someone to give you some. God bless the Japanese. I have mad respect for a culture that supports getting smashed with a deceptively small shot.

Anyway, I didn't get much further than this today because I had a lot going on. I did manage to finally watch the season finale of "I Survived A Japanese Game Show" however. Which reminded me of this awesome phrase "gomen nasai" (go-men nah-sigh). It means "I'm so sorry." It's possibly the second most important phrase for a westerner to learn before visiting Japan, because you will screw something up big culturally and apologizing is like saying "hello" over there. In case you're curious, I believe "sumimasen" (soo-mee-mah-sen) is the number one phrase to learn. If you'll remember from my last blog, that means "excuse me" in an apologetic fashion.

"I Survived A Japanese Game Show" also reminded me of my friend's comment stating that a trip to Japan is super expensive. So, tomorrow, in addition to my Japanese lesson I will share some incredible information on how to save a good deal of money on travel that fair country. That's all for now. I should actually start winding down for the night.

Konnichiwa

In April of 2008, I did probably the most adventurous thing of my life. I went to Japan. My brother and his wife had been asking me to come visit for years. Even though I really wanted to, I always had some excuse not to. I didn't have enough money, couldn't speak the language, had responsibilities at home, etc. After meeting my super supportive boyfriend, James, I realized that Japan was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I needed to overcome the boundaries keeping me from achieving my lifelong dream of visiting a foreign country and immersing myself in its culture. I'm so glad I took that leap, because everything about Japan was amazing.

One of the things I was surprised to fall in love with was the language. My crash course helped me just enough to find a restroom in an art museum by doing the pee dance and saying to a security guard "Sumimasen....toire???" In fact, "sumimasen" became my favorite word to use in Japan. It basically is the polite "excuse me" of Japan. When I use it, however, it comes out "I'm sorry. I'm a stupid Gaijin, but I really love your culture. So, if you don't mind, could you please help me out. I'm so lost and understand my inferiority in your country." As a result, almost everyone there thought I was kawaii (cute). For an American, I did quite well learning some useful phrases and not completely screwing them up. Still, upon leaving the country, I wished I learned more of this beautiful and straightforward language. Leaving Japan honestly felt like leaving home. Even after only ten days there. So, I fully intend to go back one day. I have even been thinking of going there for a few years, once my children are grown, and teaching English as many of my friends have done.

Which brings me to the purpose of my newest blogging endeavor. A week ago, I wandered a Barnes & Noble with my good friend Larissa. I had no intention of even looking at any of the books. I was really only there for iced coffee and conversation. Still, Japanese In 10 Minutes A Day caught my eye. The first page presented me with a challenge. Can you say "Nan desu ka?", "Osake desu", and "Osake o kudasai" correctly. Why, yes I could! Did you have any idea what it meant? Why, yes, I sort of did! Then, I too can be one of those few Americans that speaks Japanese. I snatched that book up with a renewed purpose. I truly believe that this book will give me a solid foundation in the language I most desire to learn.

This was going to be a completely private project, until I saw "Julie & Julia" last week. I'm witty and self-defacing. I can blog. Why can't I do for learning the Japanese language via a book and CD what Julie did for learning to cook via a huge honking recipe book? Sure, there's probably not as many people interested in Japanese as are interested in food, but I'm sure I'm going to have lots of funny stories and tidbits to share along the way. Also, my readers will be able to impress their friends with random samplings of the Japanese language. So, it is set, my first blog in my language learning project. I hope I don't do this alone. I hope anyone reading this will continue to read on.