People I've talked to recently have probably heard me gloat about how warm it is here. It is warm here. However, today is a bit cloudy and cool. Being an island, it's got some rapidly changing weather patterns. That smells oxymoronic. Anyway, you never know what's going to happen over the course of the meterological day, especially in the off months (i.e., not the 8 months of summer and not the 1 month of winter). I should have taken the motorcycle to school today, but I didn't, fooled as I was by the gray skies.
Fun fact: I buy most of my study supplies at the convenience store. Here is where I launch into an account of how convenience stores in Japan are different from those in the States. First, the ones in Japan are usually well-kept. They are not usually paired with gas stations. You can pay your bills at them. They also feature an assortment of foods that I hesistate to call fresh, but may actually be so (if you've ever been to Wal Mart or Kroger and seen those prepared and date-stamped deli items you have a good idea of what is found at these convienience stores). You'll still get fat and die if you eat conbini (Japanese term for the stores) food all the time, but it is probably still better than Joyfull. Anyway, the conbini also have tons of other quality convenience merchandise, including, namely, one of my favorite brands, 無印良品 (mujirushiryouhin -- 'no mark/label/brand quality goods').
Say it. mujirushiryouhin. moo-jee-roo-shee-rr-yoh-heen. Again.
mujirushiryouhin
I like how my made-up transliteration is more difficult to digest than the proper romaaji spelling (italics). It helped not at all.
One more time: mujirushiryouhin. It's fun. It's also a line of clean, elegant, and reasonably priced products for your body, home, and office. I like their writing elements and use them exclusively. With the matching aluminum pen case. Exquisite. My notes explode with vibrant color.
You know, there are many words I still can't pronounce correctly. For example, I still can't properly say 論理学 (ronrigaku - 'logic as a study'). Yeah, esoteric, I know. But in my line of work, it's plum(b) necessary. As a philosophy major, you never know when you'll have to justify your chosen line of study to some assailant in a foreign language-- when you do, you need every possible asset.
I break out ronrigaku whenever I have to get into it with someone. It's a gamble, though: I typically end up saying something on a spectrum between 'lonely-gah-koo' (very sad) and 'rr-ohn-ree-gah-koo' (mentally impeded), preferably tending toward either extreme. This leads the assailant to dismiss me as a blathering idiot and the issue, from his perspective, is settled. Blathering idiots cannot hope to justify themselves, after all. Afterwards I usually continue attempting to say the word (to myself). This exacerbates others' perceptions of me.
I'm about to call it a day, but first I must say that I really like what I'm doing here. The workdays afford me enough time to do some language study (which makes me a better teacher and co-worker), and the teaching itself is enjoyable far more often than not. It's a great learning opportunity for both myself and the students, and I continue to have a lot of enthusiasm for it even through these grayer months. The third year students are going to graduate in a few days, so I've got several ceremonies to attend. I'll be back at ya shortly. Peace.
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