Sep
18
Viva la motivation!
Yesterday I began climbing towards the higher echelons of Japanese erudition. Although I haven’t really studied all the subjects in my current speaking class beforehand, they somehow felt simple enough to be easily learned independently. Thus, after scoring a surprising perfect score on the review test (which only allowed me to stay in my current class) I went to ask my sensei if it would be possible for me to move to the higher level. She agreed to let me observe the level 3 class this week and retake the replacement test on Friday.
What all this means is that I have three extra hours of Japanese this week in addition to other lectures, the written Japanese review test, a handful of vocabulary quizzes and tons of homework. Hell, I have not been this busy since military service, and that was a way different busy because I did not need to think.
It seems that the dozens of anime series I have watched during these past five years have not all been in vain.
It’s not much of a cheese shop, is it?
Since the kitchen opened, I have definitely been putting it to good use. Unfortunately, one of my favorite ingredients in every day cooking and especially eating, cheese, is a rare luxury around these parts of the world. I have tried to find different kinds of cheese in several supermarkets but the dialogue with the local excuse for a cheese counter has always gone something like this:
– Cheese?
– Why of course, here’s Cheddar-Emmental in a 90gr box.
– Camembert?
– One brand.
– Parmesan?
– Grated. One small bag costs half your soul, though.
– Mozzarella?
– Neverheard.
– Goat Cheese? Feta?
– Fuck off!
– What’s that, butter? Get me some damn cheese!
– …
Just in case anyone got confused, the cheese counter is, in fact, unable to speak, but I have learned telepathic skills during my short stay here and that has allowed me to communicate with inanimate objects. I particularly enjoy talking to doorways. And elevators.
In case you were expecting a relevant update, I apologize. However, I prefer to write incoherent blog entries instead of studying for replacement tests.
-Antti