Slept in on a moderately cool Hirakata autumn day, well rested and ready for my new, brief adventure to South Korea.  Having absolutely no knowledge of South Korea, the Korean language, or Korean people, I couldn’t help but feel a little un-excited at first, but excitement slowly grew as the prospect of visiting another country became more and more a reality.  But I had NO desire to go to Korea!  But I didn’t not have no desire to not not going to Korea… not… dunno, pretty sure i fucked up my double negative there, but basically I was on the fence.  I didn’t really care whether or not I visited Korea at some point of my life.  But, about 2 months earlier a Mr. Frank-san (crazy American who sat next to me in class) asked me:

“Hey wanna go to Korea?”

To which I replied:

“Ok.”

Ok, so next week, starting Monday, will mark Road to Japan’s South Korea week. There will be 5 posts, including the South Korea video of my trip. It’s gonna be awesome.

So if you guys are interested, stay tuned for the 5 part South Korea series.  Gonna be wicked.

Ciao for Now!

Ok guys, very sorry to “bore” you with another post on Japanese Kanji.  BUUUT!  The other day, Annie pointed out a Kanji that made her lol, which in turn made me lol, and i’d like to share it with you.

Ok so firstly, some kanji to stare at:

働　住　食　飲　空　流　留学生
会社　勉強　病院　買

Ok, so they all look relatively kanji-ey, all little pictures, look chinese etc. etc. 

Yay! This post is just gonna be quick, and it’s to thank those who come to my blog, read it, and enjoy it (even those who don’t enjoy it – but i still think you’re crazy).  Why?  Because Road to Japan has just reached a new milestone!

These past 30 days has seen Road to Japan break the 1000 visits mark for the first time in Road to Japan history.  This is something i’ve been monitoring and eagerly watching.  So yes, this post is boring, I mean, it technically doesn’t involve any information or text that anyone apart from myself will find interesting.  But this is still a great way to thank those who visit this site.

So thank you all!  I sincerely appreciate it! It really motivates me to do more.  Also, don’t forget to comment! You can also keep track of my posts by subscribing to the Road to Japan RSS feed, it’s like a bookmarky thingy that updates itself whenever something new is posted, give it a go if you’ve never tried it before.

Ok so i’m takin a two second break from studying Kanji to write a little blog that could show you what I do whilst I study for these crazy little pictures the Japanese call a “writing system”.  Let’s face it, they aren’t letters, they’re pictures.  Crappy ones at that.

Ok, I’m currently studying the Kanji from Chapter 14 in my Genki 2 Textbook.  16 of them total, not so bad.  However this is just part of my study for the final exam I have this friday.  Total Kanji I need to memorize: 177.

Yep, 177 pictures that all look the same but carry very different meanings.  Ok, so let’s get started…

Ok ok, so the Korea post is going to take a while coz it’s gonna be huge and I have over 1 hour worth of footage to sift through and work into a video (or two).  So until then, allow me to keep my avid readers entertained with a little something.

The following movie is just footage of my bike ride to and from Kansai Gaidai.  There’s like 12839823 of them on Youtube, however none of them show the ride there AND back to Seminar House 3.  So… what I’m saying is that this is completely revolutionary! It’s gonna change the world!

Enjoy!

So you may have noticed that some random dude named Paul seems to have infiltrated Road2Japan.com and is tarnishing my lovely blog with his crazy insane wackiness and absurd claims of coming to Japan.

Lifelike representation of Paul

Well, he’s doing so because I asked him to.

Paul’s been a really good mate of mine for about 8 years or so now, grew up together, 13 houses apart.  Now he has decided to spend New Years Day here in Japan, and while he’s at it, join me and my crew on a backpacking trip around Japan.  So he’s hanging around for a month, whilst at the same time offering his thoughts and views before, during, and possibly after his visit to Japan.

Ok so now that I’ve attended classes for a good chunk of my semester, I’m thinkin i’ma write a detailed post about my classes and how Kansai Gaidai structures them.

Japanese classes are held in the morning, 4 x 50 minute periods between 9am and 1pm (9:00-9:50, 10:00-10:50 etc.).  English classes are held in the afternoon, 3 x 80 minute classes between 1pm and 5:20pm (some exceptions such as the Sumi-e class which I think is 2 hours long).  Also if we miss 30% of our classes for either subject – FAIL!

Spoken Japanese Class (Level 2):

Spoken Japanese class began as my scariest subject because, quite simply, i had to speak Japanese.  A lot.  My teacher is Naito-sensei, she’s a lovely lady who really assists the learning environment by never making you feel like a douche but always egging you on till you get the right answer, no matter how long it takes.  Which at first is daunting and even annoying because it might feel like she’s continually badgering you even when you don’t know the answer, but in the end it DOES help you learn, and she does it in a nice enough way.  Oh and yes, i’ll re-iterate – you WILL be speaking Japanese, no hiding, no flying under the radar.

The class size is only about 13 people or so (in my class) and she always asks you question using new & old grammar structures and vocab to then coax you into understanding and replying using similar new and old grammar structures whilst telling her about your weekend, your plans, or if you are busy this afternoon.