I’ve only just learned of this awesome Japanese government scholarship from my sister recently, after I told her that I’m being laid off. My sister was lucky enough to have done 2 exchange programs to Japan, once when she was in high school, she spent a summer in Kagoshima, Kyuushu. The second was in her last year in college, she went for a whole year at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo. It was at Aoyama where she met people who was on the Monbukagakusho (Monbusho for short) scholarship. I’m a typical elder child in the house. I studied boring subjects in college, got myself stable jobs at Microsoft and Yahoo! Never strayed far from the planned path. When my sister got to do the summer home stay in Kagoshima, I was quite jealous of her. I never chose to have any fun in school, all I thought about was picking the “right” courses to prepare myself for a career in the computer industry. I really wished I had taken chances to relax and do something crazy. Now, I’ve just passed the big 30 mark. (and by just, I mean more than a year ago :P) I finally have enough skills and experience under my belt to make me feel safe. I begin to think about stepping out of the “stable zone”… doing the “crazy” stuff. I’ve had some crazy ideas, one was to make films about sharks. I love sharks! And I fucking hate Chinese people for eating shark fins! I wanted to put some bogus research on film saying that shark fins are cancerous! So they would stop eating shark fins! Yes, the idea is bat shit crazy!:D
I wonder if I should count it as a failure, as I’m getting a hell of a good deal with the severance package and unused vacation time. Still, I guess when the news was first delivered to our group, I was a little disappointed. Considering that the weeks before I had consistently worked till the wee hours of the night (3-4 am) to meet the needs of the data migration project, and then the next week, we were notified that our positions were to be eliminated! Yeah, we were all a little pissed. In my case, I was offered to either move to California to join our Business Intelligence team, or to take a severance package and leave. Considering that all my stock options are all vested, and the severance means extra cash. I couldn’t find reason why I should continue to stay. I guess a lot of us feel the same way as Yahoo! has been suffering heavily from “brain drainage” in recent years. A lot of old timers had left and joined Google. Well, for me, there was one position that could’ve made me stay, unfortunately, I lack the Japanese Language skills so I didn’t qualify. (That should be failure #1 actually!) So, I happily took the loot and leave! I’ve always wanted to open up a business and work for myself, I kept telling myself to spend some time setting shit up online… but
Here’s the job description for the Japanese BI Analyst position. Since I’m leaving Yahoo soon, I contacted the hiring manager as she still hasn’t been able to fill the position yet. The managers who interviewed me and I all agreed that it’s an extremely challenging but fun position. Unfortunately, they are looking for a Japanese person who’s fluent in Japanese. This is the only position that I’m interested in enough that would make me stay with Yahoo. So… I guess it’s time to say good-bye… :(
There’s a Chinese proverb - “Failure is mother of Success” 「失敗是成功之母」, I’ve known it since I was a little kid but I’ve never really lived according to these words of wisdom… until now. I’ve read numerous books and articles on famous people, I’m intrigued by the charisma that only a person who had overcome hardship can possess. People are always attracted to the successfuls’ achievements and social status. However, one thing I noticed is that when they talk about how they became successful, every single one of them would tell stories of immense hardship, yet their expressions were not of pain or disgust, but rather joyful! Almost seemed reminiscent of the hard times! Why do you think that is? Words of wisdom that I heard from Hiroshi Tasaka, a Professor at Tama University and President of Thinktank SophiaBank, the other night at Japan Society’s “U.S.-Japan Innovators Project Symposium: Improvisation, Creativity, Collaboration: Fueling Innovation in the 21st Century”. “When do you think we grow as a person? Do you think we grow when we’re living life smoothly? No. We grow when we encounter hardship.” You can try to plan ahead in life, but while you’re planning, life is happening. Some would even say that it is all the mishaps and failures that forces one to adapt, that shapes a person’s life. Hardship makes a person grow, builds a person’s character, shapes a person’s life. Hence when successful people tell their stories, they reminiscent of those hard times, as it was the hard times that pushed them to work harder than everyone else and brought them to where they are today. Through this blog, I’m going to document my journey from the USA to Japan. My goal is to go to graduate school in Japan, and ultimately, live and work at one of the big internet companies in Tokyo. I have already endured a few spectacular failures! (Don’t worry, I’ll be sharing them with you shortly.) This blog will be my almost live reality show. :) You’ll all be able to watch me crash and burn! Wish me luck!!
Last night, my sister got us free tickets to Japan Society’s “U.S.-Japan Innovators Project Symposium: Improvisation, Creativity, Collaboration: Fueling Innovation in the 21st Century”. The first speaker, Daniel Pink, is actually on a fellowship from Japan Society, and he talked to us via high-speed video link from Keio University in Tokyo. I was really impressed with the quality of both the video and audio quality. (And the quality of the actual speech itself too.) The video was projected onto a huge screen and the resolution is very high, there was no lag in neither the video nor audio feed. Anyway, his speech was about his new book - A Whole New Mind. Basically, it’s about how our left brain, which does logical things, is becoming less important than our creative right brain. I couldn’t agree with him more… especially on the issue of current education systems and standardized testing. Those stuff absolutely kills the children’s creativities. Then, we get to hear jazz musicain Marty Ashby play. Good stuff. One thing he mentioned was that children are born innovative and we adults keep taking it away. Finally, Hiroshi Tasaka, Professor at Tama University, talked about … Adult Joy… LOL! Sounds dirty. But actually, it was pretty meaningful. The things that I took away from his speech was 1) it’s hardship that makes a person grow. 2) Life is happening while you make your plans. 3) once again, it’s hardship that shapes your path in life. 4) The person who gives you a lot of pain and sadness is your Buddha. 5) The Japanese verb “to work” 働く can be interpreted as はた + らく ~ neighbour + happy. So, to work is to make your neighbours happy.(?) 6) and finally, never put your speech notes onto powerpoint and show them your audience while reading off of them. Seriously though, I enjoyed it very much, especially given my current state of “hardship”. LOL… So, my bitch-ass boss is actually my Buddha and she’s shaping my path. LOL. Enlightening!
On the sheet titled “Field of Study and Study Program,” first write a brief, bulleted outline of your proposed field of study in Japan, and then write a detailed program of what you intend to study. There is the possibility of extending your scholarship to pursue a master’s degree or Ph.D as a regular student at your university if your grades are high and you pass the entrance exam given by the university, but scholarship extensions are by no means automatic. You should go to Japan with the understanding that you are a research student only. The general timetable for the scholarship application process is as follows: * May 25, 2007: Applications due at the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta. * Mid-June 2007: Interviews and exams at the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta. * End of June: Preliminary acceptances announced by Consulate. Successful applicants are instructed to contact universities for letter of acceptance. * August 20, 2007: Letter of acceptance submission deadline. * Mid- December: Tentative acceptances announced by Tokyo. * Mid- February 2008: Final response and university assignment (April departures) * April 1-7, 2008: April departures leave for Japan * July 2008: Final response and university assignment (October departures) * October 1-7, 2008: October departures leave for Japan /***** Field of Study *****/ ****** 専攻分野 ****** Proposed study program in Japan - State the outline of your major field of study on this side and the details of your study program on the back. 日本での研究計画 － この研究計画は、選考及び大学配置の重要な参考となるので，表面に専攻分野の概要を，裏面に研究計画の詳細を具体に記入すること。 ****** 相当の日本語能力を有する者は，日本語により記入すること｡ My proposed field of study is “Information Science” - 情報科学. Through these studies, I hope to attain a high level of Japanese language skills related to technical communications, which will in turn allow me to continue on my career path to become a senior technology analyst. I intend to convert to become a regular graduate student and pursue a master’s degree after the first year. The reason for choosing “Information Science” came from my work experience at Yahoo!, which I will explain in the detailed section. The following are subjects in my intended studies: • Japanese Language • Language and Information Science • Visual Cognition • Media and Culture • Media and Semiotics • Socio-psychology Communication Studies • Search and data storage in Japanese ***** Study program in Japan in detail and concreteness（研究計画：詳細かつ具体に記入すること｡） First, upon arrival in Japan, I plan to participate in the six-month Japanese language training. I have intermediate Japanese language skills but in order to become a regular graduate student in Japan, I’ll need close to fluent level. In case I cannot reach fluent level even after my first six months in Japan, I have chosen “Information Science” as my field of studies with this in consideration. The courses in the “Information Science” major allow the students to acquire basic interdisciplinary knowledge in the various fields concerned with social and cultural phenomena related to media, communication and information. These subjects will allow me to continue to learn Japanese, while being highly relevant to my career at the same time. As I’ve said in the outline section, the reason why I chose “Information Science” is partly due to my work experience at Yahoo!. After spending more than 6 years at internet companies like Microsoft MSN.com and Yahoo! Inc., I have become an expert in database analysis. My career goal is to become a Database Architect in the Business Intelligence field. (Business Intelligence is a specialized database strategy that gathers and extracts information from historical data.) In November of 2006, a “Business Intelligence Analyst” position opened up at Yahoo! Japan. The position requires Japanese Language skills, and the qualified candidate will work closely with both Japan and the US. He/she will be responsible for bringing the US’s “Business Intelligence” technologies to Japan. This job is extremely challenging and I felt that it was the ideal position for me. I possess the technical skills and I have always wanted to work in Japan. I applied and passed the technical exams. However, on my 3rd interview with a Japanese developer, I had a difficult time with his technical questions in Japanese and so, I failed to qualify for the position. As this field is highly specialized, they have yet to find a suitable person to fill the position as of May 16th, 2007. This tells me that there’s a lack of talent in this field. After my attempt at that position, I have come to realize that, a job that works to bridge technologies between Japan and the US, is the only job that I want! In order to qualify for such a position, I will need to improve my Japanese. I started looking into graduate programs in Japan, and that was how I discovered the Monbukagakusho Scholarship. As I researched into suitable graduate courses, I kept my career goal in mind. I need a program that will allow me to be in touch with the Japanese language. It will also be beneficial if I can learn about Japanese in the current age media such as the internet and mobile phones. These are the type of data that are used in an internet company’s Business Intelligence department. After researching into some of the top universities’ graduate programs, I found “Information Science” to be an ideal match for me. Two of the universities that offer the “Information Science” graduate program are the University of Tokyo and Tohoku University. At the University of Tokyo, I found the “Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies / Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies” department. The graduate school is comprised of three courses: Cultural and Human Information Studies, Socio-information and Communication Studies and Interdisciplinary Information Sciences. The Cultural and Human Information Studies course is concerned directly with the task of constructing a new interdisciplinary field of information studies fusing aspects of the humanities and social sciences with elements of the natural sciences. Faculty members associated with this course are engaged in research on diverse topics, including information theory, evolution, ecological psychology, perception, semiotics, visual images, cultural studies, historical informatics, archiving, media literacy, media expression, education systems and design of the learning environment. The four main areas of study in this course are: (1) Life, body and environment, (2) Culture, representation and image, (3) Media expression, learning and literacy, (4) Archiving and historical informatics. Number 3 and 4 are of special interest to me as they are directly related to my career. In the Socio-information and Communication Studies Course, students acquire basic interdisciplinary knowledge in the various fields concerned with social and cultural phenomena related to media, communication and information, and carry out research and other practical applications based on this knowledge. There are six main areas of study in this course: (1) Media and journalism studies, (2) Socio-psychology and information behavior, (3) Law and policy, (4) Economics and industrial studies, (5) Sociology and history, (6) Asian regional studies. Specific examples of the kind of topics covered in lectures and seminars are electronic money, the freedom of information, and the social and behavioral effects of cellular phone usage. This course is most relevant for internet professionals like me. The last course, Interdisciplinary Information Sciences, is less relevant to me as it deals principally with mathematical and natural-science approaches to information studies, hence I won’t be going into it in details. At Tohoku University, I found the “Graduate School of Information Sciences”. It consists of four departments: Computer and Mathematical Sciences, System Information Sciences, Human-Social Information Sciences, and Applied Information Sciences. The Department of Human-Social Information Sciences has the most relevant courses for me. The staff and students of this Department aim at solving important and urgent problems that confront present and future societies from the environment, cities, population, resources, and energy. The following research topics are particularly emphasized: concepts and theories of information and communication; individual, social, political and economic functions and impacts of information and communication. The specific courses within the Department of Human-Social Information Sciences that I’ve listed in the outline includes “Language and Information Science”, which aims to elucidate the nature of the system of knowledge that enables us to use natural languages. “Visual Cognition”, which researches into areas of spatial attention, visual consciousness, human factors involved in accident proneness and cross-modal perception. These topics are highly relevant in web design in terms of placement of information. “Media and Culture”, which delves into present days’ communication medium like photographs, movies, television and the internet. This course aims to examine the media society and culture, and experimentally create a new “public sphere” communication system. Once again, highly relevant to the internet industry. “Media and Semiotics”, which aims to analyze and explain all kinds of media contents with various theories and semiotics. Various media are surveyed and researched as sign systems and cognitive schemata for social communication. In order to demonstrate the thoughts I put into choosing my field of studies, I chose to take up a large portion of the detailed section to write about my work experiences. I understand that the instruction asked for my proposed study program in detail and concreteness, but since the graduate courses’ names are quite self-explanatory, I hope that by explaining why I chose these courses, you can have a better idea of my serious attitude toward this scholarship and graduate studies in Japan. I am eager to devote my time and energy into studying in beautiful Japan. Thank you very much for your consideration. Nicholas Wang
Here’s the job description for the Japanese BI Analyst position. Since I’m leaving Yahoo soon, I contacted the hiring manager as she still hasn’t been able to fill the position yet. The managers who interviewed me and I all agreed that it’s an extremely challenging but fun position. Unfortunately, they are looking for a Japanese person who’s fluent in Japanese. This is the only position that I’m interested in enough that would make me stay with Yahoo. So… I guess it’s time to say good-bye… :(
Shooter Identified: Cho Seung-Hui That was what I saw on TV just now, my first reaction was… I laughed. It totally reminded me of skits from Mad TV or Saturday Night Live. :P But this isn’t comedy, this is reality, suddenly these jokes on Asians ain’t so funny anymore. People go nuts, even us stereotypically “nice” Asians do. The difference is, when these kind of things happen in other places, they don’t have access to guns. Here, a stereotypically “smart and hard working” Asian can walk into Walmart, buy a gun and some ammo, come to school, lock all the exits, and start shooting until he gets an “A”. Here are e-mails sent to Virginia Tech students with timestamps!
From: Nicholas Wang Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 8:33 PM To: xxxxx xx xxxx Subject: RE: RX1xxxx18910 - Business Intelligence Analyst Dear Ms. xxxx, As seen in my email to Mr. xxxx, I am writing to inquire about the bilingual BI Analyst position. From what I gathered in the job posting, the key point to this position is to be able to provide the right data to those customers, by truly understanding their key business drivers. Obviously, in order to do that, this person must first be able to understand the language that the data is in. Once we dove into the data and found the key metrics to measure those key business drivers, this person will create the tables in the data warehouse, set up ETL processes to fill the tables with meaningful conformed data, create reports… etc. Much of these already exists in our U.S. systems, this position is responsible for helping to migrate and implement our knowledge to Yahoo! Japan. I hope I’ve demonstrated that I understand both the business and technology sides of Business Intelligence. Recently, Hotjobs has started creating our own data warehouse while we are migrating our old CRM and web systems into new platforms. I have been actively participating in this process. I am familiar with ETL processes, OLAP databases, and the Business Objects applications. In terms of comprehension of the Japanese language, I am actually the person my Japanese friends would ask to fix their computers. I use a Japanese PDA (which runs Linux) myself. I have always wondered why Yahoo! Japan is so separated from the rest of Yahoo! worldwide. I know they operate as a different company, but Yahoo! users shouldn’t be separated due to that. If this position can help bridge Japan to the rest of the world, then I will be honored to be part of the team that made it possible. Most importantly, I’m eager to work hard to earn my title as a Business Intelligence Engineer. My managers and co-workers here can all be my reference, I would very much like to have the opportunity to conduct an initial phone interview with you if possible. I can be reached at my work phone – xxxxxxxxxx. Please feel free to contact me at any time. Thank you very much for your consideration. Best regards, Nicholas Wang
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2006-06-02 Intermediate Lesson #16 - Finally Heading Home Takase san’s birthday today! Yoshi made brownies! そろそろ行きましょうか － Shall we get going? お会計お願いします － Check please. － 会計 － account, bill － 会計士 － accountant みそラーメンが二つだから、ななひゃくえんでございます －You had 2 miso ramen so… it’s 700yen please. ええ！あんなに美味しかったのに、そんなに安いんですか？ －Even though it was that delicious, is it that cheap?! 信じられないです ー I can’t believe it ごちそうさまでした － Thank you for the meal 気に入ってくれてよかった －I’m happy you liked it 毎度 － まいど －Everytime めんのこしが - the stiffness of the noodles まだ、いっらしゃっでね －Please come again － いっらしゃっる － 尊敬語 of いる まだ、彼女も一緒にね －again, with your girlfriend 可能性はなくもないですね －It’s not impossible － 可能性 － possibility - 可能性がある － There is the possibility － 以前もやりましたね、”可能性”の前には、動詞や形容詞や名詞を付けることできます － － 可能 － possible - 可能です － it’s possible 気分はどうですか －How do you feel すっきりしました －I feel refreshed じゃ、空港でしたっけ －umm, was it the airport? どこへいくんでしたっけ －where was it you were heading again? NYCに帰る積もりでしたけど －I was intending to go back to NYC but… いまから海外へ行く気分ではなくなりました －now I don’t feel like going overseas あのおばあさんに会って －after meeting that grandma 久しぶりに北海道へ帰りたくなりました －I feel like going back to Hokkaido, for the first time in a while でも、出稼ぎ中だし。。。 - but, I’m in the middle of saving money, among other things － 出稼ぎ － でかせぎ － working away from home この際、一緒に行きませんか －this time, won’t you go together with me? しかし、仕事があるし、お金もなくで －but I have work and… I don’t have money 私が全部負担しますよ －I’ll cover everything － 負担 － ふたん －burden, charge, responsibility あなたのお蔭で気分転換ができて －thanks to you, I was able to feel better 何か恩返しがしたいんです －I was to pay you back somehow せっかく同じ地元じゃないですか －plus, we have the same hometown － 折角 － せっかく －to go through the trouble, at great pains… but in this instance, the feeling conveyed is that of “I mean,” or “Come on,” you’re from the same town.” Thus adding more emphasis on the fact that as it is also the cab driver’s hometown, he should also go. Grammar Point ーっけ、 －な －particle found at end of sentences indicating one’s uncertainty. － used when you’re trying to verify something. U’ve heard it before, but you’re not sure. － 空港でしたっけ － なんだっけ － いいな ・ たいな － たいな - this な expresses one’s desire, but inability to do something － いいな - this statement express a slight form of envy, as the な conveys the feeling that the speaker wishes he could have the same experience, do the same thing, or possess the same possessions.
It has been 2 months since I last interviewed for that Yahoo JP Business Intelligence Engineer position, and they still haven’t found the right person. Proves me right… it’s hard to find someone with that kind of technical skills while being fluent in Japanese. Meanwhile, my other option was to migrate to our own Data Warehouse team…
I posted this on flyertalk’s forum but didn’t get an answer. However, from what I’ve read so far, seems like this American Express card is still pretty damn good. Right now, I’m just using my 1% coupon back Amazon.com Visa, a possible 5% cash back Discover… if the restaurant is nice enough to take Discover, and the Costco Amex with its incredibly convenient Costco rebates. Just for my own records, I’m copying my post here. Also, here’s another great resource on Bonus Points Opportunities.
At a place called “Suibi Japanese Restaurant” at 53rd St in Upper East Side. It’s Japanese Restaurant Week this week and I found this place on the list. At JapanesePod101, I had learned about Okinawa food like ゴーヤ チャンプル and タコライス and their unique alcohol 泡盛. They didn’t have “Taco Rice”, the Goya Champuru was ok but I don’t really like that bitter plant… We ordered something that looked pretty good on the menu, it’s called 豆腐よーうー and it’s described as Tofu added with 泡盛なっとう to become a cheese like texture… well, it turns out to be the same as a Chinese 腐乳 (is that how it’s written?) A tiny block of it cost me $8.75! I felt seriously ripped off! What are some other suggested food from Okinawa? I was disappointed last night, but I’ll definitely try again if I can find another place that serves Okinawan food. :)
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2006-05-02 Beginner Lesson #64 - Breaking Curfew 後もう少しで 家に着きます － あともうすごしで いえにつきます － We’ll be home in a moment 静かに 窓から入りましょう － しずかに まどからはいりましょう － Let’s go in through the window quietly 何の音 － なんのおと － what sound? ばれる － ばれます － to be exposed, to leak out － ばれました － “we were caught” － 秘密がばれる － to find out a secret － ばれるでしょう － you’ll get caught － ばらす － to expose someone, to discover someone － 結末をばらす － けつまつ － to expose (ruin) the ending 顔が真っ白 － かおがまっしろ － ちゃんと電話した － 門限は何時ですか － もんげん － what time is the curfew? － 門限に間に合う － まにあう － be in time for curfew － 門限に遅れる － おくれる － be late for curfew － 門限を破る － やぶる － to break curfew － 門限を守る － まもる － to keep your curfew これから門限を守りましょう － Let’s keep the curfew from now on. Point - Past Tense ー 過去形 かこけい Polite form - change ます to ました
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2006-05-01 Survival Phrases #19 - Pharmacy (Part 2) Yoshi and Takase were super funny in this lesson!! 江戸っ子 － えどっこ － Tokyoite, people who grew up in Tokyo area 栄養補給 － えいようほきゅう － nutritional supplement 医薬品 － いやくひん － pharmaceutical goods 医薬部外品 － いやくぶがいひん － quasi-drugs, goods that fall out of medical label マムシ － adder 雀蜂 － スズメバチ － wasp (VAAM ~ made from amino acid from wasp)
Just saw a program on Discover Times channel called “Could It Happen Here?” It talked about one thing that I’ve heard a lot about and when I was a kid, I was very concerned about ~ the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest. I guess after I moved to the US, I’ve heard far less about environment issues. (When I was in Hong Kong, I would watch British nature shows on TVB Pearl channel.) Here in the US, I would hear once in a while that “Yes… deforestation is still going on in Brazil…”, I think they say about the size of 3 football fields are cleared everyday? I’m not sure why, but the way that information was presented just doesn’t carry the same impact as before. This Discover Times program brought new light to my understanding of the issue. First and foremost, when they say “clearing the forest”, they actually meant “BURN IT THE FUCK DOWN!” Secondly, all these plants and animals eco-systems of the forest are actually burned for cattle! BEEF!!!! Thirdly, the burning goes on all over different places in the forest, (not just on the edges, as I had imagined). The Brazilian government has helicopters to fight these fires, but the area is huge and it takes time to reach the fires. Finally, all the burning is causing a vicious cycle, clearing the ground level and making it drier and easier to burn again. The amount of Carbon Dioxide released from all the burning is roughly equivalent to the same of the entire Western Europe’s car CO2 emission. Now think… what can we do to help this situation?
From: Nicholas Wang Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 1:21 PM To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: Saturn technical position: RX1xxxx18910 - Business Intelligence Analyst xxxさん、 メールありがとうございます。 質問の答えは下に書きました。 よろしくお願いします。 Nick
________________________________________ From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 7:27 PM To: Nicholas Wang Subject: RE: Saturn technical position: RX1xxxx18910 - Business Intelligence Analyst
Just got this email this morning… No pressure… take your time… except your response time will also be taken into consideration… so hurry up! LOL. I sent the reply by 1:20pm.
Support JapanesePod101 - visit their website, subscribe their podcast, join their community, spread the word! 2006-03-01 Beginner Lesson #41 － Tennis Anyone? 相性 ー あいしょう - affinity, compatability, chemistry 2006-03-02 Beginner Lesson # 42 - Harajuku or Mahjong? 賑やか ー にぎやか ー lively 鴨 ー かも ー duck, victom 必要 ー ひつよう ー necessary お金が必要です 2006-03-03 Intermediate Lesson #5 - Okinawa ＸＸてみる ー try something (て form verb + みる） 到着 ー とうちゃく ー arrive やっと ー finally （やっと海についた） （”やっと”を使って、例をあげてください ー ”やっと”をつかって、れいをあげてください ー Please give an example using “Yatto”.) 懐かしい ー なつかしい ー nostalgic ３０年 ぶり ー first time in 30 yrs ぶり ー add time in front of it to get “first time since X” やって見たい ー want to try to do いい考え ー いいかんがえ ー good idea 今四時半で、まだやってるかどうか。。。 It’s 4:30 now, (I don’t know) if e can still do it… 聞いて見よ ー きいてみよ ー try and ask 着替える ー きがえる ー change (clothes) （着替えよ） 凄い体してます ー すごいからだしてます ー great body Nick に全然勝ってる ー ぜんぜんかってる ー much better than Nick, bet Nick by a land slide がりがり ー skiny, skin & bones 泡盛 ー あわもり ー alcohol unique to Okinawa ゴーヤチャンプル ー stir fried goya (gourd) タコライス ー tacos rice without shells 付ける ー つける ー to put （肉を付けよ ー put some meat on) 更に ー さらに ー more, (what’s more) ぜひ ー by all means ぜひ沖縄へ、行って見てください ー by all means, please try to go to Okinawa 断りします ー ことわりします ー decline ずいぶん ー very 2006-03-04 Culture Class #9 - 花見 － Japanese Plum Blossoms 観梅 ー かんばい ー plum blossom viewing 梅酒 ー うめしゅ ー plum wine 名所 ー めいしょ ー famous place 梅雨 ー つゆ／ばいう ー rainy season 梅干し ー うめぼし ー dried, pickled plum
Support JapanesePod101 - visit their website, subscribe their podcast, join their community, spread the word! 2006-02-01 Beginner Lesson #29 － Cure for the Common Cold…Cold Medicine 結構 ー けっこう ー pretty, quite なかなか ー quite 風邪薬 ー かぜぐすり ー cold medicine (notice gusuri) 胃 ー い 薬 ー くすり いろいろ ー various, a lot 2006-02-03 Intermediate Lesson #1 － Meet Sayuri Suzuki 唯 ー ただ ー just, only 久々 ー ひさびさ ー been a while (casual) 久しぶり 暇 ー ひま ー free 締め切り ー しめきり ー deadline ちゃんと ー all right, properly 区切って ー くぎって ー break it down 出します ー だします ー hand in, submit 2006-02-04 Culture Class #5 － Japanese Valentine’s Day (V-Day with a Twist)! 本命チョコ ー ほんめいチョコ ー chocolate given to guys u r serious about on Valentine’s day. 義理チョコ ー ぎりチョコ ー obligatory choco (for co-workers) 手作りチョコ ー てつくり ー handmade ともチョコ ー given to friends 告白 ー こくはく ー confessions of affection
2005-12-27 Survival Phrases #3 ー Dining Tips お会計 ー おかいけい ー Check! ご馳走様 ー ごちそうさま（でした） ー good meal 2005-12-29 Beginner Lesson #8 － Pickup Lines (No Guarantees) 素敵 ー すてき ー beautiful, handsome, gorgeous 煩い ー うるさい ー noisy, annoying 格好いい － かっこういい － cool (for guys) 2005-12-30 Beginner Lesson #9 － Counting Down the New Year あけおめ ー short for 明けましておめでとうございます ことよろ ー short for 今年もよろしくお願いします 2005-12-31 Beginner Lesson #10 － Last Episode of the Year 大晦日 ー おおみそか ー New year’s eve 紅白歌合戦 ー こうはくうたがっせん ー 年越し蕎麦 ー としこしそば ー buckwheat noodle eaten on new year’s eve. お年玉 ー おとしだま ー money given as gifts to children in an envelope 良いお年を ー よいおとしを ー “Happy New Year” (before new year comes, usually to someone u speak to for the last time that year.)
I’ve only just learned of this awesome Japanese government scholarship from my sister recently, after I told her that I’m being laid off. My sister was lucky enough to have done 2 exchange programs to Japan, once when she was in high school, she spent a summer in Kagoshima, Kyuushu. The second was in her last year in college, she went for a whole year at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo. It was at Aoyama where she met people who was on the Monbukagakusho (Monbusho for short) scholarship. I’m a typical elder child in the house. I studied boring subjects in college, got myself stable jobs at Microsoft and Yahoo! Never strayed far from the planned path. When my sister got to do the summer home stay in Kagoshima, I was quite jealous of her. I never chose to have any fun in school, all I thought about was picking the “right” courses to prepare myself for a career in the computer industry. I really wished I had taken chances to relax and do something crazy. Now, I’ve just passed the big 30 mark. (and by just, I mean more than a year ago :P) I finally have enough skills and experience under my belt to make me feel safe. I begin to think about stepping out of the “stable zone”… doing the “crazy” stuff. I’ve had some crazy ideas, one was to make films about sharks. I love sharks! And I fucking hate Chinese people for eating shark fins! I wanted to put some bogus research on film saying that shark fins are cancerous! So they would stop eating shark fins! Yes, the idea is bat shit crazy!:D
I wonder if I should count it as a failure, as I’m getting a hell of a good deal with the severance package and unused vacation time. Still, I guess when the news was first delivered to our group, I was a little disappointed. Considering that the weeks before I had consistently worked till the wee hours of the night (3-4 am) to meet the needs of the data migration project, and then the next week, we were notified that our positions were to be eliminated! Yeah, we were all a little pissed. In my case, I was offered to either move to California to join our Business Intelligence team, or to take a severance package and leave. Considering that all my stock options are all vested, and the severance means extra cash. I couldn’t find reason why I should continue to stay. I guess a lot of us feel the same way as Yahoo! has been suffering heavily from “brain drainage” in recent years. A lot of old timers had left and joined Google. Well, for me, there was one position that could’ve made me stay, unfortunately, I lack the Japanese Language skills so I didn’t qualify. (That should be failure #1 actually!) So, I happily took the loot and leave! I’ve always wanted to open up a business and work for myself, I kept telling myself to spend some time setting shit up online… but
Here’s the job description for the Japanese BI Analyst position. Since I’m leaving Yahoo soon, I contacted the hiring manager as she still hasn’t been able to fill the position yet. The managers who interviewed me and I all agreed that it’s an extremely challenging but fun position. Unfortunately, they are looking for a Japanese person who’s fluent in Japanese. This is the only position that I’m interested in enough that would make me stay with Yahoo. So… I guess it’s time to say good-bye… :(
There’s a Chinese proverb - “Failure is mother of Success” 「失敗是成功之母」, I’ve known it since I was a little kid but I’ve never really lived according to these words of wisdom… until now. I’ve read numerous books and articles on famous people, I’m intrigued by the charisma that only a person who had overcome hardship can possess. People are always attracted to the successfuls’ achievements and social status. However, one thing I noticed is that when they talk about how they became successful, every single one of them would tell stories of immense hardship, yet their expressions were not of pain or disgust, but rather joyful! Almost seemed reminiscent of the hard times! Why do you think that is? Words of wisdom that I heard from Hiroshi Tasaka, a Professor at Tama University and President of Thinktank SophiaBank, the other night at Japan Society’s “U.S.-Japan Innovators Project Symposium: Improvisation, Creativity, Collaboration: Fueling Innovation in the 21st Century”. “When do you think we grow as a person? Do you think we grow when we’re living life smoothly? No. We grow when we encounter hardship.” You can try to plan ahead in life, but while you’re planning, life is happening. Some would even say that it is all the mishaps and failures that forces one to adapt, that shapes a person’s life. Hardship makes a person grow, builds a person’s character, shapes a person’s life. Hence when successful people tell their stories, they reminiscent of those hard times, as it was the hard times that pushed them to work harder than everyone else and brought them to where they are today. Through this blog, I’m going to document my journey from the USA to Japan. My goal is to go to graduate school in Japan, and ultimately, live and work at one of the big internet companies in Tokyo. I have already endured a few spectacular failures! (Don’t worry, I’ll be sharing them with you shortly.) This blog will be my almost live reality show. :) You’ll all be able to watch me crash and burn! Wish me luck!!
Last night, my sister got us free tickets to Japan Society’s “U.S.-Japan Innovators Project Symposium: Improvisation, Creativity, Collaboration: Fueling Innovation in the 21st Century”. The first speaker, Daniel Pink, is actually on a fellowship from Japan Society, and he talked to us via high-speed video link from Keio University in Tokyo. I was really impressed with the quality of both the video and audio quality. (And the quality of the actual speech itself too.) The video was projected onto a huge screen and the resolution is very high, there was no lag in neither the video nor audio feed. Anyway, his speech was about his new book - A Whole New Mind. Basically, it’s about how our left brain, which does logical things, is becoming less important than our creative right brain. I couldn’t agree with him more… especially on the issue of current education systems and standardized testing. Those stuff absolutely kills the children’s creativities. Then, we get to hear jazz musicain Marty Ashby play. Good stuff. One thing he mentioned was that children are born innovative and we adults keep taking it away. Finally, Hiroshi Tasaka, Professor at Tama University, talked about … Adult Joy… LOL! Sounds dirty. But actually, it was pretty meaningful. The things that I took away from his speech was 1) it’s hardship that makes a person grow. 2) Life is happening while you make your plans. 3) once again, it’s hardship that shapes your path in life. 4) The person who gives you a lot of pain and sadness is your Buddha. 5) The Japanese verb “to work” 働く can be interpreted as はた + らく ~ neighbour + happy. So, to work is to make your neighbours happy.(?) 6) and finally, never put your speech notes onto powerpoint and show them your audience while reading off of them. Seriously though, I enjoyed it very much, especially given my current state of “hardship”. LOL… So, my bitch-ass boss is actually my Buddha and she’s shaping my path. LOL. Enlightening!
On the sheet titled “Field of Study and Study Program,” first write a brief, bulleted outline of your proposed field of study in Japan, and then write a detailed program of what you intend to study. There is the possibility of extending your scholarship to pursue a master’s degree or Ph.D as a regular student at your university if your grades are high and you pass the entrance exam given by the university, but scholarship extensions are by no means automatic. You should go to Japan with the understanding that you are a research student only. The general timetable for the scholarship application process is as follows: * May 25, 2007: Applications due at the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta. * Mid-June 2007: Interviews and exams at the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta. * End of June: Preliminary acceptances announced by Consulate. Successful applicants are instructed to contact universities for letter of acceptance. * August 20, 2007: Letter of acceptance submission deadline. * Mid- December: Tentative acceptances announced by Tokyo. * Mid- February 2008: Final response and university assignment (April departures) * April 1-7, 2008: April departures leave for Japan * July 2008: Final response and university assignment (October departures) * October 1-7, 2008: October departures leave for Japan /***** Field of Study *****/ ****** 専攻分野 ****** Proposed study program in Japan - State the outline of your major field of study on this side and the details of your study program on the back. 日本での研究計画 － この研究計画は、選考及び大学配置の重要な参考となるので，表面に専攻分野の概要を，裏面に研究計画の詳細を具体に記入すること。 ****** 相当の日本語能力を有する者は，日本語により記入すること｡ My proposed field of study is “Information Science” - 情報科学. Through these studies, I hope to attain a high level of Japanese language skills related to technical communications, which will in turn allow me to continue on my career path to become a senior technology analyst. I intend to convert to become a regular graduate student and pursue a master’s degree after the first year. The reason for choosing “Information Science” came from my work experience at Yahoo!, which I will explain in the detailed section. The following are subjects in my intended studies: • Japanese Language • Language and Information Science • Visual Cognition • Media and Culture • Media and Semiotics • Socio-psychology Communication Studies • Search and data storage in Japanese ***** Study program in Japan in detail and concreteness（研究計画：詳細かつ具体に記入すること｡） First, upon arrival in Japan, I plan to participate in the six-month Japanese language training. I have intermediate Japanese language skills but in order to become a regular graduate student in Japan, I’ll need close to fluent level. In case I cannot reach fluent level even after my first six months in Japan, I have chosen “Information Science” as my field of studies with this in consideration. The courses in the “Information Science” major allow the students to acquire basic interdisciplinary knowledge in the various fields concerned with social and cultural phenomena related to media, communication and information. These subjects will allow me to continue to learn Japanese, while being highly relevant to my career at the same time. As I’ve said in the outline section, the reason why I chose “Information Science” is partly due to my work experience at Yahoo!. After spending more than 6 years at internet companies like Microsoft MSN.com and Yahoo! Inc., I have become an expert in database analysis. My career goal is to become a Database Architect in the Business Intelligence field. (Business Intelligence is a specialized database strategy that gathers and extracts information from historical data.) In November of 2006, a “Business Intelligence Analyst” position opened up at Yahoo! Japan. The position requires Japanese Language skills, and the qualified candidate will work closely with both Japan and the US. He/she will be responsible for bringing the US’s “Business Intelligence” technologies to Japan. This job is extremely challenging and I felt that it was the ideal position for me. I possess the technical skills and I have always wanted to work in Japan. I applied and passed the technical exams. However, on my 3rd interview with a Japanese developer, I had a difficult time with his technical questions in Japanese and so, I failed to qualify for the position. As this field is highly specialized, they have yet to find a suitable person to fill the position as of May 16th, 2007. This tells me that there’s a lack of talent in this field. After my attempt at that position, I have come to realize that, a job that works to bridge technologies between Japan and the US, is the only job that I want! In order to qualify for such a position, I will need to improve my Japanese. I started looking into graduate programs in Japan, and that was how I discovered the Monbukagakusho Scholarship. As I researched into suitable graduate courses, I kept my career goal in mind. I need a program that will allow me to be in touch with the Japanese language. It will also be beneficial if I can learn about Japanese in the current age media such as the internet and mobile phones. These are the type of data that are used in an internet company’s Business Intelligence department. After researching into some of the top universities’ graduate programs, I found “Information Science” to be an ideal match for me. Two of the universities that offer the “Information Science” graduate program are the University of Tokyo and Tohoku University. At the University of Tokyo, I found the “Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies / Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies” department. The graduate school is comprised of three courses: Cultural and Human Information Studies, Socio-information and Communication Studies and Interdisciplinary Information Sciences. The Cultural and Human Information Studies course is concerned directly with the task of constructing a new interdisciplinary field of information studies fusing aspects of the humanities and social sciences with elements of the natural sciences. Faculty members associated with this course are engaged in research on diverse topics, including information theory, evolution, ecological psychology, perception, semiotics, visual images, cultural studies, historical informatics, archiving, media literacy, media expression, education systems and design of the learning environment. The four main areas of study in this course are: (1) Life, body and environment, (2) Culture, representation and image, (3) Media expression, learning and literacy, (4) Archiving and historical informatics. Number 3 and 4 are of special interest to me as they are directly related to my career. In the Socio-information and Communication Studies Course, students acquire basic interdisciplinary knowledge in the various fields concerned with social and cultural phenomena related to media, communication and information, and carry out research and other practical applications based on this knowledge. There are six main areas of study in this course: (1) Media and journalism studies, (2) Socio-psychology and information behavior, (3) Law and policy, (4) Economics and industrial studies, (5) Sociology and history, (6) Asian regional studies. Specific examples of the kind of topics covered in lectures and seminars are electronic money, the freedom of information, and the social and behavioral effects of cellular phone usage. This course is most relevant for internet professionals like me. The last course, Interdisciplinary Information Sciences, is less relevant to me as it deals principally with mathematical and natural-science approaches to information studies, hence I won’t be going into it in details. At Tohoku University, I found the “Graduate School of Information Sciences”. It consists of four departments: Computer and Mathematical Sciences, System Information Sciences, Human-Social Information Sciences, and Applied Information Sciences. The Department of Human-Social Information Sciences has the most relevant courses for me. The staff and students of this Department aim at solving important and urgent problems that confront present and future societies from the environment, cities, population, resources, and energy. The following research topics are particularly emphasized: concepts and theories of information and communication; individual, social, political and economic functions and impacts of information and communication. The specific courses within the Department of Human-Social Information Sciences that I’ve listed in the outline includes “Language and Information Science”, which aims to elucidate the nature of the system of knowledge that enables us to use natural languages. “Visual Cognition”, which researches into areas of spatial attention, visual consciousness, human factors involved in accident proneness and cross-modal perception. These topics are highly relevant in web design in terms of placement of information. “Media and Culture”, which delves into present days’ communication medium like photographs, movies, television and the internet. This course aims to examine the media society and culture, and experimentally create a new “public sphere” communication system. Once again, highly relevant to the internet industry. “Media and Semiotics”, which aims to analyze and explain all kinds of media contents with various theories and semiotics. Various media are surveyed and researched as sign systems and cognitive schemata for social communication. In order to demonstrate the thoughts I put into choosing my field of studies, I chose to take up a large portion of the detailed section to write about my work experiences. I understand that the instruction asked for my proposed study program in detail and concreteness, but since the graduate courses’ names are quite self-explanatory, I hope that by explaining why I chose these courses, you can have a better idea of my serious attitude toward this scholarship and graduate studies in Japan. I am eager to devote my time and energy into studying in beautiful Japan. Thank you very much for your consideration. Nicholas Wang
Here’s the job description for the Japanese BI Analyst position. Since I’m leaving Yahoo soon, I contacted the hiring manager as she still hasn’t been able to fill the position yet. The managers who interviewed me and I all agreed that it’s an extremely challenging but fun position. Unfortunately, they are looking for a Japanese person who’s fluent in Japanese. This is the only position that I’m interested in enough that would make me stay with Yahoo. So… I guess it’s time to say good-bye… :(
Shooter Identified: Cho Seung-Hui That was what I saw on TV just now, my first reaction was… I laughed. It totally reminded me of skits from Mad TV or Saturday Night Live. :P But this isn’t comedy, this is reality, suddenly these jokes on Asians ain’t so funny anymore. People go nuts, even us stereotypically “nice” Asians do. The difference is, when these kind of things happen in other places, they don’t have access to guns. Here, a stereotypically “smart and hard working” Asian can walk into Walmart, buy a gun and some ammo, come to school, lock all the exits, and start shooting until he gets an “A”. Here are e-mails sent to Virginia Tech students with timestamps!
From: Nicholas Wang Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 8:33 PM To: xxxxx xx xxxx Subject: RE: RX1xxxx18910 - Business Intelligence Analyst Dear Ms. xxxx, As seen in my email to Mr. xxxx, I am writing to inquire about the bilingual BI Analyst position. From what I gathered in the job posting, the key point to this position is to be able to provide the right data to those customers, by truly understanding their key business drivers. Obviously, in order to do that, this person must first be able to understand the language that the data is in. Once we dove into the data and found the key metrics to measure those key business drivers, this person will create the tables in the data warehouse, set up ETL processes to fill the tables with meaningful conformed data, create reports… etc. Much of these already exists in our U.S. systems, this position is responsible for helping to migrate and implement our knowledge to Yahoo! Japan. I hope I’ve demonstrated that I understand both the business and technology sides of Business Intelligence. Recently, Hotjobs has started creating our own data warehouse while we are migrating our old CRM and web systems into new platforms. I have been actively participating in this process. I am familiar with ETL processes, OLAP databases, and the Business Objects applications. In terms of comprehension of the Japanese language, I am actually the person my Japanese friends would ask to fix their computers. I use a Japanese PDA (which runs Linux) myself. I have always wondered why Yahoo! Japan is so separated from the rest of Yahoo! worldwide. I know they operate as a different company, but Yahoo! users shouldn’t be separated due to that. If this position can help bridge Japan to the rest of the world, then I will be honored to be part of the team that made it possible. Most importantly, I’m eager to work hard to earn my title as a Business Intelligence Engineer. My managers and co-workers here can all be my reference, I would very much like to have the opportunity to conduct an initial phone interview with you if possible. I can be reached at my work phone – xxxxxxxxxx. Please feel free to contact me at any time. Thank you very much for your consideration. Best regards, Nicholas Wang
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2006-06-02 Intermediate Lesson #16 - Finally Heading Home Takase san’s birthday today! Yoshi made brownies! そろそろ行きましょうか － Shall we get going? お会計お願いします － Check please. － 会計 － account, bill － 会計士 － accountant みそラーメンが二つだから、ななひゃくえんでございます －You had 2 miso ramen so… it’s 700yen please. ええ！あんなに美味しかったのに、そんなに安いんですか？ －Even though it was that delicious, is it that cheap?! 信じられないです ー I can’t believe it ごちそうさまでした － Thank you for the meal 気に入ってくれてよかった －I’m happy you liked it 毎度 － まいど －Everytime めんのこしが - the stiffness of the noodles まだ、いっらしゃっでね －Please come again － いっらしゃっる － 尊敬語 of いる まだ、彼女も一緒にね －again, with your girlfriend 可能性はなくもないですね －It’s not impossible － 可能性 － possibility - 可能性がある － There is the possibility － 以前もやりましたね、”可能性”の前には、動詞や形容詞や名詞を付けることできます － － 可能 － possible - 可能です － it’s possible 気分はどうですか －How do you feel すっきりしました －I feel refreshed じゃ、空港でしたっけ －umm, was it the airport? どこへいくんでしたっけ －where was it you were heading again? NYCに帰る積もりでしたけど －I was intending to go back to NYC but… いまから海外へ行く気分ではなくなりました －now I don’t feel like going overseas あのおばあさんに会って －after meeting that grandma 久しぶりに北海道へ帰りたくなりました －I feel like going back to Hokkaido, for the first time in a while でも、出稼ぎ中だし。。。 - but, I’m in the middle of saving money, among other things － 出稼ぎ － でかせぎ － working away from home この際、一緒に行きませんか －this time, won’t you go together with me? しかし、仕事があるし、お金もなくで －but I have work and… I don’t have money 私が全部負担しますよ －I’ll cover everything － 負担 － ふたん －burden, charge, responsibility あなたのお蔭で気分転換ができて －thanks to you, I was able to feel better 何か恩返しがしたいんです －I was to pay you back somehow せっかく同じ地元じゃないですか －plus, we have the same hometown － 折角 － せっかく －to go through the trouble, at great pains… but in this instance, the feeling conveyed is that of “I mean,” or “Come on,” you’re from the same town.” Thus adding more emphasis on the fact that as it is also the cab driver’s hometown, he should also go. Grammar Point ーっけ、 －な －particle found at end of sentences indicating one’s uncertainty. － used when you’re trying to verify something. U’ve heard it before, but you’re not sure. － 空港でしたっけ － なんだっけ － いいな ・ たいな － たいな - this な expresses one’s desire, but inability to do something － いいな - this statement express a slight form of envy, as the な conveys the feeling that the speaker wishes he could have the same experience, do the same thing, or possess the same possessions.
It has been 2 months since I last interviewed for that Yahoo JP Business Intelligence Engineer position, and they still haven’t found the right person. Proves me right… it’s hard to find someone with that kind of technical skills while being fluent in Japanese. Meanwhile, my other option was to migrate to our own Data Warehouse team…
I posted this on flyertalk’s forum but didn’t get an answer. However, from what I’ve read so far, seems like this American Express card is still pretty damn good. Right now, I’m just using my 1% coupon back Amazon.com Visa, a possible 5% cash back Discover… if the restaurant is nice enough to take Discover, and the Costco Amex with its incredibly convenient Costco rebates. Just for my own records, I’m copying my post here. Also, here’s another great resource on Bonus Points Opportunities.
At a place called “Suibi Japanese Restaurant” at 53rd St in Upper East Side. It’s Japanese Restaurant Week this week and I found this place on the list. At JapanesePod101, I had learned about Okinawa food like ゴーヤ チャンプル and タコライス and their unique alcohol 泡盛. They didn’t have “Taco Rice”, the Goya Champuru was ok but I don’t really like that bitter plant… We ordered something that looked pretty good on the menu, it’s called 豆腐よーうー and it’s described as Tofu added with 泡盛なっとう to become a cheese like texture… well, it turns out to be the same as a Chinese 腐乳 (is that how it’s written?) A tiny block of it cost me $8.75! I felt seriously ripped off! What are some other suggested food from Okinawa? I was disappointed last night, but I’ll definitely try again if I can find another place that serves Okinawan food. :)
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2006-05-02 Beginner Lesson #64 - Breaking Curfew 後もう少しで 家に着きます － あともうすごしで いえにつきます － We’ll be home in a moment 静かに 窓から入りましょう － しずかに まどからはいりましょう － Let’s go in through the window quietly 何の音 － なんのおと － what sound? ばれる － ばれます － to be exposed, to leak out － ばれました － “we were caught” － 秘密がばれる － to find out a secret － ばれるでしょう － you’ll get caught － ばらす － to expose someone, to discover someone － 結末をばらす － けつまつ － to expose (ruin) the ending 顔が真っ白 － かおがまっしろ － ちゃんと電話した － 門限は何時ですか － もんげん － what time is the curfew? － 門限に間に合う － まにあう － be in time for curfew － 門限に遅れる － おくれる － be late for curfew － 門限を破る － やぶる － to break curfew － 門限を守る － まもる － to keep your curfew これから門限を守りましょう － Let’s keep the curfew from now on. Point - Past Tense ー 過去形 かこけい Polite form - change ます to ました
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2006-05-01 Survival Phrases #19 - Pharmacy (Part 2) Yoshi and Takase were super funny in this lesson!! 江戸っ子 － えどっこ － Tokyoite, people who grew up in Tokyo area 栄養補給 － えいようほきゅう － nutritional supplement 医薬品 － いやくひん － pharmaceutical goods 医薬部外品 － いやくぶがいひん － quasi-drugs, goods that fall out of medical label マムシ － adder 雀蜂 － スズメバチ － wasp (VAAM ~ made from amino acid from wasp)
Just saw a program on Discover Times channel called “Could It Happen Here?” It talked about one thing that I’ve heard a lot about and when I was a kid, I was very concerned about ~ the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest. I guess after I moved to the US, I’ve heard far less about environment issues. (When I was in Hong Kong, I would watch British nature shows on TVB Pearl channel.) Here in the US, I would hear once in a while that “Yes… deforestation is still going on in Brazil…”, I think they say about the size of 3 football fields are cleared everyday? I’m not sure why, but the way that information was presented just doesn’t carry the same impact as before. This Discover Times program brought new light to my understanding of the issue. First and foremost, when they say “clearing the forest”, they actually meant “BURN IT THE FUCK DOWN!” Secondly, all these plants and animals eco-systems of the forest are actually burned for cattle! BEEF!!!! Thirdly, the burning goes on all over different places in the forest, (not just on the edges, as I had imagined). The Brazilian government has helicopters to fight these fires, but the area is huge and it takes time to reach the fires. Finally, all the burning is causing a vicious cycle, clearing the ground level and making it drier and easier to burn again. The amount of Carbon Dioxide released from all the burning is roughly equivalent to the same of the entire Western Europe’s car CO2 emission. Now think… what can we do to help this situation?
From: Nicholas Wang Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 1:21 PM To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: Saturn technical position: RX1xxxx18910 - Business Intelligence Analyst xxxさん、 メールありがとうございます。 質問の答えは下に書きました。 よろしくお願いします。 Nick
________________________________________ From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 7:27 PM To: Nicholas Wang Subject: RE: Saturn technical position: RX1xxxx18910 - Business Intelligence Analyst
Just got this email this morning… No pressure… take your time… except your response time will also be taken into consideration… so hurry up! LOL. I sent the reply by 1:20pm.
Support JapanesePod101 - visit their website, subscribe their podcast, join their community, spread the word! 2006-03-01 Beginner Lesson #41 － Tennis Anyone? 相性 ー あいしょう - affinity, compatability, chemistry 2006-03-02 Beginner Lesson # 42 - Harajuku or Mahjong? 賑やか ー にぎやか ー lively 鴨 ー かも ー duck, victom 必要 ー ひつよう ー necessary お金が必要です 2006-03-03 Intermediate Lesson #5 - Okinawa ＸＸてみる ー try something (て form verb + みる） 到着 ー とうちゃく ー arrive やっと ー finally （やっと海についた） （”やっと”を使って、例をあげてください ー ”やっと”をつかって、れいをあげてください ー Please give an example using “Yatto”.) 懐かしい ー なつかしい ー nostalgic ３０年 ぶり ー first time in 30 yrs ぶり ー add time in front of it to get “first time since X” やって見たい ー want to try to do いい考え ー いいかんがえ ー good idea 今四時半で、まだやってるかどうか。。。 It’s 4:30 now, (I don’t know) if e can still do it… 聞いて見よ ー きいてみよ ー try and ask 着替える ー きがえる ー change (clothes) （着替えよ） 凄い体してます ー すごいからだしてます ー great body Nick に全然勝ってる ー ぜんぜんかってる ー much better than Nick, bet Nick by a land slide がりがり ー skiny, skin & bones 泡盛 ー あわもり ー alcohol unique to Okinawa ゴーヤチャンプル ー stir fried goya (gourd) タコライス ー tacos rice without shells 付ける ー つける ー to put （肉を付けよ ー put some meat on) 更に ー さらに ー more, (what’s more) ぜひ ー by all means ぜひ沖縄へ、行って見てください ー by all means, please try to go to Okinawa 断りします ー ことわりします ー decline ずいぶん ー very 2006-03-04 Culture Class #9 - 花見 － Japanese Plum Blossoms 観梅 ー かんばい ー plum blossom viewing 梅酒 ー うめしゅ ー plum wine 名所 ー めいしょ ー famous place 梅雨 ー つゆ／ばいう ー rainy season 梅干し ー うめぼし ー dried, pickled plum
Support JapanesePod101 - visit their website, subscribe their podcast, join their community, spread the word! 2006-02-01 Beginner Lesson #29 － Cure for the Common Cold…Cold Medicine 結構 ー けっこう ー pretty, quite なかなか ー quite 風邪薬 ー かぜぐすり ー cold medicine (notice gusuri) 胃 ー い 薬 ー くすり いろいろ ー various, a lot 2006-02-03 Intermediate Lesson #1 － Meet Sayuri Suzuki 唯 ー ただ ー just, only 久々 ー ひさびさ ー been a while (casual) 久しぶり 暇 ー ひま ー free 締め切り ー しめきり ー deadline ちゃんと ー all right, properly 区切って ー くぎって ー break it down 出します ー だします ー hand in, submit 2006-02-04 Culture Class #5 － Japanese Valentine’s Day (V-Day with a Twist)! 本命チョコ ー ほんめいチョコ ー chocolate given to guys u r serious about on Valentine’s day. 義理チョコ ー ぎりチョコ ー obligatory choco (for co-workers) 手作りチョコ ー てつくり ー handmade ともチョコ ー given to friends 告白 ー こくはく ー confessions of affection
2005-12-27 Survival Phrases #3 ー Dining Tips お会計 ー おかいけい ー Check! ご馳走様 ー ごちそうさま（でした） ー good meal 2005-12-29 Beginner Lesson #8 － Pickup Lines (No Guarantees) 素敵 ー すてき ー beautiful, handsome, gorgeous 煩い ー うるさい ー noisy, annoying 格好いい － かっこういい － cool (for guys) 2005-12-30 Beginner Lesson #9 － Counting Down the New Year あけおめ ー short for 明けましておめでとうございます ことよろ ー short for 今年もよろしくお願いします 2005-12-31 Beginner Lesson #10 － Last Episode of the Year 大晦日 ー おおみそか ー New year’s eve 紅白歌合戦 ー こうはくうたがっせん ー 年越し蕎麦 ー としこしそば ー buckwheat noodle eaten on new year’s eve. お年玉 ー おとしだま ー money given as gifts to children in an envelope 良いお年を ー よいおとしを ー “Happy New Year” (before new year comes, usually to someone u speak to for the last time that year.)