So I'm still slowly reading my way through the Fushigi Yuugi 'Genbu Kaiden' series. I'm going slowly because a) it's all in Japanese, and b) sometimes the story lulls or gets a bit chore and I stop for a while ( Read more... )

The horrible, hysterical barking dog next door has reduced me to such a state of seething hate that I've found myself moving, over the last few months, from 'I quite like most dogs' to 'I'm not really a dog person' to 'I have to really force myself not to sneer when other people talk fondly about their dogs ( Read more... )

You know when you're a kid and you design your own 'dream house' - 'and here's the slide, and in this room is a zoo, and this room has a hundred video games in it ( Read more... )

Today I felt proud because I spent the afternoon reading a manga. So, big deal? Well, because I started it, and finished it, today, and all in Japanese. Normally if I read anything in Japanese it's been quite a long-term project - I've had some manga that I read in bits over several weeks, for instance ( Read more... )

I sometimes get students adding me on Facebook. My rule of thumb is not to add any students as 'friends' until their course is finished and I'm no longer their teacher. Still, having a variety of ex-students as Facebook friends makes me a bit more careful about laughing at student mistakes in Facebook posts, ha ha… maybe I should put them here ( Read more... )

There was an ad on TV for some new gadget and, like a lot of this sort of ad, had a kind of theme of 'the future is now! let's make the future happen now, get connected, blah blah ( Read more... )

Japanese proficiency test results out today ( Read more... )

Gahh, I was really enjoying the women's tennis final. It's rare to have a match where a) I am really rooting for one of the players in particular, and b) that player has at least some chance of winning the match. In this case, I really wanted to see Li Na take it ( Read more... )

*sigh ( Read more... )

Me, teaching: "Now, when you write an essay, take some time first to plan it. It's really important to plan before you start. Make an outline of your essay's paragraphs and what you're going to say in each one ( Read more... )