あ．．．つ．．．い～ ＞＿＜；；；

Okazaki was almost hit by a typhoon yesterday/ today. Apparently there are 3 of them stalking around Japan right now, and the imaginitively-named Typhoon No. 7 (don't ask me what happened to 1 thru 6) swung juuuust past us. Shame really, would've been a bit of excitement. Oh well, at least it gave me a good opportunity to learn the kanji for "typhoon" (台風).

So, instead of wind and rain (which might well have made me homesick, I suppose, being British and all) today we have had intense heat and humidity. Looks like it's gonna be this way (and possibly worse) for at least another month, so spare a thought for poor little me while you sit basking in the coolness of your temperate zones.

Another test tomorrow. Finding it very difficult to remember things sometimes. Especially adverbs, for some reason. Two such that I often get confused are "taitei", which means "usually/in general" (in frequency terms); and "daitai" which means "generally/the outline". Hopefully you can see where I'm having problems. Also, many seem to have several meanings, just to make things more confusing. For instance "zutto" can mean "a lot more than", "for a long time", "direct", and God only knows what else.

Still, bank holidays next Monday and Tuesday, as it's obonyasumi. This is the Buddhist festival of the dead (cheery!) in which one is supposed to return to one's ancestral home, visit the graves of one's relatives, light bonfires to guide the spirits home, and dance a nice bonodori. As for me, I think I'm off to Nagoya instead with some classmates. 　And no doubt sleeping a lot.

Also, the lovely Hada-sensei informs me that she can't access this site right now...anyone else having problems?

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昨日、岡崎に台風が危うく振っていました。　台風７号でした。　台風１－６について、どこへ行った？？　分からない。

キャ～、最近、いつも暑いだぞ！！　イギリス人では、暑すぎると思います。　イギリスに、夏は大体１ヶ月ぐらいかなり暑いです。　それに、日光になかなかやけどをしています。　だから、日中、出かければ、少し痛くなります。　大変だね。

明日はそらにもう一つの(yet another)テストがあります。　最近、勉強することが覚えられないと思います。　言葉や形やルールなどすごく多いだから、難しくて大変だよ。　それに、副詞もよく間違っています。　例えば、私では「たいてい」と「だいたい」が特に難しい。　意味と読む方はちょっと同じですから。

じゃ、来週はお盆休みです。　よかった．．．休みが入用だな．．．
友達と名古屋へ遊びに行こうと思っています。

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岡崎花火大会 / Okazaki Fireworks Festival

Yesterday was an obscenely hot Saturday and also Okazaki's fireworks festival. As one of the few things Okazaki is known for is it's fireworks industry, this festival is a big deal and is attended by hundreds of thousands of people.

So it was very crowded, and very hot, but I enjoyed it. The fireworks were pretty amazing. I went with a large group of fellow students and we grabbed a place by the river, but myself and a couple others moved after some people who had resevered the space beforehand turned up. So, I wound up watching most of the action from the bridge (where you weren't techincally allowed to stand and watch, but many people did, despite the repeated entreaties from the police to keep moving).

I managed to shoot some dodgy video from our temporary position on the bridge, and I've uploaded it to YouTube, watch it here. My camera sucks and there are people in the way, but it gives you some idea I suppose. Also, in the background you can hear the PA system (which periodically played music, adverts and announcements) playing none other than everyone's favorite 1980s German disco muppets, Dschinghis Khan!!! (who were also responsible for cult camp euro-disco classic, Moskau). Rock and Roll!!

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昨日、岡崎花火大会へ行きました。　楽しかったですけど、　天気も暑いし、　人もすごく多いし、　ちょっと苦しかった。　でも、　ゆかた着ってきれいな女の人も多いから、　よかったです。

花火はとても印象的だったと思います。　岡崎の花火は有名ので、　やっぱりすごいでした。　たくさん見た人はよく「すご～い！」と言っていました。

大部花火がはしからみました。　短いビデオを撮りました。　私のビデオはＹＯＵＴＵＢＥで見えます、　こちら。　ですけど、　ちょっと悪い。。。

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まんが： 服も脱がずにコーヒーができるかー！！

最近、　いくらあまり分からなくても、時々漫画を読んでいる 。　例えば、「クレヨンしんちゃん」。　いくら日本語がとても悪くてバカ漫画ですけど、　しんちゃんはおもしろいし、　きょうみもあるしと思います。　しんちゃんの地口(pun?)はよく面白い。　そして、　わたしはしんちゃんに学校で習わないし大切し言葉を習っている。。。例えば、　「オシッコ」や「ちんーちん」や「ウンチ」など。　たいせつです、　覚えてください。

しかし、　最近の私の一番面白い漫画は「セクシーコマンドー外伝：すごいよ！！マサルさん」だ　(英語で)。　ずっと前、マサルさんのアニメを見ました、　だから、　日本へくる時、　漫画を読みたかった。　とても面白くてたのしい漫画と思くても、　すごくおかしです。　意味がぜんぜんありませんから、　ぎ言だ。　物語はナンセンスだけど、　キャラや言葉は滑稽です。

YOUTUBEで見えます。

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日本語

Just a quick note: this blog was originally intended as a means of keeping the folks back home up to date on what I was up to, but as it is now being read by various Japanese speakers (friends, teachers at my school, etc.), plus because it's good practice, I will occasionally attempt to write entries in Japanese. If you don't have Japanese fonts installed on your computer, these entries will probably show up as a bunch of question marks or something.

Ja!

今から、時々ブロッグに日本語で書くつもりです！　きっと、まだ上手じゃないから、よくまちがっています。。。だから、日本語話す人、私に正してあげてくださいませんか。

じゃねー♩

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バルコニー

Just wanted to say: haha, I have a balcony and you don't (probably). Pwned!

Not to gloat but I sit out here and study most nights and it's jolly clement - except, that is, for the a**holes who keep tooling up and down my road on ridiculously loud motorbikes. I convinced this town has a roaming gang of biker yakuza or something; bikes are everywhere, and it seems to be a case of the louder the better. And now I've said that they're probably gonna track me down and cut my fingers off or something.

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