Headache and Nico Nico!

こんばんは、みんなさん！(konbanwa, minna san)

... headache... hurts... DX

So, this weekend, I joined a website called ニコニコ動画. (nico nico douga)
Well, I know less Japanese than I thought I did... 0.o

I CAN'T READ ANYTHING!!! T.T
(Well, I can read the Katakana and Hiragana, but that's all... I can't make out any of the sentences or what any of the buttons do or... ya, I'm hopeless...)

Well, I have been working on Kanji. I got through... 130(?) or so reviews in the past few days. (This doesn't mean I know them by heart, it means that I looked over them and wrote them out a few times...)

Well, school started again, but it looks like I will have plenty of time to spend working on Japanese this semester. ^-^ I'm glad!

Oh, I haven't done a random 日本語(nihongo) dictionary word in a while! Maybe I'll do one next time if I remember. XD

Ok, my headache hurts a lot worse than it did when I started typing this, so I'm going now.

^-^ Thank you for reading! I'll see you again!
ありがとうございました！さようなら！(arigatou gozaimasu. sayounara)

No snow for Christmas...

こんにちは！(konnichiwa)
Hello everyone!

So, there was no snow for Christmas where I live... T.T Much sad.
I love snow sooo much!!! 雪大好き！(yuki daisuki)

so... Random 日本語! (nihongo)
Word: 優しい(yasashii)
Meaning: gentle, tender, kindly, considerate
Example sentence: 田中さんは心の優しい人です。(Tanaka san wa kokoro no yasashii hito desu.) [Mr.] Tanaka is a kindhearted person.

Ah, I like that word!

Oh, there's another "yasashii".
Word: 易しい (yasashii)
Meaning: easy, simple
Example sentence: 日本語は易しいですか。難しいですか。(Nihongo wa yasashii desu ka? Muzukashii desu ka?) Is Japanese easy? Or is it hard?

Well, two in one day isn't so bad. I'm actually really happy because I could mostly understand both of the example sentences when I was reading them! I hope that means that I'm improving!!!

Anyways, my goal this year is to become fluent in 日本語！(nihongo)
It's going to take a lot of work and I most likely will not become fluent in just one year, but It's important to have goals in life and I recently realized that I don't have any goals for myself...

Please support me on this journey!!!

Thank you for reading my blog! ありがとうございます！(arigatou gozaimasu)
I'll write again later this week! Bye bye for now! さようなら！(sayounara)

メッリクリスマス！！！(merry Christmas!)

こんばんは！元気ですか？(konbanwa! genki desu ka?)

I'm very happy today! Because this にちようび (nichiyoubi) is Christmas!!! ^-^

I like Christmas very much!

I'm very happy about that! And on top of that we are having a guest to our house! XD

OK, on to the 日本語！(nihongo)

Word: 石 (ishi)
Meaning: stone, rock, pebble
Example sentence: この橋は石でできています。(Kono hashi wa ishi de dekite imasu.) This bridge is made of stone.

There are two more "ishi"s in my dictionary so I'll list them also, but with no example sentences.

意志 (ishi)- means "will" (be weak willed// be firm willed// of one's own free will)

意思 (ishi)- means "intent, purpose, intention"

So! Here is a funny post from Maru-chan! ^-^

Also! DANCEROID was part of a flash mob!!! XD

So, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and I will write again on げつようび！(getsuyoubi)

(note to self: learn the kanji for the days of the week... 0.o)

バイバイ！メッリクリスマス！！！(bye bye! Merry Christmas!)

Time Management

こんばんは、みんなさん！(konbanwa, minna-san!)
How is everyone today?

So, have you ever had those times when you want to get something done and then you don't do it?

That's what I'm going through right now.

I wanted to practice kanji every day because I slacked off around exams, but I've only practiced kanji a few times this week... I feel kinda bad about it.

Don't get me wrong though! I listen to and watch things in Japanese every day! (For the greater part of the day.) So I have a high intake of Japanese every day, which is a good thing. The problem is that what I wanted to do I'm not doing as much as I should.

Anyways, moving on: Random 日本語 (nihongo) time!!! ^-^

Word: むく or 向く (muku)
Meaning: face;turn toward, look toward; suit, be geared for
Example sentence: わたしの部屋は南に向いています。(Watashi no heya wa minami ni muite imasu.) My room faces south.

I feel bad for only giving one of the examples when the dictionary gives multiple... but I can only hold it open with one hand and type with the other for so long before I feel like my hand is losing feeling! ^-^;

Well, I've taken enough of your time. I guess I should go practice kanji now that I'm thinking about it... but that probably won't happen! ^-^

Does anyone else not like peanut butter but find themselves eating it rather frequently? 0.o

Well, thanks for reading! ありがとうございました！(arigatou gozaimashita)
さようなら！(sayounara)

ごめんなさい！！！(gomen nasai)

こんばんは、みんなさん！(konbanwa, minna-san!)
ごめんなさい！(gomen nasai!)
I'm sorry that I didn't post yesterday! I have no excuse! v.v

So... My school is finally over now... So I'll be practicing 日本語(nihongo) more often now! Yay!

Anyways, I don't remember what I was going to post yesterday... hopefully it will come back to me as I type! So Until I remember, here is the random 日本語(nihongo) of the day!!!

Word: たけ or 丈 (take (tah-keh))
Meaning: length, height, stature
Example Sentence: このズボンは丈が短すぎます。(Kono zubon wa take ga mijikasugimasu.) These trousers (pants, slacks) are too short.

Ah, I love my Japanese-English Dictionary! ^-^

あの。。。Please enjoy random things that I have found this week!

Dance I love: けいたん・暴徒・今岡さん】Cyber Thunder Cider サイバーサンダーサイダー 

Song and video I love: World's End Dancehall ワールズエンド・ダンスホール 【PV作ってみた】 
Oh, the song doesn't start till 1:35 or somewhere around there, but watch the beginning to understand what's going on. ^-^

Maru-chan! <3

Oh! I remember! I found an anime this week and it was very interesting! I enjoyed it! The anime is called Kaze no Stigma! Here is some more information about it. ^-^

Thanks so much for reading today!!! I'm sorry about my late posting! Please have a safe weekend!
 ^-^ ありがとうございました！(arigatou gozaimashita)
さようなら！(sayounara)

Pomegranate

こんばんはみんなさん！！！(konbanwa minna-san!)

きょうわげつようびです！(kyou wa getsuyoubi desu)

あの。。。(ano...)

I have this thing with fruit, or くらもの(kuramono), that I kind of brought up in my post about Watermelon and Squid. Well, I love くらもの(kuramono). It's as simple as that. So, I was very happy when my mom bought me a pomegranate a bit larger than the size of a baseball! Well, I ate it tonight. All of it. (Except for the last little bit that I gave to my mom because I couldn't finish it.) So, now would be a good time to talk about food because it won't make me hungry!!!

So, about three weeks ago, one of my awesome friends made some kimchi-pork-rice cake stew type stuff. It was really good!!! It was my first time having kimchi too, but I like it!!! It was very spicy though...

Speaking of spicy: curry! I have had some interesting experiences with curry and because of these experiences, my above mentioned friend has banned me from eating curry in her presence.
But it's yummy!!!

Anyways, I'll do the random word from the dictionary with an example sentence again because I have nothing else to say today...

Word: しかる(shikaru)
Meaning: scold, reprimand, lecture
Example sentence: お母さんがいたずらした子供をしかっています。(Okaasan ga itazura shita kodomo o shikatte imasu.) The child who played the trick is being scolded by its mother.

So! Now that's done... Oh! We went to a used books store the other night and there was a Japanese book on a table that said "$1" so my mom bought it for me!!! I'm very happy!!! (Although I can't tell what any of it reads as, I can only pick out the kanji for large (大), beginning (元)... and a couple of others. Anyways.

Ah, I need to go to bed now. Thank you for reading my blog!　ありがとうございます！(arigatou gozaimasu) See you next time!!! On... きにょうび！(kinyoubi)

バイバイ！(bai bai!)

Finals and after

こんばんは！みんなさん、げんきですか？(konbanwa! minna-san, genki desu ka?)

Hello again! I finished a lot of homework at the beginning of the week!!!
... So I slacked off the past few days.... T.T

Anyways, since it's the end of the semester, I'll be having my final exams next week! I only have four, so I hope I can do well!!!

Speaking of the end of the semester, one of my friends in Japan told me that the semesters for school are from April to August and then from September to February... I wonder, if the semesters are different, how will I study abroad??? (o.o)

So, anyways, after school gets out at the end of the week, I HAVE A PLAN!
I'm really excited! XD
So, my plan is that with the free time, I can study Japanese more because I haven't had time to at all lately!!! T.T
I really wanna study Japanese!!!
Also, I'll have time to practice the piano because I really need to. And I'll be looking for a job because I really need one... But anyways. I'm very excited about the break!!!

Oh, also I want to practice German with my mom (she speaks German fluently)! I think the amount of German I know is equal to the amount of Japanese I know...

Anyways, that's all for now. ありがあとうございます！！！(arigatou gozaimasu) Thank you so much for reading!!! I hope that soon I will be able to improve and use better Japanese (and more) in these posts!!!

さようなら！(sayounara)

Oh, one more thing! Check out this amazing Japanese beatboxer!!! XD

ラムネ(ramune)

こんばんは！！！(konbanwa)

Today was an interesting day. My computer was having some issues, but thanks to my amazing-awesome brother, I think it's fixed!!! XD

So, today I want to show you one of my favorite Japanese drinks!

ラムね！(ramune)

Ramune is a Japanese soda. The really interesting part is that it's a glass bottle and what seals it is a little marble, so once you push the marble in you can drink it! But you can't close it. It's really fun!!! It comes with directions on how to open it too, so those people like me can know what they're doing. ^-^

I got this when I went shopping with one of my very good friends and her sister this week (I met her sister for the first time then). It's been so long since I found one!!! Anyways, I wonder if I'll drink it soon... ^-^; This one is Melon flavored! They also have Strawberry and Original. I've seen a few other types here in America, but I didn't really like them and I can't remember what they are anyways.

Well, that's all for today!!! Thank you for reading! ありがとうございます! (arigatou gozaimasu)

さようなら！！！(sayounara)

Um...

こんばんは、みんなさん。。。(konbanwa, minna-san...)
おげんきですか？(ogenki desu ka?)
aaaaa..... I don't wanna do anything today.......

In the famous words of Yukari-sensei: "Maybe I should stop................. thinking....................."

This week is my Thanksgiving break, so I don't have school all week! Ah, how nice it is to sleep in...... I set a new record for myself in sleeping in! I slept until 10 AM.

0.o

Inner self: "Oh no! This is bad!!! I can't sleep in that long!!! What happened to that plan for getting all my homework done?! AAAAaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Hmmmmm, at ten in the morning here it would beeee.... midnight... in Japan.... I think.
There I go thinking again... XD

Um, ya, so that won't be happening again.

So, tomorrow I'm meeting with a very good friend of mine! We haven't seen each other in a while so, it will most definitely be fun!!!

Ahhhh... what to wear.....

Anyways! I'm getting tired even though I slept in so long, so I'll be off to bed now!

Thank you for reading even though I talked about randomness today! ありがとうございます！(arigatou gozaimasu)

Good night!!! おやすみなさい！(oyasumi nasai!)

(Oh, speaking of times, it's just after 10 PM on Monday right now, so it's just after noon on Tuesday in Japan! ^-^)

New!

こんばんはみんなさん！！！(konbanwa minna-san)
げんきですか？(genki desu ka)

............................................................

I had a cold... All week.

Colds are no fun!!! Because all of a sudden you start to cough in class and you can't stop and people stare at you!!! I don't like to be stared at...

Anyways! I wanted to share some news today!!! My 兄(ani, "older brother") sent me something that I really wanted!!! He sent me the type of dictionary that my sister has!!! (If you remember, I used it when posting this.) It is The Japan Foundation's Basic Japanese-English Dictionary Second Edition. Ah! I'm so happy!!! It's new too and the pages feel soft!!! I love it very much!!!

OK! Time to open to a random page, point to a random spot, and share what I find!!!

まず第一に健康に気をつけなければなりません。(Mazu daiichi ni kenko ni ki o tsukenakereba narimasen.) "One should take care of one's health above all else."

.......................................................... Wow............................ How fitting......

OK, well I guess I should explain it a bit... The word being talked about here is 第一に(daiichi ni) which means "first, first of all". The sentence I shared is an example of how it can be used. In this situation, 第一に(daiichi ni) can also mean "above all else". I can see the connection between "first of all" and "above all else" so OK. Well then, that's that.

あの。。。(ano)

So, I have all of next week off of school because of Thanksgiving so I hope to study 日本語(nihongo) lots!!! But I also have a lot of schoolwork to do because finals are in... 0.o They're in three weeks!!! 0.o O noes!

Well, I'll post again on げつようび！(getsuyoubi) Everyone, please have a safe and fun weekend!

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog! ありがとうございます！(arigatou gozaimasu) If I have made any mistakes and you know the correction, please let me know! I would appreciate it very much!

For now, さようなら！！！(sayounara)

(Side note: To Kerryn, I meant to post a comment for you but for some reason I can't comment on things. Thank you very much for following my blog too! I hope we can both help each other learn Japanese!
Everyone! Please check out Kerryn's blog too!!!)

結婚式 (kekkonshiki)

こんにちは！(konnichiwa!)

I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday like I should have. Yesterday was a very special day! Yesterday was my brother's 結婚式！(kekkonshiki)

It was his wedding!!!

(結婚式 (kekkonshiki) means "a marriage ceremony, wedding" according to my sisters Japanese-English dictionary.)

Ah, it was beautiful and I'm so happy for my brother and new sister-in-law!!! ^-^

御結婚おめでとうございます。(gokekkon omedeto gozaimasu)
(Congratulations on your marriage!!!!)

がんばってくらさい！(ganbatte kurasai!)

I will always love you two!!! So please do your best!!!

\(^-^)/

Takarazuka!!!

おはようございます！！！(ohayou gozaimasu!)
きょうわかようびです、でも。。。(kyou wa kayoubi desu, demo...)
Even though today is Tuesday I'm going to post because I want to share what I discovered!

As the title suggests, I discovered Takarazuka!!!
I'm talking about the Takarazuka Music School and Theater. And yes, there will be examples! \(^-^)/
From what I know, Takarazuka Music School is a very famous all girls school for music, dance and theater and all girls who attend can move on to perform in the Takarazuka Theater. Since it's all girls, girls play both the male and female roles in the plays and musicals that they perform.

I actually had been exposed to Takarazuka earlier on and I never knew it until yesterday. If you have read my post An Obsession... you will know that I love the anime Ouran Highschool Host Club. Well, in the 9th episode (sorry, here's some spoilers) the Zuka club comes to Ouran and wants to shut down the Host club because they believe strongly in feminine superiority (or something like that...). Well, the Zuka club was based on Takarazuka, so that is where I was exposed to it before I ever knew about it! Also, the "Zuka club" is actually a nickname for Takarazuka. (I think... in the Japanese anime it's pronounced "zukabu"and the translators note said that it was a nickname for Takarazuka.)

So, That's really all I know about it, but I'm looking up more about it because I think it's interesting and they are really good actors and dancers and singers!!! Ok, example time!!! Please enjoy the videos!!!

TAKARAZUKA FOREVER 
Takarazuka: Ko Minoru/Yuri Hoshina on a Japanese Talk Show 
takarazuka - Rose of Versailles Memorandam 

Thank you very much for reading!!! And please enjoy the videos!!! I would put more, but I have to go to class so I can't... 0.o Anyways... ありがとうございます！！！さようなら！(arigatou gozaimasu! sayounara!)

きにょうびです！(kinyoubi desu)

こんばんはみんなさん！！！(konbanwa minna-san)
げんきですか？(genki desu ka)

Ah, it's been getting colder lately! Usually I don't want to wear an extra jacket and some gloves but the other day I was very grateful to have them with me!!! It was very cold!

And then we went and had ice cream. :D

Anyways, not much has happened this week... Unfortunately, with the end of the semester coming so quickly, I have to devote a lot more time to studying for my classes... It's very hard! I have a lot of trouble in my math class especially because my Professor doesn't explain things very well at all. So I'll just have to work extra hard! ^-^

I actually really tried in class today and I kind of understood how to do what we were talking about, but I went a lot slower than the rest of the class so I had to switch between taking notes on what my Professor was talking about next and finishing the problem we were just working on because my professor moved on without me (of course he didn't see that I was still working on the problem and I managed to finish it after that so it'n not a big deal). Nonetheless I figured it out, so that's good!

But anyways, I have a lot of studying to do from now on and it's gonna be tough balancing things I want to do and things I have to do. I guess I'll make it work, I always do. Oh, and I have an essay I have to write soon too...

Speaking of writing, I posted a review of the book called Totto-chan on my other blog and my mom told me that my writing style is maturing! ^-^ That made me happy! I hope I can improve my writing in both English and 日本語(nihongo)!!!

Anyways, I'm gonna go now. Thank you for reading! And if you want to share my blog with people I would be very grateful! ありがとうございます！さようなら！！！(arigatou gozaimasu! sayounara!)

I guess I should share a song before I go, so here you go!
[SS] S/mileage aMa no Jaku (Subtitled) 
The lyrics and how happy the singers are don't seem to go together, but it's a really addicting song! I found this group this week, they're pretty good!

みなさん！(mina-san) Happy Halloween!

Hey there! ^-^

Today is Halloween! I dressed up in Gothic Lolita. It was fun and I felt so pretty!

So, at my school we're registering for next semesters classes and I have to pick out the classes that I want... It's really confusing because at first nobody even told me what was going on so I finally wrestled some answers out of my friends and some of the people who help with advisement. So I just have to piece together a schedule now and hope I can get the classes I want! ^-^

In にほんご(nihongo) stuff, I found a really adorable song that I want to share with you.

ステキな日曜日～Gyu Gyu グッデイ～ PV Full 

かわいい！！！(kawaii)

I feel really bad that I haven't worked on my にほんご(nihongo) very much lately... Hopefully I can do a lot more this week and continue to improve!!!

Anyways, thank you for reading my blog! I really am grateful!!! ありがとうございます！さようなら！(arigatou gozaimasu! sayounara!)

By the way, Friday night and Saturday it was snowing!!! ゆき！ゆき大好き！！！(yuki! yuki daisuki!!!) I love snow!

Reading にほんご(nihongo)

Reading Kanji is a good way to learn にほんご(nihongo). You don't have to understand the characters right away, just become familiar with the characters used and continue reading them as you learn. Also, re-read as you learn the meanings of more of the Kanji. ^-^ I'll post some of my favorite にほんご(nihongo) sites/blogs for you to look at!

Kozue-chan's Blog!
Ikura-san's Blog!
Maru-chan!!!
Nonstop Tube!

^-^ Enjoy! And sorry there's not much Japanese in this post... I'll have another post for Monday!!! Have an awesome weekend!!! XD

マル・マル・モリ・モリ！(maru maru mori mori!)

こんばんは！みなさん！！！(konbanwa mina-san!)

おげんきですか？(o-genki desu ka?)

げんきです！！！(genki desu!)

I'm really happy today!!! Can you guess why? XD I'll give you a hint, it's in the title!

YAY! It's time for a video!!!

マル・マル・モリ・モリ！(maru maru mori mori!)

あああ！かわいいです！(aaah! kawaii desu!!!)

This has to be the cutest thing I saw today other than an adorable kitten that a friend sent me a video of! ^-^ Soooooo cute!!!

So, moving on, my awesome friend that I mentioned in a few of my previous posts who is helping me with にほんご(nihongo) told me about a site called Nonstop Tube. ( by the way, the link will lead to the Japanese one.) So it's pretty awesome! What you do is you copy and paste kanji that you don't know or that you're learning into the box and click the "youtube" button underneath it and it will play everything it can find on youtube that has that kanji in it non-stop!!! XD (another by the way, you could type in anything. band names, peoples names, random phrases, etc. I just can't guarantee the results...) So yes, that made me happy. And yes, that is where I found マル・マル・モリ・モリ!

Have fun with all of this! ^-^ And I hope you have a good week! I'll try to keep up with my studies! Thank you very much for reading my blog, I appreciate it a lot! And I'll see you next time! さようなら！(sayounara) ありがとうございます！(arigatou gozaimasu!)

... Speaking of my friend, I saw him today but he was talking with somebody and then I didn't see him when we normally hang out... and apparently he wasn't in class today... I hope he's not sick... D:

Psychology

I love my Psychology class...

I love how late at night it is...

I love getting home at 9 at night and thinking, "foodfoodfoodfoodfoodblogfoodhomework...food"...

Anyways...

So! こんばんは！(konbanwa!)
Well, I am officially in love with a new song! It's by Tokyo Girls Style! It's super cute! I found out about the song from Kozue's translated blog! Thank you to the translator for sharing Kozue-san's blog with those of us who can't read にほんご(nihongo) yet!!! XD

so, there's a link to the video on her blog also, but I'll put the link here too!

Ah, that's all I have... I'm really tired so I should probably get to bed soon! ^-^

Thanks for reading and please have a good week! ありがとうございます！さようなら！(arigatou gozaimasu! sayounara!)

(By the way, I actually do love my Psychology class, I just don't like how late it is... well, it's only on Mondays so I can survive another 8-9 weeks! XD)

びくりした！！！(bikurishita)

こんばんは！みなさん！！！(konbanwa! mina-san!)

How are all of you lovely people today? Good? Good.

So! My awesome friend who's helping me out with some にほんご(nihongo) taught me a new word!!!

びくりした！(bikurishita)

It means "Oh! You surprised me!" or "You scared me!!!" or something along those lines. ^-^

さ！I'm going to give you a little example of how this word works. Since it's October, I'll do an example for Halloween. (Just so you know, I really dislike scary things. I can't handle them at all! So if you were hoping for something こわい(kowai) I'm sorry it's not gonna happen.)

Two kids are walking along the street in their costumes going from door to door "trick-or-treating".
Kid 一(ichi): "I wanna go to that house! there's a rumor that the guy there gives spare change instead of candy!!!"
Kid 二(ni): "OK! いく！(iku) Let's go!"
The two walk up to the house and knock on the door... no one answers. They exchange nervous glances and try again. Still, no one answers the door.
Kid 一: "Maybe it was just a rumor after all..."
The two turn to go and suddenly the door opens quickly and someone is laughing!
Both kids: 「あああああ！」(aaaaah!)
They turn and see one of their friends from school laughing in the doorway.
Friend: "Ahaha! That was really funny!!!"
Kid 一: "No it wasn't! びくりした！！！"
Friend: Ya! That was kinda the point!"

So, there you have it! A little example of how to use びくりした!

On a side note, I went trick-or-treating with two of my friends in my sophomore year of high school and one of my friends actually knew of a guy who gave spare change instead of candy! He kept his porch light off so you could only go if you knew about him! XD Ah, good times, good times... ^-^

Well, thanks for reading! I hope it wasn't to random and stuff! Have a good weekend! ありがとうございます！さようなら！！！(arigatou gozaimasu! sayounara!)

Let me share some culture!!!

こんばんは！(konbanwa)

I know, my post is a day late, well, ya...

Anyways, I'm gonna share some culture with you!!!

集団行動 

My finding this video came about because I was reminded of this by a certain video my brother sent me! XD

OK, so in other news, I've been working on my Kanji lately! I was thiiiiiiiiis close to posting something about Kanji on にちようび(nichiyoubi), but I decided against it because I had to go somewhere... 0.o

So, ya. This is all for today! Please enjoy! Thank you for reading!!!

ありがとうございます！さようなら！(arigatou gozaimasu! sayounara!)

Anki!

こんばんは！(konbanwa)

おげんきですか？(o-genki desu ka)

Hihi!!! So! I've started learning Kanji!!! I'm learning the meanings before I learn how to pronounce them because learning stroke order, how to say them, what they mean, AND what they look like all at once is overwhelmingly much for my poor little brain!!! And my friend suggested I do it this way so i don't burn out right away. :D

あんお。。。(ano)

Ah! Anki! Anki is something you download and it's pretty much flashcards, and you can have a lot of decks or you can make your own and it's really helpful for learning Kanji and the rest of Kana! I've been using it for the past few days and I think it's actually helped me a lot already! A lot of language learners use Anki apparently.

Aaaaah... Have you ever had that really sad feeling deep in your heart when you finish a movie or show you absolutely love or you have to leave a friends house after having the funnest time with your friends? Well, I just finished watching Lucky Star again about 4-5 hours ago and that feeling is still lingering... 0.o

And yes, I love Lucky Star!

ああああああああああああああ。。。

It's the weekend! XD

So, I'll post again on げつようび！(getsuyoubi) Thank you for reading, as always! ありがとうございます！さようなら！(arigatou gozaimasu! sayounara!)