It's beginning to look a lot like 春

I love cherry blossoms. I love drinking beer in the park and looking at all the trees in bloom. I love when the sky is blue and the breeze is noticeable but gentle.

This was a great 花見 in the park.

自動化が救いです。

Here's a little collection of some of my favorite phrases in English translated into Japanese:

自動化が救いです。

Automation is Salvation.

選択する事他を拒絶する事です。

Choosing is Refusing.

金銭が諸悪の本源です。

Money is the root of all evil.

That's fun - copy and paste it into Google Translate if you need to see the readings - it's more fun in Kanji.

差別

I'm sure I've blogged about 差別(さべつ) before, but whenever I find some evidence of it being alive and well in Japan, it is my sworn duty to post said evidence online.

This is by no means indicative of everyone in society by any means - but it is clearly a money-making sentiment in this district.

金粉

金粉(きんぷん) is a particular kind of sake with gold flakes floating amongst the sweet deliciousness of fermented rice grains.

Heck yes I drank it.

Next time someone tells me I'm full of shit, I'm going to tell them it's gold plated.

Hell Yes

This is how you say ヒーロ in Japanese:

http://www.good.is/post/people-are-awesome-this-guy-scuba-dived-into-the-tsunami-to-rescue-his-wife-and-mother/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+good%2Flbvp+%28GOOD+Main+RSS+Feed%29

FAIL

Fair and Balanced

I like to consider myself a scientist. I hate doing experiments and keeping track of data - but all the other science-y aspects like thinking hard and nodding approvingly when piles of data are presented in dry, overly difficult scientific papers are just my style.

I subscribe to EuroTechnology Japan's newsletter. They have posted three really fantastic updates regarding the situation in Japan with the nuclear power plant. I invite everyone to read it and soak in the knowledge like your skin soaks in... ok it's too soon for that kind of stuff.

Awesome ramen

Check this place out. This is authentic Hakata ramen. It's gritty, grimey, and I'm not sure if the walls were white or if they were covered with hardened lard from years of neglect, but the ramen tasted great.

I can still smell the oily filth on my hair and clothes. And you don't need to know what the aftermath is going to look like. It's going to be epic.

w00t!

That is all.

At least I'm not alone

In thinking that Japanese is hard.

But I have these questions:

1. How did they calculate their "time to learn" values?

The tiny text says that the US Department of State compiles this information based on the amount of time it takes a native speaker to achieve proficiency. But - how did they calculate that?

2. What is "proficiency" as far as they are concerned?

3. Who was tested?

Infographic for Languages