Word of the Day

trilemma

Yes, it's exactly what you think it is. The definition, from the OED: A situation, or (in Logic) a syllogism, of the nature of a DILEMMA, but involving three alternatives instead of two.

I am currently working on my paper for Professor MacDougall's class and after encountering trilemma in one of my sources, I am seriously considering making an attempt to work the word into my own paper.

Can you hear me now?

Today, I received this message on my phone:
"Thank you for using SoftBank. Your recharge account expired on 2007/06/26. You are not able to make calls. Recharge now and enjoy more our prepaid service."

Interestingly enough, in Japan, most cell phones receive calls for free, but now that my prepaid credit has expired, I can't make calls or send emails. Fortunately, recharging is just a few clicks away on SoftBank's website.

Phrase of the Day

Today, while riding on the bus on my way to school, I stood next to a woman who was reading a book for learning English. The book had one conversation for each day of the year and today's conversation was between a pair of travelers. It went something like this:
A: Beautiful day, isn't it?
B: Yeah it is. You're up early.
A: I had some time so I repacked my backpack
B: I see. Well, I can't hike on an empty stomach so I bought some beef jerky. Want some?
A: No thanks, I'll order room service

I couldn't help smiling at the very Japanese-like English conversation, and be impressed with this woman's determination to learn English. I can only imagine what I look like when I whip out my kanji flashcards on the bus to practice for the next day's quiz.

ザーザー

We are now well into the monsoon season which means it rains all the time. Today's rain is especially intense, having caused a small flood in the walkway next to the Kajiwara's house. Fortunately, because it is much cooler today than yesterday, it isn't as sticky and, as Otousan said, is a good day for studying.

硫黄島

On June 18, 2007, Japan officially renamed the Island of Iwo Jima, restoring it to the pre-World War II name, Iwo To. The misnomer stems from a mistake made by military officers as they moved in to occupy the island after the Battle of Iwo Jima, understandable since tō and jima are two pronunciations for the kanji '島', meaning 'island'.

BBC Article

Don't Use Metric

If you live in Myanmar, Liberia, or The United States, you might not understand this previous post. Here is a map of countries that don't use the metric system, from Wikimedia.

Earthquakes

According to Professor Hayashi, one of the teachers at SCTI, Japan's landmass is only 0.28% of the world's, but Japan has 17% of the world's earthquakes over 6.0 on the Richter scale.

漢字

I've found it much easier to learn and remember kanji here. It seems that seeing them on street signs, store fronts, the bus, and everywhere else helps the pictograph-like characters stick in my mind.

Broken

This is a button on the bus used to inform the driver that one would like to get off at the next stop. It is the only broken thing I have seen in Japan.

Computer

Today my computer arrived from home and is in working condition. The backlog of posts will float onto this blog as I have time to write them.