日本のテーブルのしゅうかん (Japanese Table Manners)

みんなさん、

これはおもしろいですね！Thought you guys might be interested in this ... no, I don't have a life ^^"

• Never place chopsticks stuck vertically into a bowl of food, as this is the traditional presentation form for an offering to one's ancestors.
• One should wait for the host or hostess to tell you to eat three times before eating.
• Accepted practice in helping oneself to a communal dish such as a salad, is to reverse the chopsticks. However this is regarded in an all male, or casual situation, as too formal and additionally, a female habit.
• Women should cup their other hand beneath their serving when using chopsticks when conveying food from dish/bowl to mouth. Men should not do this.
• In communal dining or drinking, the youngest person present should pour alcohol for the other members of the party, serving the most senior person first. The server should not pour their own drink, rather they should place the bottle of sake, beer, wine or spirits, back on the table or bar, and wait to be served by a senior. The receiver of the drink should hold up their glass/cup whilst the drink is being poured.
• One should always clean one's hands (but not face) before dining with the hot steamed towel provided.
• Japanese soup is eaten holding the bowl to one's mouth, never with a spoon. The exceptions to this are o-zoni, the traditional soup served on New Year's Day; soups with noodles are served in larger bowls, such as ramen, are acceptable to eat using chopsticks, although the soup itself is still consumed from bowl to mouth.
• If something might drip onto the table while being transferred in the chopsticks, use the bowl of rice in your other hand to catch the liquid. It is important to not allow this liquid to remain, and so the discolored portion of the rice must be eaten. Rice (in a bowl) should remain white if it was served as such.
• It is usually polite to finish all sections of a meal served at around the same time. It is suggested that one should take a bite from one container, and then take a bite of rice. One should then take a bite from another container, have another bite of rice, and so forth.
• It is perfectly acceptable, and rather encouraged to make a slurping noise when eating hot noodles such as udon, ramen or soba. This is standard behavior in Japan, and Japanese maintain that inhaling air when eating hot noodles improves the flavor. One should not, however make any noise when eating soup.
• When taking a break from eating during a meal, one should place one's chopsticks on the chopstick rest (hashi-oki) provided. A hashi-oki is usually a ceramic rectangle about four centimeters long, or in some restaurants, a halved wine cork is provided.
• It is acceptable to cradle one's rice bowl in one hand when eating.
• One should not gesture using chopsticks.
• Never pass food from one pair of chopsticks to another. This technique is used only in Japanese Buddhist funerary rites when transferring cremated bones into an urn.
• When pouring wine or beer, the hand holding the bottle should pour forward, not backward (over the back of the hand) which is considered an insult.
• In traditional restaurants, one needs to sit in seiza, on less formal occasions sitting is also done in tailors style (Indian style) or with 2 legs together on 1 side (females-only)
• There is no tipping in Japanese restaurants.

Sushi (esp. in a restaurant)

• It is acceptable to eat sushi with one's fingers, rather than chopsticks, if the dining situation is relatively casual (this also applies to dining out at a kaitenzushi restaurant).
• When possible, sushi pieces and sections of cut rolls should be eaten in a single bite, or held in the hand until finished; setting half a piece back down on the plate is considered rude.
• Nigiri sushi (fish on rice) and maki (rolls) may be eaten with the hands; sashimi (pieces of raw fish) should be eaten with chopsticks.
• When eating nigirizushi, pick up the piece with your index finger on top and your thumb and middle finger on the sides. Dip the fish side (neta)--not the rice side into the shoyu.
• If you like wasabi, add a small amount to your shoyu. Mixing large amounts of wasabi into your shoyu is considered rude, and an insult to the skills of the chef. If the chef believes the piece needs ridiculous amounts of wasabi, he will add it for you.
• Rubbing your chopsticks (ohashi) together is extremely rude, as it suggests that you believe the restaurant uses low quality chopsticks.
• The middle level in a sushi bar (the shelf where the sushi chef, or itamae, sets your food) is considered an interface between you and the chef. It's bad form to remove the geta (the wooden tray the chef sets the sushi on) from this level. Take the sushi, but not the tray.

(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

また、あした =)

二十年ごのわたし (Composition 3)

二十ねんごのわたしはおっととカナダのバンクーバーにいます。バンクーバーはとてもきれいなまちですから、すてきなところではたらきます。バンクーバーはたくさんはながありますから、わたしはいけばなをしたいです。（ちょっとロマンチックです）。わたしはちいさいうちがあります。へやはちょっとせまいですが、かわいいです。ハートフルなうちです。わたしはさっかですから、毎日ストーリーをかきます。えいごでしょうせつをかきたいです。どうして日本語でしょうせつをかきませんか。日本語がすこしだけわかりますから。かぞくはホリデイにわたしのうちへきます。ははやあになどきます。そして、ホリデイはいつもたのしいです。ひまなじにわたしはえをかきます。ひょっとするとひとりでおんがくをききます。ときどきおっととおいしいりょうりをします。それからいっしょにこうえんをさんぽします。わたしたちはおかねがあまりありません。でもゆかいなかっぷるです。

かたかな Analysis

As I have shown in the examples from my かたかな Analysis Draft, as a cursory rule, かたかな is used in three situations: loan words, onomatopoeic words, or emphasized words.  Moreover, I noted how this general rule fails to encompass many exceptions.  There are words that cannot definitely be categorized under any of these three broad categories, but are still written in かたかな; there are even words that don't fall into any of these categories, but are still written in かたかな.


Several of my classmates have pointed out interesting facts about かたかな that I did not notice when I wrote my draft.  For example, ペンさん noticed the aesthetic difference between ひらがな and かたかな, and hypothesized ( I think, very smartly) that, because of かたかな sharper edges, it is more suitable for print.


The comments from 四年生のがくせい I found particularly helpful.  ケイトさんとフリオさん explained that かたかな is often used to make something seem more modern or cool.  ジイさん shared her experience Japan, where she says that more than 50% of the words on a prescription are written in かたかな, even when they have corresponding かんじ.  As ジイさん explains, this is probably to make these prescriptions fool-proof; this way, people who are not very educated will still understand the prescriptions.  アナさん further added to ジイさん's comment by noting that even educated politicians have trouble reading かんじ at times.  This shows us that かたかな is not just used as a stand-in for かんじ for less educated people - educated people benefit from this as well.


Finally, both ジイさん  and アナさん raise interesting questions Japanese writing systems in general.  ジイさん talks about how sometimes a かんじ word would be written ひらがな, because it is hard to read otherwise; ジイさん also agreed with ケイトさんとフリオさん that sometimes a word is written in かたかな just to make it seem cooler.  ジイさん gives a very good example for this: "綺麗" is difficult to read, so may be written simply in ひらがな as "きれい." To make this cool, one can write this as "キレイ."  Meanwhile, アナさん remarked that this use of  ひらがな to write かんじ is much more common than the use of かたかな to write かんじ.


Once again, I have to conclude that there seems to be no sure way to account for all the uses of かたかな.  Nevertheless, I found the comments to my earlier post very helpful to helping me better understand the use of かたかな.  I hope you find them helpful too!

おんなの人とねこのストーリー

おんなの人がいます。

おんなの人のなまえはミシェールさんです。

ミシェールさんはとてもきれいです。でも、ミシェールさんはいつも一人です。

一人で朝ご飯を食べます。一人で昼ご飯を食べます。一人で晩ご飯をたべます。

一人でおはなみをします。一人でしゅくだいをします。一人でしゃしんをとります。

一人でびょういんへ行きます。一人でりょうこうをします。一人でかえります。

ある日、ミシェールさんはしろいとくろいねこにいっぴきあいます。しろいとくろいねこはミシェールさんのドアのまえにいます。

このねこはすこししずかですが、とてもカワイイです。このねこはミシェールさんとかえります。

ミシェールさんはねこをききますから、ねこのなまえは"ニャーニャー"です。ミシェールさんはこのねこがすきです。

そして、毎朝ニャーニャーとたまごをたべます。毎日ニャーニャーと昼ご飯を食べます。毎晩ニャーニャーとステーキとバニラアイスクリームをたべます。

いしょにおはなみをします。いしょにしゅくだいをしますが、ニャーニャーは日本語がぜんぜんわかりまえん　（ニャーニャーえだけをかきます）。いしょにたくさんしゃしんをとります。

いしょにびょういんへ行きますが、ニャーニャーはびょういんがちょっとキライです。いしょにベニスへいきますが、ニャーニャーはみずがぜんぜんすきじゃありません。そして、みずはあまりありませんから、いしょにラスベガスへいきます。それから、いしょにかえります。

ミシェールさんはげんきですね！ニャーニャーもげんきですよ = )

P.S.  The ねこ in the しゃしん is actually a ゆうめいな Youtube personality.  His name is まる.  Definitely check him out - he's とてもかわいいです ^^"

Composition 2

山田さん、おげんきですか。


山田さんの家族はどうですか。いま日本はあついですか、さむですか。


わたしはケリーです。はたちです。カナダからきましたが、いまうちはニューヨークです。あにといもうとがいます。あにはやさしいひとです。そしていもうとはきれいなひとです。


わたしはすこししずかです。おんがくがすきです。ジャズとミュージカルがすきです。たべものはとてもおいしいですから、たべものがすきです。わたしは日本りょうりがあまりとくいじゃありませんが、日本りょうりがすです。えが好きですが、わたしはとてもいそがしいです。じかんがありません。ときどきびじゅつかんへ行きます。びじゅつかんはたのしいところです。


コロンビアだいがくはわたしのだいがくです。わたしは三ねんせいですが、日本ごの一ねんせいです。日本ごのクラスのともだちはしんせつですから、日本ごのクラスはおもしろいです。コロンビアもおもしろいです。キャンパスはちいさいですが、にぎやかです。がくせいのせいかつはいそがしいですが、たのしいです。コロンビアはいいだいがくですが、たかいです。


いまニューヨークはとてもさむいです。


わたしはろく月よっか日本へ行きます。


これからおせわになります。どうぞよろしくおねがいします。　じゃまた！


１１月９日　　ケリー

かたかな Analysis Draft

Below are the かたかな examples that I found:

Sign that says "McDonald hamburger" in かたかな 

In this sign, かたかな is used to write the loan words, "McDonalds" and "hamburger."

A menu that has "Dessert" and its list of desserts written in かたかな

Again, the かたかな words used here represent loan words.

A ドラえもん comic strip that uses かたかな for sound effects

The かたかな words here are " ごくり ," which represents a gulping sound; and " ポイ ," which represents the sound of someone carelessly throwing something.  These かたかな  words are onomatopoeic.

A children's book with かたかな in its title

This is the cover of an アンパンマン storybook.  アンパンマン is a ゆうめい anime hero in children's stories.  His name comprises three parts: "あん," which means "red bean paste"; "パン," the Portuguese loaned word for "bread"; and finally "マン," the English loaned word for "man".  Basically... he's a man whose head is made of bread with red bean paste inside    (アンパンマンをたべます!  Hehe, jk =P).  Even though "あん" is a regular Japanese word that's usually written in ひらがな, it's probably written in かたかな here because the rest of アンパンマン's name is in かたかな, and this keeps things consistent.  This also makes アンパンマン seem more like a superhero, since other famous heroes names' are usually written in かたかな (i.e スーパーマン = superman).  "マーチ" is the loan word equivalent of "March," but I suspect the "マーチ" here is actually the ひらがな "まち," as in, "town."  If so, this would be a regular Japanese word written in かたかな for emphasis.

A ドラえもん scene with the words "rubber ball" in かたかな

This is super かわいいです！ドラえもん has hands which look like rubber balls, and his ともだち, のび太さん, always takes advantage of this when the two play "rock, paper, scissors".  Because of ドラえもん's rubber-ball hands, he invariably seems to put up "rock".  そうして  のび太さん always puts up "paper" - we know who wins XD.  ドラえもん frantically tries to explain that "rock, paper, scissors" just isn't a cool game for someone with rubber-ball hands.  In this case, "rubber ball" is written in  かたかな for emphasis.

 From these examples, I learned that かたかな is generally used to write loan words, onomatopoeic words, or emphasized words.  Nevertheless, each textbook explains かたかな usage differently.  This is probably because loan words, onomatopoeic words, and emphasized words can appear in myriads of situations.  

For instance, a loan word may appear in a sign, on a book cover, or as a brand name.  Onomatopoeic words can express naturally occurring sounds (eg, moo, meow, tick tock, etc.) or a manner (eg. squiggly).  Moreover, all sorts of words can be emphasized.  Because かたかな is used to cover so many different type of words, it would seem cursory for a textbook to simply divide its usage into "loan words, onomatopoeic words, and emphasized words."

An example where these three categories alone would not suffice is with many Japanese company names.  These are generally written in かたかな, but may not consist of loan words or onomatopoeic words.  Of course, we can say that a company wants to emphasize its name... but how can we know for sure that this かたかな usage is an emphasis?  As far as I can tell, we can't.  As a result, textbooks try to account for these subtleties to the best of their writers' abilities, and the end product is varying explanations of かたかな usage.

Fascinating, no?  Now if only I can figure out the fool-proof way of figuring all this out... ^^"

ハッピーハロウィーン =D

みなさん、


ウィークエンドになにをしますか?  日曜日はハロウィーン!  ^ ^  みなさんはパーティへ行きますか?  Trick-or-treat をしますか?   わたしは trick-or-treat  がすきですなぜなら, わたしはちょっとおさないです =P

これにほんのキャンデーはわたしのだいこうぶつです：

    Pocky (ミルクとストロベリーと抹茶がすきです）

 にほんのマシュマロ (they come with all sorts of yummy fillings ^^)

Meji's Meltykiss チョコレート (in precious coacoa or 抹茶 flavor はとてもおいしいです!)

森永ミルクキャラメル (You can get them at M2M =P)

もちアイスクリーム =  heaven in a bite

どらやき: ドラえもん's favorite =D

These are all おいしいです。If only more people gave them out as treats ;_________;

みなさんはどんなにほんのおかしがすきですか?  Please comment below so I can go try your favorites!

Your ともだち,

ちいさいぶた (The little piggy)。

しょうかをたのしむ ♪ ♫

しょうかをたのしむ ♪ ♫ 


みなはべんきょうしますか？

やすみませんか？　いっしょににほんごのミュージックをききましょ。

このしょうかはすきです　＝）　みなもすきですか？

これはみずのあかしです：



これはあおぞらです。　わたしはエアー (Air, the anime) をあいする　<3





このしょうかはプリティですね？

ハッピーしゅくだいをします!　> <  + <3  + =D

おねがいします ^^"

みなさん、
How to embed a Youtube video on my ブログをみせてください 。。。

どうも ;______;

The current unfortunate condition of Wein's おてあらい...

My dear  フレンズ、

きょう there is a water shutdown in Wein, the dorm I live in.  We were warned of this water shutdown, warned that the sinks in our rooms and washrooms wouldn't be working.

So after class, I needed to pee (this is probably too much information for わたしのにほごのぶろぐ... so feel free to stop reading if you'd rather not hear about the state of dormitory toilets ^^").  Anyway, dysfunctional sinks weren't going to prevent me from answering to a call of nature.  I know, I should wash my hands, but I figured some hand-sanitizer would do the trick.

Unfortunately, いま the toilet bowls in our floor おてあらい are... soiled.  I should have connected the dots.  No running water = no flushing toilets, right?  I can't speak for the boys, but there were at least three other girls who also didn't realize that our toilets aren't flushing. 

The first of these three girls chose one of the three stalls on this floor, did her business, then realized that she couldn't flush.  The second girl saw that one of the stalls wasn't clean, so chose a stall from the two remaining stalls, did her business, and then realized that she couldn't flush.  The third girl probably looked at the two dirty toilet bowls, muttered bitterly to herself that some women are "just disgusting", chose the last stall to relieve her bladder, and then realized that she couldn't flush.

I heartily forgive these three girls.  Yes, maybe they could have asked someone how they could prevent all the other girls from having to confront their bodily disposals, but we have classes to go to, homework to finish, dates to go on... they figured, no one will know it was them, right?  The point is, these three girls didn't mean to be gross, so even though I'm grossed out, I can sympathize.

But seriously?  From what I just witnessed in the ﾄｲﾚ... those three girls were definitely not the last ones to sit on those three toilet seats.  Maybe I'm just too prissy, and that's why I had to run to the としょかん just now to pee in a place where I could actually flush the toilet afterwards.

I just can't help but wonder though, were all these other girls who used the bathroom on my floor needing to go so badly that they just decided to use dirty toilets, and make them dirtier?  Did they not want to run to the library because it's raining outside?  Am I just too prissy? O________o||


This incident reminds me of questions that I often find myself asking when I frequent public bathrooms: why do people leave bathrooms in such unseemly conditions?  Couldn't people just pee inside toilets, as opposed to on them?  Why don't some people flush?


What are your thoughts on this issue?  Do you have gruesome bathroom stories to share?  Are you one of those people who don't flush the toilet?  If so, is it because you're trying to conserve water?  Or are you afraid of loud noises in the dark, and so don't flush at night (my sister had this problem when she was a little girl)?  Are you just being lazy?


I'm in no position to tell you how you should manage your feces, but if - just IF - you are ever one of those non-flushing people, I hope that next time you visit the おてあらい , you'll at least remember that the presents you leave in the toilet bowl may gross out little prissy girls like me.  Just remember that, okay?  If you choose not to flush anyway, at least you'll have a good laugh thinking of the expression on my face when I happen upon whatever it is that you left behind.


じゃまた =)

かようび

みなこんにちは、


I missed saying おはよう to  みなさん today > <.   I hope なじきゃんせんせい gets better soon = (.  I'm a びょうにん right now too.  Hope なじきゃんせんせい didn't catch what I have = (. How's everyone's Tuesday going?  Almost halfway through the week >  <   いまは６じ and I'm べんきょうしますing... or about to, anyway.  There's a fly in わたしのへや and it refuses to leave, even though I'm keeping my door + windows open for it to fly out ;________;  There's probably too much food in my room ^^"



So is anyone worried about the exam?  I'm super worried about the listening and dialogue sections ; today's lab just kinda reminded me that I need a lot more work in listening/speaking O_____o.  I had to replay the speaking section 3 times before I could actually speak as quickly as the recording wanted me to = (  lol the T.A. was really cute ^^""""  She was like "ugh... do you want to practice with me instead of the recording?" XD


I should probably head to the としょかん now and fit in some reading time > <


じゃまたあした!   

I am blogging-impaired...

Aaagghh!  Blogging isn't exactly my forté...  How are all you guys making your backgrounds so nice anyway?  I'll trade cookies for blogging advice! ^^"

Why Japanese?  My parents are from Taiwan, which Japan ruled for about half a century.  Although Taiwan has been independent from Japan since 1945, Japanese culture remains palpable in Taiwan to this day.  For instance, most people from my parents' generation know basic Japanese greetings that they learned from their parents, who learned Japanese when they were in school.  During these (long) nights when I'm wondering why my brain just can't remember all my hiragana, I wonder if my grandmother had as much trouble with her hiragana as I'm having.


Remember how, in one of our earliest classes, Nazikian Sensei told us that, in Japan, mall employees line up to bow to customers when malls open in the mornings?  Well, Taiwanese people do this as well.  We don't keep these Japanese customs out of habit; we simply love everything Japanese.  This love stems from childhood.


As your typical Taiwanese girl, I grew up watching (a lot of ) anime.  I watched "Grave of the Fireflies" with my onii-san when I was four.  If you haven't seen it - be prepared - it will make you cry ten tissue-boxes worth of tears.  I've seen every Miyazaki film the guy's ever made (yes, including "Ponyo" =] ).  I've seen every single episode of "Sailor Moon"... more than once.  Please don't make fun of me!  If I had to choose though, "Doraemon" occupies a very special place in my heart.


My older brother used to say that he was like Doraemon, and I was Doraemon's little sister, Dorami.  Onii-san's long grown out of his Doraemon obsession, but to be honest, I still watch episodes of Doraemon during my spare time.  There's just something very comforting about a cat-like robot who has crazy gadgets that can, say, do your homework for you as you sleep.  You guys probably think that I'm the most childish person ever (I can't really offer much in my own defense), but if I can ever watch a full episode of Doraemon without subtitles, and still understand everything, I'll probably cry a lot of tissue boxes, and then treat myself out to really fancy sushi.


I'll admit that my Doraemon obsession definitely compels me to continue to work hard in this course, but there are other reasons why I want to learn Japanese as well.  There's the reason that I share with all of my classmates: Japanese rocks.  Then there's the fact that I've been called "日本妹" all my life.  The nickname literally means "little Japanese girl".  I'm not sure why people mistake me for a Japanese girl all the time (will Nazikian sensei know?), but even when I'm in Taiwan, people think I'm Japanese. If I ever become un-broke, I'd really like to go to Japan.  Maybe I'll feel at home there.  And maybe, the next time someone asks me if I'm Japanese, I'll actually be able to fool them for a little bit =p.

Even though this has taken over my life, I must say, I'm really glad that I decided to take this class.  I'd probably die in a day if you left me in Kyoto right now; I'm tired and sleep-deprived, as I'm sure many of you are also; I still can't remember all my hiragana; I'm going to fail my quiz tomorrow if I don't start studying soon - but - I just love this class.  Oh, the pleasures of being a masochist!


Well, here ends my first (real) blog post ever.


Jaa mata ashita!

いち

みなさんどうぞよろしく！

これわぶろぐのわたし。
わたしはけり(Kelley)です。わたしははたち。ちゅうごくじんです。かなだからきました。
わたしはころんびあだいがくのにほんごのいちねんせいです。にほんごのくらすわたのしいです。

みなさんのぶろぐをみせてください。これからおせわになります。　

おねがいします。