Yumi, ever thinking of the next meal, asked me over breakfast:
今日の昼ごはんは台風カレーはどう？
kyou no hirugohan wa taifuu kare- wa dou?
How about ‘hurricane curry’ for lunch?
Well, at least that is what I heard. With Gustov (a hurricane heading toward the Southern US) about to make landfall and Florida having just said good-bye to a Tropical Storm called Fay, [...]

Out of boredom, I bought a few DS games the other day.
I bought 人生ゲーム平成のデキゴト (Game of Life: Heisei) thinking it would be a great way for me to learn more about recent Japanese popular culture. I was very wrong. For someone like me who knows very little about Japanese personalities, hit novels or [...]

Musouka pointed to a PDF in a comment earlier about the changes to the JLPT in 2010.  See here. (Thanks Musouka!)
Some juicy information includes:

Starting in 2009, the current JLPT will be held twice a year
JLPT 1 and 2 (current levels) will be held in July 2009
JLPT 1-4 (current levels) will be held in December 2009 [...]

One of Makoto’s favorite new words is ‘Combine.’  A month or two ago while at his cousin’s house he had an opportunity to sit on their combine harvester tractor.  He declined the offer preferring instead to cower behind his daddy.
He has grown in courage but only at a distance.  This is probably a good thing [...]

This morning while rummaging through the refrigerator looking for some drink to drink, I saw the only ice coffee left was the non-black variety–only sweet coffee.
I haven’t had sweet coffee in years so I thought I’d give it a try.  It’s ok, but I wouldn’t intentionally drink it if given a choice.  Once you add [...]

Just released! Richard VanHouten’s Yuki no Monogatari–the Video–Chapter Four!

Just a quick entry.
This morning, minutes after waking up, Makoto saw two of his favorite things at once–grandma (baba) and cat (neko)–and decided to put the two together saying, 「猫ばば」 (neko baba)
猫糞 neko baba [lit. cat poop] is slang for embezzlement, pocketing, or just plain stealing. It basically means to pocket something found that is [...]

Up until now Bonjinsha has published one book with the previous year’s 1 & 2 level tests and another book with 3 & 4’s actual tests. This has always been a great way for students wanting to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test to become familiar with the test’s layout and get some [...]

But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun with them: (Sorry, a little off-beat)

Turns out this guy does this for a living. Check it out: http://www.tommabe.com/videos-find/video_index.htm
In related news, you may enjoy this voicemail drama:
http://www.misanthropytoday.com/2008/06/27/olga-and-dmitri-funny-voicemail/

Yesterday we experienced our first earthquake since we’ve been back in Japan.  It was a 震度１ (Category 1) which lasted for less than a second and felt like an extremely heavy truck passing right by.
It reminded me of our old apartment–(stressing the ‘old’). The other day, Yumi and I went by the old place and [...]