KIMI TO BOKU NO LOVE STORY

After listening to WaT's (Wentz and Teppei) "36°C" and "Bokura no Love Story" on repeat, I now have the "CRY SORA" (cry sky) part stuck in my head. I love it when that happens. It's like I have a Japanese music boombox under my skull, and no matter how many times I listen to the same part, I hardly ever grow tired of it.

If you want to listen, watch and read the lyrics in English subtitles:

WaT "36°C"

WaT "Bokura no Love Story"

I dare you to suppress your inner romantic when listening to these.


COUNTDOWNS:
6 days until Alpha Mu Gamma Foreign Language Honorary initiation
11 days until my last round of study abroad scholarships are due
14 days until AMG's International Short Film Festival
43 days until my Japanese 302 final (YEAH!! :P)
45 days until I leave the country for good (JUST KIDDING!)

BLOG SOUNDTRACK: KAT-TUN "7 Days' Battle"

HELP ME OUT, SEARCH MY LIGHT, PLEASE TAKE ME BACK HOME

After studying (read: reviewing) 150 kanji all week for my Advanced Japanese midterm, I've somehow lost the ability to talk in English.

Okay, so it might seem like hours of thinking in another language would push your native tongue out of your memory (temporarily, of course), but usually speaking and writing in Japanese only furthers my consciousness of my own language.

Not today. The first signs of trouble? Prepositional phrases. Being "in" work instead of "at," for example. This wouldn't have been so bad had I not needed to schedule interviews for the Daily News' "Best of BSU" issue. I probably sounded like a bumbling idiot who couldn't speak English.

Sigh. The disadvantages of working two different majors - both somewhat time-consuming - in two different languages.


HOWEVER, for my friends who think learning Japanese is much too difficult to even consider, ponder this: The Japanese have borrowed thousands of words from the English language. By being a speaker of English, you automatically have a Japanese vocabulary of more than 6,000 words. Granted, you'll need to know how to tweak the pronunciations so that the words fit into the Japanese katakana writing system (which indicates that a word is not of Japanese origin), but hearing someone say "HAM-BAA-GAA" shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

Just in case, it means "hamburger."

On the Sapporo front, I'm still waiting for my student visa certificate. Until then, Jessica, Kellie and I will be hosting a Japanese movie and snack fest soon. Fifty-two days until our flight leaves. I WANT THIS SEMESTER OVER NOW.

Right now, I feel like I'm grasping onto whatever I can find that reminds me of that favorite foreign country of mine. (NOTE: I have an obsession with the narrow streets in Japanese neighborhoods. Is this a random fact? Yes. I just want you to be warned if I get too excited while watching a J-dorama.)


And finally, as usual, my current ear (and eye) candy: KAT-TUN's "Rescue."

Click here for the HD version on YouTube.

ROBERT PATTINSON MEETS MANGAKA

So, all of you Twilight fans, this is a must-see. The Twilight books in Japan feature several pages of manga based upon the book.

Click here for some scans.

I will be on the hunt for these in two months.

I'm not sure how big the Twilight craze will be over there, but if it's anywhere near their love for Death Note, I'll have to snap these up quickly.

I still prefer Rob, for the record.

BLOG SOUNDTRACK: KAT-TUN "ONE DROP" and BoA "eien"

WORTH THE WAIT

I received my finalized flight itinerary from the travel agent (via my professor) this morning. I get a direct, 13-hour flight from Chicago to Tokyo, which should be more enjoyable (albeit more physically painful) than my 9.5-hour flight from San Francisco to Osaka last summer. Then we will take a domestic flight from Tokyo to Sapporo Chitose.

You can't tell how excited I am to spend a four-hour layover exploring the Tokyo Narita airport from my words on the screen. Wait...

I AM SO EXCITED WE GET TO SPEND FOUR HOURS EXPLORING NARITA!

Now you can.

Yes, I said "we." It's guaranteed now that my two classmates and I will be traveling to Sapporo together! :) Now, hopefully one of them will take my window seat on the international flight.

Aaaaaand the one-way ticket only costs $900! Whew! I can afford that.

66 days, kids. Let's do this.