Noverber lessons!

So for this whole month, my videos on Youtube have been lessons about the basics of verbs. Today I've posted the last video of the series - here's the list if you missed them! Through this series I go over the difference in polite and plain verbs, how to categorize verbs into different classes, and how to conjugate verbs in both the polite and plain form.

This should be a good base in the basics of Japanese verbs, which will allow you to start forming sentences and learn more advanced grammar points further down the line. Enjoy!

1. Formal vs Plain Verbs


2. Switching between Plain and Masu


3. -Masu Form Conjugations


4. Te-form Song


5. Plain Form Conjugations

Bento!

So I just put up a video on Youtube about Bento if you're interested in it or want to see what kind of materials I have! I have lots of different things, from bento boxes to rice molds.



Thanks for watching!

Tweet Log 20 (April - End!)

Hey guys! So while I was originally trying to make very structured tweets that had some content of their own, I tend to use Twitter a little more "normally" nowadays, and mainly use it to announce updates and voice my thoughts. So I don't see much of a point in keeping track of them anymore (unless someone out there reeeeeally wants to keep this section alive... let me know!)

So here's the last batch of tweets that I've saved. For anything else, just follow me on Twitter!

*~*~*

Busy busy busy! So much to do for Monday @_@ Hopefully things will calm down a little after that..

Monologue contest is up! There are some awesome submissions! Go vote for me!! (Delphine) XD http://bit.ly/eqIX8A

Join in on the Ganbare Japan project!! Hosted by Victor (Gimmeabreakman) http://youtu.be/OipkOO4-Oic

Youtube update: Ganbare Japan Project http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPCvSU-r09E

Another quake? Seriously? I will be on Twitter all day I'm sure

Youtube update: Variety Shows (part 1) http://youtu.be/ZzVZOUHKhOo

QuirkyLife update: Study Abroad and Shoutouts http://youtu.be/BJ1LX1UP2-I

Just had one of the best immersion sessions/conversation practices I think I've EVER had. Soo tired but so worth it.

Plus I ate/made takoyaki for the first time! I'm so happy right now :3

Something I noticed: When you're a guest, don't say 'gochisousama' when you're done eating, but when you're actually leaving the ppl's home?

Anyone else having problems with Youtube? I can't even upload a video right now :(

Thank you sooo much to everyone who voted for me for @JapaneseLevelUp 's monologue contest! Couldn't have done it without you!! <3 :D

QuirkyLife: Part 3

This round of vlogs has to do with the reading contest hosted by ReadMOD through Twitter: Tadoku! I offer a bunch of tips, though, on reading as well as just studying in general.

Tadoku and Yotsubato Review


Tip for Convenient Japanese Reading


Koukou Debut Review


Variety Shows Subtitles


Keeping Track of Pagecount


Using Twitter for Japanese Reading


MEGU Pet App Review


Final Thoughts on Tadoku and Japanese Reading

Fun Interactive Games on Youtube to Learn Japanese

Something I've been trying out lately on my Youtube channels is creating a game that allows one to practice some basic Japanese grammar and/or vocab that I go over in my video lessons. It takes sooo much time to make! Not only is it more complicated to film than most of my other stuff, but I edit the game into several different videos and have to add a bunch of annotations to make the game work.

That being said, I really love the concept and have a lot of fun making these. As a kid I had always wanted to make my own computer games through video like this, and now I'm able to do it through Youtube! And I hope other people are enjoying them and learning from them as well. :)

If you're interested, here's the first episode of what I'm hoping will be a continuous series of this game (as of now, I've made two parts, and even have a little story that will be tying them all together).



Aaaand part 2!



Let me know what you think! And also let me know if you know of anything similar. I haven't seen any other games like these on Youtube for Japanese learning (or any language learning, for that matter), so if you know of any, I'd love to see other people's take on this concept!

QuirkyLife: Part 2

Hey guys! First of all - sorry about basically skipping the month of July there. I've been really focusing on my Youtube stuff instead, not to mention I was out of the country for a little while. First thing I'd like to catch up on is some of my personal vlogs, so here's a QuirkyLife update! Enjoy~ :)

On the Roof


Birthday Stuff (and Portal 2!)


Un peu en Francais


First Days of Summer


Haircut!


Summer Classes begin...


Swim Plan


As always, thanks for watching! :)

Tweet Log 19 (March)

Continuing my story through tweets... start at the beginning here.

Go back to part 18.

*~*~*

QuirkyLife update: Cardcaptor Sakura http://youtu.be/PJVbekoCdaA

Man, I'm so used to watching Cardcaptor Sakura whenever I have a small chunk of time haha, now I feel kinda lost XD

QuirkyLife update: Stupid Lighting! http://youtu.be/FL3IOM2LWMo

Blog Post: Tweet Log 16 (December) http://bit.ly/fhMKuR

QuirkyLife update: Arashi CD's and Meetup http://youtu.be/seyZzlWw8lw

Blog Post: Lang-8 http://bit.ly/gj3zYM (Just to repost the video onto my blog ^^)

Soooo much to do >< Video this week will have to be finished tonight and probably uploaded tomorrow ^^

Just noticed I have 50 Youtube subscribers! Woo~ *throws confetti* Thanks for supporting my lil channel guys :D

QuirkyLife update: Adshap8's Japanese Monologue Contest http://youtu.be/U6WL1X8RXHo

Eep, quite the delay this week, but I'm determined to still keep this a weekly thing :) Video uploading now~

Finally have a bit of a breather and am watching Durarara ^^

Youtube update: Top 5 Things to Watch for Japanese Learners http://youtu.be/O2aKCE0OEWE

My prayers and well wishes go out to all those affected by the earthquakes in Japan. Take care, everyone.

For anyone searching for people: http://bit.ly/gtRvtV

QuirkyLife update: Japan Earthquakes - quick message of support <3 http://youtu.be/ZpqMba6ptbM

The emotion is finally hitting me about everything. Can't even imagine how hard it would be for those in Japan. #prayforjapan

Would it be insensitive to post a video like normal that isn't centered around Japan's disasters? Maybe I should wait a couple of days.. :/

Youtube update: Hardships in Japan http://youtu.be/CHOXDq7Asfk I'm annotating links to other jvloggers to gather info together in this one

Youtube update: Exercise while Learning http://youtu.be/WtsHXo8wvhk

QuirkyLife update: Random Sillyness + Silent Hill 4 http://youtu.be/yqAkqYL37jc

QuirkyLife update: So many ways to help Japan! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8ltf3M1B5M

Blog Post: Hardships in Japan http://bit.ly/f2EeiW

School starts again today... wooo

Just spent a whole class period discussing the current situation in Japan. Tough to talk about, but very informative.

Blog Post: Tweet Log 17 (January) http://bit.ly/dN00N4

Youtube update: How to Help Japan http://youtu.be/HqqoH9HZlg4

Youtube update: Paper Crane (鶴の折り紙) Message of Hope http://youtu.be/znhMij4hpTE Double video update today!

I've REALLY fallen in love with Arashi's Lotus :3

Youtube update: Introduction to Arashi (嵐) http://youtu.be/d5Yu1GOXTww

Japanese Lesson: Direction words

The past couple of weeks on my Youtube channel has been focused on Japanese direction words! Starting out with a fun and active way to learn the words themselves...



Then moving on to how to use these words in a sentence...



And finally, I created my first interactive Japanese game through video! This took so much time to make, although it was a lot of fun. Quiz yourself in what I hope will be a fun and effective series!

Japanese Lesson: Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu

I recently uploaded my next Japanese lesson over on Youtube so go check it out! I go over the meaning of the phrase "Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu" and different situations where you can use it. Context is super important when it comes to this phrase, so I hope you can get a better idea of how to use it yourself!

Japanese Lesson: Pronunciation (and beginner's words)

So I finally posted my FIRST actual Japanese lesson! I've been giving a ton of tips on how to go about learning Japanese, and now, I'm actually teaching you the language itself. This first one is very basic with a focus on how to pronounce things in Japanese. I use some beginner's words to illustrate these pronunciation rules, so by the end of it, you know how to say - and correctly pronounce - a basic introduction!

Hope to make more of these (there will be more intermediate lessons in the future as well), and I hope they were helpful. Happy learning!

Arashi: Lotus

I've reviewed Arashi's album Boku no Miteiru Fuukei before, but now I plan to write my thoughts on all of their CD's as they come out. Although it's been a little while since Lotus has come out, since it is their latest CD, that's where I'll pick up!

Here's the video version of this review by the way.



There were 3 songs on this single: Lotus, ever, and Boom Boom.

Lotus

This was the main song and it was used as the theme song for Aiba’s latest drama, Bartender. It also has its own music video where they group is dressed in all white and they do a lot of dancing. The song itself is really epic and makes you want to dance really dramatically - I loved it! It’s not a happy-go-lucky song, but it’s not super dark or anything either. When I listened to this at first, I felt like I had heard similar stuff from Arashi before, but when I thought about it, I had trouble comparing it to any singles, so it's actually pretty different for them (but in a good way!) It's nice to hear something so epic from them.

This is just a side note concerning the drama Bartender - as much as I enjoy the show, I personally think that Lotus doesn’t really fit with it too well. Something about just doesn't fit with the pacing and the tone of the drama. The show itself, or at least the first couple of episodes that I’ve seen, is a little bit slow. I like it, but it’s not particularly exciting, and then when the song comes in at the end really dramatically it kind of throws me off. It might just be me, and it really doesn't matter, it's just something I thought was a little odd. ^^

ever

This is the second song of the CD. Ever had to grow on me a little bit at first, but I really like it now. It’s a slower, romance-y ballad type of song, but at the same time it’s not too sappy, and it’s still kind of bouncy and happy too. It sort of reminds of One Love or Love Rainbow. Simple, sweet, adorable – Arashi’s really good at that.

Boom Boom 

This is the third and last song on the CD, and while I’m not really sure why, I was obsessed with this song. I want to describe it as kind of... sassy? Rebellious? Something about the tone of it is just really fun. I love the melody and the beat a lot. Also, one way I really decide if a song is good is if it’s fun to sing along with, and this one is definitely a lot of fun to sing. And it also has a bit of Sakurap in there, so yeah, I thought it was different and it ended up being my favorite song of this single.


Alright, so there’s what I think about Arashi’s latest single – overall I loooved it. Let me know what you thought of it! Soon as they come out with another CD I’ll make another one of these.

Arashi Radio Shows

Here's the Youtube video I made about Arashi's radio shows. Enjoy!

Tweet Log 18 (February)

Continuing my story through tweets... start at the beginning here.

Go back to part 17.

*~*~*

Wooo it's snowing in Texas! No one knows how to handle it down here XP

Just got Sims 3 to play in Japanese... and I realize my computer's OS is too outdated... sad face -_-

Blog Post: Heisig's Method in a Nutshell http://bit.ly/eva2n0

Youtube update: Gantz Movie Review (and event report!) http://youtu.be/SAcggwWoTAY

Man can school really get in the way of stuff O.o I should have a blog post up tonight though~

Blog Post: Movie Review for Gantz http://bit.ly/e3rjwD Youtube update: New Facebook page! http://youtu.be/Qdw0PzB6L-Q

Blog Post: Facebook Fanpage http://bit.ly/i3fSUM

Now that I'm starting the job-finding process, I have less and less time to myself ;_;

Still keeping up my blog/vlog ok, but I'm spending less time studying Japanese. I almost speak more than I watch/listen nowadays O.o

Blog post: Tweet Log 15 (November) http://bit.ly/gLPqc1

Youtube update: Using SRS to Learn Japanese http://youtu.be/zqr2aKBtjbU

Sliiightly less busy this week, hope to make a real dent in my SRS reps! (good timing with this week's updates :D)

My lunch today - a sausage and rice dish and vegetable wonton soup :) oishii~~ http://twitpic.com/42zgl2

Just started another Youtube channel as just a personal vlog and non-edited vlog. First vid: http://youtu.be/_aDZxlnj1Hc

QuirkyLife vlog: Japanese Speaking Practice http://youtu.be/5xid7HSCaJM

The weather right now is AMAZING!!

Just met a bunch of Japanese foreign exchange students at Kaiwa. I'm on a Japanese high :D

QuirkyLife update: Global Fair http://youtu.be/Jk7KIv8coF4

Blog post: Using SRS to Learn Japanese http://bit.ly/f7Ao4R

Youtube update: Lang-8 (日本語) http://youtu.be/3zMX0cNxwRo I'm speaking Japanese in this one~

Lang-8 Video! | Lang-8 http://lang-8.com/21498/journals/828386 #lang8

QuirkyLife: Part 1

So for those who don't follow it, along with my main CultureQuirk channel, I also have a second channel where I do more casual vlogs. I still talk about a lot of the same things, but I go more into stuff going on into my private life. They're less structured, and unlike my main channel, which I update once a week, there are no regular updates as of now. If you're interested in getting to know me a little better, please go take a look at my QuirkyLifeBlog channel. :)

Instead of making a blog post every time I make a video for QuirkyLife, I'll just make a post every 1-2 months and compile all the videos then (kinda like what I do with my tweet log). Here they are!

Intro/自己紹介


Japanese Speaking Practice


Global Fair


Cardcaptor Sakura


Stupid Lighting!


Arashi CD's and Meetup


Adshap8's Japanese Monologue Contest


iPhone Vlog Test


Japan Earthquakes


Random Sillyness + Silent Hill 4


So many ways to help Japan!


Study Abroad and Shoutouts


Monologue Contest Entry


Staring Sheep


Getting back to normal


Goodies!


Thanks for watching! :D

Japanese Monologue Contest

So I recently sent in a video to participate in adshap8's Japanese monologue contest and here's the final video with all of the contestants! Head over to Japanese Level Up to vote on the one you liked best! (*cough* vote for me! *cough*)

EDIT: I ended up winning the contest! Thank you sooo much to everyone who voted for me! :D

How to Help Japan

It's been a couple of weeks now since the great Tohoku earthquake and all the hardships that followed. While I strongly believe Japan will recover from this, there is still so much that needs to be done. I've donated what I could, but I would like to continue to do as much as I can for the relief effort. I'd also like to let you know of some ways that YOU can help.

I've created a new email address where you can reach me about these efforts in helping Japan: culturequirkfundraising@gmail.com. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please send me an email about it!

1. Donate

The first big way you can help is the rather obvious option of donating money. Do your research to find the charity you’re most comfortable with, or maybe send smaller amounts to multiple charities to "cover your bases."

I personally donated to the Red Cross. You can donate at www.redcross.org, or you can text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation that will automatically be added to your phone bill.

This website also has a list of charities with ratings if you want to do some more research: http://www.charitynavigator.org/

2. Buy stuff

If you don't want to just give money away, there are a lot of ways for you to buy things with the proceeds being donated to Japan. You may see this kind of thing all over the place, but I’ll be giving you two different resources over at Livejournal. If you don’t have an account there, the site is normally used for blogging but also has some great communities.

Help_Japan

At this community, people are auctioning off a ton of different stuff - anything from food, to jewelry, to books, to clothes, to art… There is SO much stuff over there. Bid for something that interests you in the next few days, and at the end of this month, if you win, you pay for it by making a donation to Japan (I believe you can make it to the charity of your choice as long as you provide proof).

Arashi_On:

This community is usually all about the boy band Arashi, and a lot of the fundraising going on there is fan-related. The "Garage Sale" part of the fundraising is very similar to what Help_Japan is doing: people are offering things such as CDs, magazines, pamphlets. However, this time it's no an auction, so it’s basically first-come, first-serve. Also, instead of having to donate the money yourself to a charity, you simply have to send it to the Paypal of the Arashi_On community and they will take care of it for you. They had a poll to decide which organization they would send the money too, and the charity for this month is Direct Relief International, but I think the charity will change each month (and you have a voice in deciding this.)

Aside from the Garage Sale, what people are also offering are things like fanart, fanfiction, graphics, icons, little hand-made goods, etc. While a lot of these fan-made things are centered around Arashi, this is not a requirement. Many people are offering to make stuff from different fandoms, original characters, etc., and it’s all mostly on a request basis.

I myself have made a post to this community and am offering art. I'm taking requests on any kind of fanart or original characters, I'm pretty flexible. No nudity or anything though, please :) These will be pencil drawings that I will scan and send to you digitally, but nothing colored and no digital art, since that is definitely not my forte.

Aside from simple drawings, I could also do short comics or something, and this leads to another idea. If you’re using Heisig’s method to remember kanji, you might have trouble coming up with little stories for some of them and maybe some visuals would help you. Let me know which kanji is giving you trouble and I can draw out a little comic for you to illustrate that kanji and help you to remember it.

This can extend beyond kanji. If you want any kind of lesson, I could help you with your English, Japanese, and French... (let me know if there's anything else I could help you with). I can type up a lesson for you, or maybe make some kind of illustration to help you learn. I'm considering setting something up on Edufire and teach something there, probably in one-on-one tutoring form. Let me know if that would interest you as well.

Finally, if you watch my Youtube channel and would like to see me make a video on a particular language or culture topic, let me know, and you could "sponsor" that video. I could do a lesson-type video, a review of something, etc. So request the video, sponsor it through a donation, and I would give you credit for sponsoring that video.

While all of this extends way past Arashi I'll stick to doing it through the Arashi_on Livejournal community for now. This will keep things simpler, especially since I don't know whether anyone will be interested in any of this. If you don’t have a Livejournal account but are still interested in this, do let me know, and I'll see about making other arrangements through my own Paypal account.

Go check out my LJ post for more specific information on the artwork, and take a look at my DeviantArt account as well - I haven't posted anything there in forever, but if gives you a good idea of what my art looks like. Pricing will range depending on what you’d like, from about $1~$10, or whatever you're willing to give. Send me an email at culturequirkfundraising@gmail.com for requests or any questions.

3. Sell stuff

Aside from spending money through donations or buying things, you can also sell your own stuff on the above websites (or through any other fashion). So if you’re really strapped for money, why not donate your stuff or your talents? Let me know if you’re doing anything like that – I might be interested, and I could help spread the word.

4. Support

Finally, there are plenty of ways to help without giving anything up at all in the form of support. Here a few shoutouts to other Youtubers who are doing their part and letting you know of other ways to help.

One thing that’s huge is a new channel, partners4japan. Youtube granted this partner channel specifically for the relief fund, and you’ll see videos from all of your favorite j-vloggers over there and other guests. All of the money that is raised through that Youtube partnership will be sent to the relief fund, and the more subscribers, views, favorites, likes, etc. they have, the more money they will make. It doesn’t cost you anything and there’s a lot of interesting content, so go support them!

Other Youtubers have been really great as well. Nigahiga posted a video in which he donated $600, Michelle Phan made a makeup tutorial, and if it gets a million views, she’ll donate $1000, and plenty of other Youtubers have been doing similar drives. It's awesome to see the Youtube community being so great in supporting this cause, so please go support those kinds of efforts yourself. Keep your eyes open and spread the word about that kind of stuff; there are plenty of ways to help out with very little effort.

While monetary benefits are the most important way to help right now, general support to those victims in Japan is still wonderful. Messages of support can give hope and lift peoples' spirits, so stay positive and keep Japan in your well-wishes. Victor at the Gimmeabreakman channel called out for us to make paper cranes and send pictures or video responses as messages of hope, which he will eventually compile. Here is my submission - go make your own crane to spread a message of hope and encouragement.



日本、がんばれ〜！

Tweet Log 17 (January)

Continuing my story through tweets... start at the beginning here.

Go back to part 16.
Go forward to part 18.

*~*~*

明けましておめでとうございます！

Here's a cool, super detailed little model of Osaka-jo http://twitpic.com/3m51c8

Blog Post: CultureQuirk - Looking Back and to the Future! http://bit.ly/fKGlGy

A nice view of Osaka from the top of Osaka-jo. http://twitpic.com/3n9w3g

白いクリスマス | Lang-8 http://lang-8.com/21498/journals/753166 #lang8

Another great view from the top of Osaka-jo~ http://twitpic.com/3nk53h

Blog Post: Tweet Log 13 (September) http://bit.ly/h9XY3y

Made pasta carbonara according to @runnyrunny999 's recipe! http://youtu.be/wal-s4FHSJ4 美味しかった!

Randomly started to watch Cardcaptor Sakura! So nostalgic...

懐かしいアニメ | Lang-8 http://lang-8.com/21498/journals/755961 #lang8

This was my lunch today! I love sushi... http://twitpic.com/3nx6g8

I feel like studying kanji has spoiled me XD I'm so used to making little stories, and I'm not sure how to do that when studying vocab...

Remembering the *kanji* of each vocab is okay, it's just remembering the pronunciation that I'm struggling with...

I'm randomly watching bits of Nodame Cantabile. Forgot how much I love it <3 so impressed with how the actors did all the music stuff O.o

Made a small update to the blog - now you can easily move forwards and backwards through the tweet logs. http://bit.ly/h9XY3y

Blog Post: Motivation Ideas - Song Puzzle http://bit.ly/hBpo5K Learn Japanese *while* motivating yourself to learn Japanese XD

Back in town and started school... Need to get back in the groove, another rough semester ahead!

In other news, I should have my first Youtube vids up starting tomorrow! :D

Just got like eight different Arashi CD's! Soooo happy!! Thank you so much @maru887 for getting them to me :D

First YOUTUBE vid~! Introduction vlog :D http://youtu.be/gGaJ9VwUhOw

Just got back from watching Gantz! Loved it but did NOT love the dubs, can't wait to see it in Japanese!!

Being able to see the live interview with Nino and Kenichi though made me sooo happy~

GANTZ | Lang-8 http://lang-8.com/21498/journals/774722 #lang8

Youtube update: Introduction in Japanese! 自己紹介 (日本語) http://youtu.be/wnheqC8HLow

Youtubeの自己紹介！ | Lang-8 http://lang-8.com/21498/journals/775623 #lang8

Youtube update: Introduction (French/Francais) http://youtu.be/pp79ci6exZ0 My last intro vid, this time in my native tongue :)

Blog Post: Youtube! http://bit.ly/dU9JZU

Golden crane on the wall. This was taken from the balcony at the top of Osaka-jo~ http://twitpic.com/3svx34

Youtube update: Basics of Reading Japanese http://youtu.be/vFJlYYQVGcA

Wrapping up the Osako-jo pics with a nice picture of the entire castle. http://twitpic.com/3tdnp1

Blog Post: Basics of Reading Japanese http://bit.ly/fXRSed

So I go to practice some vocab on smart.fm... And hear they're closing down... That reeeally sucks :(

Just finished rewatching Zettai Kareshi... I just can't help but tear up at the ending ><

Just filmed my next video - I had to draw some stuff for this one XD wheeee~ Still need to edit, hope to upload it by Monday :)

Will be posting up a new video tomorrow! I would like it to keep it a weekly thing, hopefully wont get too busy to do that *crosses fingers*

Blog Post: Tweet Log 14 (October) http://bit.ly/efhhxb

Youtube update: Heisig's Method for Learning Japanese http://youtu.be/zIvDVpDpaU4 Includes illustrated examples!

Hardships in Japan

The past week has been difficult. It's been hard simply hearing and watching what's been going on in Japan, trying to reach friends and constantly reading tweets and watching the news. I've been lucky - I've heard back from virtually everyone that I know in Japan, and they and there families are safe. I can't even imagine how scary and devastating it must be for those who are living there and are affected by the hardships.

I've taken some time to worry, to mourn, to pray. And while I won't stop thinking about Japan, it's also time to take action. Like I've mentioned in the video, I've donated money and can only continue to help with the relief fund and reestablish a level of normalcy.

One thing I want to keep doing is continue to create content. If you check my Youtube channels, I've been updating those, and I plan to really catch up with my blog over the next several days. I feel it is our responsibility to press on with our daily lives, and if I can keep helping to entertain and even educate people, then I feel I'm doing my job.

In addition to that, I do plan on putting forth more efforts towards the relief fund. If you follow my QuirkyLife channel you'll have a preview of that, but my main channel update for the coming week will be all about that :) So stay tuned!

Lang-8

Here's a video I made in Japanese (with English subs) about the awesome language-learning resource, Lang-8. Enjoy!



By the way, a huuuge thank you to Lang-8 for putting this vid on their Facebook fanpage!!

Tweet Log 16 (December)

Continuing my story through tweets... start at the beginning here.

Go back to part 15.

*~*~*

I now realize how good my jpn friends are at enunciating - I met a girl from Osaka yesterday who spoke to me naturally and I was lost o.o

Blog Post: Motivation ideas - Jigsaw puzzles! http://bit.ly/h0aWFe

A few more days until finals are over, then I do plan to get back in the groove of things :3

Wow, how long has it been since I tweeted? Final exams went fine, but I'm going to Belgium today! Busy busy!

Blog Post: Tweet Log 12 (August) http://bit.ly/i0ZKuk

At the airport! Happy to have a bit of internet ^^ Here's hoping I'll be able to blog from Belgium~ If nothing else, I'll be back on the 1^st

Made it to Belgium! Exhausted and not enjoying the weather, but at least the snow's pretty :)

Ahhh the snow is such a hassle! But I can't wait to put up these pictures of our White Christmas :D

I'm stuffed! Can't wait to put up pictures of Christmas dinner as well... part 2 tomorrow! Happy Holidays~ :D

Yeesh! While I planned to do lots of kanji SRS whlie in Belgium, the little time I have I've been spending on jigsaw puzzles... >.>

BUT at least I can listen to Japanese music while I do puzzles right? Better than nothing :P

A suit of armor in Osaka-jo! Pardon the glare of the flash XD http://twitpic.com/3kjclz

Blog Post: Winter Wonderland~ http://bit.ly/eaMB8S Come see pics of snow and food! Sending this from Belgium :D

Made it back home from Belgium! Just in time for the New Years~ Except it feels like 1AM for me and I have to stay up another 6 hours ;_;