As I begin my 4th year here in Japan not much makes me think, "OOOh oh oh something to blog about". I guess I've covered just about everything I run into on a day to day basis. I'm still bewildered by the price of 1 melon ($50), $4.00 a gallon gas, etc., etc.

Tonight while surfing the web for an (I'm sure) embarassingly easy Japanese phrase to mutter to the security guards who will undoubtedly call me in another hour (I'm at work very late) I ran across this website that made my laugh so hard I cried.

http://www.japanippon.com/japanese/lesson_1.htm

This is an old Japanese lesson site circa 1998 but it has sparked a new flame in me as far as wanting to learn more Japanese. It reminds me of this little red French phrase book I had in high school - full of jokes and insults such as "You are a bunch of camels" and other such phrases. This website has actual lessons but the practice phrases are hilarious. For instance in lesson 2 the writer tries to teach you the fine art of "This" "That" and "That way over there" with the following sentences:


"If you want to talk about the walking stick in your hand you would say:

Kore wa sutekki desu. (This is a walking stick.)

And when you want to refer to the pistol that someone is holding to your face, you would say:

Sore wa honto no juu desu ka? (Is that a real gun?)

And when you want to inform your assailant that the policeman over there is pointing a shotgun at both of you, you would say:

Are wa sandanjuu desu yo! (That is a shotgun!) "

The lessons are all like that and I can't stop reading. This is just what I needed to get interested in studying Japanese again!