5人でいる。ずっといる。"5 x 10"

ARASHI SONG TRANSLATION "5 x 10"

(thanks to my handy dandy electronic dictionary)

SHO: Years ago when we met, that seemed like coincidence

If we notice those ten years

A balloon soars into the sky

Five delicate people aboard a rocking boat

“Just keep laughing” “Surely the dream will come true”

Even past times when we were told to do that

Are wrapped in our hearts now (yeah)

AIBA: We also had those days when we felt things like impatience, anxiety and anger

OHNO: But because you were there for us, because your smiles were warm

NINO: We’ve walked here (yeah) Hands lined up side-by-side (yeah)

MATSUJUN: Even with all this time we’ve spent – somehow now we’re still just self-conscious

ALL: We who collected the wind inside ourselves, and the sadness we couldn’t bear,

Because you were there, we could smile.

An innocently played dissonance has come to see various worlds

Without noticing it, that had become us.

ALL EXCEPT SHO: We really cried

We really laughed

We really worried

We really lived

And we are proud now

SHO’S RAP: Many words of love from us

Are really all we have

We put it to song again

Love that’s grown so big over time

REPEAT

NINOMIYA: If there’s no nearby way you can take step by step

You can only go on the path you believe in

AIBA: If you happen to cry, let’s meet here again

SHO: These guys who send nothing but love as usual (yeah)

MATSUJUN: A future we wish for you together (yeah)

ALL: Cross the mountain with the wind, you can fly

We’ll dye it with our colors (yeah)

I wonder if you’re also looking at the sky I’m looking into alone

If you are, sing - turn to the sky and do it with all your strength

REPEAT (SHO’S RAP AND EVERYONE ELSE)

OHNO: If the voices we share don’t disappear

NINO: We can swear this love for another hundred years

AIBA: So that smiles bloom

MATSUJUN: It’s always, always in our hearts

Because of that, we want to try and tell you

ALL: Thank you… “From now on, too, thank you”

We are standing here

We can shine now because you are here

The five of us will be here forever.

We’ll change everything up until now into strength

If it’s wrapped in unchanging love

Eternity, see, eternity was born only to you and me.

La la la la…

Love love for you

For the song, click here for the YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wmf-eYl8UE

BLOG SOUNDTRACK: Take a guess...

SAPPORO SUMMER FESTIVAL

Somehow, I've been out of the loop lately.

Maybe it's because I haven't been around my Japanese classmates for about two weeks. Or maybe it's because I've been busy teaching English classes at FES to cover for my friends who are traveling for summer vacation.

For whatever reason, I managed to almost miss Sapporo's month-long summer festival in Odori Park, which began on July 21st and ends this Thursday.

I literally stumbled upon the festival on my way to Kinokuniya for some long-awaited magazine and novel perusing. With hundreds of people lounging around on the park benches and booths selling corn-on-the-cob and snow cones, I wondered how I had missed this in the first place. Daydreaming on the bus has its disadvantages.

As Jess had pointed out when the three of us and Yuki visited the Chizaki Rose Garden, the colder weather in Sapporo prevents flowers from blooming earlier in the season. Mid-August temperatures meant the park's flowers were finally in full glory, as you can see:




Nearest the central fountain, where toddlers in play clothes waddled around in the shallow water, booths that reminded me more of log cabins sold ice cream, chocolate-covered bananas on a stick, yakisoba and other typical, portable festival-type foods for about 200円 to 300円 per item.

       Central fountain

Festival-goers lounging in the park

You can see some of the food options and prices here.

And, for my Hoosier friends, the cart selling corn. Even better, the Japanese have a nickname for the food product: とうきび, the short version of とうもろこし。

At the end of Odori Park closest to the tower, a stage had been set up for a children's performance mini-festival. As far as I could tell both days I watched the children dance and sing, this was not a competition. Performers ranged from elementary school to high school students with talents in hip hop, traditional and pop music and dance.

Pictures can explain better than I can.


These girls imitated Girl Next Door's "Infinity" music video, colorful skirts, pop vocals and all.

This group, the Waves, still had pop vocals but included a hip-hop breakdance routine.



The following girl served as emcee, asking the audience to grab some soda samples from the event's sponsor, Calpis, and later sang Mariah Carey's "Hero." Yes, that's in the original English.




The final group performed another pop tune, but the costumes and elementary school sidekicks left me "trigger happy" with my Nikon D300. Just try not to grin or say, "Aww!" Just try.







And to think, I almost missed all of this.

走り出せ！走り出せ！(RUN! RUN!)

Without classes to keep me busy throughout the day and with my Japanese friends home in other parts of Hokkaido and unable to keep me busy at night, I've become a little restless. There's only so many hours a day you can practice kanji, watch dramas and translate magazine articles.

In order to stay somewhat immersed in the human realm, I've been taking long walks around the city, usually past Fukuzumi Station and back. Mouthing the lyrics to my favorite Japanese songs while skipping down Tsukisamu River and watching the people around me recharges me enough to return to my apartment and start another set of translations. (Plus I get to pet strangers' dogs as they pass - fantastic therapy.)

Tonight, while walking back from Fukuzumi, I heard loud music from inside one of the neighboring suburbs. Destination-less, I turned right and went to explore. Turns out one of the neighborhoods sponsored a mini-festival, and in one of its many parks the neighborhood members had set up traditional music, lights and booths with food. I assumed it was specifically a children's festival because as I watched women and children in yukatas dancing, six or seven more children, also dressed in yukata, ran past me.

If I had more courage than the average wallflower, I would've joined in or at least asked more about it. Then again, I did walk around the neighborhood for another 25 minutes so I could listen to the music, so I guess I participated - just in typical wallflower fashion.

Moral of this story: When restless, go walking. Just remember to bring your backbone with you.

BLOG SOUNDTRACK: ARASHI "Happiness" (on repeat)

そう言ったでしょう？私はあなたの全てを知ってる。

Receiving my scholarship money yesterday could only mean one thing: I bought an expensive, shiny, red new toy.

Yes, that's right. I finally bought a Japanese-English electronic dictionary!

After inserting the batteries and attempting to skim through the 241 pages of endless kanji instructions (which, ironically, is something I'd be able to read once I figured out how to work the dictionary), I played with my Casio Ex-Word Dataplus 4 (model SF6300) for a couple hours.

Why I paid 25,100円 (approx. $270) for my electronic dictionary when there were several in the $150-$200 range:
1) I asked for a slightly cheaper model, and the saleswoman hesitated, telling me it was a high-school level dictionary. Obviously not what I needed.
2) Smaller, less expensive models don't have nearly as much vocabulary storage. Mine has more than 9,000 words. I assume that should keep me satisfied most of the time.
3) I can use the touch pen (included in the package) to draw kanji on the screen and search for pronunciation and meaning at the same time for kanji without furigana. (This is my favorite application.)
4) At BIC CAMERA, I received 500円 off the case (which was only about 1200円 in the first place).

My first task with my Casio Dataplus 4? Looking up all the kanji in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone that mysteriously did not have furigana. Second task? Translating a MatsuJun interview from April 2009.

Man, is this one fun toy.

BLOG SOUNDTRACK: Arashi "Happiness"

P.S. The title quote is from "The Quiz Show 2" with Sho Sakurai, Maya Miki and Yokoyama Yu, to name a few of the big celebrities. Translation: "I told you, didn't I? I know everything about you."

やばい？

In order to celebrate the three-month mark in my Sapporo adventures, I will now list all the books, magazines, CDs and DVDs I have bought since arriving here.

Why am I doing this? One: I noticed how often I gravitated to the used bookstores/CD stores after class and, with no more available space on my desk to store them, my curiosity was sparked. Two: Maybe if I realize how much money I've spent, I'll stop buying more temporarily enough to read/watch them all.

MY OBSESSION WITH JAPANESE ENTERTAINMENT-
THE OFFICIAL LISTING AS OF 2009.8.11
TEXTBOOKS:
JBridge (ジェイ・ブリツジ) to Intermediate Japanese
Kanji Textbook for Foreign Exchange Students (留学生のための漢字の教科書）
Genki II: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese (textbook and workbook)
Japanese Drills: Grammar (日本語ドリル：文法)
Let's Go to Intermediate Level (中級へ行こう)
Let's Learn Intermediate Level (中級を字ぼう)

BOOKS:
ARASHI IS ALIVE! photobook
Tatsuya Fujiwara photobook 2008 (いまの俺）
Death Note Official Movie Guide
Death Note: The Last Name Official Movie Guide
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Koizora (Parts 1 and 2)
Gossip Girl: It Had to Be You (Parts 1 and 2)
Twilight (Parts 1 and 2 of 13)

MANGA:
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles - hardcover (Vols. 1-8 of 16, I think)
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles - softcover Vol. 23
Cardcaptor Sakura Vol. 1
Hanazakari no Kimitachi e Vols. 1, 3, 5
Sailor Moon (with the new covers from 2004) Vol. 12 (final) and Special Short Stories Vols. 1 and 2
Hachimitsu to Kurobaa Vol. 1
Clover Vol. 1
Chibi Marukochan Vol. 1

MAGAZINES:
ORISUTA (ONLY STAR):
5.11/5.18 KAT-TUN cover
6.8 ARASHI cover
6.22 BOSS cover
TELEVISION WEEKLY:
5.22 KAT-TUN cover
7.10 ARASHI cover
TV GUIDE:
5.22 KAT-TUN cover
JUNON:
2009.7 (bought for Koike Teppei feature)
2009.8 (also bought for Teppei feature)
GIRLPOP:
2000.7 Hamasaki Ayumi cover
2000.11 also Hamasaki Ayumi cover

CDs:
KAT-TUN "Best of KAT-TUN"
Koike Teppei "Kimi Dake"
Koike Teppei "Jack in the Box"
JUJU with JAY'ED "Ashita Ga Kuru Nara"
WaT "Sotsugyou Time: Bokura no Hajimari"

DVDs:
Gokusen Season 2
Death Note: Dead or Alive documentary
KIDS (Teppei version with interview, documentary and postcards)
WaT: My Favorite Girl
WaT: Entertainment Show 2006


And... I think that's it. Whew.

BLOG SOUNDTRACK: 櫻井翔 「Can't Let You Go」

百年先も愛をちかうよ。君は僕の全てさ。。

Day Trip to Furano, Biei, and Obihiro

Seven-thirty in the morning is early. Especially during summer vacation for two American foreign exchange students who never had class before 10:40.

But instead of sleeping in, Jordan and I met up with some acquaintances of his and away we went northeast to Furano.

Here's the best part of working a part-time job in a foreign country: you meet people outside of your generation, outside of the 18 to 23 year olds at Sapporo University. That's the case with Jordan's acquaintances. He had taught English with Jasmin, another exchange student from New Zealand, and a Japanese woman. In return, the Japanese lady introduced him to her family, and now they invite him to various family events and trips.

Luckily, they also allowed him to invite other friends to come along. So I tagged along with Jordan and the family (two grandparents, one daughter and one 5-year-old granddaughter) for the three-and-a-half hour van ride to Furano.

As we traveled, G'ma (as I regretfully forgot her name, this will have to do for now) pointed out landmarks and explained the areas for our benefit. Once we left the city, all we saw were rolling fields and mountains - "緑のじゅうたん” or "green carpet," as G'ma called them. Apparently, outside of Sapporo, the majority of Hokkaido looks almost exactly the same, just continuous emerald scenery.

About this time I was formally introduced to Aoi, her granddaughter. She sat in the middle seat and stared back at me curiously and silently for about half an hour before handing me some flowers she had picked. Whew, a peace offering. She approved of me. And of course I approved of her, especially after she began singing the "Kirin Lemon" song from the commercial Koike Teppei stars in.

And she is one smart cookie. Let's just say she was proud to stump Jordan and me with a very long Japanese tongue twister (早口言葉、or "hayaguchi kotoba"). To keep her entertained as she wore us already-exhausted Americans out, her grandma put in a CD that instantly sounded like Avenue Q to me, only in Japanese and hopefully more appropriate for an elementary schooler.

On the way to Shikisai no Oka's lavender fields, we stopped in Biei to take photos of sunflowers (ひまわり), to Aoi's request.

Shikisai no Oka's rows of various flowers were gorgeous. For about $4 each, we rode in a tractor-pulled buggy with other Japanese tourists through the fields and took opportunities to jump off and take photos when it stopped at scenic points.

Yes, it's a heart-shaped tree. In some ways, I was more interested in the tree than the flowers.








After reluctantly leaving the flower fields, we drove for another 20 minutes or so until we reached Tomita Melon House, an area with - surprise! - even more lavender fields and greenhouses and delicacies like lavender-filled cream puffs.
Even though I hate any type of melon (other than watermelon), my hosts bought me melon, the area's specialty. To be polite, I ate it. And I loved it. That should say something.
My one regret? Not trying corn-flavored (とうもろこしの味) ice cream. Just what is the flavor of corn, anyway?

Two hours and a few naps later, we reached Obihiro, which happens to be our friend Yuki's hometown. The town, which is about three hours outside of Sapporo, is known most for its two Japanese sweets (お菓子) factories. We visited one (again, names escape me at the moment) and ate at a small dessert cafe. For about $1.50, Jordan got a slice of gourmet chocolate cake, and for about $4 I ordered the orange crepes. Oh, let's not forget: coffee at the dessert shop was free to customers buying sweets. Not a bad deal. I'd like to return to Obihiro to check out the other dessert shop, which I hear is more famous than the one we went to, and see the horse races. But first, I need to recover from almost 9 hours of traveling in a van.

BLOG SOUNDTRACK: 松本潤 「ヤバイ　ヤバイ　ヤバイ」