Ok, it’s really not that hard to grok.

The monsoon season officially starts next Wednesday, but it seems to have hit nice and early this year …. my 21st floor balcony makes for great storm watching, shot these around 5-6pm today.

I wonder if Nabokov is rolling over in his grave knowing that his book as spawned a Tokyo fashion craze …. or perhaps he’s ecstatic over it.

Apparently this is pretty common in Tokyo …. people getting plastered before rushing to take the last train home, and then passing out before they reach their destination.

I love visiting supermarkets in other countries, checking out which import products are popular, looking at the prepared food, watching the type of stuff that people buy.

Restaurant food is pretty expensive here (well compared to Bangkok at least), and my limited kitchen doesn’t allow for much more than water boiling so I tend to eat a lot of prepared food from the supermarkets. There’s usually tons of good vegetables, tofu, tempura, strange pickled things, soba, udon, soy beans (boiled and fermented) and other things that I’ve learned to experiment with.

So I’m heading home to Bangkok today, after having spent the last month in Tokyo. My life here has really been idllic, I’ve been able to sleep in until 5:30 ever day, practice yoga with a great teacher, study Japanese in class for four hours and then head home work on my Kanji and grammar studies. I’ve been to a bunch of museums and art galleries, explored new areas, went to Mt Fuji, got caught up on Heros and Lost, and generally relaxed. Often in BKK I can get so caught up being social, running around to different events, that I sometimes forget how much I enjoy being alone. Working through these studies has also shown me how much I love learning, it’s been great to just focus on the Japanese language for a month. I feel like I have made good progress on the language, although three months probably would have been ideal. When I moved to BKK, it was about three months before I could have a reasonable conversation in Thai but at least eight months before I could sit at a table with a bunch friends and keep up with what was being said. Studying Japanese is a bit unique due to the Kanji (Chinese) characters and being a SOV language has taken some time for my brain to adjust. Before I came here that I wasn’t totally sure of the best strategy for study, as there was so much that needed to be learned. Having these long afternoons to myself and having access to some great books has helped me define a plan to keep studying the language (I’ll post more on that later).

That last sentence touches on one of the (many) joys of studying Japanese; the plethora of study materials out there to support me. Japanese is taught in universities all over the world and is apparently a very popular language for foreigners to study (I think it is somewhat being replaced by Chinese as the top Asian language for foreigners to study, but that doesn’t change the fact that these resources exist already). There are well thought-out books and websites available for every level of study, and the language schools here are organized have curriculum to support students at all levels. Thai is gaining in popularity, but still has few bilingual resources for intermediate study. The upside of this is that if you want to read a really good Thai grammar book, you have to just push through a book written in Thai for a Thai audience, unfortunately that leaves out beginners who want a solid footing in grammar. Less popular languages like Burmese and Lao have very limited resources for study, I’m rather fortunate in that they are taught at my university; students in other parts of the world would likely struggle to get anything worth studying.

Ok, I have to pack and clean … more from BKK.

I forget what the laws are governing cigarette advertising in USA are, but they must be pretty strict as I don’t remember seeing much. In Thailand, smoking is banned in bars and restaurants (and generally well enforced), as is any display of tobacco in shops. Stores are allowed to display a sign that says “Cigarettes are available here” with black letters on white paper, but the actual pack can’t be visible. In addition, the packs are covered with pictures of diseased lungs, ghosts and other things meant to scare people away. In Japan virtually everyone smokes and if a restaurant is non-smoking, that is the exception and not the rule. There is a coffee shop near my apt where smoking is allowed downstairs (where the employees work), and the upstairs smoke-free area is rather smoky owing to the fact that smoke rises and there is a huge open stair-case connecting the two.

Tobacco sales are prohibited to people under 20s, and vending machines have this card reader that checks IDs before a sale can be made. The thing is, the vending machines are everywhere … making sure that people grow up being saturated in tobacco advertising.

Tokyo fashion is a bit like what we have in Bangkok, there is this (apparent) anything-goes attitude and a abundance of subgroups wearing all sorts of strange things. It’s common to see people (adults) dressed as cartoon characters or 50s greasers, and then there are fashion trends which seem to either start here or pick-up from the rest of the world quickly. What you will notice after being here for some time, is that there is very little that is actually unique. It may seem unique to see a 25 year old girl dressed up as an overblown cartoon character, but the reality of it is that there are a few hundred others doing the same thing.

A few interesting trends that I’ve noticed since being here

• Thin, square neck ties (almost 80s style) worn with a very loose full-windsor knot (~6-8″ from the neck) with polo shirts or dress shirts (usually the top three buttons are undone.)
• Pants cuffed or hemmed about 6-8″ above the ankle, generally worn with no socks or a short sock (although, I think this is the trend all-over now).
• Clear plastic umbrellas. This one I thought was just fashion, but recently learned that it was for safety. The streets are crazy packed here and if your umbrella is clear, you can see the people around you better.
• My new favorite thing, socks with individual compartments for each toe. I think there is some health benefit to wearing these, not sure about that but they do feel good.

So it’s no secret that I love vocabulary (in any language), and that I think a study of a country’s culture is impossible without really understanding their language. In Thai, when asking what someone had to eat for dinner, the literal translation of what we normally say (กินอะไรบ้าง) is “what all did you eat”. With the implication being that the person obviously didn’t eat alone, and that the dishes were all shared. While digging into a language’s vocabulary these small cultural observations start to become rather obvious, it continues to amaze me that, unfortunately, most people don’t see this link. I’ve talked to countless people who bitch about not understanding the way that Thai’s think, but when I ask them how far they have taken their Thai language study, they don’t seem to understand the point of my question.

Anyway, where I am going with this is that as you get deeper into any language there are tons of words (and phrases) which are very specific to that language. A while ago, I posted a series on Thai proverbs and showed how their literal translations had cultural foundations. What many languages have, in addition, are words which don’t really translate into other languages at all. Words which you can only understand by looking up in a standard (non-translation) dictionary. Whenever I come across words that I don’t know, I try to look it up and then figure out a way to work them into my speech. The thing with many words, is that their obscurity often means that your listener may not understand it either … if you use words like that too often, you run the risk of sounding like a pompous asshole (aside: there is a certain risk in using swear words excessively too, but in many cases they provide just the right accentuation) .

What follows are two lists, one of English words that I’ve picked up recently and another of Thai words. After both lists of words, scroll down to see the definitions … you might want to test yourself before scrolling down. Ohh, If you feel inspired to leave sample sentences in the comments section, go for it … bonus points if you can use more than one in the same sentence.

• Saturnalia
• Faustian
• Pedagogy
• Calque
• Tergiversation
• Apostasy
• Vituperate
• Fallacious
• Alacrity
• Orthography
• Sagacity

• ครองราชย์
• มุนิ
• สังวาส
• อาละวาด
• อร่าม
• ประติมากรรม
• เพ้อเจ้อ
• พรำ
• ครึ้มฟ้าครึ้มฝน
• เอือมระอา
• ทะเยอทะยาน
• เขี่ย
• ทะนุถนอน
• ทะยาน
• หักโหม
• ตึงเปรี๊ยะ
• ลือ
• คึกคัก
• ครึกครื้น
• ละลานตา

• Saturnalia: the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December, which was a period of general merrymaking and was the predecessor of Christmas.
• Faustian: characterized by spiritual dissatisfaction or torment; possessed with a hunger for knowledge or mastery.
• Pedagogy: the method and practice of teaching, esp. as an academic subject or theoretical concept
• Calque: a loan translation, esp. one resulting from bilingual interference in which the internal structure of a borrowed word or phrase is maintained but its morphemes are replaced by those of the native language, as German halbinsel for peninsula
• Tergiversation: to change repeatedly one’s attitude or opinions with respect to a cause, subject, etc.;
• Apostasy: a total desertion of or departure from one’s religion, principles, party, cause, etc
• Vituperate: to use or address with harsh or abusive language; revile
• Fallacious: containing a fallacy; logically unsound
• Alacrity: cheerful readiness, promptness, or willingness
• Orthography: the part of language study concerned with letters and spelling.
• Sagacity: acuteness of mental discernment and soundness of judgment

• ครองราชย์: ครองแผ่นดิน
• มุนิ: นักปราชญ์, ฤษี
• สังวาส: การร่วมประเวณี (sex)
• อาละวาด: แผลงฤทธิ์, ออกฤทธิ์ออกเดช
• อร่ามซ: แพรวพราว, สว่างไสว
• ประติมากรรม: ศิลปะสาขาหนึ่งในจําพวกวิจิตรศิลป์เกี่ยวกับการ
  แกะสลักไม้ หินอ่อน โลหะ
• เพ้อเจ้อ: พล่าม, อาการที่พูดมากในเรื่องที่เหลวไหลไร้สาระ, อาการ
  ที่พูดพล่ามจนเสียประโยชน์, อาการที่พูดไม่รู้จักจบ
• พรำ: ก. ตกน้อย ๆ เรื่อยไป (ใช้แก่ฝน) ในคําว่า ฝนพรํา. ว. อาการ
  ที่ฝนตกน้อย ๆ เรื่อยไป ใช้ว่า ฝนตกพรํา ฝนตกพรํา ๆ
• ครึ้มฟ้าครึ้มฝน: S.ครึ้มฝน A.โล่ง, ปลอดโปร่ง
• เอือมระอา: เอือม, เบื่อหน่าย
• ทะเยอทะยาน: อยากมีฐานะหรือภาวะสูงกว่าดีกว่าที่เป็นอยู่
• เขี่ย: ใช้ไม้หรือสิ่งอื่น ๆ ทําให้สิ่งใดสิ่งหนึ่งเคลื่อนที่ไป
• ทะนุถนอน: คอยระวังรักษา, คอยประคับประคอง.
• ทะยาน: เผ่นขึ้นไป
• หักโหม: ระดมเข้าไปด้วยกำลังให้แตกหัก, โหมหัก ก็ว่า; เอากําลังแรง
  เข้ามาหักเอา, ทํางานโดยไม่บันยะบันยัง
• ตึงเปรี๊ยะ: ตึงมากจนเกือบจะปริหรือขาด
• ลือ: พูดกันทั่วไป แต่ยังไม่มีอะไรยืนยันได้แน่นอน เช่น เขาลือว่า
  จะเกิดเหตุที่ท่าน้ำ,
• คึกคัก: แข็งแรง, กระปรี้กระเปร่า, มีชีวิตชีวา,
• ครึกครื้น: สนุกสนาน, ร่าเริง,
• ละลานตา: ตื่นตา

Tokyo rents are probably pretty much on-par with NYC rents; I rented a furnished (nothing fancy) studio (efficieny) apartment at Komagome station (Yamanote Line) for 105,000 Yen (~1,200 USD, 40,000 THB) per month. There’s a bedroom about the size of a bed, a desk so close to the bed that I can’t lean back in the chair, a kitchen suitable for boiling water, a clothing chest and a small bathroom.

Living here forever would probable pose a challenge, but living in tight quarters like this for a month is probably a good thing. I knew I would have a lug my suitcase a bunch when I landed, so I only brought a few pieces of clothes (I do laundry (myself!) twice a week), I carefully picked only the books I thought I’d need (ok, I brought too many books) and made due with two pairs of sneakers. What’s evident after a day or two here, is that with so little space things can’t get messy or lost. Every item has to have a place, and has to be returned there once it has been used. When I’m not studying, I can place my books on my desk, but when it’s time to study I have to move them to my bed and then just pick the ones I need.

Some photos are below, the angels suck because it was impossible to back up far enough to get a better one.

I don’t know why I haven’t blogged yet. There’s tons that I want to say, and I have loads of time. Odd really … I think I’m starting a trend here now tho.

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