Long Time Expat In Japan
Finally made it up one level in kanji. It has only taken me... gulp, 7 months to get here. Kind of a long time, but I can feel a big difference in my ability. This last week at my lesson, I had to write a month's worth of kanji, kana, andpenji. While it wasn't great, … Continue reading Kanji – level 9 !
Surprisingly, I leveled up in the kana section of Shodo! Again! This was doubly unexpected because it is both hard for my classmates, or so I'm told, and also because I have never had any formal education in Japanese. I studied Kanji in Chinese, and even took a couple of lessons in Shodo (which they … Continue reading Level Up! Lvl 8 Kana
I'm sure you've heard about getting outside of your comfort zone. It's where you learn, stretch, grow. I've often thought of Bilbo's famous quote when I hear it, "I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread." That's the stretch part. But where is the grow part? It might have something … Continue reading Comfy Chairs
In February I was really pleased to say that I was, again, not last. As you can see below, I'm plugging along well enough. The first is kanji. https://bsdonovan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/janfebkanji.jpg Then here is my pen submission. I must admit, I'm kind of struggling here, but still not last. https://bsdonovan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/janfebpen.jpg But below is the really exciting part. … Continue reading Level up!
Many years ago, when I was a college student, and barely conscious - I was not a party animal, just self centered - I studied Comparative Literature. Comp Lit was where I could basically take classes in film, science fiction, vampire fiction, foreign languages, almost anything liberal arts related, and it would count toward graduation. … Continue reading Blogs are Commonplace Books
Image from Mr. Nimoy's Twitter Like many of you, I was saddened to hear of Leonard Nimoy's passing. While he will be remembered for his many achievements, the one for which I will remember him the most is as Spock, ambassador to a brighter future. Star Trek was before it's time in many ways. The … Continue reading Change is the Essential Process of All Existence
This week, my kanji submission for shodo is onko chishin. See below for a picture. Roughly translated, it means "know history's mistakes." https://bsdonovan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/img_0464.jpg The kanji we need to submit is often a four word idiom, what they call a Yoji Jukugo. Yoji = four word. Jukugo = idiom. So there's no real mystery there. But … Continue reading 温故知新 – Know History’s Mistakes
I love the hyperlinked world of the internet. After having just read Feed, a post zombie apocalypse novel by Mira Grant, I was curious about the genre and how it has changed. Curious enough to dig a little bit. I felt, but could not prove, that zombies seem to be a lot more visible in … Continue reading A Quasi-Analytical Look at Zombie Mind Share
https://bsdonovan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/courthouse.jpg OK, so it was a bit strange, but I have to say, I had a good customer experience at the courtroom today. See my post yesterday about getting Nabbed by the Keisatsu. The parking violation cost me 40,000 JPY, about $340 USD. There’s no way that’s going to feel good. I have problems with … Continue reading A Good Experience with Police? Yes, Expensive but, Yes
It started one Friday evening. It was a pretty good day; I was home before 7 pm. You need to understand that this is Japan. The work day starts late, but for so many, that work day never seems to end. In a former life in this country, I had a job that nearly did … Continue reading Nabbed by the Keisatsu
B.S. Donovan 
