Hi guys, I'm in Japan

[Sean]

I guess you're right. It just won't be my present wilderness.

[greg]

I guess you're right. It just won't be my present wilderness.

either way, i wish you the best- and do tell us how it is- post some pictures! 

regarding Kanji, even though i said before it might be easier if Japanese didn't use them, i still have my doubts about that.... they really come in handy when trying to memorize meanings of words (and words themselves)- it's just like learning compound words, in a way. So which way would be easier, only hiragana/katana (with spaces) or how it is now, with Kanji? I have no idea, unfortunately, because there's no way to make a comparison...

what do you think about this, The Six?

[The Six]

It's hard for me to decide on Kanji. On one hand, a long string of hiragana is incomprehensible without spaces;having certain characters like Kanji do make remembering words easier. Even if you don't know the word, if you recognize that there's the Kanji for, say, air, in a word, you'll get an idea of what it is.
But if you are fluent in the language, i.e. having no problems with vocabulary, the merits of Kanji could, perhaps, dwindle. And there's nothing worse than being presented with something -an article, ingredients of a product, a menu- that you would otherwise understand if it weren't for the tons of characters that you have to memorize.
So I don't know. Maybe eliminating Kanji is better, after all. I could be wrong on this, but it's not a particularly strong part of Japanese culture. It's a complex system that was brought from China. Using Roman characters is just so much simpler and easier to understand for everybody, that whatever negatives would come from it do not outweigh the positives. Maybe Roman characters for small print items like maps, and Kana for newspapers and the like would work.

[greg]

It's hard for me to decide on Kanji. On one hand, a long string of hiragana is incomprehensible without spaces;having certain characters like Kanji do make remembering words easier. Even if you don't know the word, if you recognize that there's the Kanji for, say, air, in a word, you'll get an idea of what it is.
But if you are fluent in the language, i.e. having no problems with vocabulary, the merits of Kanji could, perhaps, dwindle. And there's nothing worse than being presented with something -an article, ingredients of a product, a menu- that you would otherwise understand if it weren't for the tons of characters that you have to memorize.
So I don't know. Maybe eliminating Kanji is better, after all. I could be wrong on this, but it's not a particularly strong part of Japanese culture. It's a complex system that was brought from China. Using Roman characters is just so much simpler and easier to understand for everybody, that whatever negatives would come from it do not outweigh the positives. Maybe Roman characters for small print items like maps, and Kana for newspapers and the like would work.

See, everybody!
The Six also thinks there would be benefit to not using Kanji, just as i said..... same exact thoughts as mine, although i have to add that the writing itself wouldn't be as beautiful w/out Kanji. 
But yeah, by complex you mean a character can have from one to tons of readings, far more complexity than in Chinese (normally one to (rarely) 3 readings, maybe? something like that), plus they're not really a national creation, besides a few characters.

But we'll both get there, after all, my saying is "It's not harder, it just takes longer to learn" 

man, i can't wait to go to Japan..... just a couple years and i should have the money. You're going to have to show me around the place, The Six.

[M forever]

What, you haven't even been to Japan yet?

Kanji are more than outdated characters once imported from China. They reflect much more than just the basic meanings they stand for. They are part of Japanese culture and heritage. Just like the ways our Western languages are written in the Roman script may not always be entirely logical - in fact, they are highly illogical in the way every language uses them in sometimes wildy different ways - but these ways reflect important parts of the history of each language and culture. So replacing Kanji with Roman script would be a tragic loss. But there is no danger that that might happen as literacy in Japan is extremely high.

[Ephemerid]

...I'd like to actually enter a music school here to learn traditional Japanese music, and continue composing classical.

Check out the shakuhachi, particularly honkyoku.  I just play *at* the shakuhachi (I just have a student model) , but its a beautiful instrument, very meditative. 0:)

[Gustav]

excuse me, since you are so precocious with languages, I only have one proverb for you - "大愚若智". I don't think I can think of something that describes you any better.

[Bonehelm]

big slowpoke/fool? young wisdom?

arrghhhhh accidentally deleted what i wrote.

what i wrote was, no, i'm not "so precocious with languages", i'm just explaining to you how i'm not a complete idiot like you think/wish? i am. Just mere self defense, not bragging.

No offense Greg, but you can't translate a proverb character by character. When Chinese characters are combined together, it could make a HUGE difference in meaning, tone, or sometimes even pronounciation.

[Gustav]

No offense Greg, but you can't translate a proverb character by character. When Chinese characters are combined together, it could make a HUGE difference in meaning, tone, or sometimes even pronounciation.

correct, but, also I tweaked the original proverb a bit, which changed its original meaning entirely. People who are familar with the language can do that, and get away with it. Good luck to Greg to find out what it actually means.
Hint: don't bother with dictionaries, or even Chinese proverb dictionaries, they won't help you at all.

[The Six]

I got up at 7 am to go watch the Super Bowl at 8:30. It was worth it.

Anyway, there is a disturbing amount of old people hunched over in this country. I saw one man who was literally walking in a bowing position; he had to throw himself back just to look straight ahead. I don't know what has been going on for years for this to be so common with the elderly. I've also seen quite a few eye patches, all on women. Yeah.

But when they get sick, the Japanese put on a mask that covers their mouth before they leave the house. So I guess that's pretty considerate. However, there are a lot of people that don't cover their mouths at all when they cough...ok, now I'm just noticing a lot of little things. Maybe it's because I have time to just look at people since I'm walking instead of driving, waiting for the train to come, etc..

[bhodges]

Guys, guys, guys...I've temporarily locked this thread.  Please take the non-topic conversation to private messages.

Thank you...

--Bruce

[The Six]

You know that are some people that just stayed locked in their room/apartment? Or if you just have a lazy day, and do nothing all day. Since you're just vegetating in your room, if someone opens your door, the first thing that will happen to them is a wall of YOU swarming their senses. All of your collected odors will just unleash on that person.

That's what it's like in Kyoto in warm weather. The difference is that when you leave your room, and go outside, it's just like entering a capsule of all the sweat and fungus everyone else in the city has collected that day. Los Angeles is hot, but dry heat, and the worst you'll get is heat stroke or skin cancer from the sun ruthlessly beating down on you all day. Yes, L.A. heat could kill you, but Kyoto makes you want to kill yourself. Kyoto suffocates you with its humidity and makes you tap out. 

I learned this last summer, as when I first got here I was greeted with what I thought would just be regular heat. After all, I live in the San Fernando Valley, and Kyoto is also a valley. But I found out, with the warm rain three times a week, and the incessant crops of mosquitoes, that this was a different animal. The weather is just warming up now, after being freezing for the past five months. I was actually looking forward to it, too, because I had had an assfull of the cold, already. Now, just looking at my winter clothes makes me ill.

[BorisG]

You know that are some people that just stayed locked in their room/apartment? Or if you just have a lazy day, and do nothing all day. Since you're just vegetating in your room, if someone opens your door, the first thing that will happen to them is a wall of YOU swarming their senses. All of your collected odors will just unleash on that person.

That's what it's like in Kyoto in warm weather. The difference is that when you leave your room, and go outside, it's just like entering a capsule of all the sweat and fungus everyone else in the city has collected that day. Los Angeles is hot, but dry heat, and the worst you'll get is heat stroke or skin cancer from the sun ruthlessly beating down on you all day. Yes, L.A. heat could kill you, but Kyoto makes you want to kill yourself. Kyoto suffocates you with its humidity and makes you tap out. 

I learned this last summer, as when I first got here I was greeted with what I thought would just be regular heat. After all, I live in the San Fernando Valley, and Kyoto is also a valley. But I found out, with the warm rain three times a week, and the incessant crops of mosquitoes, that this was a different animal. The weather is just warming up now, after being freezing for the past five months. I was actually looking forward to it, too, because I had had an assfull of the cold, already. Now, just looking at my winter clothes makes me ill.

"L.A. heat could kill you, but Kyoto makes you want to kill yourself."

Harri-kari was invented there.

[greg]

You know that are some people that just stayed locked in their room/apartment? Or if you just have a lazy day, and do nothing all day. Since you're just vegetating in your room, if someone opens your door, the first thing that will happen to them is a wall of YOU swarming their senses. All of your collected odors will just unleash on that person.

That's what it's like in Kyoto in warm weather. The difference is that when you leave your room, and go outside, it's just like entering a capsule of all the sweat and fungus everyone else in the city has collected that day. Los Angeles is hot, but dry heat, and the worst you'll get is heat stroke or skin cancer from the sun ruthlessly beating down on you all day. Yes, L.A. heat could kill you, but Kyoto makes you want to kill yourself. Kyoto suffocates you with its humidity and makes you tap out. 

I learned this last summer, as when I first got here I was greeted with what I thought would just be regular heat. After all, I live in the San Fernando Valley, and Kyoto is also a valley. But I found out, with the warm rain three times a week, and the incessant crops of mosquitoes, that this was a different animal. The weather is just warming up now, after being freezing for the past five months. I was actually looking forward to it, too, because I had had an assfull of the cold, already. Now, just looking at my winter clothes makes me ill.

don't visit Kyouto in the summer, ah, i've got it 
can't be much warmer than Florida weather, though, right?

[M forever]

"L.A. heat could kill you, but Kyoto makes you want to kill yourself."

Harri-kari was invented there.

What is "Harri-kari"?

[greg]

What is "Harri-kari"?

he just added an extra r and a hyphen.....

[M forever]

OK, so what is "Harikari"?

[greg]

OK, so what is "Harikari"?

ooooops
change the first i to a, change the second a to i.

yeah, he totally messed that one up 

[cx]

OK, so what is "Harikari"?

I think he means seppuku, or harakiri, meaning ritual suicide

Wikipedia: Hara-kiri is the more common term in English, where it is often mistakenly rendered "hari-kari."

EDIT didn't see Greg's post

[greg]

I think he means seppuku, or harakiri, meaning ritual suicide

Wikipedia: Hara-kiri is the more common term in English, where it is often mistakenly rendered "hari-kari."

EDIT didn't see Greg's post

yeah, "harikari" does sound familiar but it just doesn't make any sense.....
i guess as much sense as "eizu" anyways