OK.
I think my wife is just as keen to see me go away for the two weeks as I am. After coping a bit of flack from her during the last holiday break (she decided that I had to do everything as “I was having a holiday next break so I needed to do everything that I wasnt going to do then!” (yes, welcome to my world!), she then turns up wth the following in the last week of the break (nb…when I was back at school so she must have felt a little guilty!)
Its pretty cool. Basically a flashcard system , is designed to work on your ipod (or your newly purchased iphone 3GS!). It shows you sentences and words in Japanese and English as well as repeating it three times in Japanese. Hopefully I will get to use it though I honestly cant see myself trying to memorise phrases etc as my memory is basically shot.
The other ‘pressie’ she gave me is an amazing book that Im currently reading
From the authors website:
(http://www.alex-kerr.com/html/lost_japan__english_.html)
Lost Japan is a series of autobiographical essays, describing experiences I had since coming to Japan as a boy in 1964, and how the country has changed.
I wrote this book originally in Japanese as a series of articles for Shincho 45 magazine. In 1993, the articles came out as a book Utsukushiki Nihon no Zanzo (Last Glimpse of Beautiful Japan), which won the Shincho Gakugei literature award in 1994 (the first ever by a foreigner ). I later translated the book with the help of Bodhi Fishman into English, and in 1996 Lonely Planet published the English version as Lost Japan.
My two books on Japan are yin and yang: Dogs and Demons is about “now”, but Lost Japan is about the past and what it has to teach us. It’s a very personal book, looking back to the glories of the old landscape and traditional culture.
Its one of those books that are so easy to read and I just want to plow through it but my reading time is restricted to just before bed (plus I need new glasses so I can only read for small amounts of time, much to my frustration).
Have just spent the last hour updating the site (mainly the itinerary- tried to add in links to all the major things we are doing).
Less than two months…….
