My Kanji Adventure: Week 2 End

So, since I decided to no longer write out EVERY SINGLE kanji that I am learning, I also decided that I no longer need to update EVERY SINGLE day. It's time to do things differently!

Anyhow, Guillaume's back from France, and I've gone back to working every day, I have WAY LESS free time, and I'm actually finding it somewhat hard to keep up with the kanji. And I have had WAY less time to to watch drama. I'm presently watching Hanazakari no kimitachi he (花ざかりの君たちへ　or For you in Full Bloom), which is absolutely AMAZING! I started it after finished Gokusen, and I am happy to say: no Matsumoto Jun. There IS Oguri Shun, though, and he is totally adorable in it. I've still got a few episodes left, though (though I'll admit I practically ran home today to try to get an episode in!).

I've also been listening to the Kiddie a LOT, and I am presently OBSESSED with this song:


In week 2, I managed to study 193 new kanji. Not quite as many as the 205 kanji that I covered in week 1, but I still think it's pretty good. At the end of the week, I decided to take a day off of learning new kanji and just review all of the kanji that I did in week 1. There were a few I didn't remember. :-P

Kanji I Had Forgotten From Week 1
填 - inlay
God laid truth in all the soil of the Earth; and I imagine a giant footprint in soil with the word truth in it
寸 - measurement
I somehow only remember this as glue, and I still haven't come up with a good story for it as measurement
昭 - shining
The sun comes down and seduces people by shining so brightly
唄 - pop song
a stream of clams or money, spewing out of the mouth of the person singing the pop song
嘲 - derision
morning mouth
了 - complete
I can't believe I forgot this one! It's a kid wrapped up COMPLETELY, with only its head sticking out.
旭 - rising sun
At the baseball field, watching as the baseball rises up like a rising sun
願 - petition
I just got the two elements of this backwards. So basically, you FIRST go to the meadow where Oz's gigantic head is waiting, and you petition to it.
吐 spit
Also got the two elements of this one backwards. Have to remember that the soil is in your mouth FIRST, then you spit it out, and it is beside your mouth.
昌 - prosperous
Is there anything more prosperous than two suns?
胃 - stomach
Brains are on top of the flesh that is stomach, but the stomach controls the brains.

So far week 3 has been rough. I immediately regretting skipping a day, especially thinking about the 10 days I will be in Louisiana, when it will DEFINITELY be hard to find time to study. Despite that, I had MEGA trouble finding time the day after to study, so I only managed to do 13 kanji. Since then, I've been trying to do at least 35 a day, but I think it might be too much for my memory, and I'm afraid I'll forget them too easily. I think I've got to stick to 30 max a day.

Annnnyhow, that's all for this week!

My Kanji Adventure: Week 2 Days 3 and 4

Okay, so I finished NatsuNiji (夏の恋は虹色に輝く or Summer Love Shines in Rainbow Colors), and it was okay. I think my favorite part was the few seconds during which Nino appeared in the last episode. Adoooooorable!!!! The story itself was really cute. . .though I think the name they gave it is somewhat weird and doesn't fit. And I maintain that the actress that played Shiori, the lead female character, Takeuchi Yuko, was just wrong for the part. I don't really know how to explain why, but something just seemed wrong about her. Still, overall, I really enjoyed it - I cried and laughed, etc. . .And I thought Matsumoto Jun also did an AMAZING job acting!

Since finishing, I also managed to watch the entire first season (I know, I know, a Japanese drama with more than one season; sheer craziness!) of Gokusen (ごくせん, or Gangster Teacher), which I absolutely LOVED! I am absolutely NOT doing this on purpose, but it seems that every drama I've been watching lately has Matsumoto Jun in it. I'm going to have to make an effort to make sure he's NOT in the next one, which I'm thinking will be Hana Kimi. Anyhow, that said, Gokusen made me realize just what an amazing actor he really is. I have now seen him in SO MANY different roles, and he is totally superb in all of them. And Gokusen was really just so different from everything else I've seen him in, and he really just did so amazing. Even though he looks like a sewer rat, I have to say it, I'm a fan. Oguri Shun was also adoooorable with his bleached blonde hair and braids.

Anyhow, I totally loved it, and I'm looking forward to the second season (though I sort of wish some of the characters from this one would make guest appearances). Now, Kanji!!!!

WEEK 2 DAY 3

牛 - cow
特 - special
告 - revelation
先 - before
洗 - wash
介 - jammed in
界 - world
Basically, our world has become a place where we have to jam as many people into the space by the rice fields as possible.
合 - fit
Two mouths meet, they fit perfectly and make one mouth
塔 - pagoda
王 - king
玉 - jewel
宝 - treasure
珠 - pearl
現 - present (like the present time)
玩 - toy
The first "toy" that people probably played with was a ball
狂 - lunatic
旺 - effulgent
The king of radiance and beauty and light is the sun.
皇 - emperor
呈 -display
"Five little blackbirds making up a pie; isn't that a dainty display to set before the king"
全 - whole
I imagine a very fat king and trying to shove his whole body under one small umbrella
栓 - plug
理 - logic
The king of logic is the computer
主 - lord
注 - pour
柱 - pillar
金 - money
銑 - pig iron
鉢 - bowl

WEEK 2 DAY 4

銅 - copper
釣 - angling (in the sense of catching fish)
針 - needle
銘 - inscription
I just think of the watch I got when I graduated from high school, with my name inscribed on it
鎮 - tranquilize
道 - road
導 - guidance
辻 - crossing
迅 - swift
造 - creating
The road to revelation is creation.
迫 - urge
逃 - escape
There is a portent of evil, so we must use the nearby road to escape
辺 - environs
巡 - patrol
A flood of patrol motorcycles pours onto the road
車 - car
連 - take along
ROAD TRIP!!!!
軌rut
輸 - transport
前 - in front of
煎 - roast
A bull with large horns is holding a butcher over the fire, roasting him!!!! Muahahahaha!!!!
各 - each
格 - status
賂 - graft
I imagine shells grafting themselves together; if each one of them doesn't come, it's pointless. However, the dictionary says that this has the same meaning as 賄, to bribe
略 - abbreviation
No possible way to remember the name of EACH rice field, so we must come up with abbreviations
客 - guest
額 - forehead
The forehead is the guest of the head. I don't know why, but this is how it has stuck in my head.
夏 - summer

I'm thinking that maybe, from now on, I'll just write the ones I have trouble with instead of elaborating every single one of them like I have been doing. We'll see, though.

And that's all for today - it's so hot, I'm going to go play the piano and take a cold shower before I have to go babysit!

My Kanji Adventure: Week 2 Days 1 and 2

So An Cafe's newest song is out!!!! Or, at least a preview of the PV is. Aaaand, they are all dressed up as girls in it. Miku, the singer, is soooo beautiful that I always thought he would make the most amazingly gorgeous girl. And somehow, his face just looks big. To the point where I can almost understand the Japanese people thinking of small faces as a sign of beauty.
It doesn't work for him NEARLY as well as I thought it would. So I guess it's settled - he's just a beautiful boy. Or maybe it's just that the hair doesn't suit him. I dunno. Anyhow, watch the video and let me know what you think.


WEEK 2 DAY 1
木 - tree
林 - grove
森 - forest
桂 - Japanese Judas tree
I have NO clue if it's actually the Japanese Judas tree or not, but I just imagine a tree with lots of vines going up it, and as they go up, they start moving and come alive.
柏 - oak tree
枠 - frame
梢 - treetops
I just imagine a GIANT Christmas tree with lots of beautiful candles at the tops.
棚 - shelf
I imagine a wooden shelf with a big smile following me around everywhere I go, being my companion.
杏 - apricot
桐 - Paulownia tree
Again, I don't actually know what this tree looks like, but I pretend it looks like bamboo, and I imagine the beautiful bamboo forest outside the temple in Kyoto, and then I imagine monks walking around enjoying the nature, and I've got this tree.
植 - plant
椅 - chair
I imagine a giant wood chair with a giant St. Bernard sitting in it with its mouth nailed shut.
枯 - wither
朴 - crude
町 - village
相 - inter-
A tree that is alive with giant human eyes; very inter-species
机 - desk
本 - book
札 - tag
暦 - calendar
案 - plan
燥 - parch
未 - not yet
末 - extremity
昧 - obscure
The sun shining beautifully on ALMOST everything. Except one little OBSCURE area which we can't yet see because the sun hasn't reached it yet.
沫 - splash
味 - flavor

WEEK 2 DAY 2
妹 - younger sister
朱 - vermillion
株 - stocks
若 - young
草 - grass
苦 - suffering
苛 - bullying
寛 - tolerant
薄 - dilute
葉 - leaf
莫 - graveyard
So, according to my phone, this means "must not" or "do not," not graveyard. But remembering it as graveyard helps me remember so many other kanji, so I guess that's what I have to do.
摸 - imitation
漠 - vague
Usually, if I'm in a graveyard, I'm sad, and I'm therefore crying. Through my tears, I can't see very well; everything looks vague.
墓 - grave
暮 - livelihood
I spend my days working just for what? To end up eventually in a graveyard.
膜 - flesh
苗 - seedling
兆 - portent
Yay! I get to imagine the turtle from the Neverending Story, talking of bad things to come.
桃 - peach tree
眺 - stare
犬 - dog
状 - status quo
荻 - reed
狩 - hunt
猫 - cat