ジェト・プログラムのジャスティン

２００８年６月３０日

今週の漢字: 歌う

Sing:
I’m updating a bit later than usual this week. I was busy during the weekend. One of the things that I did was sing. Yes, you read correctly. I went to a karaoke parlor with some friends. I’ve already gone to karaoke a few times since coming to Japan. It is really popular here, and from what I’ve heard in the past, it’s incredibly popular with many other Asian countries. I’m not sure why it hasn’t gotten so popular in America, especially with shows like American Idol. One of my friends dubs it a karaoke show with razzle and dazzle. It’s painful to know that it’s true and still TV’s juggernaut. Getting back to karaoke in Japan, it is one of the healthy forms of stress relief and fun. As with the other times, I had a good time. It’s usually a bit nerve-wracking whenever I go though.

I don’t know what song to sing. I listen to a lot of different songs, but I’m really bad with remembering the lyrics. You might be wondering, “It’s karaoke! The words are there on the screen!” Of course that’s all good and well, but actually I sort of don’t remember some parts of melodies sometimes too. It definitely doesn’t help that the melody in the karaoke parlor is so faint.

Anyway, the important part is having fun and karaoke fulfills. The next step for me is to learn some Japanese songs. I’ve been trying to get the lyrics down to some songs so that I can have them in my arsenal to use in the future. I tried to sing a Japanese song once and that didn’t go too well. It was too fast for me. I could pick up some words, but I probably sang about 30% of the song successfully. Now, it’s time for more practice.

Stay tuned next week for another update!

En français:
Pendant le weekend, j’ai acheté un CD. Le nom de la bande est The Pillows. Cette bande est mon favori. Les membres sont japonais. Est-ce que vous savez leur? Je leur aimais depuis j’étais un lycéen. Si vous ne savez pas cette bande, alors vous devez écouter maintenant!

今週の聖書の詩: “‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
- Romans 10:8-9 (NIV)

今週の写真: More food! Curry udon (it was good, but spicy… =/ and you know how I am with spicy…) and a chocolate parfait (the other parfait is what my friend ordered, the fruit parfait) from Cat’s Café—double YUM!