Day 10-11 / Calendar
Didn’t write a post on the 11th, because I basically fell into my bed and then it was morning already, so I’m combining them.
Didn’t get much reading done, barely read a page or so spread across both days, so there’s some reading to catch up with. But 仕方がない eh?
I’ve heard that one before and honestly have been tempted to bring it into English. 
I personally don’t suspect 林 and am waiting for an ultracurveball of someone no one expected, but that’s just me. I want it to be like some jilted ex-professor or something. TBH even where I’m at now (almost 70% done) there’s not been much movement on that particular case although other pieces of intrigue have unfolded. I think it’s (kind of predictably) being saved for the very, very end.
Edit: Also I didn’t reply to the rest of the spoiler talk…because I’d spoil it 
I’m reading every day it’s just that I don’t have time to post. Today I read 50 pages and finished the first volume of The Quintessential Quintuplets. It took a long time but I found some characters in a manga I can relate to. Lol it would be awesome having four twins sister we could learn japanese together and go to the JLPT and fail it together.
It would sound perfectly natural I think, no one would question it at all. Let’s start using it! 
I’m choosing to believe that it’s based on the fact that a dog - unlike most cats - will eat anything, and not on the fact that some people used to (and still do) feed dogs the most disgusting leftovers no one else would touch.
Read about 6600 characters today, so not bad! Not a lot to say – it took ages but I got distracted by a friend asking me about other stuff written in Japanese so I wasn’t totally wasted time, haha. I actually managed to go back and read a lot more last night so even that shorter day didn’t end up being so short 
He has a point here!
Two new wonderful words today. First off, 肩車 (かたぐるま), giving someone a ride on one’s shoulders. It’s shoulder car! 
The second is 石鹸 (せっけん) which is just soap, but… look at it. They put a whole soap dispenser in the kanji. Very nice of them.
Day 11
なぜ?どうして?かがくのお話1年生: 31% → 35%
Read two stories: one about why cats’ tongue is rough as daikon grater, and another one about why dogs piss here and there when going for a walk.
I didn’t manage to understand some phrases in the dog story, but here are some I’m happy to have cracked:
おしっこを かける場所は、他の犬たちに、自分が 来たことを しらせる 「けいじばん」のような ものです - As for the place where piss is sprinkled, it’s like a bulletin board that notifies other dogs about one’s passage.
また、おしっこの においが、三、四日で きえて しまうので、犬は においを のこすために、毎日 さんぽに 行きたがるのです - Because piss odour ends up disappearing after 3-4 days, dogs seem eager to go for a walk every day in order to leave behind the odour.
This one phrase I almost understood, except for the last ようになる part:
所で、おす犬は 大人に なると、かたほうの 後ろ足を たかく 上げて おしっこを するように なります - “At this place (from 1st sentence), when male dogs become adult, they raise hind leg of one side high and reach the point where (???) they piss”. I’m not sure to what ようになる refers here. Could anyone knowledgeable clarify this? 
I’m about to step away from the computer so can’t reply to all of this, but ようになる is a grammar point by itself
edit: かたほうの 後ろ足を たかく 上げて おしっこを するように なります → to be able to pee by raising one back leg / to make to pee? In English I guess we’d say “in order to pee, they lift one back leg”
Day 10:
日本語: I read a lot of 三毛猫ホームズの推理 (finished chapter 1) and some of TUGUMI.
Read-aloud: We read two chapters of 7SEEDS.
中国語: I read an intermediate entry on Mandarin Bean, one page of 骑士幻想夜, and a bit of 孩子最爱读的中国民间故事.
| Apr | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 |
| 01 | 02 | 03 | ||||
| 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| May | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 |
| 01 | ||||||
| 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 |
| 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 |
Locked and loaded with books, I will start reading a book about how enviroment affecs us, that genetics is not the end all be all in a person while using twins as evidence. Forgot name, don’t have book on me now, but for now my opinion some people are screwed by by it so I guess they would not like this book jaja.
April 11
Final Fantasy VII
I’m lending the Switch to my brother this week because he has a long flight and asked if he could borrow it, so no more FF7 until next week. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be doing yet, I guess I’ll see tomorrow, but either continue the ever-forsaken Tobira or start a new game. So far FF7 has been really great, I’m very grateful it just seems perfect for my current level. I guess I’m used to trying my luck with hard resources I’m not ready for and this is what it feels like when you find something that really is suitable for your level, and honestly it feels super good. It’s hard finding something that matches your level and that you find interesting at the same time, because sure you can pick whatever only for its level alone, but if it’s boring then what’s the point. I think usually I’m into things that fall into the harder side of language; I guess that’s super easy if you’re into something like RPGs and whatnot. It’s honestly a constant challenge, balancing difficulty and interest.
Also, do you ever review a word for some time in your SRS, and then after a while you get it again and think: I’ve never seen this word in my life. Then wonder how it even made it into the SRS in the first place . Funny when that happens.
130-146
I think the small print speech bubbles will be the death of me. They’re physically painful to my eyes. At least between the furigana and my kanji reading abilities, I can decipher what’s actually there.
On the bright side, this is also one of my favorite parts of Part 1 and now I feel like rewatching the anime to enjoy it in motion. When it wasn’t physically difficult to read, I was able to read at least Dio’s lines in his voice actor’s voice in my head.
I love wall Dio. I should commission wall Dio. That smug look and model walk is 
https://c.tenor.com/IHG0fCxVQkwAAAAS/dio-walking-up-wall.gif
Day 10-11
Apr 10-11
Finished Chapter 2 of 佐賀のがばいばあちゃん. This is such a quick read comparing to 車井戸はなぜ軋る. Shorter lines and more dialogs. Sadly, Kindle doesn’t have a great read speed stat, and I’m too lazy to find a separate tool for the timer.
I can only guess the meaning of some of the word endings in 佐賀 dialect, but the hope is that by the end of the book, I can understand most of it. I also don’t know the pitch accent/tone how the grandmother talked.
Quote:
人生というものは転がり始めたらキリがないらしい。
Words of the day:
わびしい：侘しい。静寂
ろくすっぽ：ろくに
拍子抜け：different from what he thought
April 11 
Home Post
Business as usual: I finished up two quick little game overs which was very low-effort but feels like progress regardless I started another branch as well so I have a new puzzle room to look forward to tomorrow 
Not a whole lot of wild plot stuff today, but a fun goof:
This whole interaction took some doing because there were a couple follow-ups where シグマ messed up what he was saying and 天明寺 corrected him and I just didn’t grasp that that was what was happening at first plus my IME absolutely refuses to write 往ぬ so that didn’t help lmao
But yeah current route, I’m investigating the recovery room which I haven’t seen since… maybe my second route? Where クォーク just ended up there somehow and also ディオ had a bad time, still no idea how any of that happened really 
There are so many unanswered questions and all we’re doing is piling on more
Ahhhh yeah that checks out interesting that it popped up in Summer Pockets too though @Daisoujou, you truly never know what you’ll run into (though based on some of the words and phrases you’ve pointed out from that game, I don’t think anything would really surprise me anymore lmao)
Not the only one of these I own and have tried (operative word tried) being five stars that’s reassuring somehow, I’ll have to look into some more sane ones sometime!
Zero Escape chaos grows 
It’s really like that with these VNs… Glaring at the section I just read where people went back and forth with things like 臨兵闘者皆陣列在前 and… some other stuff I couldn’t even work out.
Day 11: April 11th
What did I read?: ふしぎ駄菓子屋銭天堂 Vol 2
How much did I read?: 3 pages
How long did it take me?: 18 min
I’m so tired 
Why am I literally falling asleep while I’m trying to read this ahhh, I seriously can’t keep my eyes open 
On the bright side, I didn’t spend any more money today 
April 11th (Calendar Post)
Sadly didn’t have as much time to read today as I hoped, but at least managed to finish chapter 13 of my current book. Just 2 left!
三日間の幸福 => 6 pages (83 minutes)
Ran into this new kanji today:
咎 => blame, censure
Aprill 11
Wasn’t feeling up to much today. I read partially through a transcripted podcast, Nihongo Switch, in order to learn words related to covid for my paper.
在宅勤務, ざいたくきんむ, noun. working at home; telecommuting
自主隔離, じしゅかくり, noun. self-quaratine/isolation
Then felt like that wasn’t enough so I read a couple of level-one graded readers. One ended up being a copy of a level-zero, so I skipped it. The second was about Floyd Schmoe, a Quaker pacficist who built homes in Hiroshima after WWII, as well homes in Korea and Egypt. He lived until he was 105! 
I’m meeting my tutor tomorrow to review half of my translated research plan. She says there are a few places where corrections would be good, but I’m prepared for that to mean there are a lot of places
Food, meat In non-reading news, I slow cooked my first brisket all day and my place smells amazing but I’m not done cooking it yet. It has to chill and then roast.
Progress on Tadoku graded readers
44 / 44 level-zeros
10 / 12 level-ones
x /10 level-twos
x / 18 level-threes
I finally looked up ドジ today and found that it means “clumsiness.” So クールドジ男子 is “Cool-Clumsy Guys.” I kinda really feel like I shoulda guessed that lol. Anyway, I can’t wait until I can read it; I adore all the main characters so much. I think I’ve still got like 9 chapters left of GREEN though, so it’ll be a bit still.
I read 2 pages of 2.43, putting me at pg 53.
I think Fukuiben uses な for ね like Kansaiben does. Which would explain why, when I saw the explanation on their usage on BunPro a while back, I was like, “Oh, huh, really?” because I’d seen な being used both ways lol. Because I’m pretty sure in Standard Japanese, it would be ね following すまんかった, not な, which is what clinched it today. (And すまん itself is Kansaiben too, isn’t it? So would it be “すまんかったな” = “すみませんでしたね”? Is there even a less formal way of saying it that’s not dialectal? I’d always thought すまん was just more casual, but apparently it’s also dialect, so.)
Though it’s common the third-year players not to retire until after HaruKou in January, the manager is still expected to retire after InterHigh in the summer, when the third-years in other clubs do. So Ochi’s feeling depressed about the prospect of handing over the torch already when Subaru still hasn’t taken him to the center court at HaruKou as promised. As long as Subaru’s still playing, he still wants to be the manager. (Hata does let him stay on, and he retires in December with the rest of the third-years when Seiin beats them in the qualifiers.)
We also learn that a significant number of the student body belong to sports clubs. It’s a powerhouse school not just for volleyball, but in general. And we’re reminded that even though it’s co-ed, as it’s a technical school, there still aren’t very many girls. Which I believe will become relevant in the next scene when Kouhei says that he wants a girl manager. Which, if I am remembering correctly about where that scene is and it’s coming right on the heels of Ochi feeling down about having to give up the managerial position already, ouch. (And since I like headcanoning Ochi as a trans guy, double ouch. Though even if Kouhei knows, he doesn’t mean it like that.)
It’s not that Kouhei doesn’t appreciate Ochi as their manager. They all agree that he’s really good, and they couldn’t ask for a better one. He’s just jealous that other schools have girl managers and they don’t, and he’s sad about how few girls there are at Fukuhou. He wants a girlfriend.
I read Seen 10 of GREEN.
Wako-chan’s now growing various Italian greens and herbs in the greenhouse since Italian dishes are her specialty and it’s difficult to find all the ones she needs to make them in stores around here.
Also, she still hasn’t told her parents about where she’s running off to all the time, so now her father has tailed her down here to spy and see what she’s getting up to. And to check out the guy she’s apparently dating (her little brother found Makoto’s photo in her wallet the chapter we first met them) to make sure he’s not shady. (Like you? lol) The most Wako did was leave a note saying, “Please don’t look for me ♡ –Wako”
He overhears a convo between Makoto and obaa-chan where Makoto says that he really likes Wako-chan, so he wants to go and properly introduce himself to her father no matter how scary (or what kind of person) he may be, which moves her father to tears. Meanwhile, Wako is off playing pachinko. And then she goes to a ramen place for lunch (Without making lunch for those you’re indebted to… even though cooking is your one redeeming quality!!) and a cake place (Dessert?! Without even helping out in the fields?) and then gets picked up by Nozomi (Wh—Why with another man—?!)
lol they censored out the ク in ヤクザ
Well, now we know why they had handcuffs to chain her to her bed with last time: her father’s a policeman. He finally catches up to Wako and Nozomi shortly before they walk out of the karaoke box they’d gone to, and he handcuffs himself to her while commandeering Nozomi’s car (I hope he’s not the one who drove to the Ono house).
It seems Wako had wanted to make money at the pachinko parlor so she could be useful and not have to look for a job in Tōkyō, in which case she wouldn’t be able to see Makoto very often. But Makoto has found her a part-time job at Kayoko’s restaurant (she’s the woman who’d whisked Makoto off to taste-test her new menu a few chapters ago) (actually, I think it was less that he found it and more that Kayoko approached him about it).
(Also, we learn obaa-chan’s name! It’s Tama! 小野タマ)
lol Wako’s father forgot the handcuff key, so he prepares to cut the chain with a hatchet, but just then, her mother rushes up, bringing the key he’d forgotten at home. She then squeals over Makoto and takes a picture with him while he’s still too surprised to give permission to take it or not. Then after the two of them leave, Wako despairs that Makoto thinks she and her father are alike in spirit. (お父さんとは似てないもん!!)
I also read ch 4-12 of 壁の穴.
遠のく (とおのく) [カ五, intransitive] to become distant; to recede
Day 11 
三毛猫ホームズの推理 ~42% to 48%, halfway through chapter 2.5
I wanted to finish 2.5 so that I could read more spoilers, but it wasn’t to be. I’ll do it today, but then I’m sure I’ll find there will be more spoilers from further on taunting me.
I also really need to make time for the rest of 佐賀のがばいばあちゃん, chapter 2. I had read about half but then started to reread it more carefully, as I had sort of skipped over the dialect parts. Of course the main character doesn’t understand those either at this point, but I’m not at the stage where I can confidently tell what is okay to not understand and what isn’t…
面食らう - to be bewildered, to be taken aback
狐につままれる - to be bewitched by a fox, or just to be confused
優柔不断 - indecisiveness, indecision
影も形もない - disappear without a trace, nowhere to be seen
不能者 - impotent person
仇を取る - to take revenge
Oh, I love this. So cute to call it a shoulder car.
I’ll do a reading update soon, just been super busy. But read some fun bits today I look forward to sharing.
