In my last post, Double without you, I talked about how the Japanese may need to go back to basics and re-learn English from simple ABCs. What they lack in English skills however, you would think they’d make up for in mathematics, right? Well, I’m not so sure…
When you walk around the backstreets of Japan’s sprawling cities, you’ll see bars and restaurants with opening hours displayed in their windows and on their doors. One might wonder why so many of these establishments close at 25 o’clock. Nightclubs, too, are often open until the bizarre hour of 27 o’clock!
I’ve never really adjusted to Japan’s dependence on dates over days and the 24-hour clock over the 12-hour one. Many of my students simply can’t comprehend the question “What are you going to do next Friday?”, but they have no problems with “What are you going to do on June 1st?”
Personally, I struggle with the 24-hour clock, so I was baffled when I saw on Yahoo Japan’s TV guide that this year’s Champion’s League final was scheduled for May 23rd (Wed) 27:35-29:45.
I’ll assume the reason for Japan’s 30-hour day, or at least for Yahoo’s confusing TV schedule, is to help people understand that these programs are part of the previous day’s scheduling. Hmm…
Anyway, I’ve been writing this while watching Liverpool lose in underserving fashion to AC Milan, and since it’s nearly 30 o’clock, I really should get to bed!
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i have no problems with 24-hour clocks, but this 27:smth is very strange.
i like the improvement of your headline picture: funny.
where are the stories about the baby boy to be?!
There’s not much to say at the moment regarding little Rikuto. Mami will leave her job soon, and then the preparations will really begin. We’ve had some photos from the maternity clinic, but the quality has been really poor, so I haven’t been able to put them on the web. I can say that her tummy looks like a giant beach ball, and I can feel the baby moving and kicking around. I think he’s doing the Cha-Cha!
I really enjoy reading your blogs! My 16yr old daughter is presently on a 10 month scholarship and living in Kakamigahara with a lovely couple, so your blogs provide a good insight into the Japanese culture (I live in Australia). I also enjoy reading Mieko’s Diary 🙂 Best wishes to you and your wife for the forthcoming arrival of your baby boy.
Thanks Shelley, it’s a small world isn’t it? Kakamigahara isn’t very big, so I’ll probably see your daughter around sometime, if I haven’t already. Us foreigners stand out like a sore thumb!
I’ll have to start readig Mieko’s Diary.
I’m sure with the baby due in just two months, it won’t be long before this blog becomes a baby blog with lots of pictures and funny stories.