October 2007 – THE LONG COUNTDOWN

Weird Tales from Japan – Ubazakura

October 31, 2007 Nick RamsayJapan

One book I enjoyed reading before I came to Japan was Lafcadio Hearn’s Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things.Â ItÂ was published inÂ 1904 andÂ is a collection of weird and ghostlyÂ tales from Japan. Since it’sÂ Halloween, I’ve picked aÂ storyÂ called Ubazakura,Â which couldn’t be more appropriate for a blog about Japan and babies. UbazakuraÂ Three hundred years ago, in the village called Asamimura, in the district called Onsengori, in the province of Iyo, there lived […]

Study Kanji Like Tokyo Josh

October 31, 2007 Nick RamsayJapan

I studied my backside off when I first came to Japan. I passed level 4 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test in my first year, level 3 the next, and then level 2 the year after that. Unfortunately, the jump from level 2 to level 1 is so great that I didn’t even try going for it. Instead, I let seven more years pass without once picking up a kanji […]

Rikuto Meets His Great Grandmother

October 30, 2007 Nick RamsayFamily

A few days ago, Rikuto met all the women on his mum’s side of the family, including his great grandmother who he saw for the first time. Here are the happy relatives: I’m starting to agree that Riku looks incredibly like his dad, so I wonder what his relatives think when they see this handsome, European-looking baby? 😀 If you like, you can find me on Twitter at @nick_ramsay. I’d […]

NickRamsay.com is Unavailable

October 29, 2007October 29, 2007 Nick RamsayTechnology

That’s right, NickRamsay.com is unavailable because I bought it! I have no idea why I didn’t register the domain name earlier,Â but this time IÂ couldn’t let the opportunity pass me by. If you remember from my post Nick Ramsay vs Nick Ramsay, I’m trying to rank higher for my own nameÂ in Google’s search results than theÂ other Nick Ramsay does. This is one step towards that goal. Right now, I’ve gotÂ the domainÂ pointing […]

Crazy Egg-Laying Chinese Pop Duck

October 28, 2007October 28, 2007 Nick RamsayTechnology

My wife took our new baby, Rikuto, to visit his grandmother and other relatives today. For most of them, it was the first time to see him so he got lots of new clothes and presents. Now, this is where it gets interesting, my wife’s uncle married a Chinese girl half his age, and she already had two children fromÂ her previous marriage in China. Now, both children have joined her […]

Japanese Beauties – Shaku Yumiko, Inoue Waka and Ayase Haruka

October 28, 2007July 19, 2008 Nick RamsayJapan

I don’tÂ watchÂ a lot of Japanese TV, but every night when I get home from work, I sit down to eat dinner and watch whatever Japanese drama is on. This is a pattern I’ve followed for three years now, so I’m getting better at recognizing some of the actors and actresses that appear, reappear, and then appear again. My favorite actor is Smap’s Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, but for this post I […]

Rikuto On His Front

October 27, 2007 Nick RamsayFamily

At three months old, Rikuto’s neck is getting stronger and stronger. His head still wobbles occasionally, but now I canÂ put him on my chestÂ while I lay back on the sofa, and watch him move his head around like a tortoise. Since I’m just posting a photo, RikutoÂ would like to take this opportunity to say a big hello to his granny, grandad, and uncle Mark in the U.K. He hasn’t met […]

Japanese Style Christmas Cards

October 25, 2007 Nick RamsayJapan

WalkingÂ around theÂ shops the other day, I saw that Christmas goods are already for sale -Â in mid-October, in a country thatÂ doesn’t even celebrate Christmas (they celebrate Kentucky Fried ChickenÂ instead).Â It’sÂ not really aÂ surprise to seeÂ theÂ biggest commercial festivalÂ of the yearÂ startingÂ well before the event itself, but I am surprised to see all the Christmas cards… With a tradition of New Year’s post cards (nengajou), sending greetings cards like we doÂ back home isn’t common practice […]