Ok…Best Foot Forward.
If you're new here, please consider subscribing to my RSS feed. Thanks very much for visiting!
I shall start this blog with the words of a great fictional man:
“Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!”
For those of you who are confused, here’s his happy proclamation translated into Japanese (by a professional, not by yours truly):
「そーれ！わっしょい！こっらしょい！どっこらしょい！」
Yes, that is correct. It makes no sense in Japanese, and it makes no sense in English. But it is excited, exuberant, and most definitely rocking. So rocking, in fact, that I decided to steal it for my opening.
For those of you who have not yet deciphered the above, fear not. An explanation is found within this self-referential paragraph. These lines were hollered by Albus Dumbledore at the opening ceremony of Harry Potter’s 1st year at Hogwarts. Why did I choose such an odd opening? I liked it. And because Harry Potter has been on my mind quite a bit recently.
You see, I am currently reading through the first book in the series in Japanese and in English. I chose it because it is still reasonably popular here, and since I read it years ago, it is difficult to get completely lost. I read a chapter in Japanese, then check my understanding by following up in English. It is slow going, but quite entertaining. The dialects are challenging, as are onomatopoeic devices, but the overall experience is rewarding.
Also, since children here think that I resemble Harry Potter (which, for those who have looked at any photos on this site can tell you, I don’t), they have taken to calling me Daniel (as in Radcliffe). I was encouraged to milk this strange fascination for a Halloween party thrown in Yoshida - quite far from my island. On the other side of the prefecture, in all honesty. So, I had my ridiculously cool twin sister send me a package including a costume (and some really freaking cool reading material, candy, and a local newspaper). I looked basically…like Harry Potter. I even grew my hair out to absurd lengths. I think it went well. How can I make this type of judgement? My line was the longest line at the cookie making station. All the cool kids wanted to make cookies, and perhaps take cellphone pictures, with Harry Potter. 
Anyway, I don’t know what this blog will be like, but I invite you to come along for the ride. It could be quite entertaining. (Then again, it could be so bad that it makes you want to put your finger through your eye, into your brain, and swirl it around. Ahem. I hope that that is not the case.)