On Friends 2-7, Rachel landed on Ross’ back in order to get the phone from him. I thought that’s so cute. That’s why I named myself Rach.

On Friends 1-18, Rachel asked, “Guess what?”
Chanlder replied, “Okay… the fifth dentist caved, and now they’re all recommending Trident?”

I really admire his sense of humor. Since his jokes are so sophisticated, it’s so hard to explain the meaning in Japanese. First of all, I have to explain what Trident commercial is like to Japanese readers…

I did know that (笑) is used for laughing out loud. I discovered it 2 years ago on foreign study in Tokyo when I used to use my cell phone to text message all of my Japanese friends. I like the idea of a “little explosion of laughter,” though, so I’ll keep using (爆) when it’s appropriate to do so.

So, Rach, I have to ask, because others have been commenting about it, who is your favorite friend? Do you have one? And if you do, why? Ha ha.

BTW, I use （爆） as （自爆） (= to blow myself up, self-destruction)
But I guess some Japanese people might use （爆） as （爆笑） (= explosion of laughter)
In this case, （爆） might mean “strong （笑）”.
You know （笑） is (lol) = laughing out loud, right?
I’m not sure which is the true meaning of （爆）. So I asked my Japanese readers how to use （爆） on my new entry.

Dear TofuUnion
Thank you for your compliment. However, as I said above, my English comprehension is not that good.

It’s just that I love English. It’s fun learning English using Friends DVDs. I don’t know what I should tell you about my English learning experience. I just watch Friends DVDs over and over again, and try to figure out what they want to say & how they feel, using some dictionaries or grammar books.
Your kind words encourage me to keep going. Thank you so much.

P.S.
You guys don’t have to call me Rach-san. Just call me Rach, please. I feel so glad to hear someone, especially English native speakers, calling me just “Rach”. But I have to apologize for using Rachel’s nickname as my handle (ハンドルネーム). That name is so mistakable on my Friends site, huh?

Rach-san. You are awesome. And it’s quite encouraging to know that someone has never been abroad, but is coming that far thanks to DVDs.

Please tell us more about your English learning experiences. It will be great help for us.

Mayumi-san – Her blog is awesome. Ha ha. And, since you asked… You might want to change some phrasing in your comment.

“Isn’t Rach’s blog awesome, huh?” < - You only need the "Isn't" or the "huh?" - not both. They do the same thing in this sentence, so it is redundant to keep them both. I'd say "Isn't Rach's blog awesome?" but "Rach's blog is awesome, huh?" is also quite natural.

"find it great" -> “think it’s great” (Find can sometimes be used this way, but it made me reread the sentence this time, so I would change it.)

“as a friend of over a year” -> I might put this at the beginning of the sentence with a comma after it. It makes a nice introductory clause, but is a bit clumsy at the end.

“issue” -> Issue works. You could also say “episode” or “release” or “edition” or any other word. Hope that helps!

I’m glad that I’m making Japanese blogger friends. I had hoped that I would eventually be able to do so, but it’s really neat to be able to join such a cool circle of people who are interested in language and meaning. （爆）

I learned 爆 from Rach-san.

The title ‘Guide to Friends’ is so simple and looks official. (lol)
Sooner or later, I’m sure you’ll know how “fabulous”(Rach fingers quote-mark gesture) my English comprehension is. If you tell me that your Japanese is bad, I feel like going flush myself down the toilet (Friends 1-8).

I’ve just written about this piece ‘New Friends Friend’ on my new entry. Thanks again.