MOTM

On Tue, 2 Nov 1999, Tkacs, Ken wrote:

> Seriously? Can you read Japanese?

  Pretty much.  Not as well as someone from Japan.  I know about half of
the 2,000 kanji the typical newpaper reader in Japan knows.  I can usually
guess the meaning of other kanji letters, but have to look up which sound
to use in a given word.  The hiragana/katakana are easy, though.

  I understand spoken Japanese better than reading; working in Japan
(worked on the design of automated process systems in factories) for a few
years gives you about 1000% more language skills than did the 4 years of
Japanese classes I had at university.  (My writing and speaking
Japanese are considerably poorer, however).

  I had an apartment in Akihabara.  *The* mecca for electronic parts.
Imagine catacomb-like hallways traversing the entire length of a given
building's ground floor, each hallway crammed with fruit-seller stands of
vendors selling parts.  Some vendors specialise in just one type of part.
If you wander a few of the smaller alleys, some really cool parts shops
can be found.  Whenever I'm in Japan, I always stop at the "PIC Maniac
Shop" as a friend and I call it...

  They have a lot of neat synth shops, but the prices are outrageous.

  --Crow

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