(Part 3) Top products from r/japanlife

Thanks :) and for the relationship I mean.... do you really want it to continue much longer? I wasn't ready for it to end exactly but had pretty much prepared myself well enough. Had a few days of being sad and just stayed home and watched Netflix. But then you've got to move on. What's done is done. In reality, there is no chance it was going to work out in the long run.

As far as the job thing, Japan is nice because it pays pretty decent. But there are sooo many other places and things to do and see. Japan was just a chapter in the book and it may be ready to turn the page (sounds like a horrible cliche but it's fitting for my life right now) If you get the chance, check out a book called Tales of a Female Nomad. I met the author at a TEDx conference and then read the book after. It was pretty inspiring for me at least. Amazon link

• Today is my last day before a 9-day vacation. I have absolutely nothing planned beyond getting a few more items checked off my to-do list (such as visiting the rest of the locations in my Little Adventures in Tokyo book and finishing the dozen or so recipes I've yet to make from the 101 essential recipes in the back of How to Cook Everything [incidentally, also a great phone app]).
  
  
• Radish Bo-ya delivery incoming tomorrow morning. One of the best things about getting a box of new vegetables every other week is that I'm finally starting to learn some food names, which has strangely been a bit of a mental block of mine. Just the other week I learned what 菜の花 is (rather, I learned the name for it), and that it cooks up quite nicely with some olive oil and canned tuna.
  
  
• I'm visiting Le Wagon today for their student demos. I'm still not quite ready to commit to joining a bootcamp (or even figuring out what direction I want to move my so-called career in next), but this will be further information for my (at times agonizingly slow) internal analysis.
  
  
• Rewatched Three Amigos and Sneakers this past week. Three Amigos seemed well meant, but sadly devoid of much actual laugh-out-loud humor. On the other hand, I'd forgotten how much I loved Sneakers as a kid. There were some parts near the end that didn't hold up (where exactly did all those extra guards get to?), but the movie is so much fun it's hard to find fault with it.
  
  
• Also saw Things We Lost in the Fire, which was fantastic. Not a false or saccharine note throughout.
  
  
• While I've fallen a bit behind in my Anki studies and meditation, and neither are getting completed every day recently, I'm looking forward to getting back on track over GW. I know my recent struggle to stay on top of these is mostly due to the slow buildup of stress that comes from not having had a long vacation since December, so GW should be just the thing.
  
  
• Exhibiting some of my sketches this weekend along with the rest of my drawing group. Nothing special on my end, but it's the first time I've shown my drawings publicly so that's some sort of small milestone. Honestly, I thought I might be more nervous, but really they're just sketches and not anything I've poured my heart and soul into. I'll aim for the heart and soul pouring for the next exhibition ;-)
  
  EDIT: My proclivity for anal retentiveness forced me to link all the things :-D I am now at peace with the world.

Yamato does have a Computer Shipping service that I used when bringing a tower to Japan, so even if you're not making a large shipment through them, that's still probably an option. Alternately, I've also seen people take the components they want in static bags inside hard cases and just buy the case/PSU/Monitor in Japan. This route is a lot cheaper and safer, TBH.

Your company isn't going to give you any support for the moving process? That seems a bit odd.

As for staples... If you don't know how to cook Japanese food you'll need to start there and then figure out what you like, which will dictate what you need. Keep in mind that a lot of Japanese cookbooks are written for a western audience and tend to use ingredients readily available in the west, rather than being tailored for Japan. This book is one I was gifted and it's pretty basic, but also pretty authentic, and may be a good place to start.

I use this site: http://www.mountain-forecast.com/ (for checking weather, but it lists mountains in your area.)

A lot of ppl recommend Paul Hunt's guide book (non-online, sorry): https://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Japan-Adventurers-Mountain-Trails/dp/0870118935 Old, but good.

Finally, I often get hiking maps from my local city office + train station (see info center). Free and if you can read the kanji, usually works.

Download Anki and the Japanese packs. Good place to start for vocab and grammar. If you like workbooks, I like the Genki series best. Also look at /r/learnjapanese for other learning materials and questions.

Is it the read real japanese series? I remember someone mentioning it to me a while back but i forgot about it until your post.

WRT grammar i don't know what it is but I always end up overcomplicating what should be a basic sentence. Especially when i'm not actively trying to think of the most efficient way to say something. It's something I do in English too but since I'm not a native Japanese speaker it just comes off as super awkward, rather than me being relatively long-winded.

I do need to brush up on certain rules that I understand when heard, but tend to fuck up when i'm trying to use though...(causative form comes to mind)

also ty

The Tab A uses a shit processor and will be shitty for anything other that video. Web browsing will be slow. The Tab S series is much nicer.... I have the older Tab S 8.4 and use it occasionally for browsing, but the AMOLED screen is amazing for video. They aren't sold in Japan anymore though.


The Tab S5e is great though (https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-Wifi-Tablet-Silver/dp/B07Q5VPXG4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=tab+s6&qid=1565750610&s=gateway&sr=8-1)

Check out Flossy Carter's review of it on YouTube.

This book is really good for pronunciation, teaching you how to move your specific mouth-parts:

https://www.amazon.com/Pronounce-Perfectly-Japanese-Charles-Inouye/dp/0812080351

It's old and cassette-only, but hopefully you can find an MP3 online ...

From memory the book has lots of useful diagrams too.

I think the Kodansha system is far superior, having tried both myself. I finished the entire Kodansha book, which covers about 2300 kanji.

It incorporates some of the good from RTK, without neglecting the actual readings and important compounds along the way.

RTK + Anki are amazing. My Kanji recognition is significantly better than my speaking or listening now.

What is the best source for English language books?

I'm looking for this book which is significantly cheaper on US Amazon (about half the price even with shipping), but if I'm going to have to wait that long for shipping from the US then I might as well see if there's anywhere else in Japan that I can get it faster.

To people wanting such stories I generally recommend this book. It's quite a journalistic and non-sensationalist account of the Japanese criminal justice system.

Mine is a 40L as well, but check your dimensions.

> Any hot tips for getting the dark and white meat to finish at the same time?

I just follow the recipe in a cookbook I use at home...

> Potential pitfalls when cooking in a combo oven?

When you're using it as convection, it's just an electric oven.

Some food for thought:
1)
https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/aw/d/4770018487/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?__mk_ja_JP=%E3%82%AB%E3%82%BF%E3%82%AB%E3%83%8A&qid=1497715637&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Straitjacket+society&dpPl=1&dpID=51W2BFZZGEL&ref=plSrch


2)
https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/aw/d/0809039435/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?__mk_ja_JP=%E3%82%AB%E3%82%BF%E3%82%AB%E3%83%8A&qid=1497715742&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=alex+kerr&dpPl=1&dpID=512x9dkcRcL&ref=plSrch

Read this book. No really, it helps.

Ｔｈｉｓ　ｉｓ　ｂｏｏｋ　ｏｆ　ｅｘｐｅｒｔ　ｏｆ　ｊａｐａｎ　ｃｒｉｍｅ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ　”ｙａｋｕｚａ”

https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Vice-American-Reporter-Police/dp/0307475298?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc

I used to recommend a book called Culture Shock! Japan (actually it was Tokyo but I suppose it's mostly the same concepts); but I haven't read it in several years. It covers all the basics for expats moving to Japan, but as a JET your situation may vary.

Read Exposure, from Michael Woodford. He was the CEO of Olympus during the fraud scandal years ago.

Seriously it’s a good and easy read, you get to see how japanese company works from the eyes of foreigner executive. Although not exactly the good part.

Exposure: From President to Whistleblower at Olympus https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/0241963613/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_yTxVAb3B4S0VK