Where have you lived, Where are you from?

[KevinK]

Sounds good.

 

[Angel]

We totally derailed this thread. LOL

 

[KevinK]

We have. Sorry about that.

 

[Angel]

No worries.

 

[KevinK]

Let's get back on track. Is anybody here from out-of-town?

 

[Angel]

It is quite possible that my Star is from Chihuahua, Mexico....

 

[KevinK]

What's the give-away?

 

[Angel]

um. She's a chihuahua.

 

[KevinK]

I was going to say she says "Hola" even though you know she's never attended a Spanish class in her life. Your line-of-reasoning might be a little more solid, I admit.

 

[KevinK]

I would like to visit Okinawa some day, to see where my grandfather grew up. I'm getting kind of goosepimply just thinking of it. The birthplace of te, "hand", later prefixed with the word for China, kara, forming the phrase karate, or "China hand" (early karate was heavily based on the martial arts from the mainland, China).

When grandmaster Funakoshi introduced karate to Japan proper for the first time in 1917, he changed the meaning of the term slightly. It was still kara-te, but the word kara now meant "empty" rather than "China". Same pronunciation, different meaning. This brought the martial art to be more in-line with modern Japanese martial arts, all now heavily influenced by Zen Buddhism. The meaning of the word "empty" now had a double-meaning: yes it meant fighting without a weapon, but on a deeper level it stressed the emptiness of the Zen mind. A warrior with a truly empty mind could face even certain death in combat with calmness and equanimity.

 

[Angel]

I have a friend that lives there. Her husband is in the military.
I grew up in the AF, and when I was 18 I wanted to join so I could go to Japan. However, they didn't let me because of my asthma. (I've had asthma since I was 3. It's chronic. I really hurt my lungs doing drugs and smoking. I quite using in June 2006, and I quit smoking in Sept. 2011)
My fascination with Japan started with anime. I would watch it, draw it. It's a fun hobby, but it's expensive.
I'm a good teacher, and I am interested in teaching English in Japan. I love the "texture" of the language. I can tell when someone is speaking Japanese. I also can tell if they are Japanese by looking at their facial features. I love how the crime rate is really peaceful there. And I love their curry. Yum.

 

[KevinK]

In the 80s, that was the thing to do. Go to Japan to teach English. You got a great salary, but kept most of it because your room and board were already covered by the language company. You didn't need to speak Japanese; in fact, you were forbidden to communicate in Japanese during class, so that all the students heard was native English day in and day out.

Those times have largely passed, though English teaching is sitll a possibility in Japan,

 

[Angel]

What language were you raised to speak, KevinK ?

 

[KevinK]

What language were you raised to speak, KevinK ?

English. I didn't begin studying Japanese till my final semester in college. I was 25.

 

[Angel]

I see. Cool!

 

[KevinK]

It's never too late.

 

[Angel]

I agree!

 

[Angel]

When you were practicing Karate, how many hours did you practice a day to discipline yourself?

 

[KevinK]

On my own...up to 8 hours a day, occassionally more.

 

[Angel]

Wow! Talk about intense!