Easy-Peasy Japanesy

It has been almost two years and I am still hooked on Mischievous Kiss: Love In Tokyo, a Japanese drama on Netflix. Based on a 90's manga called Itazura na Kiss by Kaoru Tada. Kaoru Tada rose to fame due to the popularity of Itazura na Kiss but before she could finish it she passed away after an accident when she was moving house. It is somewhat bittersweet that although we can speculate on the ending, we will not know the end game that Kaoru Tada had in mind. But her main story line has been loved and enjoyed by many. Mischievous Kiss follows the story of Kotoko Aihara, a high school senior who takes the plunge to tell her high school crush, Naoki Irie that she likes him and gets rejected. And with a couple of twists and turns, they end up living under the same roof with Kotoko's Dad and Naoki's family. I have to say that I am not a big fan of the character of Naoki Irie - he is rather mean. A real life version of him would be toxic to be around. But Yuki Furukawa...Nomz Nomz! And the character of Kotoko Aihara is adorably infectious- sunny and quirky. She is the kind of girl that you want as a bestie. Somebody loyal, sweet, funny. Honaka Yahagi brought Kotoko to life and after reading the manga and watching the Korean, Thai and Japanese version - I have to say I like the Japanese version better simply because Honaka Yahagi gave Kotoko's character depth and strength. Ok, no more spoilers! Just watch it if you've had a bad day and need something cute, funny and sassy to brighten your world! Just to clarify, I have not spent two years just watching Mischievous Kiss (Alan might protest this statement) there has been other shows but this is one of my top favorites, right up there with The Bold Type, Riverdale, Shadow Hunters and rom-com K-dramas. But being in the world of Kotoko Aihara for a couple of hours a day has helped motivate me to learn Japanese. I wish I had taken it more seriously when I was in primary and high school. Every word is as pretty as a raindrop and Alan was amused at how often I say "Awwww...kawaii!" before reading another word or sentence out of the picture book I bought from Dymocks. Last year when he went to Book Fest he brought home a small English-to-Japanese handbook and I squealed with the enthusiasm of a fan-girl. I love reading Japanese aloud, it sounds so pretty to the ear. Alan joked that I would find the Japanese word for 'bloody' '...so Kawaii'. Chances are I probably would. I am having so much fun learning new words in Japanese and have laughed at myself for mixing up the word 'saku' (which means "budding flower") with the Japanese word for condom, which is 'sakku'. You don't want to mispronounce 'saku'! I also relish any chance of saying 'Kawaiso na saru' which means "pitiful monkey", I came across both words on different pages of my English-to-Japanese handbook and threw them together. It is now my favorite saying - along with Moshi Moshi, which means Hello! Hello! Say! I cannot imagine a cuter way of saying hello on the street! I love these words, like 'nonki' which means "happy-go-lucky" or "easy-going". Yesterday at one of my favorite haunts, a little shop called Teriyaki Tokyo - I asked the chef about how to pronounce a word that I did not want to get wrong. Shitsuren. We had a little giggle over that one! The right way to say Shitsuren is 'Shi-tsuren', you have to say the t very fast so that it doesn't sound like 'shit-suren'. I didn't want to get that word wrong in Japan, especially because it is actually a very sad word. Brokenhearted. My mission for this week is to get a bunch of high-lighters and color-code the words to make them easier to find in relation to relevance and meaning. Alan and I have both decided that we want to go and see the lights of Tokyo before long, I absolutely cannot wait to go and see this beautiful country that up until now, I have just been daydreaming about. How does one say 'beautiful'in Japanese? Utsukushii. Sayonara! (Goodbye) ♡ Sarah xx