JLPT Level 1 (without studying!) Impressions

Or, why everyone needs to chill out about this test.
Last Sunday, December 6th, some 200,000 non-native Japanese speakers took the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) to show off their Japanese skillz, hoping to impress potential employers, schools, or just for their own personal amusement. This year, I took Level 1 (the hardest of the [...]

welcome to my genkan

This week I moved into my new room in Santa Cruz and unpacked my 67 pounds of luggage for the summer.
My bookcase came in handy, and I documented it with my iPhone:

These happen to be right in the entry to my room in my apartment — so if you could say a single room has [...]