phil wilson :: a geek commodity

1:35 PM

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Tuesday, February 03, 2004

I like Japan.

Well, I say I like Japan when what I really mean is that I think I’d like Japan, if I ever went. I mean, sure, I wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone, or understand roads signs, or know where I am because I wouldn’t be able to read the street names. And OK, I’d probably hate the food because I’ve had a life of only eating a decidedly western diet; eating what I like, and in the quantities I like it. But none of this matters because Japan is cool.

Japan is cool, and they make all this cool stuff. Sony are Japanese, and they make the best-selling console in the world. Nintendo are Japanese, so are Sega. They all make cool games.

Anime too. Anime’s cool, and anime’s from Japan. So Japan is cool, and I like cool things, so I like Japan.

And so OK, I could wander around, not speaking to anyone, and not really know where I was going, but I’d see stuff, and that would be cool. I mean, I wouldn’t really know what I was seeing because I wouldn’t be able to read the signs, and I couldn’t ask anyone what the signs say because I still wouldn’t be able to speak the language, but that would be OK, because I’d be in Japan, and I like Japan.

So not knowing where I am, and not being able to speak the language means I might get lost once or twice as I’m wandering around staring at buildings I don’t know the name of, but that won’t matter because everything I see will be a new and exciting Japanese experience, and I might stumble across some weird old shop selling cute little furry animals that don’t like sunlight.

Not that I’d be able to buy one because I won’t be able to speak the language.

So you want to learn Japanese?