花見 ("flower-viewing," pronounced "hanami")

Yoko and I went to a popular area of Tokyo for cherry-blossoming viewing on Saturday. There are some pretty pictures and spectacular photographic work in the associated folder to the right.

Classes started today. I am taking six Japanese language classes: 2 "all-purpose" classes and one each for speaking, writing, reading, and pronunciation. I should be in prety good shape when I return to the U.S. Additionally, I have nailed down about 1300 kanji characters (2000 is considered "smarty pants" by the Japanese Ministry of Education), including the anywhere from two to six readings than any one character may have. My Japanese friends are thoroughly impressed with my progress, but then again the Japanese are impressed when we (Westerners) can intoduce ourselves properly in Japanese (In fact, I once was complemented on my Big Mac ordering skills at McDonalds).

Lastly, I have added captions to the 花見 (Hanami) and previous folder file, so that you know what is going on.