Chuugokugo (=Chinese language)

I borrowed a CD of Taiwanese and Mandarin phrases from the Okazaki public library and I'm putting it onto my iPod right now. I can say hello, how are you, what's your name, and a few other things in Chinese now, but my pronounciation is terrible. Yuka and I came up with the brilliant idea of going to ECC (a school that competes with Nova) and a Nova branch outside of our own area to take demo lessons in Chinese next weekend. Both of those schools offer free 20-min. trial lessons (you can get a trial English lesson from a teacher at the branch but any other language that the schools offer is done with a computer and networking software. For Nova, all languages other than English [Italian, Chinese, French, German, and Spanish] are taught by teachers in Tokyo and Osaka), so we think its a good plan. Maybe we'll go to two different branches and try German lessons after that. Whatever we need to kill time before the bars open.

This weekend Yuka and I are heading up to Takayama. Its in northern Gifu (the prefecture bordering Aichi to the north) and high in the mountains. We booked a night at a Ryokan (Japanese-style hotel) and transportation there for about $130 each. It'll take about 3 hours on a bus to reach Takayama but its supposed to be worth it. My Lonely Planet suggests visiting Takayama and Kanazawa in central Japan if you're a tourist just passing through, which means that according to Lonely Planet there are more worthwhile things to do and see in this tiny mountain village than a modern city the size of Chicago. Either this place is amazing or Nagoya really, really, really sucks. The town escaped the destruction of World War II and Japan's own turbulent history so its a preserved community from like, not just hundreds, but thousands of years ago. Its also known for its sweet unrefined sake. There are tons of breweries that offer tours according to my guide. And by guide I mean imagination since I didn't actually look that up. It just seems like there should be, you know?