日本語能力試験 ４級 ・ JLPT Level 4

Today I received my official certificate in the mail declaring that I passed the 日本語能力試験　４級 (Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 4)! I know it's only Level 4, the beginning level, but I still have a strong sense of accomplishment and it feels great. Not to mention, this really motivates me to study even harder for this year's exam! I couldn't have done it without the support of my wonderful wife who has to put up with my awful Japanese. She's always helping me to improve and provides me with the opportunity to practice with a native speaker on a daily basis. I owe her my thanks. Additionally, I want thank my awesome Japanese Language tutor, Hata-sensei, who has been helping me to focus and speed up my progress. 今後も、よろしくお願いします。頑張ります。

Utada “In The Flesh” Tour 2010

On Tuesday, 02-Feb-10 I went to see UTADA in concert at the House of Blues Chicago! Before writing anything else I feel I should admit that I can't really consider myself to be one of her biggest fans, and in fact it's been several years since I listened to any of her music. If a friend hadn't told me about the concert and offered to order advance tickets for us and our other friends interested in attending, I probably wouldn't have gone.

After actually going to the concert, I realised that missing it would have been a big mistake because I can hardly believe how much fun I had! The show was completely sold out and the fans were *really* into it! Utada rewarded us by singing all of her very best songs (IMHO), choosing ones that represented her entire singing career from the beginning to the present day, including favourites "Automatic" and "Sakura Drops." Utada, herself, seemed to really enjoy the show and although it's something to which she's unaccustomed, she told us, the intimacy of the venue really appealed to her. The fans were close enough to the stage that she was even able to hear one guy yell out, 「結婚してくれ！！」 (Kekkonshite kure!! / Marry Me!!).

Luckily, there was some kind of incident during the show that required the attention of the security guards near me. Because of that, I was able to take a few photos-- I'm sorry that they're so blurry.

Here's the video for what is now my favourite song by Utada. (Sorry Hikaru-san, I know you were just a teenager when you first released this one, but it's great!)

Utada Hikaru - Automatic