I get Made

This thursday, some of my co-teachers asked me if I had given myself kanji (that is, the chinese symbols that make Japanese impossible to read) for my name. I said I didn't, so they helped me pick some out. No. That's not right. Name-kanji, I feel, are like nicknames: you can't choose them, otherwise everyone will think it's lame and repeatedly refuse to call you "The Professor." Such things must be bestowed.

Here is the given Kanji:

Let me explain a little more. Japanese is a syllabic language made up of a consanant followed by a vowel or single vowel sound, like ka, ta, ra, shi, or ah. Each of these sounds has their own symbol.

You with me? Ok.

Since this si phonetically limiting and the Japanese language doesn't use spaces (like this: ), Kanji make things easier(ish) to read, since each kanji has a meaning. For example, kee-tay-mah-soo (usually romanized to kitemasu) can mean both "listening" and "coming." In written Japanese, only the Kanji differentiate between the two.

So. My name, usually, is pronounced Ah - da - mu Ru-oo and written in the five syllabic symbols of those sounds. My co-workers foudn kanji with these sounds, and chose the ones they liked.

Let's look at that kanji again:

The first is ahda, meaning "vengeance." The second is mu, representing "dream." The third is Ruoo. It can mean "the flow of a river" or "style/manner/custom" as a suffix. My name, therefore, is "In the Style of a Vengeful Dreamer."

Which is wicked. fricking. cool.

Oh, and here is a shot of the cabin we stayed in last weekend at Hakkoda-zan


Note the presence of comfortable beds, chairs, and easy-to-use plumbing, none of which is in my house.