Kanji Name

I went to visit Julienne's former host family in Takasaki this past weekend. Much as I have been fed up about certain things here, you absolutely cannot fault people here on their hospitality. People can be rather shy and reserved if you don't have an intro, but if someone vouches for you they're incredibly welcoming and friendly. It was a really relaxing pleasant weekend.

During the weekend, they found out that I hadn't had my name put into kanji- only kana (it looks like this: エマ). So, they decided to do this for me. The process basically involves finding kanji with the same sounds as your name, then choosing ones that combine for a nice meaning. Mine are 恵真 . The first one means blessing, the second means truth. Apparently it's a very cute and Japanese sounding/looking name (or so I've been told). It was really fun watching the process- they'd think of kanji, then decide if they fit, or had the right connotations (too male, not a nice enough word, etc). They'd already done Julienne's name, which means "apricot in a pear tree."

I mentioned this to English conversation class last night, and they decided to do Brian's name too. Apparently this was a lot more difficult- there aren't many sounds that can mimic a consonant blend. He ended up with 武頼安 . The first one means samurai, the second respect, and the third safety. I also got a rundown of the meanings for people in the class- it's a nice aspect to the name which we don't really have in English. I was really amused that one woman's father had named her "rule/law, woman," because he'd wanted her to be a lawyer. She's now a teacher.

While I was finding the kanji online, and harassing nice teachers to type the ones I couldn't find, I finally got someone to put Yan Cha's name into type. It's not kanji, but I think it looks pretty: やんちゃ