Madame M

I read in this article in The Guardian that "Puerto Rico braces itself for for the 'worst atmospheric event in a century'." Why didn't the US National Hurricane Center (I assume) just use "worst hurricane"? Can an atmospheric event include wild fires that occlude the sun and other things that goof up the atmosphere?

Here's the article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/19/puer...

It's for a short story. I'd also love details about being a manservant in West Berlin in 1977, if anyone has any links or comments.

And how much would a manservant be paid in, say, 1977? In general, how did Germans treat their servants?

I get surprised by the sudden sound and motion, and forget my train of thought. Also, it can't be friendly to my slow internet connection and cheap data plan. I may have to give up Yahoo! Answers if I can't stop it. I don't want to use ad-block. I think ads deserve a chance, if they aren't too intrusive. So, I wouldn't mind still ads. I just want to get rid of the noisy videos.

If Yahoo! Answers dies, are you going to "move" to a different website to participate in discussions about Japan? If so, would you share?

(-: Personally, I'm torn. It would be much better for my productivity if I stopped dispensing "advice" and snark. I wouldn't mind writing for Tofugu, though, if they'd have me.

Am I going to have to go directly to the writer's website for what I want? (Maybe that isn't necessarily a bad idea. I can skip the icky "news" stories that are all that remains of the Yahoo! homepage . . . .

My kids just told me Abe isn't the PM right now because the gov't has dissolved for elections. Wha-ah-ah? Does it work like that? They also seem to think there's a very good chance that the LDP won't select Abe to lead the party (and therefore be PM) after the elections.

This seems to run completely counter to all the implied stuff I see in the English-language foreign press . . . . They seem to assume if the LDP is in, Abe will keep on with the Abenomics, the re-arming, the eroding of the constitution . . . .

(My kids are taking social studies classes in Japanese schools, and they were very sure they were right. I'm not sure why I'm checking in with you guys, but I would like to have it confirmed/denied, and I'd like to hear your opinions about the process.)

I'm interested in seeing more of Subtropolis when I visit Kansas City this summer. Can just anyone go in and look around?

I saw this: http://tlekc.org/events-2/every-day-is-earth-day-a... about some sort of children's museum/workshop in Subtropolis, but I'm not sure if it's just open to visitors or if you need to make an appointment.

Any information would be much appreciated. I'd love to see bits of Subtropolis under construction, too, if possible!

I figured I'd get more specific answers from the US expats in the Japan section than the more random areas.

In particular, I have an Android with a wifi button on the pulldown screen.

I know my daughter could use her Japanese iPod with US wifi and she had no problems.

I'm hoping the phone will basically act as an iPod, and I won't get charged extra for using it in the States.

Bonus: if you've got info on using Google Maps on a Japanese Android in the US, I'd love to hear about it.

Still writing away at my novel. I want to thank everyone who helped me with my questions before. You never know what will spark an idea! Thanks!

So, how many people would be around Yoyogi Park on a Monday afternoon/evening? What would take them there on a Monday afternoon in late August? Obon would be over.

Or is there a better place where foreigners do street performing in Tokyo on a weekday evening? I want my hero to be able to make a little bit of cash, and have some people to work with as part of his act.

(BTW, have you seen video of Okopante? This is the kind of contact juggling my hero will be doing. http://boringly.com/epic-street-performer-plays-wi... Just amazing stuff, and I hope I can put it into words!)

More details for my novel. Some people have been very helpful about including real-life details, things you can't get from a normal website.

Have you been to Nanbantei in the evening?

*What does it look like from the outside?

*What kind of people eat there? Mostly tourists? Lot of working class? (I mean, clerks in Roppongi have to eat somewhere, right?)

*What kind of atmosphere is it inside? I'm imagining something a little dark and smoky. Do your clothes smell like yakitori when you leave?

*Are the menus all in Japanese, or English, too? Or are there any menus?

*What was your favorite dish there?

*How far is it from a subway or train station?

*Is it different from other Japanese yakitori restaurants, and if so, how?

I'm really hearing some interesting things with these questions. So, thanks, Yahoo! Answers.

Have you ever been in a public fistfight in Tokyo, or seen one?

I'm writing a novel, and I don't quite know what details to include, but say a street performer "invades" another street performer's turf -- and that resulted in a fight -- I'm guessing if it happened on "the bridge" in Harajuku, the cops would be there pretty quickly (IIRC, there's a police box right there), and would break it up. Would the fighters be arrested, or just warned?

What I want to know is:

1) Who gets in fistfights in Tokyo?

2) What kind of things are at the bottom of the fistfights? Why do people fight?

3) How do by-standers react? Do they stand around and cheer, or do they hustle away?

4) How long does it take before the police get there?

5) How do police act? Are they quite rough? Do they use truncheons? Do they get the crowd to help them pull the combatants apart?

I'm writing a novel, and wondered if you'd seen in street performers in Tokyo recently? I would love to hear your impressions. Particularly, I'm interested in:

1. Where do they gather? Which neighborhood or park?

2. What are the Japanese reactions to street performers? How about tourist reactions?

3. Is it actually legal? Do the police turn a blind eye, or do they discourage street performance?

4. Are street performers allowed to accept money? Do they actually make much? (I'm thinking the open guitar case at their feet.)

5. What kind of performances have you seen?

I am almost sure I saw a guitar player during my trip there last summer, but my memories are completely fuzzy.

Any first-hand info, or links, would be much appreciated.

I'm making a birthday game for students aged 10 to 14, and I need eight great birthday presents they might like to receive. I'd like unisex presents, but any ideas are bound to spark something. I would love it if about half of the words already sounded like something in English. So, my requirements are: age-appropriate, EFL-friendly, not specifically for boys or girls, and not too expensive, but not terribly cheap. In that order (-:.

I'll be putting on my thinking cap, too, so let's have fun with it!

This is a hypothetical US number. Have you ever seen a US number formatted this way? When do you use it? And what's the (m) supposed to mean?

*I* was taught to write it (555) 555-5555. Is that outdated?

I would very much like to see links to the proper format.

http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/98627...

The nice Korean quoted in this article says, "The two countries are friends, walking shoulder to shoulder."

That's so nice! Two great countries, working together to solve their problems. I love that. Don't you support Japanese and Korean cooperation, too?