Author’s Note: July 14th 2010

Hello devoted followers (are there any?  xD) and random visitors of this blog!   I hope you’re all doing well.  ^_^

I just wanted to say a quick apology for not posting for so long.  I’ve really wanted to, but I was moving so I was super busy, and then I didn’t have internet for a while.  Anyway, thank you for your patience and I’m happy to say that I think I’ll be able to start posting again now.  Ya~y!

I really appreciate your continued love and support of Stir-Crazy International.  Please tell your friends about it too!    =D

Fighting~

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And now, for your random amusement, here’s a picture of some bird’s nests that my friends and I made for a couple of baby chicks when I was a kid.

…Was that too random?  ^^”  Well then here’s one of my cat… flying.   I made it for a photography class a while back.

I don’t usually get to post stuff like this, so that was fun.  ^^ …For me at least.  xP

This post isn’t really on any particular topic, so please leave me a random comment!  =D

Taco Rice Recipe

Taco rice is one of my favorite dishes.  My family eats it all the time because it’s so delicious and easy to make, but the other day it suddenly hit me how international this dish is.  I’d  say it’s a combination of Mexican and Japanese food, with an American feel to it that is probably because it was invented in Okinawa where there is a large American military presence.   Basically, it’s taco fixings on top of rice, rather than in a taco shell.  I know it probably sounds weird, I thought it was weird at first too, but it’s actually surprisingly good!  (and easy to make!)  I really like normal tacos, but I like this even more.  =P  I’ll explain how to make it step-by-step:

Ingredients/Preparation:

• Rice- Prepare some regular, white rice. (steamed or cooked in a rice cooker)
• Meat- Prepare taco meat.  The meat that is used for taco rice is not really authentic Latin American taco meat (it’s more like Taco Bell taco meat) BUT, though I’ve never seen it made that way, it would probably work with authentic meat if that’s what you prefer.  In my family, we just brown ground beef, (maybe a little less than one pound of meat per two people) then drain the excess oil/grease that came out of the meat by dumping it into the trash or dabbing it with a paper towel if it’s not that much. Then add some water (approximately 2/3 cup per pound of meat) and stir in the seasonings.  My family uses Lawry’s Hot Taco Spices and Seasonings which comes in a package that we can just dump in.  We always use less than they direct, but if you want it flavorful then you can just follow the directions on the back of the package.  If you don’t have access to or prefer not to use packaged seasonings, then I’m sure there are recipes for taco meat seasonings online.
• Cheese-Shredded cheese should be used for Taco Rice.  Usually it’s mild cheddar or white cheese (I forgot what it’s called ^^”).
• Lettuce- The lettuce for Taco Rice is usually thinly sliced (or shredded?) like the lettuce in tacos at Taco Bell.  However, there’s really no right or wrong way to do it.  Just try to make it easy to eat.  My personal preference to cut up a whole head of cabbage (or half of it) into thin strips and then chop them horizontally into large bite-sized pieces.  Sometimes when we’re in a hurry we just tear up some lettuce leaves like you would for a salad.
• Tomato- chop up a tomato into small chunks.
• Avocado- chop up an avocado into small chunks. (Technically this is an “extra,” but I don’t think of it that way.  ^^)
• Extras- You can pretty much put everything and anything you would put on a taco on your taco rice.  Sour cream and salsa are some examples.

How to Eat It:

If you buy it at a restaurant or something then it’ll be ready-made, but in my family we like to put the ingredients on the table and have everyone make their own “haystack” because that way each person can match it to their own appetite and tastes.  Either way, the final “haystack” is made by stacking the ingredients on top of a rice base.  Here’s more detail:

1. Start by spreading a thick layer of rice on your plate.  This will be the base.
2. Next spread meat and cheese over it in whatever order you would like.  I don’t know if there’s an official order it’s supposed to be in, but in my family some people put cheese first so that it’ll melt between the hot rice and the hot meat, while others put the cheese on top of the meat which tends to look nicer (and also melts if the meat is hot enough).  At this point you can microwave your “haystack” to melt the cheese if it hasn’t melted and you would like it to.
3. Spread lettuce over your “haystack.”
4. Sprinkle tomatoes and avocados on top.
5. Put on any “extras” that you would like.

Ta-da!  If I remember correctly, they usually give you a spoon to eat it with at restaurants, but in my family we eat it with forks for some reason.  I think it’d probably be easiest to eat with chopsticks though.

Anyway, enjoy the yummy goodness!   =)

The Most Fun and Effective Way to Teach Yourself a Language

It is a commonly recognized fact that a language is best learned through immersion.  By “best,” I mean that it is the fastest, most accurate, and overall most effective way to learn a language–after all, that’s how each of us learned our native language so well.  The only problem is that most of us usually don’t have the luxury of living somewhere where they speak the language that we would like to learn.  So, when this is the case the next best thing to do is to simulate immersion!  We have incredible resources available to us in the world today, so with a little effort and dedication on your part it really isn’t a hard thing to do.  Even though I had to learn two languages when I was growing up, I only recently discovered how incredibly fun it can be to teach yourself a new language through simulated immersion.  Here are some of my ideas for what is the most effective and fun way to learn a new language–I hope they’ll give you a new perspective on learning a language from anything you’ve ever heard before.  Instead of something that you toil and struggle through, with these simple ideas, teaching yourself a new language can become a fun and exciting adventure!

What you will need:

• Motivation and Perseverance!  I feel so cheesy saying this, but I think it’s really true.  If you don’t have motivation then why are you doing this, really?  Though the following advice will probably be useful for learning a language in a class setting, it is really meant for people who want to teach themselves a new language.  When no one is there to make you learn it then it’s all on you and you will need motivation and perseverance.  The good news is that some of my ideas will probably help you to stay motivated and make it fun so that it isn’t so hard to persevere.  ^^
• A notebook–or I guess anything that you can write on/in.  While you are learning a new language, it is very important that you be writing stuff down.  Not that you have to be taking notes on everything, but rather that it’s been scientifically proven that people are able to take in more information if they write it down.  Even if it’s just sloppy doodles, try to think through what you are learning and then write it down in ways that make sense to you.

How to Create Simulated Immersion–According to Shebechan

• Immerse yourself in the culture and use active learning–as in read, watch, and listen to popular culture in that language, but do it with an active, rather than passive, mind.  For example, if you’re watching a drama in another language, then actually listen to what they’re saying as well as reading the subtitles (if there are subtitles).  Take note of words that keep coming up and maybe keep track of them in your notebook, then look them up to find out their actual definitions and start reviewing and using them.  If they’re common words, then you’ll probably find that they continue to come up in other dramas and songs and such, but now you know what it means!  Constantly be on the look-out for words and phrases that you recognize, and be sure that you don’t just hear the word, but also think about the meaning. (Note: There are lots of foreign songs and music videos on Youtube, and you can watch many foreign dramas with subtitles on Youtube or at Viikii.)
• Write, doodle, or take notes about things you are learning in your notebook, according to your personality.  If you like it neat then make neat, organized notes, but remember that no one is making you do this and no one else needs to understand it so you have absolute freedom in how you write down what you’re learning.  Sometimes it’s even fun to do a random “write down everything you can remember” session!
• Use what you’re learning and let it become part of your everyday life!   As you learn words and phrases, look for opportunities to think of them in the day-to-day, for example when you enter a bathroom, say the word for “bathroom” and any other words or phrases that you know that are associated with the bathroom, like maybe “bathtub” or “where is the bathroom,” in whatever language you are learning.  When you see a spoon or a grape or any other random thing that you know the word for, say it to yourself in your head or out loud (out loud is better, but I don’t want to be blamed for you talking to yourself… maybe try whispering, that’s what I do!)   I think that randomly talking out loud to yourself in another language is actually really helpful for creating simulated immersion because it lets you practice your pronunciation.  Of course, if you actually know people who speak the language you’re learning and can practice talking with them, then that’s great too, but don’t rely solely on that unless you’re around them all the time or else you won’t get enough practice.

Now, all this simulated immersion stuff is great, and I think that it really helps to make learning a language come alive and become a fun process, but to really learn it well it’s still going to take some diligent studying.  I recommend having study times as consistently as is possible for you.  They don’t have to be incredibly long, even 30 minutes every day or every-other day would be good.  Just set aside some time to learn something new in whatever language you’re studying.  For example, one day you may decide to learn how to count in that language and/or how to say the days of the week.  Perhaps the next day you do a grammar lesson and the next day you do flash-cards.  Basically, just make sure that you are consistently getting some new and substantial input, instead of just trying to pick up whatever you can from watching dramas or listening to songs.

If you can do this, then you are well on your way to learning a new language!  I’d love to hear about fun and effective ways that you’ve found to teach yourself a language as well.  =)

ようこそ！ Welcome to Stir-Crazy International

Hi, I’m Shebechan and this is Stir-Crazy International.

I guess you’re probably wondering about the name–maybe something along the lines of, “Stir-Crazy International?  That’s a weird name for a company…”  Which of course makes sense, because you’re right, it’s not a company.  It was actually supposed to be called simply “Stir-Crazy,” but then that web address was already taken so I had to add something, and “International” seemed to make the most sense.

Anyway, the purpose of Stir-Crazy International is basically to provide a place where people who are feeling “stir-crazy” on an international scale can find resources and interesting discussion about countries around the world–though the focus will mostly be on Asia and the United States since those are the places that I have the most knowledge of.

So, let me introduce myself.  I guess the short version would be that I’m an American girl who grew up in Japan, I enjoy being creative and learning new things, and some of my hobbies include reading, writing, dancing (especially ballroom dance right now), doing crafty things, and using my computer.  I also like listening to music and hanging out with friends and stuff but it seems like that much can be assumed.  Oh, and I’m also very interested in different languages and cultures, so I’d like to focus this blog on those topics.

To that end, I plan to include various discussions and analyses of interesting cultural phenomenons that I observe, share links to interesting websites (especially relating to foreign pop culture), provide free resources for learning different languages, etc. Please keep checking back often and share your opinions and insights with me by commenting!

I hope that I might be able to expand your view of the world through this blog, and that you, in turn, will broaden mine as well.

よろしくお願いします〜！