The doors on the right side will open.

Yes, there's something comforting about the certainty in that sexy voice on the JR line. And, yes, this is another Hiragana story - though I must stress that I'm pretty hopeless at it. It took a full 8 minutes for me to 'read' あぶない ( DANGEROUS ) standing at a level crossing as 5 or 6 trains roared past.

Anyway, I digress..... One of my favourite ways to improve my hopeless writing skills is to try to write the name of each station on the JR line before it appears on the electronic sign on the train( no I don't know the word for the sign in English) (or indeed any other language) Anyway...... one day my wife, Chiaki, was travelling with me, and seemed to find my spelling of たかだのばば (Takadanobaba) as たかだのぼぼ (Takadanobobo) quite hilarious. Though as any fellow beginner in Japanese will, I'm sure, agree, it's an easy mistake to make!

Anyway, Chiaki told a colleague at work about this. She, too, thought it was incredibly funny and decided to re-name me 'Bobo-chan' So for the next few weeks, that's who I was: Bobo-chan. It obviously gave my wife a lot of pleasure. Personally........... hmm.

Until...........a mutual friend (Tetsuya) who was born and bred in Kyushu, revealed that, in fact, 'bobo' has a rather er.....delicate meaning in some dialects, and that it would be unwise to use my new name, in a loud voice in public. Chiaki and her colleague were suitably shocked, (er.....I think) and so ended the short, but rather sexy, life of 'Bobo-chan'
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Make My Day!