Your Japanese word of the week is...

"okagesama de" おかげさまで which means "thanks to" or "owing to". It's not the same as directly thanking someone, but it's more said in relation to something happening as a result of someone caring.

The phrase could be found on posters celebrating an anniversary of a restaurant for example, thanking customers for years of patronage. Or, if someone asked how you're doing, you could add "okagesama de" after your response to show you appreciate their caring. And, of course, it applies directly to someone helping you do something.

Picture courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's blog... because I had no camera... again...

In my case, I want to thank Arakawa Sensei and Shiramizu, Takagi Sensei and Guseikai, and Richard for helping me pass my sandan test this past Sunday. I was originally going to take one in June but Carl needed a partner for his nidan test (which he passed! Congrats!) so I took my test with him. Extra congratulations to all the Shiramizu students who passed as well, including Uchida-san- 50 years young and getting his black belt!

The test was in the same place as last year (in Chiba, near Tokyo Disneyland) and run by more or less the same people. The tested material was the same as well, especially since this one lets you choose some of the things you will do.

The test in June was to be the Tokyo area one and it's harder since there is a range of things they will ask you to do. They'll only ask you to do one or two of the things, but since you won't find out which until the day of, you essentially have to know them all. I planned on (and prepped for) this Tokyo one, but I didn't take it....

That, however, was not the only thing I'm grateful for. I'm also grateful for this...

A Stig mug!!! And a giant chocolate egg to go with it!

This I got from Fiona who came from England late last year and, through a common karate interest, got in touch through the Shiramizu Internship Blog.

Anyways, extra super mega thanks to Fiona.

In the meantime, make sure to check out her blog as well. I dare say it's more interesting than mine haha.....