Oh snap! My mirror is heated!

John and I have been taking Japanese language writing courses. When we first arrived in Japan, the Japanese characters everywhere were almost too much for my brain to handle. So, my brain did the only thing it could do and shut them out.

On our first week in Japan, we noticed some fliers announcing free writing classes to learn the Hirigana and Katakana alphabets (the Kanji alphabet I will work on in the near future). Now, after these classes my brain can process the characters into sounds, which turn into words. Even though I might not know the word, it's better than being fully illiterate like I was before.

Since I'm only a beginner, watching TV is too fast for me as the characters quickly flick across the screen and then disappear before I'm able to sound it out. Out in town I can recognize things like the name of the city of Yokosuka. I've also been spending time translating the stickers and directions on appliances in our hotel.

Everytime I blowdry my hair, I puzzle over the characters on the switch on our bathroom mirror. Here's a picture of the switch below:

The left side is written in Kanji, and I think it means "off" because when the switch is that way, the light turns off. On the right side, I can read the characters perfectly now: kumaritome......I didn't know what that meant so I took to the internet and tried to translate it...no luck...so, I broke my new word up into pieces to see if maybe pieces of it would translate....

Kumari = fogginess

tome = stopping

So, stopping fogginess.....buuuuuttt wait, I thought this switch only turned a light on above my bathroom mirror. I slowly bring my hand up to touch the mirror. It's warm. The mirror is heated. Oh snap. Oh snappity snap snap....I just had my first successful translation experience!!!! I discovered the bathroom mirror was heated!!