Today I decided to browse around the Japanese blogging site Ameblo, looking for a lesson topic.

Probably a mistake, because I ended up just browsing random blogs for an hour.

At least they were in Japanese, though, yeah?

That's productive... maybe.

So, KAPOW!!--sudden Japanese excerpt from a random blog post:

昨日、

「さぁ！今日から仕事だぁ！」

と、勇んで会社に行ったところ、

『！』

出勤簿に私の名前がない！！！

どうやら今月は休みだと思われたらしく…
（事務の人の書類ミス）
突然ですが今月は休みになりました…

来月からがんばる…

拍子抜けだな…

収入もないな…

昨日、
kinou

「さぁ！今日から仕事だぁ！」
"saa! kyou kara shigoto daa!"

と、勇んで会社に行ったところ、
to, isande kaisha ni itta tokoro,

『！』

出勤簿に私の名前がない！！！
shukkinbo ni watashi no namae ga nai!!!

どうやら今月は休みだと思われたらしく…
dou yara kongetsu wa yasumi da to omowareta rashiku...

（事務の人の書類ミス）
( jimu no hito no shorui misu )

突然ですが今月は休みになりました…
totsuzen desu ga kongetsu wa yasumi ni narimashita...

来月からがんばる…
raigetsu kara ganbaru...

拍子抜けだな…
hyoushi nuke da na...

収入もないな…
shuunyuu mo nai na...

昨日、
kinou
So yesterday...
(Literally: "yesterday.")

「さぁ！今日から仕事だぁ！」
"saa! kyou kara shigoto daa!"
"OK! Today's my first day of work!"
(Literally: "OK! + today + from + work + is!")

と、勇んで会社に行ったところ、
to, isande kaisha ni itta tokoro,
I encouraged myself and went to work.
(Literally: "と + be in high spirits + company + to + went + place.")

(Note: Rearranging all of that in order, we get something like, "So yesterday, I got myself all psyched up for 'my very first day of work!' when...")
(Note #2: This と is a quote marker [previous sentence].)
(Note #3: This ところ doesn't really mean "place," but is rather a grammar function marking a time... it'll show up in one of your textbooks, I'm sure... eventually.)

『！』

出勤簿に私の名前がない！！！
shukkinbo ni watashi no namae ga nai!!!
My name wasn't on the work schedule.
(Literally: "employee attendance record + に + my + name + が + is not.")

どうやら今月は休みだと思われたらしく…
dou yara kongetsu wa yasumi da to omowareta rashiku...
Apparently for some reason they thought that I was off this month...
(Literally: "it appears that + this month + は + holiday + is + と + was thought + seems.")

(Note: That's a pretty overwhelming sentence if you're still a beginner. I'm realizing that I never use どうやら [it seems; somehow or other], but maybe I should sometimes. Also this らしく... [rashiku] is sure to cause problems for those just encountering it, as it marks hearsay. In other words, by saying らしく... he's point out that this is what he was told.)

（事務の人の書類ミス）
( jimu no hito no shorui misu )
(An employee's paperwork mistake.)
(Literally: "office + の + person + document + miss.")

突然ですが今月は休みになりました…
totsuzen desu ga kongetsu wa yasumi ni narimashita...
So now I suddenly have the whole month off.
(Literally: "suddenly + is + but + this month + は + holiday + became.")

来月からがんばる…
raigetsu kara ganbaru...
So I guess I'll start working hard from next month...
(Literally: "next month + from + do my best")

(Note: As many of you likely already know, there's no real translation for がんばる. "Do my best" doesn't sound right. And neither does "start working hard.")

拍子抜けだな…
hyoushi nuke da na...
What a let-down.
(Literally: "let-down + is + な...")

収入もないな…
shuunyuu mo nai na...
And now I won't have any money...
(Literally: "income + also + will not have + な...")

Random Translation Notes:

If I actually tried to explain everything going into those translations, most probably wouldn't read it.

Who has time for that?!

My favorite word in that whole thing, though, is 拍子抜け (hyoushi nuke).

拍子 (hyoushi) can mean a bunch of things, but it's basic meaning is "rhythm" or "musical tempo."

抜け (nuke) means "pulled out."

So if you "pull out the rhythm," 拍子抜け (hyoushi nuke), then you get a "let-down," an "anticlimax."

Add a ～だな… (da na...) onto it, and you've got a full sentence:

拍子抜けだな…
hyoushi nuke da na...
What a let-down.
(Literally: "let-down + is + な...")

The nuance of this sentence is not all that negative by the way. There is a subtle nuance of "oh well," I think.

I'm definitely going to try using that one next time I'm let down by something I was all pumped up for.

I particularly like it better than ガッカリ (gakkari) "feel disappointed", which doeshave a rather strong nuance of disappointment.

By the way, this was actually just the intro to that blog post. You can read the whole thing here if you're a crazy hard-working student.

Bonus Phrases

思ったよりつまんなくてガッカリした。
おもった　より　つまんなくて　ガッカリ　した。
I was disappointed because it was more boring than I'd expected.
Note:Notice that つまらない is getting shortened to つまんない (in its adverbial form).