Bad Cold and Drug

Wednesday, January thirty first, two thousand and seven

I must have a bad cold. In fact, I have a runny nose and cough very often today.
When you have a cold, how do you take care of yourself? In my case, I have a lot of Japanese sake whenever I have a cold in order to have a good and long sleep. In my opinion, there are no more effective medicines than alcohol against colds. :) In Japan, there's a nice proverb, actually - "Sake is the chief of all medicine.(酒は百薬の長 sake wa hyakuyaku no cyo)" I will get better soon thanks to a huge amount of Japanese sake I had tonight.

To change the subject, I take English lessons at the most famous English school in Japan as you know. Today some English teachers who work for the school have been arrested for having drug in Tokyo! What a stupid guys! Let me ask my teachers later if they know the news.

Ahh.. I could keep writing my English diary for a month somehow.

School Bag

Tuesday, January thirtieth, two thousand and seven

My 6-year-old daughter is a kindergarten student now and going to enter an elementary school this spring. So we have to prepare a lot of things for that these days, for instance, buying a desk and some school uniforms. Today my father-in-law presented her a school bag, actually. She has gone nuts over the cute bag, she can't help but try to shoulder it tonight as the following picture, in spite of she is wearing her pajamas.


By the way, I might have caught a cold, because I have a terrible runny nose now. Let me go to bed as soon as I post this diary.


go nuts over something: ～に首ったけになる、～がすっかり気に入る

Nephew's Lucky Accident

Monday, January twenty ninth, two thousand and seven

When I was driving my small truck toward my factory, one of my nephews, a 7-year-old boy, had a bad accident. When I was waiting for the light of an intersection to change, I saw he was running down the steep slope to the intersection and felt over! I shouted out, "Oh, my goodness!"
Actually, my brother lives next to our factory, I often see that the nephew and one of my nieces go to school when I'm commuting.
After I saw the accident, of course, I asked him if he was OK or not. He seemed to get some scratches but luckily didn't look so seriously. And then I said to him, "You are very lucky, although you got some scratches! If you felt over in front of the intersection, you might get a serious injury or die because the street had a lot of traffic. Besides, you had the accident in front of my eyes, so I could help you this time. That's why I think you are very lucky!"

Anyway, since my young relatives and children often give me a lot of topics to write down on my blog, I might be the luckiest person in my family. :)


a steep slope: 急な坂

Teacher Leaving Japan

Sunday, January twenty eighth, two thousand and seven

Since I had to work in my factory and see my daughter's kindergarten festival yesterday, contrary to my normal habit, I took a couple of regular lessons and some free conversation classes today. In addition, I wanted to say goodbye to the female Australian teacher who are leaving Japan soon. I wonder how many teachers I need to say goodbye in the future...
Anyway, when we were talking with her, I remembered that the teacher gave me the recommendation for my being a level-4 student. When I got the paper, I shouted out "I've got it!" in front of the English school. And then I realized getting funny looks from some people in the clinic in front of the school. I guess they were saying like this, "What a strange middle aged man."

Talking of middle aged man, I saw an English phrase the other day.

"Middle aged people may be divided into three classes: those who are still young, those who have forgotten they were young, and those who were never young."(中年の人々は、次の三種類に分けられるだろう。すなわち、まだまだ若い人。かつては若かったということを忘れてしまった人。そして、若かったことが一度もない人。)

What class of middle aged people do you think I belong to? (^_^;)


contrary to one's normal habit: いつもと違って

Kindergarten Festival

Saturday, January twenty seventh, two thousand and seven

I'm very tired this morning, in spite of I had a comparatively long sleep, 7 hours, last night because of the recent busy work. Besides, my brother and I had to do maintenance on our machinery to change the production line into another manufacturing mode.

After doing that, I took a shower as soon as I got home, because I needed to go to a community hall of my city to see the kindergarten festival my daughter took part in. There were many cute boys, girls and a large number of parents in the hall. Since the organizer didn't allow us to take any pictures and videos to have the children concentrate on their shows, I could look at more performances than usual. Now that I have 3 children, I often have to take their pictures, videos, and something like those, although I'd rather seeing the acting than taking them. Thank you, the organizer! I was able to see a lot of super cute performances thanks to you, but I'll have to buy the pictures and videos taken by a professional photographer later, though. :( Anyway, I had a good time thanks to the festival, their cute performances have really healed me. I can't help but work so hard for cute boys and girls to pass the torch of Japanese future to them. Umm... too cool? :)


pass the torch to someone: ～にバトンを渡す

One of Those Days!

Friday, January, twenty sixth, two thousand and seven

I don't have so many orders from my customers as last winter. But my factory doesn't have good materials to be recycled, besides the machinery doesn't work well these days, so that's why I had to work more than twelve hours a day this week. The production efficiency is really terrible! It's been one of those days! :(

Actually, I learned this phrase "one of those days" last year thanks to a nice American friend who is very interested in Japanese culture. I memorized this phrase "It's been one of those days!" as soon as I heard, because his style of teaching English is so excellent as another nice American guy who I used to drink together with me in a bar sometimes.

To get back to my original point, my hands are really dirty, rough, and have so many scratches due to the recent hard work. My hands look awful but I'm proud of them, because they are kind of a poof that I'm a really hard worker. Japanese people call those hands "Labor's hands", however, I pronounced the words "Lovers' hands" last year. When I said that, I'm so embarrassed! The guy who heard the words started moving his right hand..... Sorry to post such a dirty article. :)


production efficiency: 生産効率
one of those days: 何をやってもうまくいかない日
To get back to my original point: 話を元に戻すと

Toilet with MP3 Player

Thursday, January twenty fifth, two thousand and seven

TOTO, the toilet manufacturer giant in Japan, has just released a new type of toilet. It reportedly has some advanced technologies. The most interesting function to me is that it can play MP3 music! After you did something on the toilet, it sounds some kinds of relaxed music. And also, you can install other kinds of sound you want to listen to during doing something into the toilet... Now I remember, ... the restroom in bar60 that I sometimes go for a drink sounds nicely after I did something... :)

You can see the new toilet's picture on the following URL.
http://kaden.watch.impress.co.jp//cda/parts/image_for_link/5491-385-1-1.html

Umm... the recent my diaries tend to be very short..... :(

Japanese Chess

Wednesday, January twenty fourth, two thousand and seven

Mr. Igawa, who used to belong to Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese professional baseball league as a pitcher and belongs to New York Yankees now, has been named as the first goodwill ambassador of "将棋(syo-gi) - Japanese chess" to popularize "syo-gi" in the USA, according to an article in the newpaper I read today. He often play syo-gi in his free time, actually, and he is reportedly a semiprofessional player. Since my eldest son is crazy about syo-gi and "go", I'd like him to have such a nice opportunity as Mr. Igawa has in the future. Let me teach him English as far as possible for that. :)


a goodwill ambassador: 親善大使
popularize: 普及させる

IRON MAIDEN Helps me Out

Tuesday, January twenty third, two thousand and seven

My 6-year-old daughter usually kiss me before she goes to bed and I leave for work, but she didn't do that habit today. I'm soooooooooooooooo sad that I couldn't fall asleep tonight. Actually, only her nice habit makes me feel good nowadays, however, she seems to be tired of doing that, in spite of I work so hard for my family everyday. Let me try to find another nice girl who gives me a number of nice kisses instead of my daughter....
Just kidding, of course.... maybe... :) Since I had to work fourteen hours today due to malfunction of the machinery in my factory, I'd like to have a good and deep sleep tonight anyhow. Let me listen to IRON MAIDEN to make myself relaxed, and go to bed... Huh ? Is it strange to listen to heavy metal music before going to bed? In my case, it's sort of an excellent vitamin. For me, there are no more nicer ones in the world than listening to IRON MAIDEN before going to bed!

....I'm relieved to be managed to keep on writing my English diary...

Customer Confidence

Monday, January twenty second, two thousand and seven

In Japan some incredible affairs have been caused by some companies recently. They betrayed trust of their customers, I think. One of them used old ingredients that had passed the expiry dates to make sweets. A TV show doctored(altered?) the data of natto which described how good for your diet eating natto is. Of course, almost all Japanese people know eating natto is good for health but didn't know it's also good for diet. It was not sure that eating natto is good for diet, though.
Actually, I often read such silly news these days in newspaper or on the Internet. Whenever reading those stupid matter, I think human being is a type of forgetting animals. In fact, there were a lot of similar wrongdoings in the past. But I have to say to them "Thank you.", because they are sort of teachers by negative samples, they are called "反面教師(hanmen kyoushi)" in Japanese. Although my factory belongs to a different industry from their companies, I was able to reconfirm that "Customer Confidence" is the most important policy to do business well in all industries as well as "Customer Satisfaction". Thanks a lot! I'm so lucky to hear the bad news that our products would sell like hotcakes!


betray: (信用・信頼などを)裏切る
expiry date: 賞味期限(?)
doctor(verb), alter: 改ざんする
forgetting animal: 忘却の動物(?)
teachers by negative samples: 反面教師(?)
something sell(s) like hotcakes: ～が飛ぶように売れる

MUST Finish Review

Sunday, January twenty first, two thousand and seven

As I posted an article yesterday, I got a recommendation for taking a level-up test. I was so happy to get it, but on the other hand, I've pressed for finishing review of all lessons I've ever taken. One of the reasons I don't have the confidence to pass the test is that I haven't finished the review yet, actually. Anyway, I have to move to another branch of the English school if I pass the test, because the branch I belong to now provides up to level-4 English lessons. The branch is very convenient to commute for me, because it's in a shopping mall close to my house. After the level up, I'll be required to move to a big branch, so I'll have to commute there by train. It takes about 30 minutes from my house, I guess. But my worry can be in vain, because I don't have the strong confidence to pass the test. Besides, it's said that Greatness is the dream of youth realized in old age. It might be a good idea to fail the examination on purpose. :D


be in vain: 無駄になる
on purpose: わざと、故意に(=intentionally?)

(witty remark)"Greatness is the dream of youth realized in old age." :偉大さとは年を取ってから実現した若いころの夢である。

Got Recommendation to Level Up!

Saturday, January twentieth, two thousand and seven

This morning I took a couple of English lessons as usual, even though I was pretty tired because I had to work thirteen hours yesterday. After the lessons, a teacher gave me a recommendation to become a level-3 student. I may be able to increase the level of my English at the English school. But, of course, I have to take a level-up test to be such a high level student. However, I've been really worried about my poor skills, especially my vocabulary is as poor as my real life. In fact, some level-3 students who I sometimes talk with in free conversation classes tend to have excellent vocabularies. Besides, I often make some mistakes in my English, and I'm often confused how I should say in many situations as well. Anyway let me take the test a few weeks later, I don't have the confidence to pass it, though. I wish I were an American, actually, because they can do anything as a witty remark say. :)
"An American believes more than anything else in the last four letters of that title: I can"
アメリカ人は何よりもその呼称の最後の４文字(ican = I can)を信じる。私にはできる、という。

I'm No.1 in World

Friday, January nineteenth, two thousand and seven

I've just known the fact that I'm the number one blogger in the world! (^o^) When you google with this keyword "english diary", my blog comes up as the number one site! Amazing!

Thanks for your insight, huyuko!

Early Bird

Thursday, January eighteenth, two thousands and seven

Since many trucks with tons of material to be recycled are going to come to my factory this morning, I had to wake up much earlier than usual. But you know, I'm such a really early bird that it's not hard for me to wake up early. I usually wake up around 5 am, and that naturally. On the other hand, this habit sometimes bothers me when I want to have a long sleep. Old habits die hard.

How short today's diary is! :)


an early bird = a morning person <-> a night owl(night person)
and that: しかも(前文を強調するために付け加える時の接続用法？)
Old habits die hard.: 身に付いた癖（古い習慣）はなかなか直らない。

Play Guitar

Wednesday, January seventeenth, two thousands and seven

Recently I've reviewed all the lessons I've taken in the English school I usually go to on Saturdays. An English sentence in a lesson looked strange to me. The lesson was the one that I took more than one year ago and that practices talking about abilities, but I didn't remember the sentence. That one is "Would you like to learn how to play guitar?"

As a junior high school student or high school student, teachers taught us that an article "the" is necessary when we mention musical instruments as far as I remember. For instance, "I like playing the piano." But the sentence in the lesson doesn't have "the", that's why I was confused when I was reviewing the lesson. After a while, I realized the reason there are no articles in the sentence. When we play musical instruments, those are nearby. So, we can mention "the" musical instruments. But in this case, "Would you like to learn how to play guitar?", you don't necessarily need musical instruments nearby when you learn how to play them - such as when reading music. I guess that' why there isn't an article "the" in the sentence.


read music: 楽譜を読む

Review My English Diary

Tuesday, January sixteen, two thousands and seven

Since the production line in my factory was working so well, I sometimes read the contents of my English blog on my cell phone. Actually, I always email the contents to my cell phone to memorize them and introduce anyone anytime. In fact, I usually read them while I have nothing special to do when I'm out. I'm so embarrassed to read the old ones after a long time because there are a number of mistakes grammatically and inappropriate words in them. I've just realized why I'm still a low level English learner now. Basically, I can speak English a little with nice English teachers and my friends, but that's about it. To be honest, I don't care about that because I'll find out new words and phrases in my life, that's exactly what I want to do. Umm... I'm so cool. :) Anyway, Mr.Einstein said, "The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know. The more I realize I don't know, the more I want to learn."


that's about it: それが限度だ

New Year Party at Mexican Pub

Sunday, January fourteenth, two thousands and seven

Yesterday I had a super great time with some young guys(boys and girls) who I met on "mixi", a famous social networking site in Japan, in a Mexican pub whose name is "LONE STAR". Actually, "LONE STAR" has 2 branches in Osaka prefecture, one of them is in Shinsaibashi and the other one is in Izumisano.
Anyway, it was my first time to meet the participants of the new year party, so I was a little nervous but I realized they all are nice guys. We could have a big time as well as my Australian friend, who doesn't have an account of mixi but were allowed to join the party by the organizer. I asked the organizer if it's OK to invite some friends who aren't mixi members, actually. He replied quickly and willingly "Sure!", so he must be a good guy.
If my memory serves me correctly, 11 women and 7 men joined the party. Since most of the members are twenty two years old or so, I was afraid of what I talked with them, because there is a big generation gap between them and me, my age is twice as many as theirs! But we had a really great time. On the other hand, I have kind of a trouble now.... As a matter of fact, we tried to have a huge amount of pepper last night as an attraction. TOO HOT!!!!!!! I'm suffering from diarrhea instead of having a good time. (ToT)


willingly(adverb): 快く、喜んで
or so: ～かそこら
diarrhea: 下痢

What to Do

Saturday, January thirteenth, two thousands and seven

I'm considering what I should do today. I'm so tired that it could be the best way to relax at home during the day till I go out for a drink tonight. The reason I'm extremely tired now is because of a phone call made by a customer yesterday. He asked me to send some products right away. He said like this, "I need it yesterday!" I had to arrange a truck to send our products to him. After I managed to do that, I asked him to order with time to spare(in advance). Most of our customers tend to dislike to stock any kind of materials, so they sometimes bother my head about making sending schedules. (ToT)

Anyway let me have a massage and take some English free conversation classes before going for a drink. I expect to have a good time with nice people tonight.


I need it yesterday. 大至急頼む！
with time to spare: 余裕をもって
in advance: 前もって

Hard Time and Fun Time

Friday, January twelfth, two thousands and seven

Today we got a lot of orders from our customers at once. Since there weren't enough products in the warehouses in our factory, we had to negotiate the amounts of products we sell each customer. It was a kind of do-or-die situation and wasn't easy but we pulled through the hard time. The situation really wore me out. However, this week's work has ended! Let me have a fun new year party in a Mexican pub tomorrow with some nice guys who I met on "mixi", the most popular and famous social networking site in Japan.


a do-or-die situation = a critical situation(?)
pull through a hard time: 大変な時期を乗り越える

Smell BAD

Thursday, January eleventh, two thousands and seven

I'm not going to write a long diary today, because I don't have any special topic. Let me write down a short story with the words I've seen lately.

My daughter told me for the first time that I smelled of alcohol when I was drinking some Japanese sake tonight. Most Japanese girls tend to say such a word to their fathers when they are young. "お父さん、くさい！(Dad smells bad!)" The word really made my blood boil, and I really wanted to told her that it's pretty hard to make ends meet because my children, including her, eat us out of house and home and that I cannot help but drink alcohol after a hard work to make myself refresh for going on getting lots of money to bring them up . But she gave me a nice kiss before she went to sleep tonight as usual, so I couldn't complain. (^o^)


make someone's blood boil: ～を激怒させる
make ends meet: やり繰りする

Better to Fail in Originality

Wednesday, January tenth, two thousands and seven

I have nothing special to write down here today. But I just want to go on writing my English diary everyday as long as possible. Let me put some sentences on with the word I've studied recently.

I saw an English witty remark the other day, that's "It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation." That sounds like my new year's resolution. Actually, I decided to write my English diary without so many difficult words so that I can tell anyone the contents smoothly. Let me change this remark myself.

It's better to fail in writing English sentences originally than to spend lots of time to write perfect and difficult ones.

I'm not sure that this sentence is grammatically correct, of course. :)

I'm very happy if the improvement of my English stemmed from writing English diary anyway. So I recommend that those who study English write diaries in English to get used to writing and speaking English. It might be the best way, I guess. However, don't accept what I told you without questioning it, because all my efforts might go against me. In fact, I sometime(often?) put my foot in my mouth.


It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.: 模倣して成功するよりは、独創的に失敗するほうがいい
stem from something: ～の結果である
Don't accept what I told you without questioning it.: 私が言ったことを鵜呑みにしないで
All my efforts go against me. :努力が裏目に出る。
put one's foot in one's mouth: ヘマをやる

What Day is Today?

Tuesday, January ninth, two thousands and seven

What day is today? Eh? It's Tuesday? Sorry, I made a mistake. I wanted to say, "Is there anything special going on today?" Actually, a super strong excellent handsome nice guy was born 44 years ago today. He is a really hard worker and has posted his English articles on blogger.com since June, 2005. If my memory serves me right, he is a level-4 student at the most famous English school in Japan, and usually take some lessons on Saturday.
He is a factory worker now, used to be a computer system engineer, and used to be a part time sushi chef as well. I've never seen such a nice guy before who has a unique career...

ぎゃははははははは ＿(＿ ＿)ノ彡☆ばんばん!

Sorry, just kidding. m(_ _)m I think you have already found out what day today is.

Yes! My birthday! Happy birthday to myself!!! I have reached the age of 44, though... (ToT) The age makes me feel getting old and that half of my life has already ended. Speaking of getting old, it's very effective for keeping your youth to eat natto everyday, according to a famous Japanese TV program. But you have to stir natto at least twenty minutes before you eat it, in order to improve the active ingredient(substance). Let me eat a huge amount of natto from now on. (^o^)/


44 years ago today: 44年前の今日
stir something: ～をかきまぜる
active ingredient(substance): 有効成分

Coming of Age Day

Monday, January eighth, two thousands and seven

This morning I took my two children, a eight-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter, to a bawling alley in my city, because my wife wanted to make our eldest son concentrate on his study for the test carried out the day after tomorrow in his junior high school. After bowling, we were going to the public library in my city, but it was closed in spite of today isn't its regular holiday.
I realized the reason the library took a day off shortly. Actually, the library is next to a public community hall and it's Coming of Age Day(成人の日 seijin no hi) today in Japan, I mean, the ceremony of Coming of Age Day was being held in the hall, therefore the library had to take a day off because it was expected that so many young people and guests took part in the event. A number of young ladies wearing beautiful kimonos made my daughter's eyes sparkle, needless to say, as well as my eyes. :) I'll have to buy such a beautiful kimono for my daughter someday; the cost must be much expensive. My children eat us out of house and home!

Let me introduce the details of Coming of Age Day below:
Coming of Age Day honors young people who have reached the age of 20 as new members of society. This day used to be January 15th and was established as a national holiday after World War 2. Almost all local governments hold Coming of Age ceremonies to invite young people. Most young women attend the events wearing beautiful long-sleeved kimonos(振袖 furisode). In Japan, people who are more than 20 years old have the right to drink, vote, and smoke. Japanese government changed this holiday to the second Monday of January in 2000 so that as many young people as possible are able to attend these ceremonies and many Japanese citizens have a long weekend.

It is expected that: ～の見込みである、～と予想される
something make(s) one's eyes sparkle: ～が(人の)目を輝かせる
Someone(or Something) eat(s) someone out of house and home: ～が(人の)財産を食い潰す(このフレーズ、前にも覚えようとしたような気がする・・・)

Omikuji, Luck is when ...

Sunday, January seventh, two thousands and seven

Let me introduce one of Japanese customs to you below.

Most Japanese people visit shinto shrines and Buddhist temples for their new year's visit, to pray for prosperity, happiness, health and something like that. And then, most of them obtain "Omikuji(s)" there, which are written oracles and tell you about your fortune of this year - such as marriage, health, business and wealth. "Omikujis" indicate your fortune from extremely good(大吉 daikichi) to extremely bad(大凶 daikyou) and suggest what to do afterwards. If the Omikuji you get indicates a good fortune, you should bring it home. But if it's a bad one, you should tie to a branch of a tree in the shrine or the temple in order not that the bad fortune doesn't annoy you after that.
Actually, I don't believe such fortunes, that's why I rarely obtain Omikujis. Plus if I get a bad one, I'll positively think I'm so lucky. Because there tend to be few bad ones in Omikuji boxes, so getting a bad Omikuji is sort of a proof that I'm a lucky person. :) And also I don't like most fortune tellers, especially I dislike Kazuko Hosogi, who is a very famous female fortune teller in Japan and often appears on TV. In spite of she has got divorced before, she often tells TV personalities about their fortune strongly and aggressively as if she knows all about the ins and outs of them. I am sick and tired of seeing her face on TV.

Anyway, luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, as a witty remark(famous saying, maxim) says. I saw this interesting English remark on an email newsletter the other day, actually. This saying sounds similar to a Japanese common saying, "運も実力のうち Un mo jitsuryoku no uchi.", which maybe means that luck is included in your ability in Japanese.


as if : あたかも～のように
ins and outs of something: ～の一部始終(直訳：内側も外側も)
be sick and tired of something: ～には、もううんざりだ
witty remark(famous saying, maxim): 名言

How Long...

Saturday, January sixth, two thousands and seven

I decided to write my English diary everyday last year as my new year's resolution. But, I wasn't able to do that for sure as you can find it on this blog space.
How long will I be able to go on writing my English diary this year...?

Actually, I've just got back home from work... I'm super tired...I had to work thirteen hours today... In spite of I'm really exhausted now, I'm going to take some English lessons tomorrow. But I expect that pleasant English conversations and nice English teachers in the school make me refresh. Let me drink alcohol from now! I wonder how long it takes to finish drinking today? :)

The First Work Day of 2007

Thursday, January fifth, two thousands and seven

I had been concerned about whether the production line works well or not, partly because we hadn't activated it for almost one week. The machinery tends to have some trouble after a long vacation as far as I have experienced before.
Fortunately, it did work so well against my concern. We were really relieved...

To change the subject, I saw a frightening article on the Internet this morning. According to the web site, the increasing speed of creatures becoming extinct is one hundred times as fast as the natural speed because of the recent environmental destruction. Besides, the number of wildlife has reportedly decreased by forty percent in the past twenty years. I strongly hope that our industry is effective against the terrible current global environment and helpful to the environmental improvement from my heart.

All Japanese companies had better not export the materials they exhausted to other countries, such as China, and had better not shift their production lines to those regions just because personal costs in the nation is much cheaper than Japan, and had better recycle those stuff in Japan, otherwise Japan would be suffer from deindustirialization and lack of resources for recycling.

Ah.... I've written much more of difficult words in this article than I had expected. (ToT)

(I'm not sure that all sentences are grammatically correct, especially the last one.)


partly because (a clause): 一つには、～という理由で
activate something: ～を作動させる、稼動させる、起動する
something become extinct: ～が絶滅する
environmental destruction: 環境破壊
reportedly: 伝えられるところでは・・・
wildlife: 野生生物
just because (a clause): ただ、～という理由だけで
otherwise (a clause): さもなければ～(仮定法過去)
deindustirialization: the reduction of industrial activity or capacity in a region or economy(産業の空洞化、産業の吸いたい・・・じゃなくて、産業の衰退・・・笑)
be grammatically correct: 文法的に正しい

The Last Day of Winter Holidays

Thursday, January fourth, two thousands ands seven

The end of my winter holidays is around the corner. After this holidays, I expect that we will have been constantly on the go at work till the end of this March, but it's my pleasure to be able to work hard. Because we didn't have sufficient materials to recycle last year in spite of our efforts, we wasn't able to live up to our customers' expectations enough. However, now that we have tons of stuff in our warehouses, we'll be able to manufacture a huge amount of recycled chemical fiber and make lots of money as well. hehe.

Anyway, let me enjoy myself the last day of winter holidays.


something is(are) around the corner: ～は、もうじきだ、間近だ
be [always, constantly] on the go: 働き詰めである、忙しい
live up to something: ～(期待)に応える

Visiting Temple

Wednesday, January third, two thousands and seven

My family already visited a shinto shrine near our house for our new year's visit the other day, but my master, what is called my wife, asked me to visit another famous place as well. That sounds like kind of a short trip. Today we woke up too late, past 10 am, so we aren't able to go a long way. We discussed which place is the best to visit today; it's OK with me wherever we may go, though.

After all, we visited "Nogoro temple" in Wakayama prefecture, which is one of the most popular places for new year's visit around here. In spite of it's the third day of this year today, there were quite a few people in the temple. To be honest, I wanted to see a large number of young ladies wearing kimonos there as well as typical middle aged men, there were few women wearing them against my wish. I was so disappointed that I lost a huge amount of energy after the visit. Let me eat like a horse and drink tons of alcohol to get over the shock. :p


quite a few something: かなりの数の～
few something: 少ない(ほとんど無い)～
(c.f.) a few something: 少しの(少しはある)～

Visiting Parents-in-law and Drinking with friends

Tuesday, January second, two thousands and seven

Today I'm going to my wife's hometown with my family to see and greet my parents-in-law. They prepare a nice meal for us whenever we visit their house, so I'm apt to get fat after visiting them. But I'm not going to stay there so long today, because I have to go for a drink to Umeda, which is located in the northern part of Osaka city, with two of my friends tonight, who still work for the company I used to work for. Since one of them is familiar with bars in the city, he has booked a table at a nice Japanese bar for us. All of us eat like a horse(have a good appetite), we must get fat after the party due to out-of-control appetite. In fact, so many kinds of representative winter dishes make my mouth water these days. Let me bring some stomach medicine just in case. I'm really worried about spending too much money and getting fat tonight; hard work after this holidays will not only pay off but also cut down on my increased weight, though. :)


be familiar with something: ～に精通している、詳しい
have a good appetite: 食欲旺盛である
eat like a horse: 大食する　(c.f.)eat like a bird: 食が細い
out-of-control something: 制御不能な～
representative winter dishes: 冬の味覚
something make(s) one's mouth water: ～が(人の)味覚をそそる
(このwaterは、「よだれを垂らす」をいう意味の自動詞)
(just) in case: 万一に備えて、念のため

Happy New Year

Monday, January first, two thousands and seven

May the new year bring you health, happiness and prosperity.

I visited a shinto shrine close to my house with my family in the midnight today, because my third son and daughter asked me to take them there for our new year's visit to a shrine. Since my third son and daughter are still eight and five years old respectively, it's kind of hard for them to go there in the midnight. So, my wife and I told them that they had better take a nap yesterday afternoon. The person who had the longest nap was me, though. :)

To change the subject, let me introduce my new year's resolution.

Last year I often tried to use many difficult phrases and words in my diary, actually. In fact, I tried to memorize so many difficult words at once, after I took a TOEIC test last summer. That style may be a good way for studying English, but on the other hand, it brought me down sometimes. So, I'll write my diary on the method suitable for me this year, not so many difficult words and phrases, and minimize using my dictionaries as far as possible, in order to introduce my diary smoothly to everyone in the English school I belong to. As you probably noticed, the articles I posted in the recent months tend to be comparatively easy. I like this easy style, so let me go on writing my posts on this way for a while.


prosperity: 繁栄
bring someone down: (人を)落ち込ませる
minimize something: ～を最小限にする