Drinking With Nice Guys

Saturday, March thirty first, two thousand and seven

I went to Namba with some Japanese friends to see an American friend of mine who lives in Osaka and his brothers who lives in the US and are visiting Japan on vacation, in order to have a drink together. It was the first time to meet his brothers in person, actually I knew their faces because I have looked at their photos on their homepages on Myspace.
We went to a Japanse style bar, 居酒屋(izakaya), had a great time. I was really worried about talking with them in English, actually. Since my American friend and other foreigners who live in Japan are used to listening to strange Japanese accent, I think that's why I can talk with them in English. It was the first time for them to visit Japan, so I guessed they weren't accustomed to listening to Japanese funny pronunciation. Therefore, I didn't have the confidence to have a chat with them. However, I was able to have a good time unexpectedly thanks to alcohol. Whenever I'm mellow(have a buzz on), I tend to be able to speak English more fluently than usual. There are always tons of grammatical errors in such situations, though. :)


mellow(have a buzz on): kind of drunk but good feeling(ほろ酔い)

Strange to Have Young Female Friends?

Friday, March thirtieth, two thousand and seven

Now that I'm already on the wrong side of 40, some people sometimes say to me, it's kinda unusual that I have some young woman friends now. Actually, I often go get a drink or have a BBQ party with some really nice young ladies who I got to know at the school I often take English lessons. I don't think it's strange as they say, because I'm such a really serious man. :) That's exactly why I can have a good time with them very often. Of course, I know I'm very lucky though. To tell the truth, it's great for me to make friends with young people as we often get some effective knowledge one another through lots of conversations in both Japanese and English. Anyway, let me be still young at heart even though I'm 44 years young! (^^;


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
young at heart: thinking and behaving as if you were young, even though you are old

After Steak, Go To Bed After Breaking Wind

Thursday, March twenty ninth, two thousand and seven

I had a gorgeous dinner tonight. My mom brought a huge amount of steak for us today, so we could have a really excellent supper tonight thanks to her! Since my wife is very stingy, she rarely prepares meals with beef, usually with pork, chicken, or fish. We've got a lot of energy enough to live for one thousand years! :) On the other hand, I drank too much red wine with the steak, so I can't write English any more today. Let me go to bed after breaking gas. :) In Osaka, many people often say this phrase, "さあ、屁ぇこいて寝よか！(Now, let me go to sleep after breaking wind!)" as a mind joke. They don't always fart before going to bed though. (^_^;


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
break gas(wind): to allow gas to escape from your bottom, making a noise and an unpleasant smell
fart [intransitive]: (not polite) to make air come out of your bowels

NOVA Teacher Killed

Wednesday, March twenty eighth, two thousand and seven

The newspaper says that a NOVA female teacher was murdered in the bathroom of her acquaintance's condo in Chiba prefecture, the right east of Tokyo. Apparently, she would often teach English to the guy on private, who is suspected of the murder. I don't think it's OK for NOVA teachers to have another job as far as I know. Anyway, Japan might not be a safe country nowadays... I'm really worried that many excellent teachers decide to leave Japan after this incident.

She Bugs Me

Tuesday, March twenty seventh, two thousand and seven

Since all of my children are in spring holidays, not only them but also my wife get up later than usual these days. This morning I was about to leave home for work when she was still sleeping. Who makes my breakfast!? I couldn't help but buy something to eat at a convenience store. I was furious about her recent silly attitude this morning. Besides, I raised the roof as soon as I got home from work. I will be at odds with her before she knows it. Let me stop giving her my money for a while. If she wants to buy stuff, she must show me the budget planning and the receipt of her shopping from now on! Her awful behavior has just really messed up my motivation for work! If she does the same thing, I bet I will go ballistic! Umm... On the other hand, I might be very lucky to study some new words that I should use when I describe how angry I am, thanks to the GREAT WIFE! :)


furious [adjective]: very angry
raise the roof(devil): 大騒ぎする、激怒する、カンカンに怒る
be at odds with someone: ～と不和である、もめている
before someone knows it: used to say that something happens very quickly and when you are not expecting it
mess up: 散らかす、悩ませる、台無しにする、だめにする
go ballistic: to suddenly become very angry (ex.) I couldn't believe it! She went ballistic just because there were peas in her pasta.

Massive Earthquake in Japan

Monday, March twenty sixth, two thousand and seven

A massive earthquake occured at the Sea of Japan side. According the the newspaper, one person was killed and at least 190 people were injured. Because I have some friend who live near the area the quake hit, I was really shocked to hear the news. Actually I got to know them on the Internet. All of them are my good friends, so I was really worried about how they were after the disaster. As far as I read their homepages on the Internet, they don't have any severe problems so far. I'm totally relieved to know that they are OK now. I wish that those who got serious injuries and the area's infrastructure become better soon. In fact, many major roads have got a lot of catastrophic damage.

Musical Event and Buddhist Memorial Service

Sunday, March twenty fifth, two thousand and seven

My 6-year-old daughter often takes piano lessons, actually. Today she took part in the musical event held by the music school at one of my city's community halls. My wife and I, of course, went see the event. We were particularly very happy to see that the daughter was in charge of the theme in the concert. To be honest, I'm totally moved whenever I see such cute shows.
As soon as my daughter's and her friends' showtime ended, I had to go to a relative's home to attend a Buddhist memorial service by taxi, although I wanted to see some more other cute shows presented by the other children. I'm so busy on not only business but also private that I don't have enough spare time nowadays. Since I got married, I haven't had so much spending money as well. I never expected it to be this way. こんなはずじゃなかったのにぃ!!!!　(ToT) I want much more spare time and money! Eh? You say, "Don't cry for the moon.", don't you? Could be...


theme: この場合は、音楽用語の「主旋律」
Buddhist memorial service: 法事
cry for the moon: 無いものねだりをする
Could be. : そうかもね。

Graduation Ceremony For Only One Student

Saturday, March twenty fourth, two thousand and seven

This week my cute angel, who is what is called my daughter, graduated from the kindergarten. She was going to attend the graduation ceremony with her classmates, but she was suffering from the bad flu on the day. Because she wasn't able to get the graduation certificate with her friends, she went to the kindergarten with my wife to get it after two days.

Some teachers prepared some nice surprises for her, such as a small singing event with many younger students and a graduation ceremony for only her. None of her classmates attended the ceremony, however, I bet she had a great time as the last memory of her kindergarten life. Anyway, she is entering the elementary school next month that my eldest son and I used to go to and that my third son goes to now. She seems to be eager to become a new elementary school student soon. I hope she will be able to make friends with other new students and have a lot of nice teachers as well.


what is called something: いわゆる～

Friend's Brothers Coming to Japan

Friday, March twenty third, two thousand and seven

I have a nice American friend who lives in Osaka, Japan, and his younger brothers are going to come to Japan next week. I've considered a lot what I should prepare for them. Nice Japanese meal or take them to interesting places? I don't have any good ideas so far, so I cannot help but ask the friend what to do, anyway. I've been so busy at my work, I haven't seen him for a couple of months. Therefore, I'm really worried that he forgot me.... X(
I'm so tired now, I could sleep for 1024 hours. Let me get in touch with the friend tomorrow... (-_-)zzzz

Equinox - Higan

Thursday, March twenty second, two thousand and seven

In Japan, there's a famous saying related to this week(equinoctial week) - "暑さ寒さも彼岸まで(Atsusa Samusa mo Higan made)". That probably means "Hot weathers and cold weathers will continue until equinoxes" in English. In fact, it was relatively warm today, so I couldn't help but break a lot of sweat when I was working in my factory. However, I was able to work so hard thanks to the huge amount of meat I had yesterday. :) Anyway, I think this year's cold season has just ended and cherry trees will be in bloom soon.

Talking of "Higan", many Japanese people visit their ancestors' graves in equinoctial weeks. In the weeks, the daytime and nighttime lengths are almost the same as you know. In Buddhism, it's thought that daytime is kinda this world and nighttime is another world for dead people and that dead people can get across the river between the two world in Higans. Therefore, we might be able to have reunions with our ancestors during the week. That's why we visit our ancestors' graves in the periods.


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
equinox [countable noun]: one of the two times in a year when night and day are of equal length

BBQ at Factory

Wednesday, March twenty first, two thousand and seven

My friends, my brother's family, my family and I had a BBQ party at my factory today. We were going to have it on the beach, but it's still kind of cold to have it there. So we decided to have it in my place. It's OK to have it in the factory even if it rains because there's a big roof. And some fridges, some stuff to have a BBQ, and a large parking lot as well. Luckily, it was very fine today thanks to my usual good behavior. :) An Australian friend brought some kangaroo's meat to let us try to have them. The meat was soft when it's medium-rare and tastes good and non-fatty. The nice talks with my friends and the gorgeous BBQ has just made me energetic! I couldn't be happier!

Bussiness Email from US

Tuesday, March twentieth, two thousand and seven

I got an email from the States today. He sent the email to my factory's email address. Apparently, he is looking for recycled chemical fiber all over the world. Even though my factory's web site written in Japanese, he found it out after googling with some keywords related to his industry. If I could build my factory's web site in English, we would be able to get much more orders from other countries! That sounds like a dream though. :) In his email, he is asking me to send him a pound of sample including the cost. That's a great surprise! Ultimately, I decided to refuse his request. Since my factory is very small, we haven't exported our products so far. His request seems to be above our products' quality as well. Let me send him a reply email written in English to give a polite refusal right away. But I don't have the confidence to tell him exactly what I want to say because I'm still a fledgling English learner.


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
ultimately [sentence adverb]: finally, after everything else has been done or considered (ex.) Ultimately everything that has a beginning has an end.

fledgling [adjective, only before noun]: a fledgling state or organization has only recently been formed and is still developing 駆け出しの、巣立ちしたばかりの、未熟な

give a polite refusal: 丁重に断る

Looks So Far

Monday, March nineteenth, two thousand and seven

I've just reviewed 60 percent of the ZONE-E lessons I studied two years ago, when I was a level-5 student at NOVA. Now that I'm a level-3 student, I might not need to do that, but I'd like to speak at least ZONE-E-level English fluently, in order to become a real high level student. Besides, I have to review all of the ZONE-F lessons I took last year, when I was a level-4 student. I tend to procrastinate about review of the lessons I took at NOVA, actually. That would be why I'm really worried about my poor skills.
Some NOVA staff often tell me that I should do best to become a level-2 student. To be honest, I'm not in a rush to level up. When I finish the review of all the lessons I've taken before, I'll think about the next step. Let me concentrate on the review at my own pace for a while. So far the day I finish all of the review looks so far. :) Ah... today's article isn't interesting as usual....orz


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
procrastinate [intransitive]: to delay doing something that you ought to do, usually because you do not want to do it [= put off]

Once Worked With Guy

Sunday, March eighteenth, two thousand and seven

Back when I was a computer system engineer, I once worked with many guys who were really better with computer than me. A guy who quit the company before I quit it started a new business with his acquaintances as soon as he quit it, actually. He started a new stock trading company on the Internet, whose name is "kabu.com" - "株(kabu)" means "stock(share)" in Japanese. The business looked very interesting but there are lots of risk to build the system on the Internet at that time, because it was so difficult to secure security and stability of stock trading computer system with the technologies at that time. When he left the company I used to work for, I told him that he would be successful if he could get by for five years in the stock online business scene.
After a long time, I accessed the stock trading company's web site by chance today. I found his name and picture on a web page of the site. Apparently, he still work for the company, besides he is a member of the board of directors now, according to the web page. He looks a little fatter than he used to be as far as I saw his picture. He probably has much money than me, because he must be laughing all the way to the bank now. But I'm really worried about his health. I mean, I'm much better than him in that I'm very healthy.
I wonder what all of my ex-coworkers are up to these days. I hope they all are well. Anyway the Internet brings us many kinds of communication methods nowadays. Let me get in touch by email or something so that we can know about how we are now one another.


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
be laughing all the way to the bank [informal phrase]: to make a lot of money without making much effort 「もうかり過ぎて笑いがとまらない」

Asking Difficult Question

Saturday, March seventeenth, two thousand and seven

Many similar English words often drive me nuts these days, actually. So I asked an American teacher a question in a free talk English lesson today because the teacher usually tend to be quiet and not to prepare interesting topics. I asked him the following question:

"I'd like to know the differences between these words - appropriate, suitable, proper and fit. Because the meanings sound very similar to me, according to my English-Japanese dictionary."

He wasn't able to answer exactly how different they are. To tell the truth, a young Japanese boy asked me the same question the other day, of course I couldn't explain the differences at all. I just advised him like this - "Don't worry about making mistakes. I think most native English speakers don't care if you can't use appropriate words in your English. If you want to master the correct usages, it would be the best way to read a lot of correct example sentences and try to use those sentences in your English even if you might make some mistakes. As you gain your experience, you'll be able to learn what you want to know. Anyway, the only way to gain experience is to make mistakes." haha... The last one is what I mentioned yesterday on this blog space. :)

After the lessons, I realized it can be a good way for learning the usages of appropriate words to use English-English dictionary. Let me quote the meanings of the above words from my dictionary below... Umm... I'm confused again. X(


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
appropriate : correct or suitable for a particular time, situation, or purpose
suitable : having the right qualities for a particular person, purpose, or situation
proper : right, suitable, or correct / socially or legally correct and acceptable
fit : suitable or good enough for something

Making Lots of Mistakes

Friday, March sixteenth, two thousand and seven

Because I had a huge amount of Japanese sake tonight, my brains don't work so well that today's artcle is very short. :) I actually saw a good witty remark on the Internet, that's "The only way to avoid mistakes is to gain experience. The only way to gain experience is to make a mistake." Sounds very interesting, and it must be true! Let me make tons of mistakes in my English lessons from now on!

Anyway.... it's Friday today, so I shouted out after today's work, "Thank God, it's Friday!" Let me have some more alcohol and excellent heavy metal music over the night! I was looking forward to having such a good spare time...

Can't Get Up Early

Thursday, March fifteenth, two thousand and seven

I tended to get up much earlier than all of my family members, but I'm not able to do that nowadays. I'd gotten up around 4 or 5 am before this busy season started. And I often reviewed some English lessons I've taken before in the mornings. But I get up at about 6:30 or later than that time these days. Since I don't have spare time after getting up, I must be off to my factory as soon as I get up to get ready for work even though I want to review some lessons every morning. Anyway this busy season is supposed to end sooner or later. Today's work really wore me out as usual... Now I can hardly wait till the weekend, because I expect that some English lessons and dinner with my family will make me comfortable. In fact, I'm not able to often take lessons and have dinner with my family on weekdays due to the recent busy work. I'm also looking forward to having a BBQ with my friends on March 21, a national holiday in Japan. During this winter, I've been eager to have it with them. This year's BBQ season and cherry blossom season are coming soon!


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
sooner or later: used to say that something is certain to happen at some time in the future, though you cannot be sure exactly when

Dandelions in Blossom

Wednesday, March fourteenth, two thousand and seven

According to a news web site, Dandelions bloomed almost two months ahead of schedule in Japan. And birds and butterflies made early appearances as well due to El Nino, some experts said. This winter must be the warmest on record for many parts of Japanese archipelago. Now that I'm a member of recycling industry, I can't help but watch the current condition of global environment. But I don't have such a big power to help the planet, so I've been thinking what to do recently. However, I haven't come up with a good idea so far. Anyway, I'll do the things I can do now. Let me work hard and recycle tons of chemical materials in my factory.

Ah! I have to watch my favorite TV program right now! Eh? I'm wasting lots of electricity? Could be... But I actually watch TV for only two hours a week! On the other hand, I spend a couple of hours a day in front of my PC, though. :) I might be a person who is a bad influence on the Earth...


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
dandelion [countable noun]: a wild plant with a bright yellow flower which later becomes a white ball of seeds that are blown away in the wind
ahead of schedule = before the planned time
El Nino: a change in the weather that happens every three to seven years, caused by a rise in the temperature of a large area of the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of South America. El Nino has severe effects on the weather in many parts of the world, and can cause drought(=complete lack of rain) in some places and heavy rain and violent storms in other places.
archipelago [countable noun]: a group of small islands

Got Email From Big Apple

Tuesday, March thirteenth, two thousand and seven

Someone sent me an email yesterday, but the email address didn't ring a bell. As I read the content, I found out who the person is! The email was sent by an American lady who used to be one of my English teachers, left Japan last year, and probably lives in Big Apple(New York) now. She was so nice to every student at the English school I often take some free conversation classes. Apparently, she found the CD-ROM by chance that contains some pictures of beautiful sites in Japan and that I presented her before she left Japan, when she was cleaning up her room yesterday. So she emailed me to tell me her impression of the CD. And she checked out my web page on Myspace as well. I uploaded some videos related to Japanese culture there, actually. She showed the contents to her father and he was shocked to see some Japanese festival's videos, according to her. Sounds super great! It's my pleasure to hear that anyone has fun on my web site. Besides, there's no happier thing than getting emails from the nice people who I know so well and left Japan. In fact, her email has reminded me of lots of nostalgic memories. Thanks a lot! I'm so lucky to get such a wonderful email that I'll get by during this busy season, because it has made me energetic!


P.S.
Sorry to make a topic about you on this space, Ms..... In addition, sorry to make some mistakes in my English, if any. I couldn't help but write down my pleasure here.


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
ring a bell: if something rings a bell, it reminds you of something, but you cannot remember exactly what it is
nostalgic [adjective]: if you feel nostalgic about a time in the past, you feel happy when you remember it, and in some ways you wish that things had not changed

Hire Employees, Horrible Flu-B

Monday, March twelfth, two thousand and seven

My brother and I have finally decided to hire some new employees in our factory. Actually, we have just contracted stable supply of our product with a good customer. To carry it out, we have to manufacture much more products every month. Even though we can do it without new employees, we are worried about our health, actually. Because we guess that we have to work twelve hours a day all year round, like this busy season, to make tons of products. Besides, we were eager to have some more workers whenever the production line of was on the blink. Since there's no more important one than health for us, we need some hands to have more spare time for our health. After we hire some employees, the profit of our factory is expected to decline, but we'll be able to get by, I think.

To change the subject suddenly, my third son has caught the influenza B virus! My eldest son must have given him the flu! Holy cow! Let me sleep in another room for a while!


all year round: during the whole year
on the blink: not working properly
get by [phrasal verb]: to have enough money to buy the things you need, but no more

Terrific Night

Sunday, March eleventh, two thousand and seven

I had a great time with my friends at a small bar in Izumisano city, Osaka prefecture, last night. At first, I was going to hit the bar with only men, including an Australian friend of mine, actually. The Australian friend brought his wife and invited a Canadian guy and his female Japanese friend to the small party. Besides, one of my female Japanese friends sent me an email why I didn't invite her last night. Apparently, she heard from another friend that I had a plan to go get a drink to the bar. How lucky I am! Although I'm over 40 years old, the female friend, a 23-year-old lady, emailed me to have alcohol together. Japanese young women tend to hate to go for a drink with middle aged men and old men, so fortunately I'm not hated by young girls. :) After all, I was able to have a marvelous time with lots of young people. Whenever I have such a good time, it was a great idea to resume studying English two years ago. In fact, I wasn't able to have such wonderful friends if I didn't decide to do that.


hit a(the) bar = go get a drink
marvelous [adjective]: extremely good, enjoyable, impressive etc [= wonderful]

Fire Happened

Saturday, March tenth, two thousand and seven

I heard the news yesterday that a fire had occurred at a factory of a customer of ours two days ago. But fortunately, no one wasn't killed and didn't get injured, and the main production line didn't get any serious damage as well. So the customer will go on doing business. However, the sub production line of them, which manufactures recycled chemical fiber cotton, was completely burned. Actually, the customer need tons of recycled chemical fiber cotton to make their products, so they not only buy the cotton from us but also had produced it themselves. After the fire, I had a phone call to the effect that an executive director of the company asked me to do him a favor, which means he wants me to send lots of cotton more preferentially than the other customers of ours. I'd like to live up to his request but we don't have enough amount of material to be recycled these days. Anyway, let me manufacture our product for him as long as our warehouses don't empty. I guess my nose will lower, because I have to keep my nose to the grindstone.


something to the effect that (a clause) : ～という趣旨の
preferentially [adverb]: 優先的に
live up to [phrasal verb]: (期待などに)沿う、応える
keep one's nose to the grindstone: 身を粉にして働く、頑張り続ける、一生懸命に働く

Fatigued

Friday, March ninth, two thousand and seven

I've just learned a new word "fatigued" thanks to an email newsletter I often read on my cell phone. When I'm busy at my work, I often say to anyone "I'm so tired.", "I'm exhausted." or "My job wears me out.", actually. Let me say "I'm fatigued." when someone asks me how I am next time. I'm so fatigued that I can see only my favorite IRON MAIDEN's DVD that's called "Rock in RIO", recorded in Brazil, for now. I hope you guys who often read my blog well. Have a good one!


fatigued [adjective]: 疲れきっている、精根尽き果てている

Unhealthy Child

Thursday, March eighth, two thousand and seven

As I mentioned my eldest son's having the flu the other day, he caught not only the influenza A virus but also B virus this winter. Actually, he is such a picky eater, so we guess that's why he often catch a cold or something like that. But, as far as I'm concerned, I don't often catch a cold like him because I can eat everything except strange foods, like, snakes. Because it's getting more like spring day by day, I'll have a lot of fun parties with my friends! I don't mean to brag, but I can have a huge amount of meat and alcohol at a BBQ party like a young guy, I'm already on the wrong side of 40 though. :)

picky eater: 好き嫌いが多い人
as far as someone(something) be concerned: ～に関する限り
day by day: 一日ごとに
I don't mean to brag, but ... : 自慢じゃないけど・・・

Too Easy

Wednesday, March seventh, two thousand and seven

I personally think that the basis for leveling up the students at NOVA, the most biggest private English school in Japan, is too easy. Now that I'm a level-3 student at the school, my friends think that I can speak English fluently like a native English speaker, but I cannot do it that much, actually. I haven't perfectly mastered even the contents of the lessons for level-5 students so far. That's why I've reviewed some of them lately. The level-up system might be kind of a strategy that NOVA makes the students spend much more money there.
Anyway, The services of the school tend to become commercial and some of teachers who work for the school sometimes told me that NOVA is greedy. I absolutely agree with them, but I'm going to take lessons there as long as I have good times with nice teachers and study buddies. To tell the truth, many students often complain that the cost is expensive, but I actually don't think so. I suppose it's reasonable because there are lots of nice teachers as far as I know, and some of the students who I often take lessons together are really friendly! If I didn't study English at NOVA, I couldn't meet such nice people. That's exactly why I take lessons there even when I'm so busy.

... I wrote today's diary without my dictionaries after a long time, so I bet there are tons of mistakes in this content. :p

Flu Again

Tuesday, March sixth, two thousand and seven

My eldest son told me that he was under the weather and had a terrible feeling this morning. So my wife checked his temperature right away. Because he had a high fever, she took him to see a doctor as soon as she checked the temperature. According to the doctor, he has the influenza B virus! Actually, he caught the influenza A virus couple of weeks ago. How unlucky he is! In addition, we wife might have been given the virus by any chance because she often cough now. Let me sleep in another room for a while, not to be infected with the flu and to go get a drink on this weekend... I'm really looking forward to going for a drink after a long time! There is no more important thing than being healthy!


by any chance: ひょっとして
infect someone with something: (人)に(病気など)をうつす(感染させる)

Going For Drink

Monday, March fifth, two thousand and seven

I've decided to go get a drink with some friends or alone in this Saturday night. I need to cheer myself up because the recent busy job really wears me out. The more I'm busy, the more I'm eager to drink alcohol outside, actually. If you want to join, please let me know by email. :) I'm going to a new nice bar in Izumisano city, Osaka, anyway. To be honest, nice friends, delicious alcohol and fun talks make me feel relaxed. I need to relax so that I could work hard in my factory till this busy season has ended. After this busy season, I'm keen to have some BBQ parties and cherry blossom viewing parties, beside my family and I are planning to go for a picnic or take a short trip somewhere. I can't wait for spring! This winter is relatively warm like spring due to global warming, though...


cheer oneself up: 気分転換をする
be eager to do something = be keen to do something (maybe, correct...)

Meeting of Neighborhood

Sunday, March fourth, two thousand and seven

I have to attend a meeting tonight, that's going to be held for discussing local topics with my neighbors. A long time ago, maybe before World War 2, the Japanese government recommended citizens to make small local communities to help each other. The communities are called "Tonari-gumi(隣組)" in Japanese. If I translate the Japanese word into English, I would say "neighborhood communities or associations" At the time, many Japanese people tend to be very poor to prepare the World War. That's why they needed to help each other and the government recommended them to make the communities, I guess.
Anyway, the tradition is still existing, even though most Japanese people aren't as poor as they used to be, though. Basically, a neighborhood community consists of about 20 family units(households), so I have to be the leader of the group every 20 years. Next month I'm going to be the new leader, so I have to take over some chores from the current leader in the meeting held tonight. The leaders are called "Kumicyo(組長)" in Japanese, actually. Sounds kind of dangerous! Because the leaders of "Yakuza(やくざ) - Japanese Mafia" are also called "Kumicyo(組長)" as most Japanese people know. I'll be called "Kumicyo" from my neighbors for a while, even though I'm definitely a serious person, not a Yakuza as you know! Because it's my first time to be the leader, let me try and do it somehow or other, anyhow.


family unit(household): 世帯
take over: 引き継ぐ
somehow or other: 何とか

Hina Matsuri(Doll's Festival) and Teacher's Complaint

Saturday, February third, two thousand and seven

Today, March 3rd, is the day of "Doll's Festival - Hina Matsuri(雛祭り)" in Japan. The day is also called "The Season Festival of Peaches - Momo no Sekku(桃の節句)" Let me introduce this Japanese custom below.

Japanese Families with girls celebrate March third to wish for their daughters' good fortune, growth and happiness. According to tradition, this event began in the Edo period. Families with girls display a set of cute dolls in their houses. The set consists of the Emperor, Empress, their servants, miniature furniture and so forth(and so on), on a three, five or seven-tiered stand.


Today we were planning to have a nice dinner made by my wife, but she has a high fever now, therefore I had to go run errands for her. I've got some sushi, appetizers at a supermarket. Besides, I usually take 4 free conversation lessons on Saturdays, however, I cut out 2 ones to get home earlier than usual. A teacher, whose name is Patrick, complained about my leaving because many students tend to leave by accident before his classes. :)


servant[countable noun]: 家来、召使
something and so on(and so forth): ～など(similar to "etc")
three, five or seven-tiered something: 3段または5段または7段の～
go run errands for someone: (人の)使い走りをする
by accident: 偶然

Distracted

Friday, February second, two thousand and seven

It's really tough for me to study English after hard working these days, because I have to work at least twelve hours a day in my factory, in addition, have to make bills with my PC and reply to emails from our customers as well. I have the PC in my house, so I often use it after working in my factory. To tell the truth, I have to work in not only my factory but also my house.
Since it's almost impossible to study English at night, I want to review the English lessons I've taken before every morning, but my wife doesn't allow me to do that. Actually, she tends to be the most hysterical lady on the planet in weekday mornings, because our children don't get up as early as she expects. In the result, I'm too distracted to concentrate on studying due to a huge amount of dinosauric noise generated by what-do-you-call-her.


distracted[adjective]: 気が散っている
dinosauric[adjective]: 恐竜のような
what-do-you-call-her: 何とかいう人、例の女、誰かさん(名前を思い出せない［出したくない］女性の代用語)

Retracing My Past

Thursday, March first, two thousand and seven

I retraced my past for no reason today. Now that I'm over 40 years old, there were many good things and bad things in my past life. I actually often think how my life changed if I were married to another woman... haha. Just kidding. :)

Anyway, I have a lot of past things I can't tell enough here, but so far I just can say like this - Anyone can have the greatest life if he or she could have another life. However, it's impossible to have another life, of course. That's why making decisions in turning points are so difficult, but on the other hand, exciting opportunities in the life. It's up to your decisions to have a good life that you want to have.... I've just made myself this English sentence. Hope you understand what I mean. To tell the truth, I'm thinking whether I should build another business plan or not. For the time being, I'm going to make the plan in my PC.


retrace one's past: 過去を振り返る
for the time being: 当分、差し当たり