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Happy New Year!
[2009年01月01日(木) ]
2009
A Happy New Year!
May all your dreams and wishes come true!
- Posted at 01:00
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来年って、平成何年？
[2008年12月30日(火) ]
Things can get confusing when there are two different ways of expressing the year.
We use Heisei and the ordinary way of counting the years here in Japan.
Next year will be 2009, so that's Heisei ...?
I guess I am not the only one who forgets about time: last week I had a terrible
cough, went to the 
doctor and he gave me some medicine.
On the
package it read: 40年12月24日,
so next year will be Heisei 41?
Can't believe it?
Check for yourself!
By the way, I feel much better now, thank you!
We use Heisei and the ordinary way of counting the years here in Japan.
Next year will be 2009, so that's Heisei ...?
I guess I am not the only one who forgets about time: last week I had a terrible
cough, went to the doctor and he gave me some medicine. On the
package it read: 40年12月24日,so next year will be Heisei 41?
Can't believe it?
Check for yourself!
By the way, I feel much better now, thank you!
- Posted at 20:20
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Hungry Santa
[2008年12月01日(月) ]
Hungry Santa  December. Once today's lunch   is finished, Santa will finally start shipping the presents he's been working on for the last 12 months. |
Can't you believe it? Check for yourself!  |
- Posted at 22:45
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chopsticks
[2008年11月20日(木) ]
Gaijin
and
chopsticks
and
chopsticks
Visiting countries with cultures different from your own can be appealing at times and challenging at other times.
The following incident occurred to me the very first time I visited
Japan.
I had just arrived at
Narita airport and was waiting for a Japanese friend to pick me up.Although almost all airlines claim they have the best culinary services in the skies, I think many of them exalt the word “epicurean” and “gourmet” to the skies ― which is undoubtedly the area where they do business.
In other words, I was hungry upon my arrival, and decided to have a try at
real Japanese cuisine. I went into one of the numerous restaurants within the airport terminal and ordered something from the menu. My first impression was that having 3-dimensional displays available can be of great 
help to those unfamiliar with the local dishes. 
I looked around my table to see how everyone was using their chopsticks, and took a pair out of the box on one corner of the table. I had never seen ― or even heard of ― disposable chopsticks, but tried to pull them apart anyway, only to discover that this necessitated more
power than I had imagined. What I had in my hands were not a pair of chopsticks, no, it was only one chopstick! I quickly took out another one from the box and started eating. This was more difficult
than I had thought; I should have spent more time on practising eating with chopsticks, I reckoned. 
I was looking around me to see what the other diners were eating, when I saw a man break his chopsticks apart.
What a 
surprise
surprise I was using not one but two pairs of chopsticks!
I put one pair down at once, used more power than at the first attempt and managed to produce a
positive result. It made me understand the exact meaning of the Japanese word “gaijin”, not less someone unfamiliar with the local customs than merely someone from another country.
解説初めて来日した時、
成田空港で日本人の友達を待っていた
執筆者が経験した出来事。
「割り箸」（disposable chopsticks）の存在を知らず、
２組の割り箸で食べた。
おかげで「外人である」一例を作ってしまった。
海外から来たというより、
その国（この場合日本）の風習や当たり前だと思われることに
親しみを感じないことではないか？
成田空港で日本人の友達を待っていた
執筆者が経験した出来事。
「割り箸」（disposable chopsticks）の存在を知らず、
２組の割り箸で食べた。
おかげで「外人である」一例を作ってしまった。
海外から来たというより、
その国（この場合日本）の風習や当たり前だと思われることに
親しみを感じないことではないか？
- Posted at 21:55
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cherry blossoms
[2008年11月15日(土) ]
Cherry blossoms
in fall
I know you can see cherry blossoms in spring and in fall,
but this fall the flowers looked more beautiful
than in an average year.
- Posted at 00:45
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quick shots
[2008年11月14日(金) ]
Quick shots
You might say
there is no need for the ultra-fast shutter speeds
recent cameras feature.
Who would ever use them anyway?
Well, I did!
I let a balloon filled with water fall
from a height of about 1 meter
onto (into) a cone shell
and took photos of it,
at a rate of 8 frames per second.
Here is the result, 3 photos taken at 1/5000 second.
About 50 cm are left between the cone (at the bottom) and the red balloon.
Photo 2 The big bang?
Contrary to what I had expected, the water did not splash up upon impact.
The shape of where the balloon was is still visible in the shape of the water.
Photo 3
Only some sparkling waterdrops remain.
The cone was completely pushed away by the water.
- Posted at 07:03
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Street performers
[2008年11月04日(火) ]
Street performers
The annual streetperformer festival (大道芸ワールドカップin静岡) was held in the center of Shizuoka from Nov. 1 through 3.
I visited it on the last day.
Many performers from Japan and overseas enjoyed a huge audience.
The pictures will explain more than words can say.
So high and not a single mistake!
4 cones at a time
4 cones at a time
Trojan giraffes
Sunpu park
Huge audience
Playing with blocks
- Posted at 08:22
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What's that?
[2008年11月03日(月) ]
8-0
What’s that?
Cellphone nonsense
now common sense
What’s that?
Cellphone nonsense
now common sense
Q
「昨日のテスト（GAME）で気になったが、回答の左上にあるコロンやCは何？」
A
英語の携帯メールで使う顔文字（icons）なのだ。
携帯電話を９０度右に向けると、顔が現れる。
携帯電話を９０度右に向けると、顔が現れる。
:-) = スマイル
:-( = 悲しい、
:-0 = surprise (open mouth)
8-0 = surprise (wide eyes, open mouth)
;-) = frown (eyebrows)
:-} = 困った
やってみればすぐ分かるが、携帯電話で英語を入力することは非常に面倒くさい。
簡単な連絡をSMS（Short Message Service）でできるだけ短く済ませる。
そこから誕生した「変わった書き方」を一部ここで入門編としてご紹介。
簡単な連絡をSMS（Short Message Service）でできるだけ短く済ませる。
そこから誕生した「変わった書き方」を一部ここで入門編としてご紹介。
R = are
U = you
C = see
W/ = with
da = the
LOL = laughing out loud （爆笑）
WKND = weekend
BTW = by the way
OMG = Oh my god! (Oh my goodness!)
@ = at
x = kisses
数字なども読みのとおり
2 = to, too
2nite = tonight
2day = today
I wan2 do = I want to do
4 = for
str8 = straight
sk8er = skater Avril lavigne の album “Let go” の “Sk8er Boi” など
例えばこんな会話になる
□ RU comin 2 da party 2nite? :-)
□ Headin str8 there after work. CU
□ Is Maki comin w/ U?
□ She works on WKNDs :-(
Remarks
■ テストや正式な書類にこんな書き方をしないこと！
■ 日本と違って、ヨーロッパやアメリカでは bandwith （帯域幅、データの通信量）によってパソコンメールも料金が月によって上下する。決まった bandwith を超えると、後で追加料金が請求される。海外のお友達に写メールすると、迷惑をかけないように！
- Posted at 08:22
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Halloween (2)
[2008年10月31日(金) ]
Clock your reading speed!2. Halloween
Who can claim he or she has never heard of Halloween, when children big and small dressed as monsters, mummies, ghosts or witches visit their neighborhoods, singing “trick or treat”, and Jack-o’-lanterns are on display?
Halloween is originally a Celtic festival at the end of the summer, called “All Hallows Even(ing)”, in contrast with May Day, the festival at the beginning of the summer. There were only two main seasons in the Celtic year.October 31st used to be the eve of New Year in Celtic (6th & 5th centuries B.C.) and Anglo-Saxon times (from the 9th century A.D.) Since November ushers in the darkest and most barren half of the year, the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, fairies and demons.
Only the more frivolous masquerades remained as Halloween passed into the realm of folk observations. Introduced by Irish immigrants, Halloween became popular in the USA in the 19th century.
245 words
Reading speed: … words/min
Reading speed: … words/min
- Posted at 22:30
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