Having a warm feeling in the movie

I wonder if the movie "Punchline" is famous and popular. I don't know why but I happened to watch it on TV a couple of times.
Leading characters are acted by Tom Hanks and Sally Field.

The story isn't so attractive to me as a whole. But I like the part which is the family bonds of the woman acted by Sally. Although her husband is a bit fat, not handsome, and commonplace person, he is very warm and faithful. if you had a husband like him, you could have a happy life. In fact, in the movie, the woman realized it at last.

My favorite scene is, one day, the woman had her hair cut and got a perm, and she ended up having terrible hairstyle. When she came back to the home from a hair salon, she was almost crying and said "I didn't mean to..." Her husband and two daughters saw her, although they were a bit surprised at her hairstyle, they tried hard to compliment her hairstyle. It has a warm feel to it.

John Goodman who played the husband.

The name "Goodman" fits the character he acted.

Simon Kjaer is in the spotlight?

Recently, my blog is often accessed by people from Europe, especially Germany. It seems that they search photos of Danish soccer player Simon Kjaer, then reach the photo which I put on my blog.
Here it is;
http://sandfriend.blogspot.com/2010/06/sleeping-until-game-denmark-vs-japan.html

In fact, Simon Kjaer moved to VfL Wolfsburg which is a team of German Bundesliga.
But, that has been decided before. Why are they checking him recently? I wonder if he created controversy or something in Germany.

Anyway, I'm going to keep an eye on VfL Wolfsburg. Unfortunately, unlike the English Premier League, the Spanish Liga Espanola and the Italian Serie A, information of Bundesliga rarely comes in Japan. I'm going to check the team website often.

My English is really bad.

In my neighborhood, there are some hotels, such as Hilton and Hyatt. So you can see many tourists from abroad, especially in summer. (I never recommend foreigners to come to Japan in summer though. It's TOO humid.)

Tonight, I went to a convenience store. There were 2 young girls who seemed to be tourists from Korea. One of them asked me something in Japanese, but I wasn't able to understand her Japanese. She asked me if I can speak English. I said "Yes." Then we spoke English. They wanted to go back to their hotel but they lost.

Her English was excellent!! On the other hand, my English was terrible. I was ashamed.

Yesterday's interview, today's conversation with the Korean girl... Those made me realize that I had better improve my English.

Prepare more and more and more for job interview!

I had a job interview today... in English. I prepared for that more than the previous interview in English, but it didn't go well either. I had better become be able to explain specific example in more detail.

My two recovery plan
Returning to the starting point, I'll try to do build my explanation from scratch in Japanese first.
I'll attend more English conversation clubs regularly to have more opportunities to speak English.

It's already hot and humid summer.

In Tokyo, the rainy season has finished and it's very hot summer. In this long weekend, we had considerable sunshine, with high temperatures 35 degrees C. Whew... I have to be patient for about 2 months until mid-September.
Ah---, come soon, Autumn!

The World Cup 2010 the Final game - the Netherlands vs. Spain

It was a VE--RY high level game, at least for me. Compared with that game, Japanese soccer is a baby soccer.

Both of the teams hardly scored. Spain finally got a goal 4 minutes from the end of extra time, then they won the World Cup.

After a big game, I always have mixed feelings to see a winner and a loser. If it is the final game at the World Cup, the difference between a winner and a loser is much bigger.

As soon as the game ended, Spain team was going crazy like kids, while the Netherlands team were not moving and dissolved in tears.

Crying Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands

A Spain goalkeeper, Iker Casillas was crying bitterly. As a captain, he must have been under intense strain and pressure. He also took a bashing about his girlfriend who is a sports reporter.
The man of the match I choose is him. Without his some miracle saving, Spain couldn't have won.

Among Spain teammates in high glee, Casillas collapses into tears.

Finally, the World Cup finished. I feel a bit lonely. The final game ended at about 6am this morning Japan time. I went to work as I had the mixed feelings after the game and an empty feeling.

Congratulations, Spain!

In the history of the World Cup, it's the first time that a team which lost their first game has won the World Cup.

===== AWARDS =====
Golden Ball for best player: Diego Forlan (Uruguay) <--- I strongly agree with it.

Golden Boot for top scorer: Thomas Mueller (Germany)
(from an article of other site) There was actually a four way tie at the top of the goalscoring chart with Mueller, David Villa (Spain), Wesley Sneijder (the Netherlands) and Diego Forlan (Uruguay) all scoring five goals each. Tie-breaker was assists, which put Mueller on top with three.

Best Young Player: Thomas Mueller (Germany) <--- I strongly agree with it.

Golden Glove for best goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Spain)
I think he deserves the best player award.

The World Cup 2010 the Third-place match - Uruguay vs. Germany

Germany won 3-2.

It was a nice game! As I wrote in the previous article, silly Japanese terrestrial broadcasts didn't air the game. So I decided to see a website which showed us text-based updates on the game in real time. That means I had to READ the game, not to WATCH the game.

But!! There was a kind of chat section in the site and many people were on the chat line. Many people were bemoaning that they weren't able to watch the game on TV. Then, some people introduced some websites which were showing the game. So I tried to access the sites. I didn't know there were such websites!!
Then, luckily, I was able to watch the game from the latter half! It was really good because it was a very good game.

With Germany team, Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Philipp Lahm didn't attend the game. When I knew that, I thought Germany might not have a will to win, because they were the leading players of Germany. Klose was injured but why Podolski and Lahm... Then I found out that they caught a cold. A person who had the most terrible cold was a coach Loew. haha. A goalkeeper wasn't Manuel Neuer. I wonder if he also caught a cold, or a coach gave another goalkeeper the opportunity to attend the World Cup game.

In spite of the fact that some leading players didn't attend the game, Germany did really well. Uruguay did well too, especially Diego Forlan. His free kick in extra time was almost!!
As an aside, first name Diego seems to be a very common name in Uruguay. Among 23 players of the team, there are no less than 4 Diego!

The man of the match I chose is Thomas Mueller.

Although he is very young, he is already a leading player in Germany. As an aside again, I knew today that he is married although he is still 20 years old!

Germany placed the 3rd for the second time in a row. I guess they will advance to the final game at the next World Cup.

Congratulations! And aim at the final at the next World Cup!

The World Cup 2010 Semi-finals - Germany vs. Spain

Germany lost 0-1. I'm sure that many people expected Germany to win. Their performance until before the semi-finals was outstanding. On the other hand, Spain was terrible.

However, in this semi-finals, Spain seemed to finally get their form and started to show their real abilities.

As a result, the game I want to watch is the third-place match Uruguay vs. Germany, rather than the final the Netherlands vs. Spain.
But!!!!! Any Japanese terrestrial broadcasts don't air the third-place match!!!!! They air every game in the knockout stage except for the third-place match!!!!! I can't believe the fact!!!!!

The World Cup 2010 Semi-finals - Uruguay vs. the Netherlands

The game ended 2-3. Uruguay, almost! Almost!!
Although I wrote that I expected Germany and the Netherlands to win, as I was watching the game, I found myself cheering for Uruguay. Their play, especially the defense was really well. I wanted them to win.

The man of the match I choose is Diego Forlan of Uruguay.

Your World Cup hasn't ended yet, Uruguay! Aim at the 3rd place!!

European countries are strong in the end.

It was said that South American countries were strong in this World Cup. However, 3 in the top 4 teams are European countries in the end.

I expect Germany and the Netherlands to play in the finals.


*-*-*-*-* comments about English in this article *-*-*-*-*
According to a dictionary, both "the final" and "the finals" are OK. I wonder if they are used interchangeably. The final game is only one unlike semi-finals and quarter-finals. In spite of that, why is it "finals"?

Oberammergau Passionsspiele (Passion Play)

I watched a TV documentary about a passion play in a very small village Oberammergau with a population of 5,000 in Germany.

The play is conducted only by village people, which means all performers and staffs are the village people. It is played once every ten years since 1633 and it is being played this year.

I was very impressed that it is created by all of the village people and has a long history. A 13-year boy is participated in the play as a member of an orchestra with his family, and he performed one of person in the crowed 10 years ago when he was 3. A long time ago, a woman acted the roles of Mary Magdalene, and her granddaughter (or great-granddaughter?) acted the same role this time.

What a great event!!!
I didn't know about that but it seems to be very famous. The population of the village is only 5,000, but 500,000 people come to watch the play from around the world. It's hard to get a ticket.

Here is the information;
http://www.ammergauer-alpen.de/en/oberammergau/index.html
http://www.oberammergau-passion.com/en-us/home/home.html

I want to go to watch it next time, 2020. But actually what I'm interested in is not the play itself, but the process of creating the play by the village people.

Here it is! Germany vs. Argentina!

(10:40pm)
The game starts in 20 minutes. I have to prepare for that!

(10:56pm)
OK. I've been already prepared to watch the game. I put a drink by me (with some chocolate). I opened the players' lists of both of the team on my PC. I have already gone to the bathroom. I had plenly sleep.
I'm ready!!

(in the 3th minute of the first half)
Wow! Germany got a score as soon as the game starts! After that, Germany is continuing to attack aggressively.

 Thomas Mueller of Germany got a goal.

(half-time)
Germany is functioning very well as a team so far. Great.
The players of Argentina are really short-tempered as usual. That's one of the traditional features of Argentina team. The reason that Messi is not at all like them is, probably because he has been playing in Spain since he was a child.

The latter half starts. Go for it, both the teams!!

(in the 23th minute of the latter half)
Germany got a second goal.
I can't take my eyes off the game. It's a very exciting game! Watching high level of sports is really fun!

Klose often slides on the grass with his knees after getting a score.

I wonder if he doesn't burn his knees.

(in the 29th minute of the latter half)
Germany got a third goal! German Chancellor Merkel is standing in the stands with excitement!

Teammates celebrate with Arne Friedrich after his scoring.

 For your information, No3. is Friedrich.

(in the 44th minute of the latter half)
Argentina seemed to lose power. Then Klose got a score again. 4-0. In this time, he showed a flip instead of sliding with his knees.
Messi, show us your real performance!!

Flipping Klose

(the game ended.)
I expected Germany to win, but it's surprising that Argentina lost a game 0-4!!
Messi is a real genius. There are some genius players in the world, especially in South America, such as Ronaldinho and Kaka. But I think Messi is a genius among genius. I'm sure that Argentina should have taken advantage of Messi. They don't use him effectively at all.
I wanted to see Messi's play more.

Messi, everyone knows you are a great player. You are still young. I'm looking forward to seeing your play in the future including the next World Cup!

Dejected Lionel Messi and Diego Maranona after the game

Germany team is incredibly strong. They seem to be rock-solid team so far.
One concern is that Mueller can't attend the next game due to getting two yellow cards. But there might be no need to worry about it, with their current condition.

The man of the match I choose is Miroslav Klose of Germany. At the previous World Cup, I mentioned he was very strong physically. Even though opponent players push or bump against him, he rarely loses his balance. Although he became 32 years old, he is still strong and shows high performance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[A side story]
A Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio came to the stands to watch the game.
Also, one of my favorite Hollywood stars Charlize Theron, who is from South Africa and served as co-host of the World Cup draw, came to the stands, I think. But when a camera captured her, a Japanese announcer didn't mention her at all. He must not have noticed that she was Charlize Theron.

I can't wait for Germany vs. Argentina!

Tomorrow, there is the game Germany vs. Argentina. I'm SO excited! Their playing styles are much different. I'm expecting them to show us an entertaining game!

Oops, it's already 3:00am. I have to go to bed.


*-*-*-*-* Comments about English in this article *-*-*-*-*
I wonder if "entertaining game" is an appropriate expression. Soccer games are not entertainment shows which are movies, amusement parks or TV shows, from Japanese point of view. I somewhat feel that the meaning of "entertainment" of English is different from the meaning of "entertainment" of Japanese. Japanese people might use it in a different way.

I realized that Japan did very well against the Netherlands.

The Netherlands beat out Brazil. Brazil's performance seemed better than the Netherlands though.
Of course the Netherlands was also great. Especially Wesley Sneijder, Dirk Kuyt, to say nothing of Arjen Robben are excellent players!

I happened to find the photo of the 3 people.

In the Group E, the game the Netherlands vs. Japan was 1-0. Japan allowed the Netherlands to score only 1 goal. Watching the game The Netherlands vs. Brazil, I realized Japan played solid defense.

*-*-*-*-* comments about English in this article *-*-*-*-*
I tried to use the new idiom "to say nothing of" in this article. I just learned it the other day. I think it is the same as "not to mention."

Disgusting!

My PC is often acting up.
I'm really disgusted and annoyed!!!!!!!

Consideration the difference between the male and female brain about acquiring language

I tried to write the title of this article like a dissertation's one, but it ended up being too long. haha.

Recently, I found out that women are much better at acquiring English than men.

Living in English speaking countries is of great advantage to acquiring English, and I've always felt that it's almost impossible for me to be able to speak English like people who have lived abroad. In fact, among people who live in English speaking countries, 99% of women I've ever met can speak fluently. However, I've met some men whose English is not so good that I can't believe they have live abroad. Their skills of grammar, idioms and vocabulary are bad, but most of all, their pronunciation is too bad. Probably many people doubt that they have lived abroad.

I wonder why there is this difference between male and female. Female brain might be good at acquiring language, at least English. If so, actually I've thought my brain is close to male brain rather than female brain. I wonder if that's why I can't improve my English. hehe. It's just an excuse.

*-*-*-*-* comments about English in this article *-*-*-*-*
I wrote in this article, "is of great advantage to." But actually I'm not sure why "of" is necessary. Is "is a great advantage to" wrong?
Other examples are;
"is of great importance"
"is of great difficulty"
"is of much help"

I wonder why "of" is necessary and what "of" means in this case.

Cruel penalty shootout

Japan lost the game by the penalty shootout. In the World Cup, I don't cheer for Japan, but I was shocked. They played much better than we expected. Deciding winner by the penalty shootout is TOO cruel. That reminds me the game England vs. Portugal in the in the quarter finals in the previous World Cup. England lost by the penalty shootout after 120-minute draining duel.


http://sandfriend.blogspot.com/2006/07/draining-duel-again-world-cup-quarter.html
http://sandfriend.blogspot.com/2006/07/mens-crying-remains-me-my-days-as.html

Another quarter finals, Germany vs. Argentina was also finished by the penalty shootout. At that time, Germany won.

http://sandfriend.blogspot.com/2006/07/after-draining-duel-world-cup-quarter.html

Also, The finals France vs. Italy ended the penalty shootout.

http://sandfriend.blogspot.com/2006/07/les-bleus-vs-azzurri-world-cup-final.html

Considering a defeated team, especially a person who missed a shot, I feel pain in my chest. I hope a winner and a loser are decided in a game, and not by the penalty shootout. I don't want to see such a sad and cruel scene anymore.

England's World Cup 2010 has finished.

England was beaten out by Germany, 1-4. As I wrote the last article, I thought Germany was a stronger team than England, but I wanted England to win.

The first half ended 1-2. However, it should have been actually 2-2. Due to an umpire's misjudgment, Lampard's goal was disallowed.

This is obviously a goal though...

Oh, my gosh, why isn't that a goal? Lampard

One of my favorite points about England is that they rarely complain against empires. Regarding the misjudgment this time, nobody complained against empires except for Rooney. Usually soccer players complain strenuously, even about a very small thing. The Lampard's shot was OBVIOUSLY a goal. I like such their attitude. It also applies to Germany, Denmark etc. They rarely do simulation too. That's the sportsmanship!! (That's why I don't like Portugal, especially Cristiano Ronaldo, and Italy.)

Many commentators and other people including an England's coach Capello, said that if they ended 2-2 in the first half, the subsequent strategy and deployment were different. Yes, they are right. However, even though considering it, I think Germany have won. I've known that the most weakness of England was defense. In fact, Germany got two goals easily in the latter half.
Each individual in England is excellent, but they don't work as a team. Germany is always great as a team. Always.

At the last World Cup, I tried to choose the awards from my point of view.
Here it is;
http://sandfriend.blogspot.com/2006/07/my-general-comment-on-2006-world-cup.html

At that time, I chose Lahm of Germany as a new face award. He was still 22 years old back them. But in this World Cup, he is a captain and leading his team. I'm happy with his development.

Lahm's defense is always great, but he is actually very small. 170cm.

So, whenever Germany team hug each other, Lahm is buried among a bunch of his teammates.

Unfortunately, England has to withdraw from the World Cup early. Bummer!

Beckham accompanied the England team in this World Cup.

German Chancellor Merkel and British Prime Minister Cameron watching the game

in Canada where the G20 summits is being held in.

England is...

I've known that it would be hard for England to beat out Germany. But I didn't expected this terrible scores... 1-4. They played really well, but their shots were off target.
I don't have power to write anything...
I'll write about this game after I come back from work.

Anyway, I like Germany too since the last World Cup. So I hope they go on to win.

Very sleepy after taking exams, but!!

Sleepy. I didn't get enough sleep last night. Moreover, since I took exams of 3 subjects today, I'm a bit tired. So I'm very sleepy now.

I think I did quite well on the exams given that I didn't prepare for them enough. From the next time, I think I should be better-prepared. The results will come through about the middle of next month. I hope they will be good.

I came up with some English questions as I wrote this article.
I wonder which is doing better, "do quite well" or "do pretty well."
Is it OK to use "come through" for exam results, like "The results will come through the next month"?

Although I'm very sleepy now, I must not sleep. Because! The can't-miss game, England vs. Germany starts 11:00pm. Just 3 hours to go!
br/>

My fist exams at university tomorrow!

In these days, I'm writing only about the World Cup, but I'm not neglecting to study English. (^.^)
I'm also doing my university studies. It's been about 3 months since I entered university and I'm taking my first exams tomorrow! (Actually it's today though.) Just keep your fingers crossed!!

The knockout stage has begun.

Yesterday, there were the last games in the Group Stage, which is in the Group H.
I wanted Switzerland to advance to the next stage, but they couldn't... They were a really good team and beat out Spain in their first game though. What a pity!

Then, the group stage has finished and the knockout stage has begun.
Here is the bracket:

I hope everyone can play to the fullest! Go for it!!

Denmark's World Cup ended...

Denmark didn't win... (sob)
All Japanese are very excited about Japan's wining and advancing to the next stage though.

By the way, Italy which is the defending champion couldn't advance to the next stage either. They are in the last place in the Group F.
Their play was really dull, as if they were playing in their sleep. They made a lot of unforced errors. I wondered if there was something in the team, like France.

Sleeping until the game Denmark vs. Japan starts.

The game Denmark vs. Japan is starting in about 6 hours. Unless Denmark beat Japan, they can't advance to the next stage. I strongly hope they win. However, I have concerns.

An ace striker Nicklas Bendtner is not perfect because of injury. And a defender Simon Kjaer can't participate in the game, because he got two yellow cards. Actually I'm taking note of him in this World Cup. Although he is still 21 years old (still 21!!!), he is already a pillar of Denmark defense. Many big club teams in Europe pay attention to him. So his absence is really painful for Denmark.

 Simon Kjaer (isn't his tattoo too much?)

The game starts at 3:30am Japan time. Now it's 9:30pm in Japan. I'm going to bed now so that I can get up 3:30am and watch the game! Good night!

England is actually in a harsh situation in the 2nd stage.

In the article before this, I wrote that I was relieved that England could advance the next stage. I also wrote that the US booked a spot in the next stage by a dramatic wining. But today, I realized that the US's dramatic wining drove England into a corner.
Take a look at the following.

Because the US won against Algeria, the US and England placed first and second in the Group C respectively, then England have to face Germany!! Even if they beat Germany, they have to play against Argentina in the next game!!
If the US hadn't gotten a dramatic goal in extra time and ended in a tie, England would have placed first and put the position where the US put for real. These are much easier game!! The US's miracle goal in extra time was extremely worth for the US.

England is gaining their form.

England just finished their third game, and beat out Slovenia. In their first and second games, their performance was bad. However, to my delight, they seem to be gaining their form.

During the game England vs. Slovenia, there was the game the US vs. Algeria which are in the same group C. The score of the US vs. Algeria was 0-0, and if they had ended up 0-0, Slovenia could advance to the next stage. But, the US scored in extra time, and in the end, the US can advance to the next stage instead of Slovenia. How dramatic for the US!! On the other hand, I take pity on Slovenia. They are a really good team and played very well. Almost! I feel that the World Cup is very harsh. I wanted to let 3 teams, England, the US and Slovenia advance to the next stage.

Anyway, I'm relieved that England can advance to the next stage. I hope the same thing happens to Denmark tomorrow.

The girl who silenced the world at the U.N. for 5 minutes

I found that my ex-boss placed the following impressed speech in his website.

Although this great speech was given about 18 years ago, stupid human beings haven't make any changes and the situation keeps getting worse.
I'm one of the stupid human beings though.

Switzerland and Chile are great team.

I watched the game Switzerland vs. Chile yesterday. Some Japanese professional soccer players praised Chile's performance in their first game a great deal, and Switzerland beat out Spain in their first game. So I really looked forward to see their game.

As I had expected, the game was great and both of the team were really excellent!!
Switzerland had to play with 10 players because one player got a red card. In spite of that, Switzerland played really well. Especially, their defense and a goalkeeper were incredibly strong.

I think, the teams which will advance to the next stage in the Group H should be Switzerland and Chile, not Spain.

Oh, now, the game France vs. South Africa started just now. France has a terrible problem now. One player was forcibly returned to France because he insulted his coach in the halftime of their last game. Moreover, all players boycotted the practice before the game in protest. I doubt that they can show a good performance in this situation.

I became a translation volunteer.

As I wrote here before, I started sponsoring a child through a NGO "World Vision."

The World Vision was recruiting translation volunteers, so I applied for it. The translation volunteers translate letters between sponsors and children. To be the volunteer, you have to take a translation test and pass it. I received the test and did it the other day.

It's very hard to translate in two ways. One is that their English grammar is not correct. It's not so big problem. More difficult thing is making out their handwriting. It's really really hard to read their handwriting. So it takes me much time to translate them.

Fortunately, I passed the test, and I sent the World Vision an agreement documents today.

I'm glad that I can do something to help.

Leading teams can't win.

The game Germany vs. Serbia finished just now. Germany lost...
I'm cheering for England and Denmark, but actually I also like Germany. After England was beaten in the last World Cup, I cheered for Germany and they placed 3rd! Many players from the last World Cup are playing this time, so I feel familiarity with the Germany team.

Although they won the first game, which was versus Australia, 4-0, in this time, they lost.
In the latter half, although Germany had a lot of chance to get scores, Lukas Podolski missed shots. He even missed a penalty kick. I can't believe! I'm sure everyone couldn't believe.

In this World Cup, strong teams can't win except for Brazil and Argentina, so far.
France ended in a scoreless tie in their first game, and surprisingly, in their second game versus Mexico, they lost!!
Spain also lost their first game versus Switzerland!!
England, Italy and Portugal ended in a tie in their first game.

I hope England can win the next game. They have to win!

Humid season has come.

Humid. TOO humid. Terrible horrible humid season has come here. I have to put up with incredibly high humidity until mid-September. I'm inpatientimpatient for autumn.

Difficult to pronounce

I'm very bad at pronouncing "S" and "C" sounds in English. Especially I can't say "except" well.

Yesterday, a more difficult word came out. It's "unsolicited."
Although I tried to say it repeatedly, it's almost impossible for me to pronounce. Whew...

Netherlands was stronger than I expected.

The game Denmark vs. Netherlands finished just now. Unfortunately Denmark lost 0-2 (Including an own goal).

Although Netherlands is stronger than Denmark, Denmark was playing really well. Really really well. But, Netherlands was too strong. Arjen Robben didn't participate in the game because of an injury. Given that he joins, Netherlands is definitely one of the favorites in this World Cup.

Oops! England!

The game England vs. the US was very exciting and I enjoyed it, although England couldn't win. It ended in a 1-1 tie.

The US's goal was due to fumbling by a England's goalkeeper Robert Green. He must be very shocked and depressed. I feel sorry for him.

Although the US's shot went straight in front of a keeper...

Oops, fumbling!

Ahhhh, shocked!!

Dejected Robert is consoled by his teammate after the first half.

The official ball of the World Cup 2010 named Jabukani has been very unpopular among players since before the World Cup started, especially among keepers and defenders, because the orbit of the ball changes terribly. (Does the expression of this sentence make sense? I'm not sure how I should say it in English.)
 So it probably caused Robert's mistake. However, he said in the interview that he didn't make any excuse.
I know you are a great goalkeeper, Robert!!

The first schooling

It's been about 2.5 months since I entered 3rd grade of a university. So far so good.

Yesterday, I attended my first schooling. The class was quite good. It was good for me that I got some information about examination from some other students.
I'm attending the class's second day. I's a bit hard to spend all weekend for the class, but students have to get some credits for taking part in classes, although it's a correspondence university.

By the way, it's 3am and I have already woken up, because I'm watching the game England vs. the US from now!

The World Cup will start soon!!

The World Cup is starting tomorrow. I'm very excited as usual.

But I'm very worried about terrible horrible public security. In South Africa, 19,202 people were murdered in 2006. Over 50 people a day!!!!! Also, 52,600 women were raped, there were 218,000 serious injury cases... It is said that stopping at a red light is an outrageous action in South Africa, because people are attacked by robbers during stopping. I can't believe that FIFA selected such a dangerous country as a host.

According to news, in this time, any TV companies in Japan won't send women reporters to the scene. Probably it happened for the first time.

In fact, some foreign journalists were attacked by robbers in South Africa for the last couple of weeks. One of them was attacked during staying at a hotel, although it was the four-star hotel!

I hope nothing happens.

Anyway, my lack of sleep will continue for about a month.

Expression of frequency

I just came up with a question about words which describe frequency, so I looked them up on the Internet.

According to some articles, frequency of each word is as follows;

usually 80%
often/frequently 60%
sometimes 50%
occasionally 40%

I didn't know that frequency of "occasionally" is lower than "sometimes." That's good to know. However what I wanted to know was words less than "occasionally", around 20 - 30%.

How about "once in a while"? I want to know some expressions without using negative words, like "seldom" and "rarely." I wonder if there are any other words.

How long is our new Prime Mister's tenure?

A couple of days after I wrote about our incapable Prime Minister Hatoyama, he announced his resignation.

His tenure was only 9 months. Japanese Prime Misters quit during their term. Their tenure is always very short. I don't think there is such a country of which leader change very often. It's impossible for Japan to secure international trust.

Now, we have new Prime Minister, Naoto Kan. He is very famous for his short temper character, but at least, he has support from the public more than Hatoyama.

However, the Democratic Party is going to conduct the presidential election in September. So his tenure might be only 3 months??






By the way, I looked up the word "tenure" in a dictionary and used it for the first time. I wonder if my usage of it is correct.

Many players were injured just before the World Cup

The teams in the Group E which Japan belongs to are Netherlands, Cameroon and Denmark I'm cheering. Some star players of those teams were recently injured and might not participate in the World Cup.

Netherlands, Arjen Robben, who most of people know as one of the top players in the world, injured his left thigh yesterday during a game against Hungary.

Injured Robben surrounded by his teammates

Regarding Denmark I support, terrible. You can find many articles titled "Denmark full of injured players."
Here is one of the articles:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1228624/index.html#injury+worries+mount+denmark

These are kind of good news for Japanese fans. But for me, I'm worried about Denmark. Hang in there!

Oh my goodness! On my goodness!!

Armando Galarraga of Detroit Tigers nearly pitched a perfect game. Only one more out!!!!!



The article on the Yahoo News:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100603/ap_on_sp_ba_ga_su/bba_indians_tigers

I feel very sorry for Armando. But actually I also feel sorry for the umpire Jim Joyce.
Thinking of his feeling, I really pity him.

A small determination, which is actually big for me

No matter how hard I study English, it's difficult to improve it like people who have lived in an English-speaking country. I have to speak English at work, and almost all Japanese people who speak English fluently in such an environment have lived abroad. Between them and me, there is a robust wall I can't break down.

It's impossible for me to reach their level, but I should close the gap as much as possible.
From today, I never watch TV in Japanese, but in English, except for an hour in the morning. (Allow me to watch it in Japanese only for an hour. I want to know important news or other events in detail.)

The interim report on my job hunting

I have had the final job interview with a company last month, and I'm visiting the company tomorrow again in order to talk with HR director about details of my work experience. They required that. It should be "to explain" rather than "to talk with." I have already had an interview with him though. I'm not up for it so much.

And the other agent contacted me to introduce a new opportunity. I'm going to call her tomorrow to hear more details about that.

Regarding my job hunting, I'm now feeling as if I'm in gloomy gray clouds.

"Alright" vs. "All right"

I wrote "Are you alright?" in the title of the previous article. However, it seems that "Are you all right?" is correct.

I wonder what the difference is between them.

Are you alright, England team?

There was a soccer game, England vs. Japan. Although England won, their performance wasn't so good. With 11 days to go before the World Cup, I'm a bit worried about England team.

There are many excellent players, such as Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard, J. Cole etc. but England is always kind of "the whole is LESS than the sum of its parts."

I'm cheering England and Denmark in the World Cup.
Go for it!!

an Incompetent National Leader

Among past Japanese Prime Ministers, there were a lot of incapable people. However, I believe that the incumbent, Yukio Hatoyama is the dullest and dumbest. Terrible!

He is from an incredible rich family and has had a pampered upbringing. His grandfather on the father's side was the former Prime Minister, and grandfather on the mother's side was the founder of Bridgestone. On this point, he is similar to one of the dullest and dumbest U.S. presidents, George W. Bush.

Hatoyama is really incompetent. But he might be better than Bush, because at least he hasn't started any meaningless war. (Oh, there is no meaningful war!)

Shaking of the leg

Shaking of the leg is called "Binbo Yusuri" in Japanese, which means "poverty shaking."
I really hate someone's shaking of his leg. I sometimes see people who are shaking his leg in public areas, such as in restaurants, libraries and on the train. I always feel bad and want to shout "Stop it!"

The other day, I was in a family restaurant and two guys were at the table in front of me. One of them was the "shaking the leg" guy... Boo...

They were studying spreading many books on the table. Judging from those books, they seemed to be medical students. Study hard and become a good doctor!

But... I don't want to see a doctor who is shaking his leg...

Bumemer!!

My PC started acting strange again.
In this time, the PC doesn't recognize something from input devices.
For example, from the keyboard. To input a character, for example "a", I have to push "a" key several times. The mouse pointer doesn't move as I move. It doesn't recognize "click" either.

Disgusting!

Distrust of a recruiting agent

I have had to do with some recruiting agents through my job hunting. I have met very nice agents which made me think that I wanted to work with. On the other hands, there have been untrusted terrible agents.

They see only their clients, which means they see only their profits. They don't care about candidates.

The other day, I told an agent that I want to decline the position he introduced me. I also told him the reason. However, because the client company is very interested in having me work with them, the agent told me the next step WITHOUT mentioning my refusal and its reason, as if he didn't hear my refusal. Isn't it strange? I have already declined and he also know the reason of my declining.
He only thinks about closing this deal. He doesn't care whether I'm happy or not after joining the company.
I don't think that it's professional job.

What I want to do for children is...

I've always thought I want to do something so that all children in the world get education. I sometimes wrote about that on this blog.
However, I'm wondering what I really want to do.

The other day, I watched an American TV drama. (ER XIII "Jigsaw")
One guy, who is probably around 30 years old, came to the hospital. He was very rude and vicious. But actually he suffers from a multiple personality disorder. He has another personality which is normal. He had been terribly abused by his foster parents when he was a kid.

When he was in a bed in the hospital, his third personality appeared, which was a small boy.
He saw another boy in the room next to him in tears and asked a doctor.

Guy (boy): Is he OK?
Doctor: Yes.
Guy (boy): His mother is mean. I wish she wasn't so mean.

Conversation is continuing.

Guy (boy): Don't tell my dad that I'm here. He is very intimidating. (sob)
Doctor: Your secret is safe with me.
Guy (boy): It's dark here. You are leaving early? (sob)
Doctor: No. I'm here.
Guy (boy): That's good. (sob and smile)

Then, they start talking about toy cars he likes.

There might be very few people who cry watching this scene, but while I was watching it, I couldn't stop the tears.

I realized that what I want to do is not only help children get education, but protect them from all harsh situation.

All children should be protected from conflict, cruelty, exploitation, neglect and abuse.

All children should be given peace, love, safe and education.

However, I have no clue where to start.

Losing my confidence about English

Although I started having a bit confidence about my English one month ago (here is my article), in the past few days, I'm losing my confidence.

Confidence is the most important for speaking English.

My job hunting is back to square one.

I had interviews with two companies the other day.

One was the third interview which was the final interview.
When I had the first interview with them, I got a strong interest in the position. However, in the 2nd interview, I began to see the real situation of the position and I had some concerns. In spite of that, I was still a bit positive toward the position, and the agent told me that I could talk about my concerns with the company. So I took the 3rd interview.
Although the CEO was very nice person and seemed to be very capable, the Regional HR Director was terrible. She was incredibly arrogant and her conversation kept being self-centered. Her behavior made me negate everything about the position, moreover the company. People other than her who I met were all very nice people though.
I've told the agent that I'd like to decline the position.

On the same day, I had another interview too. It was the 1st interview. This recruiting is being conducted in secret, and the interviewer said that they wanted to take a long time to find a person. So I can't reckon it.

So, my job hunting is back to square one.
I'm a bit discouraged.

The letter from Rubel

I got a letter from Rubel today! Of course it's was written by a local staff in charge, not Rubel himself. I assume that Rubel can't read and write.

Here is the letter written in Bengali.

The English translation was attached. According to it, he wants to be a teacher in the future. I hope the area where he lives is able to be an environment where he and all other children can make their dreams come true.

Of course this letter is not a reply to my letter which I wrote to him a few days ago. The NPO tells child sponsors to allow about 4 months to get a reply to their letter. (4 months! It a quite long time.) The letter this time is to thank me for becoming his sponsor.

Ruble's handprint was also enclosed with the letter.

What a small hand! Attain you dream with the hand!
I hope I can be of some help to you.

"Career down"

Japanese people sometimes use the words "Career up" and "Career down."
I know these are not English. They were created and used by Japanese people.

"Career up" means developing/improving one's career. An example of use is;
To achieve "career up", I'm now looking for a good job opportunity.

"Career down" is of course the opposite meaning.
For example, you found a job opportunity, but according to the Job Description of it, the position is quite junior level. If that case, Japanese people says;
If you got the job, it would be "career down."

I have been looking for the correct expression for "career down."
I wonder if how it's said in English.

By the way, Japanese people also use the words "Skill up" and "Skill down."
There are so many strange "Japanese-English words."

The first letter to Rubel

Today, I wrote a letter to Rubel, who I'm sponsoring.

I heard that he likes playing football, so I found a letter paper and envelope template with football illustration in the Internet, which a cute tiger cub is playing with a soccer ball. I also looked for other templates with cute characters, because I wanted him to be pleased. However... I came up with something.
I was wondering if he has seen a real soccer ball and cartoonish illustration.
I think there aren't TV and cartoons in his life. Japanese kids are pleased with cartoonish illustrations, but it's because they always see TV, cartoons or books.
I had something mixed feeling. I can't imagine about his life at all.

I hope he enjoy my letter, and also the letter paper and envelope.

The Golden Week has started.

In Japan, there are some national holidays from the end of April to the beginning of May, and it's called "the Golden Week."

This year, the dates in red are holidays.

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
.	.	.	4/29	30	5/1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Many Japanese go to somewhere for pleasure during the Golden Week, so everywhere is TOO crowded. The worse thing is everything is TOO expensive. So I usually don't go anywhere in the Golden Week.

This year, I'm going to concentrate on preparation for job interviews, university studies and learning English. It's very good environment that I can stick to those things without being bothered with my work. Usually I can't help centering my life on the work.

I want to spend a quality time.

Meditaion Class

I attended Tibetan meditation class today. It was a bit disappointing. I'm now thinking that I should keep going the class or learn meditation myself by books.

I'm going to reading some books and at least attend the next class, then I'll decide.

The job opportunivy closed to my ideal

I was introduced two job opportunities this week, and I've just finished an interview for one of them.
I'm strongly interested in the position. It is quite close to my ideal in various aspects. Very high level English is required though.
I hope I can proceed to the next step.

Why do people wait in line so long?

About three years ago, the fist Krispy Kreme Doughnuts in Japan opened in my neighborhood, Shinjuku.
My article back them:

http://sandfriend.blogspot.com/2007/01/krispy-kreme-landing-to-japan.html

There used to be a long line, but now, you can buy or enter the shop without waiting in line.

A new shop opened in a local city, Nagoya last month. The news said that people had to wait in line for 9 hours. 9 hours!!
I can say for sure that doughnuts of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts are NOT worth waiting for 9 hours.

Always tired after English conversations

I'm always incredibly tired after speaking English. Too exhausted like just after running a marathon.

Today, I attended a workshop provided by a bilingual Professional Network Group. It was for about 3 hours and half of it was conducted in Japanese. That means I had English conversations only for an hour and a half. But I'm very tired.

Ahhhhh! I want to be able to speak English without any stress!

My English isn't so bad?

I'm not confident of my English at all. That makes my English conversation worse.
But, I recently started feeling that my English is quite well, given that I've never lived abroad. Most of Japanese people who can speak English well have lived in an English-speaking country, or even grew up there.
But I need to be able to speak English like them, so although I started feeling that way, the fact that my English is still not enough hasn't changed.
I just gave myself a small praise about my English for the first time.

The cherry blossoms

Sunny day today! I have short-sleeved T-shirt now on.
The cherry blossoms season almost finished, but I still can enjoy them.
The photo is the cherry blossoms in my neighborhood.

Calvin and Hobbles came back!

About 4 years ago, I was subscribed English newspapers only for 6 months. In the newspaper, there was a cartoon I really liked. It's "Calvin and Hobbes."

My article back then,
Bye bye, Calvin

The other day, I found a website which Calvin and Hobbes is written!
Here it is:
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes

I can read a new cartoon everyday. I' really enjoying it, and actually it's very useful to learn English expression.

I wonder if Calvin and Hobbles is famous cartoon in the US and everyone knows it.

I'm going to see the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.

I always write about big sports events on my blog excitedly, such as Olympics and World Cup soccer's World Cup. But during my absence from the blog, The Vancouver Olympic Winter Games started and ended.

Of course I watched many games, but I was less excited than usual Olympics. I don't know why though.
But I was very impressed with the opening ceremony as usual. I wonder why the opening ceremonies of Olympics are always so impressive. I've always wanted to see it live. After seeing the ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics, I took a firm decision to go to see the ceremony of the London Olympics!

By the way, a Japanese figure skater Mao Asada, I was cheering for, missed the gold medal. It was a pity. She was crying hard.

Update on my job hunting

I have been looking for a good job opportunity for a while. After *"Lehman Shock", number of positions decreased. Especially, my specialty, HRD/Training is very narrow area, and it's the first target for cost cut.

I went all out to get an ideal position a couple of months ago.
Last month, I met several recruit agents and they introduced me 3 positions. I was selected for an interview on one of them and had the 1st interview the other day. On the same day, an agent introduced me another position. My job hunting seems to start taking off.


Today, I heard the feedback from the company I had the 1st interview with. They decided not to proceed to the next step with me. Actually I feel a bit relieved, because I had some concerned about the job opportunity. As a company, it's a great company. But as a working place for workers, I hear a lot of negative stories. I also had some concerned about the interviewer who would be a direct boss. So it might have been a good result. I was also introduced one more new position today. Goody, goody.

My preparation for the interview this time wasn't enough. I'm going to prepare to perfection next time.

*"Lehman Shock"

In Japan, we call Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers "Lehman Shock." However, I haven't heard this word in English conversation or writing. I wonder if it is only used among Japanese people. We often say, "after Lehman Shock, blah-blah-blah."

Attending an English conversation Club

To improve my English conversation skills, I've always thought that I should have more time to speak English outside of my work.

I tried to attend an English circle today for the first time. People who want to improve their English gather and speak English.

Attendees were divided into 3 groups, beginner, beginner-intermediate and intermediate-advanced. I joined the intermediate-advanced group.
What I need to improve most is listening skill. I know I can't improve it in the circle, because all attendees are Japanese people and their level is not so high. But at least, it's useful for speaking. And the fee is only 500 yen for 110 minutes.

I'm thinking about going to an English conversation cafe. I've never gone such a cafe though. According to the info of its website, there is one native speaker for every table.

Speak, speak speak! and Listen, listen listen!

Child Sponsorship

I think I often wrote that I aim to make the wold where all children can receive education. I have been checking NPOs, but I haven't find one which is perfectly match to my thinking. Anyway, I thought I should do something. So I decided to start with donation and child sponsorship program.

I applied for child sponsorship the other day through a NPO, World Vision.
http://www.worldvision.org
The money is used not only for a child but also for development of his/her community.
I became a sponsor of 4-years Bangladeshi boy, Rubel. Very cute!

We can exchange letters, but I don't know Bengali, so I'll write it in English and the local people in charge will translate it. I hope he and other children in his community can have happy life and receive enough education.

It's very small help, but I thought it's much better than doing nothing.

I'm a university student again!

I'm not sure that I have written about my entering university here. I have been thinking about studying more details of my job academically. I was looking for a distance university because I'm working, but it narrows down my choices. However, fortunately I found an ideal university!!

The textbooks arrived the other day. Look at this. There are too many textbooks!

It must be very hard to study such a lot of things while I'm working , but I'm very excited!

Using my credits which I got at my previous university (very long time ago), I entered the third grade this time. (<-- I don't know how to express this sentence!) So I will graduate in two years. I aim at graduating top of the class!!

Long time no see.

I haven't written any articles here since last December. It's been a while. It's already spring!

I came back here and I'm going to write articles often.

Have you heard the word "meatware"?

English textbooks introduce a lot of words, idioms and expressions, but native speakers often point out that some of them are not used so often or not common expressions. It's often the case, so I'm not surprised.
However, it's the first time that nobody knows a word. It's "meatware."

This word was in my textbook, but it didn't exist in a dictionary. From the explanation in the textbook and information on the Internet, I found that it means "human relationships" or "human element."
The sentence in the textbook is:
All the software and hardware is one thing, but it's the meatware that counts.

I asked about it on Lang-8.
http://lang-8.com/sand/journals/310842
Almost all of the native speakers who posted comments in my entry haven't heard this word.

Do you think that it's OK to put such a word in a textbook?

Movie: A Christmas Carol

I watched this movie wearing 3D glasses. Here are the 3D glasses.

It was a bit annoying to wear them whole the movie, but 3D images were amazing. When I was a kid, "The Wizard of Oz" was on TV with 3D. At that time, we had to wear a cheap paper glasses with blue and red cellophane in order to see 3D images. However, even though I wore them, I couldn't realize 3D. Now that I think about it, the technological advance is tremendous. I think we will able to see 3D images without glasses sometime in the future.

As you know, in this movie, the technology called "performance capture" is used. Actually I don't like humans described by it. They look very scary. They are like dolls that are too much close to humans. Look at this.

S,s, scary!!


By the way, the original book written by Charles Dickens is very hard for me to read, because there are too many words I don't know. I feel that I don't know about 70% of all the words in the book. Does Charles Dickens tend to write with a bit difficult words? It might be just because of my poor vocabulary.

Rock and Roll?!

I'm using a business English textbook for my English study. All dialogues in it are conversations at work. In a dialogue I was studying yesterday, there was the phrase, "We are ready to rock and roll."

Rock and roll?!?! I was surprised because I couldn't associate "rock and roll" with a conversation at work. However, the sentence was taken up as a useful phrase.

According to the explanation of the textbook, it expresses the situation that everything is prepared and just waiting to get started, like a band has already prepared for everything and is waiting to be on stage. It's a colloquial expression that is often used in the US.

I see, but... Do you often use it at work? What is the difference from "We are ready to go"?

The draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup

It's 2:20am in Japan.
The ceremony for the draw is being held. It's too long and unnecessary! There is always such a excrescent superfluous sideshow. I think it a waste of time and especially a waste of money.
I wish the draw started soon.
----------
3:10am
The draw has already started.
The opening game will be South Africa vs. Mexco.
----------
3:30am
Finally, the draw was finished.
Here is the result.

I think England and Denmark, which I root for, can advance to stage 2. Goody!
188 days to go until the World Cup!

Charlize Theron at the World Cup draw

FIFA announced that Charlize Theron, who is one of my favorite actresses, will serve as co-host of Friday's World Cup draw in Cape Town. I thought why she, but now that I think about it, that's because she is from South Africa.

I'm very interested in the result of the draw, but in Japan, it will be broadcast on TV during midnight, so I planned to see the result on news next morning. But Charlize Theron will appear, so maybe I'll watch it.

By the way, I have no idea how I should say for the second sentence in this article. I feel that the title is also strange. I'll ask about it on Lang-8.

A sound made by a bone or joint

I post my article before this one on Lang-8. Of course, it got a lot of corrections. hehe.

Then I got to know how to describe a sound made by a bone or joint in English.
It's "click", "creak" or "crack."

I think "crack" is appropriate for the previous article.

Onomatopoeic words are really difficult because those are much different depending on each language.

Frozen shoulder?

I have had a pain in my right arm for more than a month. Especially I feel the pain when I lift the arm.

I felt the pain for the first time when I went to the relaxation salon to get massage in mid-October. When a massager stretched my arm after finishing massage, I felt a pain in my right arm. Since then, it hasn't cured.

I wonder if it's frozen shoulder.
Frozen shoulder is called 四十肩 (しじゅうかた) or 五十肩 (ごじゅうかた) in Japanese. Those mean "40 years old shoulder" or "50 years old shoulder", and it's one of the symbols of getting old. No way!

When I moved in bed this morning, my right arm made ボキッ sound. （ボキッ is a typical bone or joint sound. I wonder what you say it in English.) Then the pain decreased a little.

I still have the pain but it got much better after ボキッ. I hope it completely cures soon. I also hope it isn't frozen shoulder. haha.

My bad listening comprehension #18

"If you look across the top of the spreadsheet, you'll see production volume XXXXX by site."

I didn't catch the part of XXXXX. It sounds "word" to me, but if it was "word", the sentence would be weird. I heard it repeatedly, then I finally came up with the word "ordered"! In this case, the sentence makes sense, doesn't it? (No?)

However, it wasn't "ordered", but "worldwide." Gah... Those are completely different.

In the dialogue, this sentence was said by a person who was supposed to be Indian. So she pretended speaking with Indian accent, but it's not so strong.

Do you think it's possible to mishear "worldwide" and "ordered"? It's probably only me...

My hearing wrong of the past:
http://sandfriend.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-bad-listening-comprehension-17.html

Henry's handball put Ireland out of the World Cup.

The participating countries for the 2010 World Cup have been decided.
To my delight, Denmark is playing in the World Cup this time. Goody! I will cheer for Denmark, and England as usual.

Did you see the game, France vs. Ireland? France won for a hair and qualified for the World Cup, by Henry's goal with handball. It's called "New God's hand."

The handball scene couldn't be seen by a referee, so it can't be helped. It's often the case in sports games. However, for Ireland, it's not only one game lost. They lost the qualification for the World Cup. It's a really big matter. I feel very sorry for Ireland. When I think of feeling of the Ireland's players, I can't help feeling distress.

I feel a cold coming on.

I feel I'm going to get a cold.
So I'm going to bed early. I hope I'm fine tomorrow

.

The Giants won the championship!

Following the World Series in the US, a winner of Japan Series has just been decided. My favorite team, Yomiuri Giants won!! That's great!! However I missed the game. It's stupid of me. Now, I'm watching interviews of the manager and players.

It's for the first time in 7 years. 7 years is too long for the Giants, as well as the Yankees. It was really long way. The manager Hara must be having deep and various feelings.

Ah---! Why did I miss the game?

Giants Manager Tatsunori Hara being tossed in the air by his team members after winning the Japan Series

Matsui accomplished incredible thing!

The Yankees won the World Series for the first time in 9 years!! 9 years is a bit too long for the Yankees, isn't it?
And the most incredible thing is that a Japanese player Hideki Matsui, aka Godzilla, was chosen the World Series MVP!!! He showed the outstanding performance in the games, and when he went to bat, there was "MVP calls" from the spectators.

Hideki Matsui raising the MVP trophy

Although his goal had been winning the World Series, the Yankees was not able to win for a long time. The Yankees won for the first time since he joined the team 7 years ago.
When I saw him hug his teammates, such as mate Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada, I was very impressed.

Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter

His contract with the Yankees expires this year, and it has been said that the Yankees wouldn't renew the contract. Although he was MVP, it seems to be unavoidable. It's a pity. But it was good that his long-cherished dream finally came true and even he was chosen MVP, in his last year in the Yankees. After the World Series, he stated positively that he came to the US and joined the Yankees to achieve this goal.

By the way, during his MVP interview, he was speaking through an interpreter. What!? He has lived in the US for 7 years. No less than 7 years!! No way!