Speaking with thinking

It's been a week since I registered "Lang-8" and it's going well so far. Native English speakers are kind enough to correct my journals or put comments and it's very useful. Besides many people access my site even if they don't correct or put a comment, unlike this blog. haha.

So I'm also trying correcting other's journals in Japanese as much as possible.
Then I found it a bit difficult to figure out appropriate Japanese sentences.

Usually I speak Japanese unconsciously. I don't think about Japanese language when I speak. When I try to correct journals in Japanese, I know those sentence are unnatural or wrong. But I sometimes have trouble finding appropriate sentences. I often wonder what I always say in that case. Then I try to say myself repeatedly.

Whenever I speak English, I always think about English language. It's too bad. According to the experiment in the brain of bilingual people, they use different part of their brain between when they speak Japanese and when they speak English. And people who are not so good in English speak English using the Japanese-speaking part of their brain. The same must be true for me.

When will I be able to speak English unconsciously like my mother language?

Google Phone

Google phone "G1" with OS "android" was released in the US.

It's not fashionable at all! I wonder why all smart phones lack in design. Just its functionality is focused.
I think the same applies to cell phones in other countries.

Japan is an advanced country in cell phones. If you go to a cell phone shop, you can find many kind of fashionable, stylish and cool cell phones. Cell phones in Japan have to be superior both in fashionability and in functionality.
I think that's why sales of iPhone in Japan aren't increasing.

I don't make good use of cell phone's functions. I'm using just voice, mails, an address book and sometimes web access. I always choose a cell phone just for its design. So a smart phone seems to be too much for me. But if those were more fashionable, I might buy one.

Another meaning of "swallow"

I was writing to English dictation as usual. In the dialogue, a speaker said;
"Is it difficult to swallow the camera?"

To swallow the camera?! The meaning of "swallow" I know was just a kind of bird. I tried to use my imagination as much as possible.

I wonder if "swallow" is also used as a verb. If so, what does it mean? Does it means "to fly like a swallow" or something? But how does it relate to the camera?
This dialogue was about a medical checkup, so I could imagine fully that the camera meant a gastro camera.

Finally I checked the text book.
Oh!! It means taking something such as pills, foods or drinks. I see.

So does it have something to do with a swallow of a bird?

I might have become one of victims of toxic substances in Chinese-made food?

I heard shocking news yesterday. A restaurant chain announced that a toxic substance melamine was detected in their pizza dough made in China.

Well, normally I'd think "Melamine in Chinese foods. Oh no, not again".

But! Actually I went to that restaurant just last Saturday and even ate its pizza!
Oh! Oh! Oh! I got melamine?

Today, news on the Internet said that the restaurant chain decided to refund the price paid to all customers who visited its 542 restaurants and ate the pizza.
Oh, should I go to the restaurant?
But is it about the money? No, it's about health, furthermore human lives.

Then I read the new closely. What? It said that they refunded to customers who visited from 25th Sep. to 2nd Oct. Hmm... They provided that pizzas containing melamine only during the period?

Anyway, I didn't get melamine.
But I'm surprisingly healthy since I was a kid and have strong solid body. So even if I get it, I would be OK!

Bye-bye, my suitcase

I had two be-wheeled suitcases. I bought biggir one about 7 years ago for my business trip to the US. When I went to a shop to buy it, I told the shop staff that my trip was for two weeks. Then he recommended a very big suitcase.
Actually I haven't used it since then. I used it just once, because it was too big.

I decided to sell that big object which occupied wide part of my closet to a pawnshop. My motto is being simple. I don't want to have too many things.

I took it to the shop yesterday. The shopkeeper checked it closely. Although it was Samsonite, it was old model and there were some scratches, and according to the shopkeeper, its color was unpopular.

Then the purchase price the shopkeeper indicated was no more than 1,000 yen (9.86 us$, 7.42 euro). Haha. Well, it's much better than throwing it away.

Skype

I installed Skype on my PC yesterday. I don't intend to use it. I'm just curious to see what it is like.

The first call to a fixed phone or a cell phone is free so I tried to call my cell phone to check how it goes.
Hmm... there is time lag. It's like a televised satellite link. Is it usual Skype? Or I wonder if it's due to my PC's spec.

On Skype, you can exchange not only voice but also image (video) by webcam, right? In case of talking on the phone, even if I wear no makeup, have rough hair or am in my underwear, it's no problem. But Skype... I don't use it for now.

"bTibet08" The first session

"bTibet08", which is the event to know Tibetan Buddhist culture, is held in Gokoku temple in three-time series.

The first session was held today and I went to attend it. Today's theme was "Touching Tibet and its Buddhist culture".

It's Gokoku temple. Let's go in.


First, I worshipped at the principal image of Gokoku temple.

Then, I went to the site of bTibet08.


Oh, there is the photo of Dalai Lama XIV in the center.


Wow, it's the first time I've seen real Tibetan monks.

The first was the introduction lecture "About the progress of Tibetan Buddhism and its calvary" by a Japanese person, who is probably a leading Tibet-related expert in Japan (I don't know well though).

The second is the sermon by a Tibetan monk. Actually I left in the middle of this sermon because I had to go to a bicycle shop to pick my bicycle up by 6pm.

Today's session was... a bit different form my expectation. What I try to know is basic teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. I don't intend to be a believer so I don't need deep and difficult parts. OK, I look forward to the next session which will be held the next month.

Lang-8

In the comment on other person's blog I often visit, a person mentioned "Lang-8".
http://lang-8.com/

This site is the language exchange SNS for language learners. People write journals (like blog) in the language they are learning. And they correct others' journals as a native speaker. Hmm... I can't explain well in English. In my case, I write journals in English, and I can help other people who are learning Japanese by correcting their Japanese journals.

I tried to registerd it. But I've been writing this blog. So I am thinking about putting the same article on both this blog and lang-8. I would be happy if English native speakers correct my journals.

Hmm... There are a lot of tools for learning something on the Internet.

My URL on Lang-8
http://lang-8.com/?a=page_f_home&target_c_member_id=14470

My goal for the coming year

Based on the remorse of yesterday, I set my goal for the coming year.

[Social activities]
To be active internationally both on business and on humanitarian assistance,
I will do in a year;

- Find and get the position which has possibility to work abroad or work internationally.
- Start something in some way about helping poor children with going to school
- Get enough English skill to do two of the above

[personal]
To achieve my goals of social activities,
I will do in a year;

- Build the health body
- Enjoy a frugal life to save money (I've been a person who doesn't save money at all.)

[additional]
- Become a cool woman with generous heart and remain such a person :-)

Break away from my laziness to achieve the goals!
Happy Birthday to me!

Remorse of the past year

Tomorrow is my birthday. In the past year, I couldn't break away from my laziness.

- I choose sleeping/dozing above all things as ever.
- I often blew off studying English so my English doesn't improve.
- I haven't started anything for real about being involved in the activities to help poor children with going to school.

Lazy Sand remains being lazy sand, not only the past year but also all my life. The older the more terrible.
The worst thing is choosing sleeping/dozing above all things. It is the root of all evil. I think there are many people who like sleeping, dozing and napping. But in my case, it is to the point to addiction. I should have stronger mental strength.

Tomorrow, I'm going to figure out my goal for the coming year.

No human right, no safety of life, in China

A Chinese human-right activist Hu Jia, who was a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, is serving time in prison for "inciting subversion of state power" which is self-serving accusation for the Chinese authorities.

It was revealed that his wife and 0 year-old daughter were held captive in the hotel 500km away from their house during the Beijing Olympics.
The Chinese authorities threatened his wife by telling her that they wouldn't beat him but they had another way.

What a horrible country. Although everybody in the world know there is no human right in China, I realize China's behavior in defiance of human rights.

--------

In Japan, harmful substances were detected in Chinese-made food again. Not again! How many times have this happened? It's for the umpteenth time.

Even though Chinese-made products are cheap, Japan should quit importing them.

It reminds me again that a Chinese said that China never value human's lives.
China ignores not only human rights but also human lives.
It's horrifying that the Olympics was held in such a country.

I can't hear abduct/abduction.

Whenever I watch the news about abductions of Japanese by North Korea, I can always hear adopt/adoption instead of abduct/abduction. Always. Although I know they are talking about the abduction issue.

There is similar situation.
Whenever I hear advertise/advertisement, I can always hear apatise/apatisement or something.

Is it only me who feel "b" of "abduct" and "d" of "advertise" is almost unsounded?

North Korea has been removed from a US terrorism blacklist.

Because the US government announced that they removed North Korea from a US terrorism blacklist, the word "the abandoned abduction issue" is flying all over the news in Japan.

I don't think the US cares about the abduction issue, so it isn't surprising for me.

From another perspective, I have doubt.
North Korea has agreed to all U.S. nuclear inspection demands. But I don't think it can be the reason to remove North Korea from the list. Even if North Korea gave up all of their nuclear-related things they have, it couldn't be the reason. "Whether having nuclear weapons or not" has nothing to do with "whether they are related to terrorism".

The US government's logic always doesn't make sense and is selfish.

Lamb vs. mutton #2

(Lamb vs. mutton #1)
I went to the curry shop next to my apartment today.

I saw the menu for takeout. It's the same as before. Chicken curry, vegetable curry, mutton curry etc... There is no lamb curry.

I usually don't do such a thing but I tried to ask with courage.
"Can I order a lamb curry to go?"
A staff said "yes" EASILY. Haha.

Then I ate it. Huh? It is almost the same as mutton. There is no so big difference. Oh, yeah. Both are the same meat of sheep.

If I ate lamb, I would prefer Jingisukan, which is kind of barbecue of meat of sheep.

Jingisukan
* The name of "Jingiskan" is supposed to be from Genghis Khan of Mongolia.
But the dish itself has no relation with Genghis Khan or Mongolia.

ALF

As I wrote before, I put some English TV dramas into my English drama lineup for studying.

One of them is "ALF" and I didn't have a so high expectation of it. But contrary to my expectations, it's very amusing!
Besides, their English is very clear for me. I can't wait the next story!

So, I checked ALF on the Internet. Surprisingly, ALF is very popular and there are many funs all over the world including Japan.

I like Full House, too. Those kinds of dramas are called "sitcom", aren't they? I wonder if both ALF and Full House are for kids. I think adults can enjoy them enough, at least I'm really enjoying.

Japan and France

Japanese anime and manga are popular in the world. Especially manga is very popular with French people.

Judo is also popular in France. The player's number in France is greater than that in Japan.

I wonder why Japanese culture rings the bell with French people.

I've heard that French parents teach their children to be able to speak pretty language, because it becomes great wealth even if they are lower-class families and aren't rich. Awareness of speaking pretty language seems to be very high in France, as well as in Japan.

I think there is also a similarity between French cuisine and Japanese cuisine. Not only taste but also fineness of look is very important on both cuisines.

Japanese people respect and purse beauty/fair not only on language and cuisine but also on other many things. I think it applies to French people.

Hmm... temperaments of French people and Japanese people are similar?

I doubt it.
Japanese people who are workaholic and French people who take an unbelievable long vacation. Their temperaments can't be similar.

There is nothing which you can't do due to busyness.

When a friend of mine and I talked about meeting after a long time, we hardly couldn't decide when we meet, because she always said she was busy or she has something to do. In the end, we couldn't meet. My understanding is that she doesn't have the will to meet.

She also said, "I may not send someone e-mail because..." What I hear from her in the last couple of months is "because I am struggling with something...", "because I am a bit busy..." and so on and actually I'm fed up with hearing those things.
I think she should send the e-mail from a commonsense perspective, and her reason not to be able to send the e-mail doesn't make sense to anyone's ears.

Then I realized that her logic was very similar to another friend of mine. What they have in common is "being a stay-at-home housewife for a long time", which means they have been away from the public world for a long time.

But unfortunately there are people in business world who say, "I can't/couldn't do so-and-so because I'm busy." But a REALLY busy person never says "I'm busy." And he/she in fact does everything.

"I can't/couldn't do so-and-so because I'm busy."
is equal to
"I don't have the will to do so-and-so."

There are a lot of such people in business world. Almost all of them are inefficient and dull.

The dramatic upset victory by the Yomiuri Giants

The Yomiuri Giants clinched the Central League baseball season title yesterday.
Congratulation!!

The Giants had been the second place and was 13 games behind the leading team at one point. So most people must have thought the Giants couldn't win the pennant. But somehow, I thought the Giants could make it. Somehow... Then they did!!

Some years ago, the Giants was the first place by a VERY large margin although the pennant race just begun. No one doubted the Giants' victory and people said it made the pennant race boring. But, somehow, I was worried and didn't think that large margin was not enough. Somehow... Then as I predicted, the Giants couldn't win.

Hmm... I wonder if those are a big fan's six sense.

The next is the climax series, which is entirely disapproved system, at least for me. Teams have to win the climax series to advance to the Japan series.

Go in and win, the Giants!

Manager Tatsunori Hara (center) and players, waving to fans

The definition of Japanese people - Homogeneous nature of Japanese society

On the previous article, I wrote "3 Japanese won the Nobel Prize in Physics".
Yes, 3 JAPANESE. All news in Japan also say so.

But one of them, emeritus professor at Chicago University Yoichiro Nanbu lives in the US now and got American citizenship when he was around 50 years old. So American media say about three Nobel laureates in physics "one American and two Japanese".

I can understand that they say so. Chinese American, Italian American, Indian American, Japanese American etc... various races gather in the US, and they are Americans. But for Japanese people, professor Nanbu is surely Japanese.

Probably "blood" is more important than nationality on a piece of paper which means laws or something in administration, for Japanese people. For example, a figure skater Rena Inoue. She moved to the US to improve her skating and became a US citizen in 2005. (More info about her is here.) She now participates in competitions as an American skater with her partner who is an American guy. But most Japanese regard her as Japanese.

On the other hand...
Many non-Japanese athletes came to Japan and plays in Japan. Some of them obtained Japanese citizenship. But for Japanese people, they are "foreigners".

When people ask someone about his/her country of origin, they say "Where are you from?" in English. But what Japanese truly want to ask is probably "Where is your blood come from?"

Novel Prizes rush

Nobel Prize in Physics was announced the day before yesterday and 3 winners are all Japanese, Yoichiro Nanbu, Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Masukawa. Three Japanese!

From left, Makoto Kobayashi, Toshihide Masumawa, Yoichiro Nanbu

Then Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced yesterday and one of winners is Osamu Shimomura who is Japanese! Wow!!

Osamu Shimomura, holding the test tube containing GFP

Elementary particle physics? CP symmetry violation? Green Fluorescent Protein? Actually I have no idea about their findings. All I can say is that these 4 people have one thing in common. It's that they have intense curiosity. Their intense curiosity brought their excellent findings. Although they are now old men, they don't lose their curiosity. What a wonderful thing!

The last game of our home run king, Sadaharu Oh

Sadaharu Oh, manager of Japanese pro baseball team the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, has already announced his retirement at the end of this season, and his last game was held on 7th.

His performance during his playing days was by far the best. Probably even MLB players know him. The number of home runs in his lifetime is 868!
He is the eternal superhero in Japanese baseball world, along with Shigeo Nagashima.

He has been in the professional baseball world for over 50 years. Half a century! It's long, very long. He has been fighting for such long time and showing us wonderful games.
He suffered from stomach cancer and underwent the total gastric resection on 2006. I hope he can get plenty of rest.

Sadaharu Oh, greeting fans after his last game

New English dramas

In Japan, TV dramas last 3 months. TV program scheduling is changed and new TV programs start in April, July, October.

So some TV programs of my English drama list for studying English have finished, such as HEROS season1, Handy Manny (sad...), Mortified, Hannah Montana... and unfortunately Desperate Wives season 2 will also finish soon.

Of course new programs start. I added 3 programs into my English drama list so far, Kidnap season 1, 4400 and ALF. Hmm... Actually I don't like suspense dramas so much though.
I hope those dramas are fun!

$700B bailout was approved.

Stupid! It's really stupid!!

There are MANY poor people in taxpayers. Why is their money used for such a thing?

Top management of companies such as Lehman, AIG, who caused spending (wasting) people's money, still live in a stately mansion, have huge money and live a rich lifestyle.

America is really rich people-friendly country. It's the same in every country though.

"When the rich wage war it's the poor who die."
by French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre

By the way, the US's "financial rescue plan (bill)" or "Bailout plan" this time is translated as "Kinyu Antei-ka ho" in Japan and this word is flying around. It means "financial stabilization bill". Is this translation appropriate?
And, I don't think it can stabilize the financial industry.