Awkward situations

You can run into someone whom you don’t want to see because it happens accidentally. And as you having these situations, you become social enough to handle that awkwardness.

So, it’s brilliant to name this app as “Anti-social” app.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-25554192

Do you wanna use it?

Nan-tooka kan-tooka / whatchamacallit

The new word I’ve learned today is..”whatchamacallit”.

If I put it in Japanese, I think “nan-tooka-kan-tooka” is close to Engish meaning.

For example, “I forgot that name of the singer, aaahhh, anyway, that nan-tooka-kan-tooka has a great voice!”

I want to know an English word for “alle-kolle” too.

I use it in a phrase like this; “ I couldn’t watch the movie last night, because I had had alle-kolle (this and that/ various things) I had to do.”

Do you have any?

Whatchamacallit, umm it sounds cute, doesn’t it?

Eco-weeding by GOATS!

Goats can work for human not only by producing milk & cheese. They weed very willingly for free. You don’t have to burn weeded grass, so it’s CO2-free. Money is saved much. They can weed even where weeding machines can’t go inside like under solar panels.

Why goats? Is there any chance for rabbits or cows? NO. Goats are the best because they eat very much and have strong legs for a steep land. You can see sheep not goats in the picture above. Sheep can’t climb so it can be work when you want to weed a flat land. Cows are too heavy to work at a cliff. Rabbits only think to run away from you, so you know, you gain nothing.

The most important thing is that they don’t eat crops! You don’t have to worry about a short of your own food when everyone has goats.

In Japan, a few groups have started projects to take these advantages of goats.

I guess goats should start business by themselves!

http://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/1307/02/news132.html

http://www.kajima.co.jp/gallery/biodiversity/ikimachi/yagi/

Start＊＊

Hellooo all! It’s been a while since the last post.

I have been…

started a new life as a full-time worker at the same office. Am I promoted or trapped? I don’t know.

Tatsu, my son, entered the middle school. He is now taller than I, eats a bucket of rice literally every day, oh dear!!

The uniform he is wearing is called as “Tsumeeri” or “Gakuran”. It’s too big for him now!

Momo, my daughter, is in the third grade. She becomes more artistic, has been into Tobidase Dobutsu no Mori(DS vedio game), and Kyarypamyupamyu(an girl idol).

It’s amazing/sad you can have all traditional daily events in this game!

My husband, I think it’s kind of “Mid life crisis” for him, he’s been trying to get a new job. I hope it won’t be “whole life crisis” !! But you know, the middle age men are so stubborn.

OK. So, I made up my mind to stay calm and believe all things gonna be happy. Don’t say I’m desperate. I really think it’s  gonna be all right, somehow. I might be upset if I were in 30’s but I became tough by now. Whatever happens, happens! I love this English phrase!! If you want to know it in Japanese, maybe it’ll be “Naru you ni naru! なる様になる”　Words have a magic, they make you feel easy, don’t they??

Have a happy weekend, or the Golden week if you are in Japan!! Bye〜

Things I’m wondering in American TV dramas

No.1  A green lamp

I often find a green lamp on a desk, especially in a scene of a lawyer’s office or an executive’s room.

Like this

It always has a green shade. I’ve never seen one in blue or brown or whatever but green. I’ve been wondering if it exists in reality?  I mean, does it look so lawyers or executives?

No.2 Patient’s clothes

In medical dramas or crime dramas, patients or victims are always wearing clothes with small and blue patterns.

Like this

Maybe these are so common for the American that nobody cares, but for me they are very interesting.

Have you ever found any interesting or unfamiliar thing for you in Japanese dramas?

はろう〜最近、断酒中です。

居酒屋のノンアルコールカクテルドリンクメニューに

カルピスコーラを見つけたので

うちでやってみた。なんか美味いような気がする。

カロリーオフカルピス+ゼロコーラでやるのね。

The Sun rises in the east?

I think you should change a preposition “in” to “from” to describe the Sun or the Moon rises, don’t you think?  Because they move! They move pretty FAST especially when they rise and set.  I agree to use “in” for the polar star. But only for it, you can use “in” i think.

About the Sun set, I would say “the Sun sets into the sea.” becuase I live in front of the sea, so the Sun always sinks into the sea!

By my cell-phone camela

 

じゅ〜、いいそうね。夕方、久々に、夏の間はまったくしなかったウォーキングしてみたよ。空が高くなってうろこ雲が出ていて、夏は終わるんだな。お疲れさん、みなさん、私。今年の夏をやり過ごすことができたね。

Grandma passed away…

My 89-year-old grandma passed away on the 13th early morning. She had been sleeping(unconscious) since May only with IV. It’s weird feeling among family like sadness with relief, you know? Or the Japanese word “Dai-oujou”  makes us feel easy. ( Dai-oujou means a good life, like living long enough and died of old age. )

It was the first funeral for my kids. They had never seen a remain ever. So, i guess it’s kind of shock for them. They were scared at first, but.. they gradually got used to it, and then stared at her so carefully! Their curiosity overcame fear.

At the cremation place, Momo hadn’t known what would happen next before my explanation. She said “It’s too rough for her! You never burn her?! “.  Tatsu knew the fact people must be cremated, but still he looked shocked seeing the place he was standing at like the steel doors, and spooky sound of fire, polite but cold face men on duty, they put someone’s casket into it so naturally, etc..  The final moment to say good-bye to grandma, we wetted a small branch in the water and spread it around on her casket. It’s one of ritual manner, but this one was so easy to understand for kids why they did so.

My kids learned a lot. The way people passed away from this world. The way how to say the final good-bye. The meaning to live. The meaning of family. My grandmother taught them a lot with her own body.

2 and a half hours later, we met her bones. So fragile and thin. Again, Momo was scared to watch them. Moreover, you have to pick up these small pieces of bones with long chopsticks and put bones into a pot to bring it back home! So scary for kids, I guess. But! ( you knew it?)  Momo got used to it again, and she tried to pick up much bigger bone. OMG….It’s not a competition, Momo.

I won’t let them do like that if it was not my grandma funeral. But i knew she was smiling by our side to see her grandchildren picking up her bones so hard!

It was an easy and peaceful funeral. One thing I regret….I should have talked to her much more after I became an adult. I don’t know how she survived the war and had raised 5 children. It’s too late to regret.

運動会 Sports Festival

Tama-ele game; Two teems, White & Red, comete the number of balls in the baskets. This game is popular for younger grades.

Kibasen;Cavarly game. You win if you grab off a cap from a rider. Tatsu was a rear leg.

For Tatsu, it’s the last Undo-kai as an elementary school kid.  When I saw the Undo-kai 6 years ago for the first time after he got entered the school, I thought elder boys playing Cavarly game looked so big and strong. Now Tatsu and his friends have become like that before I knew it. Kids glow so fast.

Have you ever hire a nanny?

On the American and the British dramas, which I see very often, they hire a nanny for their kids. I can’t know what these hired nannies exactly do to the kids by dramas. Don’t know how familiar the parents and the nanny are each other, or these nannies should have any certificate, and more than anything, are kids really OK leaving alone ( not alone exactly but ) at night when parents go to a dinner party?  Is it a real thing?  What kind of people hire a nanny?  Do nannies really exist??

glee

Maybe, I’m outdated but I’ve been into ‘glee’ these days. I love to hear the songs arranged so nice. While first one or two episodes, I thought I didn’t like Rachel because she was a very annoying girl. But, as I keep watching I found myself loving her annoyingness. (My spelling checker found it’s a wrong word! )  The story line is so-so, I think it’s a bit too young for me, but I like watching it while doing house chores like ironing before I go to bed. I can unwind myself with their songs and dances. Japanese drama doesn’t have that kind of show, i guess.

Do you know any good drama? (in English) Super natural, psychic, or medical ER type of movies are not my thing. Please tell me your feeling about any dramas you saw recently!  ( Oh! I love ‘Private Practice’ very very much because of Taya Diggs! huhuhu..)