Hi, everyone!
It was unbelievable 40 degrees at Tajimi, Gifu.
Even at night, I can't go out from our living room with an air conditioner.
Azalea, how can you open the window??
I ate a cup of flavored shaved ice with my kids today, and "somen".
These days we couldn't eat anything but cool noodles at lunch.
How do you survive this hot summer?
The end of such a crazy day, I will go to bed early.
I hope you have a good night...
See you!
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4 comments:
Dear Cherry and friends,
Hello. How have you been?
Tonight, I met 3 of my friends who are all the same age as me. At a cozy restaurant, we shared a bottle of wine. Each of us had a few glasses of white wine moderately and gracefully. None of us shouted or cried after drinking. We talked about happy old days.
I was going to write about May's English session I attended 8 or 9 years ago. May used to be my English teacher. May had two English conversation classes at a community college in my neighborhood in those days. I attended one of them on Tuesday afternoon. May had been teaching there for several years by then and had already gained reputation as a good and strict teacher. It was said that she forced students to “speak out.” In fact, she sometimes said, “if you speak Japanese, I hit you.” She had never hit students, though.
She was strict in a way. When we talked about culture, somebody talked very superficial description about a particular group of people's custom. Although I don't remember what it was precisely, it went like, “in India, people use their hand to eat food.” May severely criticized that nobody wanted to listen to such a story. I told to myself it was true. However, when she admired one student who explained how Japanese people's inferiority complex prevented the fair evaluation of our culture, I was afraid that nobody else would follow such a conversation considering the level of the class.
In retrospect, we often talked about family issues. May let us choose topics. Soon I found that some women complained about their mother-in-laws. There was an atmosphere that people can be open-minded. Classmates always had another session of English conversation after the class.
Gradually, I found that May didn't necessarily demanded higher level of English. She just wanted to listen to lively conversations that we usually did in Japanese. She insisted that we didn't always talk how other people eat. Such conversations keeps us at a distance. She told us that if we were friends, we talked personal things or issues. That's what she hoped for.
This is how we became friends. She is not a strict teacher for me any more. Last year, I visited one of her classes in Nagoya. It seemed that she was a strict teacher for beginners but she made friends with students. On that day, she introduced me to a woman who had just quit teaching at YWCA. She said her only friend was May. Although she had been in Japan for more than 40 years, she didn't have any Japanese friends. She had never made friends with students. Isn't it sad? I saw the dramatic contrast of two women who are both from New York, speak English, and look like Japanese women.
I sometimes feel that open-mindedness is attached to English culture.
Without English, I would not have learned to express my opinion or feeling frankly and openly. Using English is therapeutic for me.
Good night, friends!
August 17, 2007 00:30 JST
Hi, everyone.
I curtail my comment. It is because I'm afraid that my interpretation of integrity is misunderstood or the word may be wrong owing to express what I want to say.
The fee of therapeutic session sounds cheaper than a 1000-yen-cabbage. I think those who go to the therapists and pick up phone to talk with friends about the session are in a good shape psychologically.
Since childhood, I have been required to show a poker face.
Especially, if I show angry face or get upset, I am a loser. It symbolizes immaturity. So after I camplaint, it makes me feel myself miserable,feeble and coward. I think my problem can be solved only by me. For example, if you are depressed, there is bound to be an agent or a cause, a therapist may help you aware it,though. How does the therapist help you or advise you? Are you relieved after you go to the therapist? If you can change yourself, you are happy.However, in the case there is a cause, it is not from you but others, what can you do? For example, with an agenda, someone circulates malicious rumors for more than 10 years, can the therapist solve the problem?
I think it is excellent the zombie like target has tided over the malicious rumors for more than 10 years though. Do you think this target shoud go to the therapist?
Hello, Cherry and my friends.
It’s incredibly hot every day. The temperature rose to 40.9 degrees Celsius in two places, breaking a national record set 74 years ago.
I definitely don’t want to suffer heatstroke, so in the daytime I stayed at home in the air-conditioned room and toward sunset I went shopping. Unexpectedly, the temperature was unmanageable levels.
I’m in the middle of the Bon Festival Holiday. I’m busy cooking for my family and MYSELF and savored delicacies and fresh fruits such as peaches, grapes, sweet figs, and melons with them.
I was also busy doing a sort of family events especially in this season such as visiting the grave in Kobe. The other day we went to the department store to get traditional Japanese decorations and trays which are necessary for exchanging betrothal gifts.
We’re planning to visit a prospective bride’s to exchange greetings with betrothal gifts and an engagement ring with my son in September.
As Plum says, yes, we can do what Norika can do. It's true that we're not the least young and good-looking, but we have an experiences and achievemnets. We have a mission to dispatch, that is, what is a real Japanese woman. In order to do that, we have to improve our writing skill.
Honestly, I feel a sense of responsibility that I have to meet the standard that “English blog” requires us to be.
I was extremely astounded to hear the news of fake eggs in China. Moreover I was stunned that a sly, cheating and immoral woman instructor in her 20s was practicing three-day courses in the production of artificial eggs. I saw pictures producing fake stuff in an article. It is incredible that someone who tasted the fake stuff said that it tasted very much like the real one.
Another news I think interesting is the one about the Beijing Olympic games in China. The countdown to the Olympic Games reached less than one- year mark. The Chinese government was eager to improve the bad, undesirable and unpleasant behaviors of the citizens. Can you guess what they are? They were spitting in the public, jumping ahead in line, and littering. Those habits were under siege. In addition to that, people were forced to learn English. What Poor Chinese!
It is 14:16 P.M. It seems to be very hot but I'm going out to do shopping.
Good-by, my friends.
Take care!
Sunflower
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