A seventh grader in class:

"What does USA stand for?"

"Ultra Super America!"

Hey....

Posted by Kiyo at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

At the entrance of the washrooms of a freeway rest area:

Please

Female visitors,
refrain from using the men's room.

I just couldn't resist taking the shot, laughing. I'm curious to know what got them to put up the notice. Oh, but actually, I've had a couple of experiences of "female invasion of men's rooms." And, you know, those invaders are middle-aged or older women. Yeah...

Posted by Kiyo at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

While talking with my wife the other day, in Japanese of course, I suddenly paused in search of a word. The word was right on the tip of my tongue, just there, but I just couldn't come up with it. Really frustrating moment, isn't it? Then she said, "Can't you think of its English word, either?" "Oh?" I tried shifting gears. "Well, uh, it's...LOOTING!" "What does it mean?" "It's like...a mob steal things from stores during a disaster or the like...." She said several Japanese words to it, but none sounded right somehow, when I finally caught it!

The word was: 略奪 (ryaku-datsu)

Phew...

Now you may wonder in what context I had to use the word then. Well, it's...just...at the edge of my memory, but...

Posted by Kiyo at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)