KEC Journal

Abashiri 2010

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:47:25 +0900

網走オホーツク流氷祭り: Abashiri Okhotsk Ice Floes Festival

Twitter

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:16:12 +0900

Happy New Year to you all!

Probably the most-read entry on my blog would be "Yoroshiku".

I just started tweeting as my New Year's something new to do. So, Yoroshiku!

Better Watch Out

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 09:22:52 +0900

Even though I'm a (supposed-to-be) Buddhist, Christmas is definitely something special. Yes, something white that I dream of every year.

The other day, I let the students in the fifth-graders' class listen to the song "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town." Interestingly, the words "better watch out" sounded like "belly macho" to them. So they were singing merrily, and jokingly, "You belly macho, belly macho... ."

Merry Christmas!

This is Shari

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:11:38 +0900

斜里
shari: a town in Hokkaido, Japan

Yes, it's winter, I know

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:50:42 +0900

初冬
sho-toe: early winter

It's already winter, but ...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:43:35 +0900

晩秋
ban-shoo: late autumn

Snow Festival 2009

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:28:45 +0900

Well,

I don't know much

about Mr.Obama.

What I know is

in Japan

there is a city named Obama

and

there are a number of people whose first name is Obama.

Heh.

Seriously,

I wonder

why his speeches make me so moved.

Yes, you can!

Yes, we can!

Yes, I can! (hopefully)

2009

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:12:01 +0900

Uh, let me whine, nothing is more disgusting than snow shovelling on weekends!

Well, hi, Kumiko-san. Long time no see. There sure are times when you feel like you have lost your motivation. Don't worry. Just wait until you want to learn again. There is no end in learning a language. I, too, have a lot to do to improve my English. I haven't seen the other side of the tunnel yet. In a sense, nobody could "master" a certain language. You know, even the Prime Minister can't read kanji well. ;)

And, thanks, guys, for New Year's greetings. Forgive me for not answering them, 'cause I'm 筆無精 (fude-busho: a lazy letter writer).

So Happy New Year to you all. May the year 2009 be a great one.

Even though I'm still not in the mood for blogging, KEC Journal is, and will be, here to stay.

Coming of Fall

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:15:51 +0900

We took a drive to Shibetsu last weekend.

Every time we go to Shibetsu, we drop in at this restaurant.

Spring Beauties

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:23:03 +0900

I Say Shit

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:44:16 +0900

No more snow, please.

2008

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:36:53 +0900

Uh, well,

I don't know who I would vote for if I were an American.

Hillary Clinton could be my choice.

I dunno.

No offense, but ...

for me

Clinton is simply...

scary.

Happy (belated-again) New Year!

Agree to Ugly

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 08:11:48 +0900

High school students:

"What does 'agree' mean?"

"怒ってる(okotteru)?"

"Hey, it's 'angry'!"

"Ah, then it's '醜い(minikui),' isn't it?"

"Come on, that's 'ugly'!!"

My dear visitors, if you have a big laugh at it, you may be a Japanese expert.

Together

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 08:54:03 +0900

High school freshmen:

"Do you want to know why I never misspell the word 'together'?"

"Yeah?"

"I always remember it this way: To get her!"

"... Wow!"

Wow...

Golden Oldies

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:38:33 +0900

Someone emailed me to ask me about the lyrics of a Japanese oldie "Manatsu no Dekigoto," sung by Hirayama Miki (平山みき). I was in my teens when the song became a huge hit in Japan. My impression of the song those days was, uh, nothing but that it was sung by a woman in a strange voice. I think I see her sing it on TV programs of golden oldies every once in a while.

I found a video clip.

Do you like it? I remember M once said she liked the song very much. I guess there are a lot of non-Japanese fans of the song. If you like it, tell me how you like it.

So, J, I'll email you the Romaji lyrics. A translation? Well, ask M if she did it. ;)