Otto's blog

I was surprised when I saw this Jeep pass our school. Old (Mitsubishi) Jeeps are not so rare in Japan, but this is the first time I`ve seen a station wagon version. What do you think? Is it cool? It`s interesting, but is it stylish? Hmmm.

Grammar
- 「どう」 is usually 'How' in English, but 「どう思いますか」 = 'WHAT do you think?'

My workmate James moved* to a new house just north of Gifu City recently. He said the garden was overgrown, so I went there to help him clear it. We cut & pulled a lot of weeds, & moved** them all to a big pile in the centre of his yard. It was hot & sweaty work, but it was nice to get outside & move*** around; recently I`ve been spending most of my time indoors.

It`s a really nice place - very natural, with a beautiful view. Nice choice, James!

Vocabulary:
* 引っ越す
** 動かす
*** 動く

After getting a haircut at Horie`s Barbershop (you can see his barber`s pole on the left of this photo), I discovered this new shop, called 'Gifu Spice House', nearby. I could actually smell it before I reached it - Mmmm!

I went inside & looked around, then, after I chatted a little with the staff, I bought some instant noodles (for my kids), & some lime-coconut-chilli chutney (for me). That night, after I got home, I tried some with my dinner. It was gooooood!

Grammar
- "After/Before + 動詞ing" OK
- "After/Before + 主語 + 動詞" OK
- "After/Before + 動詞" WRONG

There were lots of ripe (熟している) berries on my blackberry bush, so my daughter and I made jam. It`s pretty easy & fun:

1. Pick heaps of berries
2. Loads of bugs, ants, etc? No problem - just wash them off
3. Blend berries in a blender
4. Blackberries have tons of small seeds - Use a strainer to remove them
5. Put the berry juice and stacks of sugar in a saucepan
6. Boil it for ages (= a long time) while stirring*
7. Put it in clean jars. Finished!

*Actually, this part wasn`t fun; it was pretty boring.

Vocabulary:
- There are many slang (俗語) ways to say 'lots of ___' (たくさん), e.g. heaps/loads/tons/stacks/piles of ___. These are not usually used in written English, apart from (別として) maybe advertising.

Something strange happened the other day. I wanted to cool down some beer quickly, so I opened the the ice-compartment of our refrigerator and put a can in.

Bad decision.

A second or two after the can touched the ice, it exploded. Wow. I didn`t expect that to happen. It seems the can couldn`t stand the sudden cold. My wife asked, "What happened...?!" I said, "Nothing! Just relax and keep watching TV..." so she did.

Good decision.

Japanese English:
- 'a happening' (名詞) is rare in English. The word 'happen' is almost always used as a verb (動詞).

It was easy to notice this car - the back sticks out of the parking space & into the street! American cars, especially old ones, tend to be pretty big - not just long but also wide - not suitable for Japan`s narrow roads & small parking spaces, I think. Also, they`re pretty heavy. Cars like this were made using 1.2mm thick sheet metal panels; a Camaro like this weighs about 1,600kg. Modern cars use thinner metal - only 0.8mm, so weigh less - on average about 1,300kg.

Vocabulary:
- narrow 狭い　wide 幅の広い, 広い
- thin 細い thick 厚い, 太い

My 2nd son used to be into (= interested in) the Japanese superhero Ultraman, so we bought him a book & some figures. Nowadays most Ultraman figures are made in China, but they used to be made in Japan. Little by little, I started to enjoy looking for made-in-Japan Ultraman figures in thrift stores. When I buy a new one, I give it to my son to I.D. (= identify 指す) in his Ultraman book & play with it, then I display it with the others.

Vocabulary:
- Overseas, at bars or nightclubs, staff may ask you for “I.D. please” before you can enter or buy alcohol. In this case, I.D. = passport, driver`s license etc. that shows your age.

I made a bunch of wooden smartphone stands, which I am selling at school for ¥300 each. Staff member Takako is my first customer. Thank you Takako!

There are two designs. One is here:
https://en.bloguru.com/otto/372124/whats-that-for

Vocabulary:
- "A bunch of ____" = several, a group of
- a bunch of flowers = 花束

I`ve been cleaning & fixing this old stereo system. I can play tapes on the tapedeck, and records on the turntable, and now, after buying some cables from a thrift store（リサイクルショップ), I can connect it to my computer & play music from Youtube through it - nice! The stereo speakers are way (=much) better than my computer ones.

Unfortunately, the tuner on the stereo is still not working, so I can`t listen to music on the radio yet. I will try to fix that next.

Grammar:
- play games/listen to music/edit photos ON my computer/smartphone
- watch movies ON my computer/my smartphone/DVD/Youtube/Netflix
- chat with friends ON Facebook, Line, WhatsApp

As you know, I love collecting things. In this 5-minute podcast, I talk about three of my childhood collections. Please listen & enjoy!

https://bohmeenglish.podbean.com/e/the-bohme-english-podcast-16-listening-%e7%b7%b4%e7%bf%92/