On my way home from Nagoya on Sunday, I got off the train at Konomiya Station and made my way to Konomiya Shrine to check out the naked festival (裸祭). It was difficult to take a good photo because there were a lot of people & police in the way. Standing around naked in winter... it looks like a good way to catch a cold.
By the way, the reason I went to Nagoya was to see an art exhibition:
https://en.bloguru.com/otto/343190/2019-nitten-exhibition
Vocabulary:
- On my/your/the way... = 行く途中
- In the way = 邪魔をする、行く手を塞ぐ
- Make my/your way... = 目指す
- By the way = ところで
- A good way (to...) = (...のは) 良い方法
I like* chocolate & I like tins (缶), so my wife correctly guessed that this would be a good valentines gift for a geek like** me. I like that the chocolates are shaped & wrapped to look like*** sardines (鰯). That`s funny.
Vocabulary:
- *like = 好き
- ** a geek like me = 私ようなギーク
- *** look like = 似ている,
On Sunday I went to the annual (= every year) 'Nitten' Japan Fine Arts Exhibition at The Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art in Sakae. I took my young daughter, but she got bored quickly. Also, she was impatient to eat ice-cream; I`d promised her beforehand that I would buy her one, so afterward, I quickly bought a few postcards (can you guess the two that my daughter chose?) then we went & ate ice-cream nearby.
Vocabulary:
- beforehand = (何か) する前, あらかじめ
- afterward = (何か) したから
- nearby = (何処か)の近い
Here is a post on Gifu Channel`s website about the visit to Teragoya a while ago* by three SKE48 members:
http://backnumber.zf-web.com/tske48/p1812282715
In a while**, the video will be available on Gyao (https://gyao.yahoo.co.jp/). I`ll let you know when it`s there. While*** you wait for that, how about watching my Youtube videos for a while****? (I`m sorry that Tera-chan is not as pretty as SKE48 members...)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3SckO780YDy43cZhP9UBlQ/videos
Vocabulary:
* a while ago = しばらく前
** in a while = もう少ししたら
**** for a while = しばらくの間
*** while = 〜する間
I made this end table, using some of the wood I gathered at Biwa Lake a couple of weeks ago. It`s just wide enough to put our printer on, but narrow enough to fit in the gap between the sofa & a large cabinet in our living room. Also, it`s just the right height for a rubbish bin (ゴミ箱) to go underneath, & the drawer is just the right size for some A4 paper & spare ink cartridges. Finally, my wife judged that it looks nice enough to keep in the living room.
Grammar:
- ...just the right + 名詞 (e.g. size/length/height/amount/etc.) = 丁度いい
- ...just 形容詞* + enough (*e.g. wide/big/long/etc.) = 辛うじて
I took this photo in December but I forgot to stick* it on my blog - they`re nengajo that I made with my my kids. Instead of printing directly onto the postcards, we printed our design onto origami paper, then stuck** the origami paper on the postcards.
Vocabulary:
*stick = put (casual/informal English)
**stick 現在形, stuck 過去形 = 張る
Tera-chan asks Teragoya Otto about the 2019 Australian Open:
T: Did you watch the tennis on Saturday?
O: Yes, I did.
T: Who won?
O: Naomi Osaka won.
T: Who did she beat?
O: She beat a Czech player called Petra Kvitova
T: Where did you watch it?
O: I watched it at Marquee Australian Bar in Gifu
T: Did you drink beer while you watched it?
O: Of course.
T: Who paid for your beer?
O: Me, of course! Why?
T: I heard that you sometimes try to get other people to pay for your beer...
O: What? Who told you that?!
T: Oh, I forget. Bye...!
Grammar:
- Who + 動詞...? = 誰が動詞(する / した)…?
- Who + did + 誰か + 動詞...? = 誰かが誰に/を動詞(した)…?
On Sunday I saw an opera called 'Jindo no Sakura' at Gifu Seiryu Bunka Plaza. It`s about a Japanese official called Chiune Sugihara who helped Jews escape from Europe during World War 2. It`s a very moving story. A movie about him was made a couple of years ago (called 'Persona Non Grata' in English). I haven`t seen it but now I`d like to.
Two GifuTeragoya students were members of the opera cast. What talented people we have at our school! Well done, ladies!
Grammar:
- 「___」と言うの＿＿ = a ____ called "___"
I found these on the beach at Lake Biwa. They look strange, don`t they? They are seed pods from a water plant called the water chestnut. However, it is not the same as the water chestnuts that are sometimes used in Asian cooking; they are different. And of course, it`s not the same as the chestnuts ( マロン, 栗) that are eaten in Japan in autumn!
Hmmm. What should I do with them?
This place is in Ichinomiya. I`ve blogged about it before: https://en.bloguru.com/otto/295431/lodekka-curry-noodle-restaurant
It`s a restaurant inside a London double-decker bus. Beside the bus there is a small building that looks like an English pub, but it`s just a foyer (玄関) ...unfortunately. Besides ramen or curry & rice, there aren`t many dishes on the menu, but it`s a fun place to eat, especially if you have small kids (or if you`re a big kid!).
Vocabulary:
- beside = 隣
- besides = 他に
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