These are some road signs I saw on the way to Fukui. The first one is a bear. The second is a wild boar. The third one is a たぬき. Do you know what たぬき is in English? You don`t, do you? Don`t worry - not many people do. In English, it`s called a `racoon-dog`. We don`t have them in Australia. Have you ever seen one?
Despite (つつも) all the signs, I didn`t see any of these animals last weekend. I was a bit disappointed (がっかり ).
On the weekend we went camping in Fukui Prefecture. The campsite was right (= exactly) next to the beach. Great!
Actually, the beach wasn`t a sandy beach. It was rocky. But it was interesting because there were rockpools containing a lot of small fish & crabs. My kids enjoyed catching them.
I went snorkelling, but the water was a bit (= a little) rough, & I couldn`t see so well. Also, there were a lot of people fishing there. I think it`s kind of bad manners to snorkel near people fishing.
It was a nice spot. We had a good time.
Tony Abbott wasn`t the only big winner last weekend. Tokyo won its bid to host the 2020 Olympics. Everybody on Japanese TV seemed really happy about it.
I guess they never use the Tokyo subway.
Do you want to go to an Olympic event in Tokyo in 2020?
On the weekend there was an election (せんきょ) in Australia. As a result there is now a new Prime Minister (そうりだいじん ). His name is Tony Abbott. I hope he does a good job.
Good luck, Prime Minister!
I was surprised to hear that Australian footballer Lucas Neill has joined J-League team Omiya Ardija. He`s pretty famous. In fact, he`s the current (= now) Australian national soccer team captain. He`s also pretty muscly, which makes his uniform look small on him...
Nagoya will play Omiya at Toyota Stadium on October 27. I`m thinking of going.
On the weekend I went to Ibuki Mountain. I didn`t see many butterflies, which was a little disappointing, but I found this jewel beetle (jewel = ほうぎょく). There are many different kinds of jewel beetle in the world. This kind is called Chrysochroa fulgidissima or Tamamushi (玉虫) in Japanese. Have you ever seen one? This is the first one I`ve ever seen. It`s beautiful, isn`t it?
On the weekend I went camping in the mountains in Sekigahara. I made a campfire, swam in the river & relaxed. It was nice. I slept well.
In the morning, I got up early, restarted my campfire & went for a walk. When I returned, I was surprised to see two deer crossing the river near my tent. I`m surprised that they weren`t scared of the smoke from my campfire. Maybe they are kind of used to (なれている) living near people.
It was a nice experience. I was lucky.
I keep my many めだか (killi fish) in fish tanks (すいそう) outside. A cat used to come at night to try to eat them, so I made some wire covers.
Recently this frog has been visiting. It can get through the wire covers. I guess it wants to eat my fish too.
The first time, I caught it & released it, but it came back. Next time, I released it further away (もっととおい), but it came back. Finally I released it even further away. I hope it doesn`t come back.
Maybe I should make a mesh cover, but it`s a hassle (めんどくさい).
By the way (ときに) do you know how to cook frog?
I caught a big stag beetle (かぶとむし) & I kept it for about 2 weeks. But it was smelly & a hassle (めんどくさい) to take care of (せわする) so finally I decided to take a photo & release it.
However, when I opened the box, it was gone! Oh no! It escaped!
In the living room!
My wife was angry!
My son was excited!
We looked for (さがした) it but couldn`t find (みつける) it. However, last night we saw it climbing up a curtain. We caught it & released it. Phew!
Sorry - I didn`t take a photo...
I made this. It`s a kind of tool. Do you know what it is for (なんのために)? I`ll give you a hint: It`s for opening something...
My father gave me this idea. Thanks, dad - it worked!
UPDATE:
I put the answer in `comments`
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