Agony or Fun?! Second Language Learning
I am a native Japanese speaker who used to teach Japanese in a university somewhere on this planet. Currently I don't work but stayed in my house in Northern part of JAPAN. I hope that you could enjoy reading my posts and know what life in Japan is like.
When I was young, I had been working as a company employee. Some times I had to drink with my boss. It was stressful for me, and I couldn’t enjoy such occasions at all. Today I had a supper and drank alcohol with two young people, who were my ex-students. I hope that it was not so stressful for them and they enjoyed talking with me.
I’m a little busy right now. It’s cold outside. I have been doing room makeover today.
Today, weather was not good. I have been in my home, doing room makeover so that I can spend coming winter in a little more comfortable room. My house was built 25 years ago or so. It’s still not so old, but built by traditional building method of Japan, it is so cold in winter. In fact, my heels of both feet have already cracked and become chaps although it is still November. So far, I have slept every night in a room without air-conditioner, but I am thinking about sleeping in another room during coming winter. The room has an air-conditioner and a gas heater. Actually, the room is currently my office. Since I won’t change my office, I will do my computer work and sleep in the same room. This is a temporary measure, when spring comes, I will probably change room again. Anyway, the makeover has not finished yet. Now the room is dirty because so many things are on the floor. I need to continue the remaining works tomorrow.
X-ray test on chest once a year is free-charge under the Japan’s national health insurance system. Although the test was done at the community center in my village last month, I just forgot about it. The last chance for me was today’s test in the town next to my village. So, I got on a local train in this morning.
An object displayed on the west side of the Station; Many dolphins are swimming and jumping.
Yellow leaves; I saw on the way to the venue of X-ray test.
There were two vehicles which have the facilities of X-ray test; one for female, the other for male citizens.
On the way back, I saw this board. It reads; “Morning, day time, and evening, Say greetings loudly and cheerfully”, “Smile each other”, “Greetings Street”, and “Let us try to recycle that eases the Earth”. Telling people these kind of things is good, but I was just wondering; if there are any other countries, cultures, habits that tell people these kind of things on a board by a street or not.
I was back to the railway station. And then I got a local train to my village.
That’s all for today.
I started walking in this afternoon to the direction of downstream of the river and then I saw this tree standing on river bank.
Today, the sky was not so clear, I could not see the entire Iide Mountains. But as shown in the photo, I could see white snow on the top area of the mountains.
I looked back on the path on the river bank. This road is exclusively for pedestrians and bicycles.
A local train was crossing the river on the steel bridge.
In the day time, I don’t hear the sound of trains running on this steel bridge. But I can hear the sound well in early morning. I think it is the phenomena of diffraction of sound waves because speed of sound changes by the difference of temperature with altitude in early morning. Every time I hear the sound of train on steel bridge in the morning, I cannot help thinking that my dad had listened to the same sound for twenty years he had been living alone in this house.
Leaves of Ginkgo tree in the shrine have not become fully yellow yet. The tree is the symbol of the shrine. Soon they will become yellow and fall onto the ground. It will look like a yellow carpet.
I harvested three Daikon(s) from my field today. I wanted to make “Dried Daikon”so that I can keep Daikon longer.
Since I didn’t know how to tie them to hang, it was difficult for me to do this. But somehow, I made it.
There are many boards to give people a caution, warning, advice, suggestion or whatever.
Droppings of a dog tells you the level of ethics of dog’s master.
To jogging runners: This trail is not only for runners; Construction section of Chuo-ward office of the city hall
Be careful to a Boar
Let us stop throwing Tabacco around this area for fire prevention.
The Bus stop to go to the downtown area
Read leaves and Shinano River
The view on the Bandai Bridge towards Bandai
The view on the Bandai Bridge to West; you can see Yahiko Mountain far beyond
The view of the Bandai Bridge towards Furumachi
And I ate sushi for my lunch that was 1,958JPY.
Yesterday, I went to the town of Niigata. After I came home, I hang 14 persimmons to dry them. I can keep them longer by drying them.
I made my mother get on the second car of Jo’etsu Shinkansen. Today she has gone to my sister’s house in Kanto Region near Tokyo. Unless I make sure that she is on board of shinkansen (High-speed railway), she might come back to my house after window shopping in Niigata.
I left the platform of Shinkansen before the train departed, I headed to the Number 9 bus stop which is bound for Hamauracho.
There is sand hill between the town and the sea shore. I walked up a slope and stairway a little bit, went down from the low ridge, and then reached the Sekiya-hama (Sekiya Beach).
When I was a kid, my father took me to this beach in summer. There was a beach house that partnered with the teachers’ association. My father was a teacher, so we always went to that beach house. If my memory is correct, that was the 2nd from the corner to the left. In the photo, it is “こがねや”. Probably its management, or even the name might have changed.
to be cont’d
Agony or Fun?! Second Language Learning 