Otto's blog

Remote & Relaxing

Sep

4

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I spent a few nights on this remote farm with my two sons & two older brothers. It`s about 5 hours west of Brisbane by car. We saw a lot of native wildlife e.g. kangaroos, wallabies & emus, and at night the stars were very bright - we could see the Milky Way (天の川) clearly. Every day we cooked our meals on a campfire next to this shack (= small, basic house). We all had a great time.

Vocabulary
- remote = 遥か, 人里離れた remote control = リモコン*
* テレビ などを 離れたところから操作する

Deep-fried... What?!

Sep

2

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On the way out bush* we stopped at a small town called Oakey for lunch. My first son chose this to eat. What do you think it is? It`s deep-fried... No, not chicken. Not potato. Not kangaroo. The answer is in comments.

Vocabulary
- *In Australia & Africa, "bush" can mean the remote countryside.
- deep = 深い, deep-fried ___ = 揚げ物, pan-fried ___ = 炒め物

Pair of Holdens

Aug

31

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In Australia I saw these two old Holdens. Holden is an Australian car maker. Oops - I mean WAS; Holden closed its last production plant in 2017.

The top one is a 1966/7 Holden HR. The brown one is a 1969 Holden HB Torana. Which one do you prefer? I think I like the bottom one more.

Grammar
- "Which one...?" "...the top/brown/old/cheap one."

Brisbane Ekka

Aug

30

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Every August in my hometown of Brisbane there is a big festival called the 'Ekka' (short for 'Exhibition'). There are lots of displays, activities & events. My favourite event is the wood-chopping (the photo in the centre) - it`s very exciting to watch.

We also fed farm animals, rode bumper cars, and saw horse-racing & monster-truck displays in the main arena. Of course we ate a lot of junk throughout the day! We had a lot of fun.

Natural English:
'A lot of ___' and 'Lots of ___' mean the same, but 'lots of' is more common in casual spoken English, so 'lots of' was one of my kids` favourite phrases when they spoke English in Australia e.g. "Wow - lots of chickens!" "Yay! Lots of candy!" "Oo... lots of dead kangaroos!" (on a country road).

Photo Exhibition in Gifu Park

Jul

15

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I recently blogged about Mr. Horie, the barber & photographer: https://en.bloguru.com/otto/350731/hories-hobby

On Sunday I went to see an exhibition of his photographs at the 加藤栄三・東一記念美術館 in Gifu Park. The exhibition is until August 25. Please go take a look*!

Casual English:
* "Go + 動詞" = go and 動詞. In casual English, 'and' is sometimes not said between the verb 'go' and the next verb.

Thai Restaurant in Kanayama

Jul

11

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I found out* about a Christian bookstore called CLC in Kanayama, Nagoya, so this week I visited it for the first time and bought a couple of books. I was surprised to find* this Thai restaurant, called 東桜パクチー just around the corner, so I had lunch there. I ordered Basil Chicken with rice, which was tasty. However the thing I enjoyed most about this restaurant was that inside it looked like a real Thai roadside restaurant - cool!

Vocabulary:
* find out = 聞込む
** find = 見つける

Horie`s Hobby

Jun

21

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I sometimes get my hair cut* at this barbershop in Gifu. It`s retro-cool, & the barber, Mr. Masao Horie is a nice old fellow. And he`s talented! Not only does he cut my hair just the way I like it, he`s also good at photography. He told me it has been his hobby for 50 years. He has even had a book of his black & white photographs published*. I bought it. It`s good.

Grammar:
- * get/have + 目的語 + 過去分詞 = 主語が(目的語が) ～される

An Old Student Pops In

Jun

20

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Today an old* Teragoya student popped in to say hello. Three years ago Yuji went to Australia to study. Today he told us that he graduated from his course & got a job as a tour guide at Ayer`s Rock (Uluru). He said he is having a great time in Australia. Well done, Yuji! We`re proud of you.

Vocabulary:
- * 'old' usually means 古い or 年寄り, but here it means 旧. (Yuji is not 年寄り!)

Brave鳩? No, Brave Sparrow!

Jun

12

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The title is a joke - brave = 勇ましい, & 'Brave鳩' sounds like 'Braveheart' the movie. Do you know it? But this bird isn`t a pigeon (鳩). It`s a sparrow. Do you understand? Is it a funny joke? No? A little? No? Ah...

Anyway, I was having lunch in the park today, & this sparrow came closer & closer, & finally jumped on my leg. I was surprised. I don`t usually feed birds, but I gave this brave sparrow some of my lunch.

Language Use:
- If you are chatting & want to change the subject [話題を変えたい時、仕切り直したい時] because it becomes boring, confusing, uncomfortable, or irrelevant (見当違い) use "Anyway..." & start a new subject.

Tokugawa Museum, Nagoya

May

16

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This morning I was in Nagoya & I had some time to kill, so I visited the Tokugawa Museum. It has various objects such as old art, scrolls (巻子本) and weapons, especially samurai swords (刀) - lots of swords! Actually, I don`t know much about the Tokugawa period, or swords, or scrolls, so I felt a little ignorant. How about you? Are you interested in these kinds of old objects, & the Edo era? If so, please visit this museum.

Pronunciation:
- sword = ソード (not スォード / スワード)