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2 Fish, 1 Wish

Sep
17
thread
2 Fish, 1 Wish
My kids caught these 2 fish in Australia. The bottom one, about 25cm long, is a 'Gunther`s Wrasse'. The top one was about 30cm, but I don`t know what it is. I wish I knew... Can you help? Do you know this fish?

Grammar:
- "I wish + 主語 + 過去形動詞 (NOT 現在形)..."
#動物

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My Teragoya Marche Display

Sep
9
thread
My Teragoya Marche Display
These are the items I made for our school fair on Saturday. They are all made of recycled wood. By the end of the evening I had sold all of the plant boxes, a few of the butterflies, and two of the cars. I asked the man who bought the red car, "Do you have a son?" He said, "No, it's for me - I like it!"

Grammar
- 'made in...' + place/country
- 'made by...' + maker (person/company)
- 'made for...' + buyer/user
- 'made of/from...' + material e.g. wood
#アート

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Would You Like a Wooden Car?

Sep
5
thread
Would You Like a Wooden Car?
I made these wooden cars for our school fair tomorrow evening:

https://jp.bloguru.com/teragoya-gifu/355833/instagram

Are you free* then? Please come take a look at them & other things that I made. They will be for sale (sorry - not free**!).

Vocabulary:
* 暇
** 無料
#アート

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Remote & Relaxing

Sep
4
thread
Remote & Relaxing
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
#アウトドア #建物

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Deep-fried... What?!

Sep
2
thread
Deep-fried... What?!
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
#グルメ

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Pair of Holdens

Aug
31
thread
Pair of Holdens
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."
#車

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Brisbane Ekka

Aug
30
thread
Brisbane Ekka
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).

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Photo Exhibition in Gifu Park

Jul
15
thread
Photo Exhibition in Gifu Park
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.
#アート #文化

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Thai Restaurant in Kanayama

Jul
11
thread
Thai Restaurant in Kanayama
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
#レストラン #本

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Horie`s Hobby

Jun
21
thread
Horie`s Hobby
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

#伝統 #文化 #本 #芸術

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