Are you superstitious?
The reason I ask is because as most of you probably know, last Sunday was October 10, 2010 or 10/10/10 and for many people, they saw yesterday as a very special day and one that would bring them luck.
Similar to August 8, 2008 (08/08/08) and July 7, 2007 (07/07/07), there was a rush on for many people to get married, buy lottery tickets, and to just generally feel lucky.
I’m not someone who believes such things but there are many people who do. For example, there are many who believe the interpretation of the ancient Mayan calendar that the world will end on December 21, 2012. Some see it as a sign of positive transformation and others believe it is the “end of days” as told in the Bible.
I have heard these kinds of beliefs for many years and each time they come and go, the same people who predicted the end was near, seem to look for the new date they can begin to look forward to as the “new” end. For example, does anyone remember the Y2K bug? This was the date that many predicted was going to be the end of the world or at least the end to the Internet and the rest of our technological infrastructure. However, December 31st quietly turned into January 1st with very little commotion beyond the usual champagne and fireworks.
Some people believe in lucky numbers like 7 and 11 and others believe that the number 13 is equally unlucky. Some hotels and office buildings don’t have a 13th floor because some superstitious people may not feel comfortable living or working there. Incredible!
But there are more than just numerological superstitions. Some people always put their pants on right leg first, or vice versa. Some people can only sleep on the left side of the bed (or vice versa). Some people believe if they see a black cat, they will have bad luck. Again, incredible!
There are other common bad luck superstitions in the US, for example:
Broken mirrors
Ladders
Owls
Salt
Sparrows
And there are some good luck superstitions:
Horseshoes
Four leaf clovers
A rabbit's foot
An itchy palm
Wishbones
So, you probably already know my feelings about this so how about you? Are you superstitious? What kind of superstitions are there in Japanese culture? What kind of superstitions do you have in your life?
I will look forward to hearing your answers when we speak this week.
Be well,
This week's vocabularies:
superstitious
迷信を信じる
there was a rush on
あわてて行動を起こす
lottery
宝くじ
interpretation
解釈
ancient Mayan
古代マヤ人
positive transformation
ポジティブな変容
end of days
この世の終わり
bible
聖書
beliefs
信じられていること
come and go
出たり、消えたり
predict
予言する
Y2K bug
2000年問題
technological infrastructure
テクノロジーの基盤
commotion
動揺
equally unlucky
同じくらいアンラッキーな
Incredible!
信じられない！
numerological
数秘術的な
vice versa
逆の場合も同じ
broken mirrors
壊れた鏡
ladders
はしご
owl
ふくろう
sparrow
すずめ
horseshoe
馬蹄（ばてい）
four leaf clover
４つ葉のクローバー
a rabbit's foot
ウサギの後ろ足
itchy palm
かゆい手の平
wishbone
暢思（ちょうし）
pastedGraphic
2010/10/12
2010/10/05
後悔していることはありますか？
Do you have any regrets in life? Are there any times when you wonder what your life would have been like if you had made some different decisions or chosen a different path? Are there times when you have felt regret over a decision that you made? Or perhaps, do you regret not making a particular decision in your life?
Almost everyone I know (including myself, of course!) has made some poor choices or have made a regrettable decision. I think this is somewhat natural and I also believe that poor decisions or regrets are a great chance to learn life’s most valuable lessons. I have made many mistakes and have regretted some of them however, I know that all of my errors and missteps have brought me to where I am today.
The Irish poet, Oscar Wilde once said, “One's real life is often the life that one does not lead”(自らの意志で創りあげる人生よりも、ほとんどの場合、そうしてこなかったことの方が現実の人生となる）.
Do you think this is true for you?
And if you could go back in time, what, if anything, would you do differently?
I will look forward to your answers when we speak this week.
Take care,
Keith//
regret
後悔する／残念に思う
wonder
不思議に思う
choose a different path
違う道を選択する
particular
独自の
make a poor decision
（今となっては）良いと思えない決断をする
make a regrettable decision
後悔する決断をする
somewhat
いくぶんか
life’s most valuable lessons
人生で一番価値のある学び
error
間違い
missteps
誤り
Almost everyone I know (including myself, of course!) has made some poor choices or have made a regrettable decision. I think this is somewhat natural and I also believe that poor decisions or regrets are a great chance to learn life’s most valuable lessons. I have made many mistakes and have regretted some of them however, I know that all of my errors and missteps have brought me to where I am today.
The Irish poet, Oscar Wilde once said, “One's real life is often the life that one does not lead”(自らの意志で創りあげる人生よりも、ほとんどの場合、そうしてこなかったことの方が現実の人生となる）.
Do you think this is true for you?
And if you could go back in time, what, if anything, would you do differently?
I will look forward to your answers when we speak this week.
Take care,
Keith//
regret
後悔する／残念に思う
wonder
不思議に思う
choose a different path
違う道を選択する
particular
独自の
make a poor decision
（今となっては）良いと思えない決断をする
make a regrettable decision
後悔する決断をする
somewhat
いくぶんか
life’s most valuable lessons
人生で一番価値のある学び
error
間違い
missteps
誤り
2010/09/27
あなたは太り過ぎだと思いますか？
Last week, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released new statistics for the most overweight countries in the world. The most obese countries are as follows:
Mexico (69.5% of people are overweight)
America (68% of people are overweight)
New Zealand (62.6 of people are overweight)
Australia (61.4% of people are overweight)
United Kingdom (61.4% of people are overweight)
Ireland (61% of people are overweight)
Iceland (60.2% of people are overweight)
Canada (60% of people are overweight)
Chile (59.7% of people are overweight)
Greece (58.9% of people are overweight)
Slovenia (55.1% of people are overweight)
Luxembourg (54.8% of people are overweight)
Spain (54.8% of people are overweight)
(Japan and Korea tied for last with about 2% to 3% of people described as obese.)
This information was released just after another study that was done in America by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that said that only 23% of meals include a vegetable. The number of dinners prepared at home that included a salad was 17% (in 1994, it was 22%). And at restaurants, salads ordered as a main course at either lunch or dinner was only 5%.
Of course, eating vegetables alone cannot make someone slim, however, I believe that a variety of food is the key to a healthy diet. Of course, there are many
other factors that contribute to weight gain for example exercise or stress, but the fact remains that many people around the world are gaining weight like never before. Are you one of them? You can look at the chart on the left to calculate your ideal weight.
That brings me to this week’s question(s):
Do you think you are overweight? More importantly, do you believe you are healthy? How has your lifestyle and diet changed since you were younger? For example, do you eat the same kinds of food as when you were a kid? Do you exercise more or less than when you were younger? What are some of your bad habits regarding your diet?
I will look forward to hearing your answers when we speak this week.
Be well,
This week’s vocabulary:
released
公表された
statistics
統計
overweight
太り過ぎ
obese
過度の肥満
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
米国疾病対策センター
prepared
用意される
main course
メインコース
slim
ほっそりした
variety
多様な
key
手がかり
healthy diet
健康的なダイエット
factors
要因
contribute
寄与する
the fact remains
その事実は相変わらずである
like never before
かつてないほどの
calculate
計算する
lifestyle
ライフスタイル
bad habits
悪い習慣
Mexico (69.5% of people are overweight)
America (68% of people are overweight)
New Zealand (62.6 of people are overweight)
Australia (61.4% of people are overweight)
United Kingdom (61.4% of people are overweight)
Ireland (61% of people are overweight)
Iceland (60.2% of people are overweight)
Canada (60% of people are overweight)
Chile (59.7% of people are overweight)
Greece (58.9% of people are overweight)
Slovenia (55.1% of people are overweight)
Luxembourg (54.8% of people are overweight)
Spain (54.8% of people are overweight)
(Japan and Korea tied for last with about 2% to 3% of people described as obese.)
This information was released just after another study that was done in America by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that said that only 23% of meals include a vegetable. The number of dinners prepared at home that included a salad was 17% (in 1994, it was 22%). And at restaurants, salads ordered as a main course at either lunch or dinner was only 5%.
Of course, eating vegetables alone cannot make someone slim, however, I believe that a variety of food is the key to a healthy diet. Of course, there are many
other factors that contribute to weight gain for example exercise or stress, but the fact remains that many people around the world are gaining weight like never before. Are you one of them? You can look at the chart on the left to calculate your ideal weight.That brings me to this week’s question(s):
Do you think you are overweight? More importantly, do you believe you are healthy? How has your lifestyle and diet changed since you were younger? For example, do you eat the same kinds of food as when you were a kid? Do you exercise more or less than when you were younger? What are some of your bad habits regarding your diet?
I will look forward to hearing your answers when we speak this week.
Be well,
This week’s vocabulary:
released
公表された
statistics
統計
overweight
太り過ぎ
obese
過度の肥満
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
米国疾病対策センター
prepared
用意される
main course
メインコース
slim
ほっそりした
variety
多様な
key
手がかり
healthy diet
健康的なダイエット
factors
要因
contribute
寄与する
the fact remains
その事実は相変わらずである
like never before
かつてないほどの
calculate
計算する
lifestyle
ライフスタイル
bad habits
悪い習慣
2010/09/15
お金がいくらあれば幸せですか？
Please Note: I know that money and salary are slightly taboo topics so before we speak, I want you to know that during our classes this week, I do not want to know how much money you make, I simply want to talk about how much money would make you happy. OK, on to the question.
注釈：お金や収入について話題にあげることは、わずかながらタブーであることは理解していますので、このトピックについて話す前にわかっておいて頂きたいのは、レッスンで話すとき、あなたが今どれくらいの収入があるかを聞きたいのでなく、「どれくらいあればあなたは幸せだと感じるか？」について話し合えたらと思っています。よろしいでしょうか？それでは、本題に入ります。
How much money do you need to be happy? For most of us, there is a real connection between our happiness and the amount of money we make. But this week’s question is, how much money is enough—how much money do we really need to be happy?
Of course, if people don’t have enough money to eat or properly care for themselves or their families, they will not be happy. But the results of a new study that was conducted at Princeton University in the US concluded that for Americans, $75,000 dollars per year ( 6,316,365 Japanese Yen ) seems to be just enough to make someone happy.
The study showed that the lower someone’s annual income was below $75,000, the unhappier they felt. This seems quite obvious, however, the study also showed that when someone’s annual income was more than $75,000 they didn’t have a higher degree of happiness. In other words, even if someone makes for example $150,000 a year, they aren’t any happier on any given day than compared with someone who makes $75,000.
Now this is the tricky part. The authors of the study identified two kinds of happiness, 1) someone’s daily mood and general outlook in life and 2) someone’s true level of satisfaction with their life and their career. This study concluded that someone’s overall mood and general life outlook does not appear to change even though they make more than $75,000 per year.
So how about you? How much money can buy you happiness? Is there some amount that would make you happy? I will look forward to hearing your answers when we speak this week.
Be well and make lots of money!
Keith//
This week’s vocabulary:
connection
関係、つながり
properly
きちんと
results
結果
study
研究
conducted
実施した
concluded
結果を出した
seems
〜のようである
just enough
丁度十分な
annual income
年収
felt
感じた
obvious
明らか
degree
度合い
in other words
他の言葉で言うと、
on any given day
与えられた日
tricky
ややこしい
authors
筆者たち
identified
認識する
outlook in life
人生の展望
true level of satisfaction
真の満足レベル
注釈：お金や収入について話題にあげることは、わずかながらタブーであることは理解していますので、このトピックについて話す前にわかっておいて頂きたいのは、レッスンで話すとき、あなたが今どれくらいの収入があるかを聞きたいのでなく、「どれくらいあればあなたは幸せだと感じるか？」について話し合えたらと思っています。よろしいでしょうか？それでは、本題に入ります。
How much money do you need to be happy? For most of us, there is a real connection between our happiness and the amount of money we make. But this week’s question is, how much money is enough—how much money do we really need to be happy?
Of course, if people don’t have enough money to eat or properly care for themselves or their families, they will not be happy. But the results of a new study that was conducted at Princeton University in the US concluded that for Americans, $75,000 dollars per year ( 6,316,365 Japanese Yen ) seems to be just enough to make someone happy.
The study showed that the lower someone’s annual income was below $75,000, the unhappier they felt. This seems quite obvious, however, the study also showed that when someone’s annual income was more than $75,000 they didn’t have a higher degree of happiness. In other words, even if someone makes for example $150,000 a year, they aren’t any happier on any given day than compared with someone who makes $75,000.
Now this is the tricky part. The authors of the study identified two kinds of happiness, 1) someone’s daily mood and general outlook in life and 2) someone’s true level of satisfaction with their life and their career. This study concluded that someone’s overall mood and general life outlook does not appear to change even though they make more than $75,000 per year.
So how about you? How much money can buy you happiness? Is there some amount that would make you happy? I will look forward to hearing your answers when we speak this week.
Be well and make lots of money!
Keith//
This week’s vocabulary:
connection
関係、つながり
properly
きちんと
results
結果
study
研究
conducted
実施した
concluded
結果を出した
seems
〜のようである
just enough
丁度十分な
annual income
年収
felt
感じた
obvious
明らか
degree
度合い
in other words
他の言葉で言うと、
on any given day
与えられた日
tricky
ややこしい
authors
筆者たち
identified
認識する
outlook in life
人生の展望
true level of satisfaction
真の満足レベル
2010/09/07
「尻に敷く」人は誰？
Title：「尻に敷く」人は誰？
There is an English expression to describe the dominant member of a family or the dominant person in a relationship. We say that person, “wears the pants.”
The phrase came from a time when men typically were the leaders of a house and when women usually wore dresses, not pants.
In my family when I was younger, my father “wore the pants.” Whenever a big decision needed to be made, my father was the one who made it. My mother made many everyday decisions but in the end, it was always my father who made final decisions and the person in charge of discipline.
I think it is safe to say that regarding discipline, all of my brothers and sisters feared my father. At times, my mother was strict but she usually was softhearted and understanding. However, my father was quite the opposite: when I did something wrong, I knew that my father would discipline me.
Now that I am married, I try to have a marriage that is equal—where both my wife and I make decisions based on our best interests. It sometimes works and sometimes fails but we do the best we can!
So, who wears that pants in your family or in your relationship? And when you were younger, who wore that pants in your family?
I will look forward to speaking to you about your answers this week.
Keith//
This week’s vocabulary:
expression
言い回し
describe
表現する
dominant
権力を持つ
wears the pants
「尻に敷く」
a time when...
...の時代
typically
通常は
in the end
最後は
in charge of
〜を任されている（管理している）
discipline
躾
it is safe to say...
...と言ったほう無難である
fear (someone or something)
恐れる
strict
厳しい
softhearted
やさしい
understanding
理解ある
quite the opposite
全く正反対
based on our best interests
お互いにとって一番利になることを基本にして
we do the best we can
お互いにベストを尽くす
There is an English expression to describe the dominant member of a family or the dominant person in a relationship. We say that person, “wears the pants.”
The phrase came from a time when men typically were the leaders of a house and when women usually wore dresses, not pants.
In my family when I was younger, my father “wore the pants.” Whenever a big decision needed to be made, my father was the one who made it. My mother made many everyday decisions but in the end, it was always my father who made final decisions and the person in charge of discipline.
I think it is safe to say that regarding discipline, all of my brothers and sisters feared my father. At times, my mother was strict but she usually was softhearted and understanding. However, my father was quite the opposite: when I did something wrong, I knew that my father would discipline me.
Now that I am married, I try to have a marriage that is equal—where both my wife and I make decisions based on our best interests. It sometimes works and sometimes fails but we do the best we can!
So, who wears that pants in your family or in your relationship? And when you were younger, who wore that pants in your family?
I will look forward to speaking to you about your answers this week.
Keith//
This week’s vocabulary:
expression
言い回し
describe
表現する
dominant
権力を持つ
wears the pants
「尻に敷く」
a time when...
...の時代
typically
通常は
in the end
最後は
in charge of
〜を任されている（管理している）
discipline
躾
it is safe to say...
...と言ったほう無難である
fear (someone or something)
恐れる
strict
厳しい
softhearted
やさしい
understanding
理解ある
quite the opposite
全く正反対
based on our best interests
お互いにとって一番利になることを基本にして
we do the best we can
お互いにベストを尽くす
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