"service", not "サービス" = 0

In katakana, the word "サービス" usually means "for free" or "a discount" (on the price).

BUT in English, "service" doesn't mean that, so please be careful :)

So in a shop ....
"I'll give you this one for free."
"We baked a new kind of cookie. Here, would you like to try one?"
"It's almost closing time, so bread is 10% off."
"I'll give you a 20% discount if you buy 3."

Please check "service" in your English dictionary to find all the regular meanings. There are lots!

Today, I took my car for its 6 monthly service. What does that mean? Well, every 6 months I take my car to the dealer where I bought it and they check that it is running smoothly. If you look at the photo, you can see all of the points they check.

My car is now only 18 months old, so it has no problems at all. This morning, it only took 30 minutes for the mechanics to service (verb) the car. To be honest, I was a little disappointed it was so fast because I was having a good time reading my book in the comfortable waiting area :)

Who's in your family?

Here is a quick quiz of words you need to explain who is in your family. Try to translate the English words into Japanese, as quickly as you can ....

ancestors
aunt
brother
child
children
cousin
daughter
descendants
father
grandfather
grandmother
great aunt
great grandmother
great-great grandfather
mother
nephew
niece
parents
siblings
sister
sister-in-law
son
uncle




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ancestors 先祖 aunt おばさん brother 兄、弟 child 子供 children 子供たち cousin いとこ daughter 娘 descendants 子孫 father 父 grandfather 祖父 grandmother 祖母 great aunt おばあさんの姉 greatgrandmother ひいおばあさん great-great grandfather ひいひいおじいさん mother 母 nephew 甥 niece 姪 parents 両親 siblings 兄弟 sister 姉、妹 sister-in-law ぎりの姉 son 息子 uncle おじさん

Something delicious

Have you ever had something delicious that was so memorable that you truly couldn't forget it, even years later?

In 1995 or 1996, I had Ogawa-ken rum raisin cream biscuits for the first time. I LOVED them! They were so unlike anything I'd ever had before. The taste was great and the texture of the biscuit part was so nice :)

But then I didn't have any for about 14 years ....

Two years ago a friend gave me some as a souvenir and then last year I found they are sold at Seibu Department Store in the special local area sweets section (sweets from different local areas around Japan). Usually they appear on Thursdays.

This brand is perhaps the original one in Japan, and surely they are the most delicious and famous. But nowadays I've become a little tired of them - maybe because I know I can eat them any time I want to.

By the way, there are 10 in a box, but if you can't eat them all, put them in the freezer and you can keep them for a few weeks :)

Vocabulary - temperature

These days the temperature is fluctuating very much. Here are some words you can use:

1. freezing
2. cold
3. chilly
4. cool
5. warm
6. hot
7. boiling
8. scorching

1. freezing
Casual English - this word is used in casual English when we want to say it is very, very cold.
"Ahh, today is freezing!"

2. cold
Cold is usually a negative meaning, that is, the temperature is cold and we don't like it.

3. chilly
Chilly is also negative. We use it when the temperature is too low for us, but it is not "cold".

4. cool
Cool seems positive, but if it is in autumn, then maybe it is slightly negative. In summer it is positive.

5. warm
Similar to cool, warm is usually positive.

6. hot
For weather, most people use hot as a negative meaning.

7. boiling
Casual English - this is used when we want to say it is very, very hot.

8. scorching
Casual English - this is the same as "boiling" but "scorching" means the heat is dry.
"I went to Las Vegas and the weather was scorching."

Event - special guest talking about Israel

Click to make map bigger

On June 19th (Sunday) there will be another special international guest - this time from Israel.

If you'd like to come, please read the information below and then let me know and I'll save you a seat.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

"世界の会"　

外国人のゲストを迎え、特別クラスを開きます   

日時:    6月19日 (日曜日)

場所:   小野川公民館   [1階の会議室]

時間:    午後1:15 – 2:45

費用:    500円 

　　　(同じ日の部屋に入る際にお支払い下さい)

ゲスト:             Meirav　（イスラエから）

トピックス:

- 母国について、どのように育ったのか

- 文化と言語

- 仕事、なぜその仕事を選んだのか

- なぜ日本に来たのか、日本のことをどう思うか

- 将来は何をしたいか

- 趣味、 家族、 ペット、 他

彼女に聞きたいことを何でも質問して下さい。彼女もあなたに日本の文化について尋ねるかもしれません。ただし、あまりデリケートな質問はしないで下さい。

できれば出席される方は、事前にメールで知らせるか、直接口頭で私に言ってください。

Mulberries!

Have you ever eaten a mulberry? They are a kind of a 'wild fruit' that you cannot buy in the shops. If you are a little older, you probably ate them when you were a child but nowadays it is very difficult to find a tree.

I heard that mulberry trees were especially numerous in Ibaraki because this was a silk producing area. Why mulberries + silk? Well, mulberry leaves are what silk worms eat :)

The fruit are a very, very dark wine red. So dark they are almost black. (Sorry, it is difficult to take a good photo.) There were two kinds: small and very big ones.

For several years I've been asking everyone if they know where I can find a mulberry tree, but it seems most trees were cut down. BUT ..... Y-san brought me a box of mulberries today! I was so happy!

I ate a lot as they are (fresh), and the remainder I made into simple jam. I didn't simmer them for too long, so they still are quite big.

They taste a little like blueberries but are more sour and 'sharp'. Some people in Europe even make mulberry wine with them.

I love eating mulberries but now I have a big problem - the nails and skin on my fingers of my left hand are PURPLE! (From pulling out the stems before I cooked them.)