Flexible English

English is a flexible language in that pretty much any word can be used as any part of speech. There's not just one way all verbs have to be spelled, nor is there any one way all adjectives have to look. For example, take a look at the word "walk".

I'm going to walk. 　(自動詞）
I'm going to go for a walk.　（名詞）
I walked my dog.　　（他動詞）

Or how about the word "cold":

I'm cold. （形容詞）
I have a cold.　　（名詞、「風邪」）
I don't like the cold in winter.　　（名詞、「寒さ」）

Sometimes the place a word appears in a sentence, and the context that surrounds it, are the only way to determine what exactly the word means.

Hawaiian Host

I love chocolate. I love nuts. Therefore, I REALLY love chocolate covered nuts. In California I always ate all the chocolate-and-nut Christmas candy. In Japan you don't see my favorite brand of chocolate-and-nut candy, but you sometimes see Hawaiian Host candy, which is usually chocolate with macadamia nuts. People like to give it as a souvenir after a trip to Hawaii. Some of our students have given us Hawaiian Host candy a few times. I really enjoy it!

Cold!

It's finally the time of year again where I have to wear at least 3 layers before I even feel comfortable. I'm sure it's not easy for anyone, but it's especially hard for people like me who grew up in very warm climates!

This is probably a very good time to consider a vacation to Australia, where it's currently summer.

Studio

Last weekend, I spent a couple hours in "Brown Sugar", a music studio/rehearsal space located underground along the bypass. The microphones are all rusty, and the drum set looks a bit like a tornado hit it - but I don't play the drums anyway, and I'm a lousy singer. I just had fun playing guitar as loud as I could.

The Days Are Just Packed

Doesn't it seem like just yesterday it was August and we were on Obon vacation? I don't know exactly why, but time is going by faster and faster these days. Maybe it's because our schedule is much fuller than it was a year or especially two years ago. It doesn't give us a lot of time to reflect!

My Favorite Movie

It's really hard to decide what my favorite movie is. It used to be Willow, but that was when I was 11 years old. When I was in high school I loved Aliens, but I don't really watch gory movies much anymore. When I was in college, I liked Three Kings, but I don't think I've seen it even once since I graduated.

So what is my favorite movie now? I guess it's School of Rock. Maybe I'm just partial to movies about crazy teachers.