We're off!

Enjoy your time off, and we'll try to enjoy ours! See you when the shine wears off this Golden Week!

Accent-leveling

Today, someone from Kyushu and someone from Hokkaido can speak to each other with relative ease, as they've both likely mastered the Standard Japanese dialect as well as their own local one. Likewise, a factory worker from Scotland and one from South Africa have probably seen at least some of the same TV shows and movies - and hence are probably capable of communicating in some approximation of a shared English. Modern media has done a lot to facilitate communication between people who, though they may nominally speak the same language, grew up with very different "versions" of it.

One difference between the former and latter examples above though is that there is a "standard" dialect of Japanese in which business and government communication is made, everywhere in Japan. People may say なにしよっと or なにしとん to their families and friends, but when they meet each other they know to use なにしている. There are several standard dialects of English, at least one per country in which it is spoken. Therefore a Welsh woman and a New Yorker grew up not just speaking differently to their peers, but recognizing a different set of standards for formal communication as well. There's no one "Standard English" that applies to English speakers worldwide.

However, teenagers in England listen to American hip-hop, and an Australian wildlife TV show can be a huge hit in the US. We may recognize different standards of this language we call English, but thanks to the global media, we're at least familiar enough with each others' differences that we can still communicate successfully.

Dinner

I'm a big fan of Indian curry. Unfortunately, it takes a long time to make. I found some instant Indian curry for sale in Gotemba last weekend, but it's very expensive! It's worth the price, but just barely.

Vacation

Golden Week is coming soon! What are you going to do?

In the US, there's not "Golden Week", of course. There are other holidays in the US to make up for that, though. Plus, it's standard to get 2 weeks of paid vacation per year.

I heard that in France, they get 5 weeks off per year. What could you do in 5 weeks? If I had 5 weeks off, maybe I'd go on a cruise, or go on a road trip across Canada. I might get bored, though!

Placebo

Since I talk a lot at work to a lot of people, I sometimes take throat lozenges to help my voice and supplements to fight colds. I don't know if these things actually work, though. Maybe they just make me feel better because I feel like I'm doing something for my health. I almost never get sick, so I must be doing something right.

My Aunts

I have 2 aunts who used to smoke for many years. They have both quit, but they still suffer from the negative health effects of that habit. I'm sure smoking feels good, but it's very unhealthy. There's a common saying - "I'd give my right arm to be able to do that!" If you smoke too much, you might have to give your right lung!