A sporadic record of the most and least interesting things experienced in the am and pm during lulls from Australian life
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Just when you thought you spoke English
AM
Least: At 10:18am, I poked my nose through my kitchen window to get a whiff of the weather. The air was as hot as the gas-fired kitchen. Worse, though was the sour smell of decomposing pigeon guano that has piled up between Sanshou and next door. I'm sure that a bird-lover next door is aiding and abetting the local pigeon gangs with crumbs or some such. The scourge is such the we, like thousands of others need netting to defend our balcony against these depraved rats of the sky.
Most: At exactly 11:00am, my phone told me that I had 30 minutes left on my phone card. I spoke to Ceridwen for a whiles and mused about the oddities of Japan. We discussed important birthdays approaching and the growing clutch of babies that are beginning to populate our lives. The conversation reminded me of how hard it is to speak freely in Japan - it's very easy to get the wrong end of the stick - and that's only speaking to Canadians. Just when I think I'm speaking fluent English, my 'space' becomes 'spice' and my 'cram' becomes 'crime' - context, context, context. Perhaps interesting proof that Orstraylians are an outward looking people.
PM
Least: By 1:50pm it was becoming clear that I was about to miss out on the end of another classic war movie - Where Eagles Dare. Working in the afternoons has the effect of obliterating my motivation to do anything substantial in the mornings. I usually wake at 9:00am, eat at 9:30am then eat again just after noon. By the time that the glow of the midday meal wears of, I am usually sweating in my suit-pants, and the movie is not yet over.
Most: Just before 2:40pm, I walked into work to find that all the staff were wearing surgical masks. There was an unintelligible sign at the door explaining that a staff member had fallen ill with the New Influenza. Several disinfecting dispensers of alcoholic gel were scattered around the office. During the one week of swine flu panic last time, I often found myself the only person in a room or carriage without a mask. Some people in Japan seem to wear masks to stop getting the flu, to stop spreading the flu and to stop allergies - these people probably have little time left to travel mask-free. How long does it take to incubate?
Labels:
australian english,
Family Mart,
health,
influenza,
japan,
movies,
odours,
osaka,
pigeons,
where eagles dare
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Hi, it's a very great blog.
ReplyDeleteI could tell how much efforts you've taken on it.
Keep doing!