Aug 8, 2024 Salon
Guests:
S-san, K-san, Y-san
Discussion Content:
S came first, and since he wasn’t here last week, I reviewed what we talked about last week.
He has never been to Yasukuni Shrine, so I told him briefly what’s there, and that A went there recently. I also told him about the two movies about the Iwo Jima battle.
Similar to Y, S also said he doesn’t like to watch war movies, but he likes history. As a child he didn’t like history in school because it was just about memorizing dates, but nowadays it is much more interesting since we have movies and documentaries, etc.
S said his wife was using the car today as she was going to buy some pears direct from a farm. I asked if they were a lot cheaper to buy that way, and he said about 10-15% cheaper. I had expected it would be a lot more.
Then, Y arrived and told us about his recent trip to Saitama to do white-water rafting with his wife and son. He said it was a lot of fun and he hopes to go again, but he was also worried all the time about his son falling out of the boat. The trip went for about 90 minutes, and included some breaks where they could get in the water and cool off.
Then, K arrived late. She said there was an inspection in her building of the emergency ladders on balconies, so she had to wait for them to come. They said they’d be there between 9 and 11:30. She said she lives on the 2nd floor of a 9-storey building.
S jokingly said she doesn’t need a ladder if she’s on the 2nd floor. I said, “Yeah, you could just jump”, and then asked her how high her ceiling was. She said she thinks it’s about 2.5 meters high, in which case even jumping from the 2nd floor would be quite dangerous.
I said I can touch my ceiling at home if I stand on tip-toes, which then reminded me of one of the kids at the nursery who sometimes walks on her toes. I mentioned her to the group and said that she hasn’t yet spoken a word, either here or at home, but that’s not so unusual. Y said his son also did not speak in the beginning, but suddenly one day began talking and now he speaks a lot.
Since it’s currently school summer holidays, K asked Y who looks after his son during the break, and Y said there are 4 adults in the family so they take turns.
Useful phrases:
Memorize
nowadays
pear
peach
So do I VS Neither do I
rafting
white-water rafting
row (a boat)
fast flow (of water)
fast current (of water)
suburn
sunscreen
long-sleeved clothes
emergency ladder
inspection
A 9-storey building
ceiling
stand on tip-toes (tippy-toes)
take turns
identical
Identical twins
Non-identical twins