Oct 10, 2024 Salon
Guests:
K-san, J-san, A'chan, S-san
Discussion Content:
K arrived and said “A-san can’t come today”. I asked “How come she can’t come?”, which lead to a discussion about using “How come?”, meaning “Why?”.
“How come?” is a shortened expression. The full sentence is “How did that come to be?”, but no one says the full sentence. It sounds like old English.
We talked about how asking “Why?” may sometimes sound rude. I said as long as your voice and facial expression are nice, it shouldn’t sound rude.
J mentioned the TV show “Youはなにしに日本へ？”, and that when they ask people this question in English they say “Why did you come to Japan?”.
J thought that could sound rude, and he prefers to say something like “What brought you to Japan?”, which does sound a little nicer (though I said most people will probably make a joke and say “An airplane brought me to Japan”).
I mentioned that my wife and I were interviewed by that show a long time ago, but I don’t think it was ever broadcast. We had come to Japan for a holiday and were going to check out a place in Nagano where there were said to often be UFO sightings. My wife had previously seen a UFO in Hawaii (not an actual ship, but just lights), and afterwards she was not able to eat meat or drink coffee or alcohol.
J said that he also believes in the existence of other beings in the universe, but that it’s impossible for them to travel to where we are because the distances are too far. I said that if they had advanced technology, maybe they could teleport.
J mentioned that some religious people may not like the idea of aliens, and that reminded me of the movie “Contact”, starring Jodie Foster, where a religious person tries to blow up a spaceship.
K said that she has a friend who says she was actually abducted by a UFO. She remembers being on a table, and afterwards, she was able to sometimes predict the future.
A’chan said her mother’s friend saw a UFO when she was little, in Akita. It was often dark when she was returning home from school and one day she saw a UFO above her. It also happened again later – about once a week for a month. Kanami suggested there may have been a UFO base there.
I said I have never seen a UFO, but I don’t bother searching the night sky for them, because whether you see one or not is likely to be fate/destiny, and so if it’s going to happen it will happen naturally.
I said that I heard someone say that if you see a UFO, it’s a future version of yourself inside who has come to see their past-self.
Changing topics, J mentioned the hurricane Milton which is today going to be over Florida, and how many people often refuse to evacuate and leave their homes during or after a disaster – especially old people.
I said “Moving house is a major headache”, and asked how many times they have moved. S said he has moved house 18 times!
Useful phrases:
How come?
teleport (teleportation)
telepathy
But, that being said,…
However, having said that,…
predict the future
coincidence
destiny/fate
regret
hurricane
evacuate