Jan 9, 2025
Guests:
K-san, A'chan, M-san, S-san
Discussion Content:
S came first, and since he wasn’t here the last time, I showed him what we talked about in the Dec 26 salon. Then, M and A’chan arrived, and since they also weren’t here for the last time, I continued to review the previous salon for them.
Then, K arrived, and since she was at the previous salon, I got her to explain directly the story she told us then about an American lady from Kentucky not being able to understand her pronunciation of the word “horse”. She mentioned that she also had a problem making them understand when she said the name “Bill”.
As a joke, I said maybe they were crazy, and made the hand gesture which means “crazy” (spinning your forefinger around your temple). I was surprised that they seemed to understand what that meant, and Kanami explained that Japanese people also make a similar gesture called “kuru-kuru-pa” to mean “crazy”.
However, K noticed that I spin my finger in an anti-clockwise direction, whereas Japanese people do it in a clockwise direction. They all said it was harder to do it in an anti-clockwise direction but I find that easier.
Some of the words I wrote on the paper for the last salon were written upside-down, and so the writing was a little messy. As a puzzle question, I asked if they could guess why the writing was messy. M said “you wrote it from the other side”, and she noticed that the letter “O” appeared to begin from the bottom, rather than from the top as is usual.
I asked the group if they can write Japanese characters upside-down and it was a weird but funny feeling for them to try it - especially the character "あ", because you have to start the circle from the opposite direction.
I asked if anyone had any news to tell, and M said she had the flu during Christmas and gave it to her daughter, who caught it on News Years Day when all the shops were closed, so she couldn’t buy any “Tamiflu” medicine.
A’chan was wearing a mask today, which she usually doesn’t, and so I asked her if she was sick. She said, no, she wasn’t sick, but her son will soon be doing some important high school entrance exams, and so she wants to be extra careful not to get sick in case she then gives it to him.
Useful phrases:
clockwise
anti-clockwise
gesture
upside-down
symmetrical
manoeuvre (maneuver)
A spelling bee (a spelling competition)
ache/aching
a gas stove
public school/private school
a back-up school/a fall-back school