Real English 44-unprecedented

Did you see the news about Hurricane Sandy?  

She slammed the East Coast of America yesterday., specifically New Jersey, Delaware, New York, and my hometown and my parent's home, Philadelphia.

I got the below email from my father yesterday morning:

"Sandy Update

it has been raining for about 8 hours now.

rain is much worse south of here.

we have had over 2" here with much more expected through Tuesday.

winds have picked up and gusting winds have definitely increased.

city is closed again tomorrow.

worst of storm is starting now.

eye of the hurricane is coming ashore right around Wildwood, New Jersey

next 8 hours will tell the story but winds will continue for hours more.

lights are flickering now.

will keep ya posted.

love, dad"

When I check Philly.com which I often check for local news about Philadelphia, I saw some of the following headlines:

"Flooding, outages hit Jersey Shore hard"

"Sandy will make Shire history"

"Sandy moves on, but region stands still"

"3 dead in wake of Sandy's violent tear through Pa"

"Crews from afar help battle outages"

"Volunteer rescuer 'Can't force 'em to go'"

This storm was unprecedented for that area.  This area of America has never experienced such a storm before.  It was a first.  

Earlier this year, another part of America was hit by an unprecedented drought...

Basically, "unprecedented" means "never before experienced, never before happened."

For example:

an unprecedented event

an unprecedented number of people...

an unprecedented increase/decrease...

And, today is Halloween.  Did you know that?  I wonder if many children in my old neighborhood will be able to dress up in a costume and go trick or treating like I used to do when I was a kid....Because of the aftermath of Sandy, I doubt it...

Have you ever seen such a big pumpkin in your life?  

That is an unprecedented pumpkin if you ask me!

Real English 43-splurge

38 years ago today I came out of my mother.  So, because I want to celebrate this event, I will splurge and get the "Deluxe Lunch Set" today.  Usually I order the "Regular Lunch Set."  After that, I will eat my favorite dessert, and tonight I will indulge in my favorite shochu.  It is raining today, but that doesn't mean it is a bad day.  

I have learned a few things in my 38 years on the earth.  Two of them are:

One, spend the extra money for comfort if you can.  For example, spend the extra few bucks for a direct flight instead of one with a layover or two.  On occasion, take a taxi.  

Two, I know it is boring, but if it is 10pm and you have nothing "real" to do, go to sleep. Just go to sleep!! You will thank yourself in the morning the next day.

Real English 42-procrastinate

When I was a student, I always used to procrastinate.  

I was the King of Procrastination.  

"procrastinate" means "to put things off, to delay doing high-priority things for lower-priority things."

For example,  when I was a student, even though I had ample time to study for a test, let's say the teacher told me about a test two or so weeks in advance, I didn't study at all during that time.  Instead, I waited until the last minute, and then on the night before the test, I pulled an all-nighter.  However, after I graduated University, I grew out of my procrastinating ways.  

If you want to try to live a healthy life, let me give you two pieces of advice. 

Don't procrastinate and eat a lot of vegetables!!!

Do you procrastinate?

Do you eat a lot of vegetables every day?

Real English 41-ripped

In class this morning I was talking to Ms. K about "Soushoku Danshi."  (Directly translated, "soushoku" means "vegetarian" or "someone whose diet consists of only vegetables", and "danshi" means "boy" or "guy." So on the net and in many articles, this term is translated into English as "Herbivorous Men, " but I don't like this translation and it doesn't really make sense.  Some other expressions you could use, which I prefer,  are "Feminine Guys" or "Girly/Girlish Guys.")  

Simply put, you could describe "Soushoku Danshi as:

 1. guys who are extremely sensitive

 2. guys who spend more time, energy, and money on their clothes, appearance, and hobbies           than on girls (but are NOT gay)

 3. guys who like staying at home more than going out 

 4. guys who like cooking, and love sweets

After discussing the causes and reasons and history of "Soushoku Danshi" in length, we talked about their counterparts "Nikushoku Danshi," ("nikushoku" means "meat eating," so this term can be translated to"Macho Men" or "Masculine Men" or "Manly guys.")

At that time, Ms. K said, "I like ripped guys!!"  

Do you understand the meaning of "ripped"?

Check out the below examples.

1.  When I was a high school student, I wore ripped jeans.

2.  Kohei Uchimura (the gold medalist in gymnastics) is ripped!!  Did you see his six-pack?

3.  At his 21st birthday party, my buddy Mike got ripped.

4.  The ripped guy wearing ripped jeans was really ripped last night.

Anyway, what do you think about "Soushoku Danshi"?  How about "Nikushoku Danshi"?

Below is a photo of Mr. M's fish.  He just finished cleaning the tank and changing the water when he took the picture.  I wonder who likes fish more, "Girly Guys" or "Manly guys"?

Real English 40-Game Changer

Recently it is getting cooler.  The afternoons are still hot, but at night and especially in the morning it is much cooler.  On Monday I wore a long-sleeve shirt and pants instead of my usual summer attire of shorts and a tee-shirt for the commute. On Tuesday and Wednesday and also today, I did the same.  Next weekend, I am planning to put away my summer clothes and take out my fall/winter clothes.  One good thing about fall is that there is a lot of food which is in season.  Saury is one of them.  I like saury a lot, especially grilled with grated Japanese radish and soy sauce.  

Have you ever eaten saury?  

If yes, do you like it?  

How do you like to eat it?  

Any good recipes?

If no, why not?  Don't you want to try it?

To change the subject, last weekend I watched The Emmy Awards, which is an award ceremony for the best TV shows of the year in America.  It is the equivalent of The Grammy Awards for music, The Academy Awards for movies, and The Tony Awards for theater.  "Game Change", a TV show,  was nominated for and won a lot of awards.  Then, the next day when I was reading Time Magazine, I read, "This could be a game changer for Republican Presidential Candidate Romney."  And then, last night on CNN, I heard one announcer lead a segment titled, "Possible game changers of the Presidential  election."  

In the past 5 days, I have seen or heard or read the term "game changer" at least 3 times.  You can't get more "Real English" than that.  

So, do you understand it?

I define "a game changer" as "someone or something that changes the way something is done or thought about,   or changes the momentum of something, for example a game or an election." 

Example sentences:

1.  I-pad was a game changer for the world of wireless technology.

2.  The Eagles' running back's fumble in the 3rd quarter was the game changer.  After that, the Eagles lost momentum and never recovered.  In the end, they lost the game 24-16.

3.  The electrifying speech given by the Presidential candidate could really be a game changer in the election.

Below is Saury in many shapes and forms!