Real English Twenty Eight: make sense

For the first time in over a year, I went to Umeda.  Unless I have some business to attend to, I almost never venture past Kita-Shinchi.  And, for the first time in more than 2 years, I went window shopping.  The reason is my mother wanted to check out Grand Front Osaka and she needed a date.  So, what's a son for!

First, we met up at Garb, a casual Italian restaurant, which is right next to GFO, for lunch.  It was  hopping, nice atmosphere, good food...I recommend it!  Next, we walked on every floor of both the North and South Building of GFO and checked out the various shops, restaurants, facilities, etc.  To be honest, I was blown away!  As you know, I hate shopping. So, I hate to admit it, but the whole complex is quite impressive!  Have you been there yet? If not, I think it's a good idea just to check it out...just for the experience.  (But it may be better to avoid going on the weekends/a national holiday because I don't even want to imagine, but it must be unbelievably crowded...)

The only complaint my mother had about the whole place can be found in the conversation below which we had outside on the deck on the 7th floor (you better check that, I forget exactly which floor it is on, but it was high up for sure) at Starbucks at GFO:

Glenn:  Hot enough for ya?

Mom:  Wow!  The sun is scorching...I am glad I brought my sunglasses for the glare!  I am even considering getting a parasol, like all the Japanese ladies use to protect themselves from the sun.  Parasols are not popular in America, but it is a good idea! Japanese ladies are smart!!  

Glenn:  Yes, for sure!

Mom:  But sitting in the shade up here, drinking my 'caramel frappachino, feels nice!

Glenn:  My 'short cake frappachino' ain't that bad either. So, was there anything you don't like about GFO?

Mom:  Actually, yes there is.  I have one complaint!  THE NAME!  The name, 'Grand Front Osaka', doesn't make any sense.  Why would they make such a fabulous place and then give it such a terrible name.  The name doesn't mean anything in English!!

Glenn:  I know what you mean.  That's why it took me so long to remember it.  For months now, I have said "Grand something something Osaka."  Not until recently, because of talking about it with you so much, could I finally remember the name.  

Mom:  Do Japanese people understand the meaning?

Glenn:  Well, Kyoko said that most Japanese understand the meaning because, you see, there are some expressions in Japanese, which use English, but have no meaning in English.  Of course, native speakers can't understand them, but Japanese people can.  These expressions are called 'Japanese English.'

Mom:  So what did Kyoko say "Grand Front Osaka" means?

Glenn:  She said it means "the big front entrance to Osaka."  But when I ran that by a friend of mine, he said she was wrong.  He said that, in fact, it means "the big front entrance to THE WORLD!"

Mom:  Haha...such an exaggeration!

Glenn:  I know!  But maybe they are trying to attract foreign tourists, especially Chinese!

Real English Twenty Seven: "have one's fair share of ～"

I have had my fair share of flight trouble, but my father's flight from KIX to SFO last Saturday takes the cake.

When he finally arrived in Philly around 1pm on Sunday the 7th, he sent me this email:

"I made it!! I don't know where to start, so I will just start at the beginning.  First of all, as usual, the taxi to the airport was great! Thanks!  That was the highlight of my trip actually!! All down hill from there...My United flight from KIX was delayed an hour and a half, which wasn't so bad because I just had a couple of drinks while waiting.  After departure around 6pm, the flight was real smooth, no turbulence or anything.  As you know, I hate flying, so I was relieved.  But I knew it was too good to be true...

So anyway, just after finishing breakfast, about 1 hour or so before the scheduled arrival time, the pilot came on the loudspeaker and made the following announcement:  

'Ladies and Gentleman. I have some bad news. Due to an accident at SFO, the airport has been shut down indefinitely, and our flight has been diverted to Sacremento Airport.  Please stay calm.  We will have you on the ground in 20 minutes.'

Unbelievable!!!  Just my luck!!  I thought "There goes my easy flight!"

But as they say, `there is no use crying over spilled milk`, so it wasn't easy, but I kept my cool.  Besides, I couldn't afford to break down.

Once on the ground, we had to stay in the plane in Sacremento for about 3 hours.  We couldn't leave the plane because Sacremento  is not an international airport, and that means no Customs nor Immigration.  The plane was refueled on the runway.  I took pictures of fire trucks coming up to the plane.  Wanna see?

Finally, after we got permission to fly again, we flew to LA, and after going through Customs and Immigration, I had to stand in a 4+ hour re-booking line.  Absolutely miserable...  While in line, I noticed that unlike the Japanese who were very patient and quiet, the Americans were loud and obnoxious...

Fortunately I could get a flight that night out of LA to Chicago. I got on standby.  Of course I wanted to fly direct to Philly, like my original ticket, but there weren't any flights til the next day, and they couldn't guarantee me a seat on any of those flights.  So I didn't want to take any chances, and I took what I could get.

After the red eye flight, I arrived in Chicago about 8am, and then hustled and got on the first flight to Philly, which was one flight earlier than I expected, so I finally got home to Elkins Park sometime after 1pm.

I feel fine and am too tired to have jet lag now.

By the way, how is your mother doing? "

Answer:  She is doing great!  While you were going through that ordeal, she was shopping! :)

Real English Twenty-six: pop

Real English Twenty-six: pop

My folks came to Japan the other day.  Their flight wasn't so bad.  They departed Philadelphia International Airport at 8am and arrived in San Fran about 5 hours later.  The layover in SF was supposed to only be 3 hours, but due to mechanical trouble, the plane was delayed and they had to wait a total of 6 hours in SF.  Fortunately, they had a pass to go to the VIP Lounge, so it could have been worse.  Then after the 10-hour flight to KIX, and the 1-hour taxi ride to my house, they arrived in Nishinomiya about 6:30 pm.  So far, we are having a great time together.

Now, to Real English.  Check out he below sentences.

1.  My parents were surprised when they bought a "Special" Mango juice at Mitsukoshi Department Store in Umeda.  The reason they were shocked was because that "Special" Mango juice was 1250 yen a pop!

2.  Upon arrival, I pulled the cork out of a bottle of champagne with a pop!

3.  I gave my mother a pop quiz to see how much she improved since she took that crash course in Japanese.

4.  My father buys pop from the vending machine outside my place every day.

5.  My ears always pop when I fly.

6.  Taiga popped me in the face the other day when we were sleeping.

7.  Taiga calls my father, his grandfather, "Pop".