ChanomiTalk

Recently, I went on a trip to China. It was certainly noteworthy. I experienced a lot of things both good and bad. The people were very nice and I tried a lot of great food including spicy Sichuan dishes and Muslim style lamb skewers. Unfortunately, the smog in Beijing was terrible. Indeed, it was so powerful that it was hard to breathe. The thickness of the smog even blocked the sun! Even so, I enjoyed visiting the Summer Palace because the strong winds there dispersed the smog and the palace grounds were sprawling with a lake, a temple, and the famous long hall. The long hall is special because Chinese artists adorned it with colorful murals all the way down its vast length. The China I saw has a lot of potential but faces a lot of problems. Places like the Summer Palace are inspiring and indicative of the best of Chinese culture. However, the terrible pollution, and the incessant news reports of poor water quality and tainted food, serve to underscore the predicaments facing Chinese society today.

The long hall

Summer Palace Temple

As I look back over the past 12 lessons, I am amazed to see my progress. I am able to now recognize specific hiragana characters as I read. Each lesson I am able to memorize several more. After numerous practice tries with reading my story, I am beginning to memorize phrases and answer simple comprehension questions. Each lesson we add a new type of question & answer. We have also begun to practice writing hiragana. Thank you so much, Michiko, for your time and patience.

Kannanshinku is a word that combines four different kanji that all refer to difficulty or trying times. One might translate it as trials and tribulations, because these too are words that we use together quite often without thinking about what each one means individually. Kannanshinku is mostly used in reference to prior experience, i.e. things that happened in one’s past that have made one a stronger and wiser person.

For example, you could say “my childhood was rife with kannanshinku, but now that I’m older I’m wiser for it.”.

This Friday afternoon we are expecting a very large swell to begin hitting the Hawaiian Islands. On Oahu it will affect mainly the south facing shores. A swell is actually the movement of the water. It is not exactly a wave but once the movement of the water reaches the shallow areas then it generates waves. According to the various surf reports this is going to be about 2 days plus of some very big waves. The waves will probably be big enough that boats will not be able to get out of the harbors and the majority, if not all, of the boat tours will cancel on Saturday and Sunday. The weather itself will stay the same, strong trade winds, only the ocean will be affected. It is interesting to note that this has been forecast to happen for about one week!

今週の金曜日の午後、ハワイ諸島に、非常に大きい波のうねりがやって来るようです。オアフ島の南に向いている海岸だけ影響があるそうです。実は、そのうねりは海の水の動きです。本当の波ではありませんが、水のうねりが浅場に近づく時、大きい波になります。色々なサーフの予報によると、今回の波は２日間ぐらいいるそうです。その波のせいで、南の港に停泊しているボートが出られないし、それに、ほとんどのボートのツアーは、土曜日と日曜日は、恐らく、中止になると思います。お天気そのものは多分変わりません。海の状態だけが変わります。一週間くらい前に、天気予報士はこの情報についてすでに分っていたことは興味深いことです！