ChanomiTalk

「えツ、ネブラスカでも桃が採れるんですか？」

暑い日中、知人がオマハ市内に住むお姉さんの庭の桃の木から採れたと、箱にいっぱいつまった桃を届けてくれました。
米本土で桃といえばジョージアピーチと言われるように、ジョージア州その他の南部の州で採れるものとばかり思っていました。
１００度（摂氏４３度）前後の暑い日がつづく今年がたまたま桃の豊作となったのかどうかたずねましたが、お姉さんはその家に引っ越したばかりとのことで、その点は不明。

日本の水蜜桃と比べると小さくて繊維が勝ってるのは確かですが、桃は桃。それに新鮮。有り難くいただいています。

I think my cats are immune to centipede bites. There was one in my house the other day. All three of my cats stalked it, pawed at it, and even bit it. I saw the centipede retaliate but the cats seemed unaffected. Eventually I assisted them because they seemed more interested in playing with it than killing it.

I brought my bass guitar over today to play with Michiko and show her some of the stuff I’ve been working on. Michiko got out her sheet music so we could play something together. So, instead of playing bass like I normally do, I struggled like a fifth grader in his first year of band class.

It seems Michiko and I are from completely opposite ends of the musical spectrum. While she is able to look at something and instantly play it perfectly on her violin, I am able to pick out a set of notes and come up with something that sounds cool. While she likes playing classical music, I like rock, blues, and jazz. Somehow we managed to make one or two songs sound good, but if this is going to be a long-term relationship it’s going to take some work…

Recently in a conversation with Shuuzo we discovered one of the many differences between our respective languages that often makes translation difficult. I was describing some research I had done on being a foreign service officer, and was trying to describe their role in seeking compromise between governments. I tried to use the word 妥協, defined as compromise, but found out that in Japanese it carries a connotation of defeat. In English, I explained, the feeling of the word is completely different. I immediately thought of the saying, `a true compromise is achieved when both sides are unhappy`, to explain our views. Shuuzo was amused by this, explaining that the Japanese would try to seek out a solution wherein both sides benefit. Americans, of course, say they are doing the exact same thing, but secretly we all have that saying in mind.

Oops, I may have just let out a state secret…

青空が広がり、湿度も高くなく、爽やかな風が 吹いています。
真ん中は、ハワイ州立図書館の庭で、芝刈りをしているところ、
下は、バスの前に乗客が自転車を付けたところです。

I saw a movie a long time ago that really impressed me. It was about a Japanese man that travelled to China and had some amazing experiences. The scenes were shot in Yunnan Province which is absolutely gorgeous if you have never been there. It was clear from just watching the movie that the Japanese actor playing the main character must be famous. After coming to NACOS, I found out that it was Taka Kura Ken (高倉健). It is amazing that such a famous Japanese actor worked with arguably China’s best director, Zhang Yi Mou (张艺谋), to create this film called “Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (千里走单骑).”