The pressure of "It's up to you."

A quick note of today's dream. My elementary school friend whom I haven't met for years contacted me saying that she had a serious illness that can only be treated by organ transplant. She asked me to take a test to check whether my organ type matches with hers. She did not say what she wants me to do if my type was the same as hers, but it was clear that she wanted to have an organ transplant.

Everything was so sudden and so bizarre. Why is she talking to me all of a sudden after years of silence? What kind of disease is she suffering.. and why did she come to me? I was sure that I was not in her list of close friends who she will go to.

It was a foggy day.
With a sense of guilt, I drove to the hospital that she asked me to go to. And I clearly remember taking parking ticket, going through the old, clumsy gate and parking at the grayish car park. I met her there again. I don't know what we talked, but I was just worrying if the surgery would be painful and be risky. This question made me look self-centred, for which I had a bad feeling.  Why am I doing this all of a sudden?
It was a strange, yet realistic, chilling dream. I wasn't, and am still not, ready for this situation whether I can agree to participate in an organ transplant.

Medicine is progressing a lot in the modern times, but are we ready to be a part of it? An array of choices may mean a lot more worries and obligations and considerations will be required.        

Seafood bowl and catching up

I met one of my Singaporean friends the other day in Hakata. It's been almost a year since we last met. It was very nice having lunch and catching up about jobs, hobbies, weather, and traveling. We went to a seafood bowl restaurant in Yakuin. I was overwhelmed by the menu in a good way. Everything looks so good! It reminded me of Tsukiji in Tokyo, where they bid for just-caught fish and serve very fresh sushi bowls. I had crab and prawns, my favourite. My friend ordered two bowls and tempura and finished almost all of them, and we shared. We ate them for our mutual friend, who wasn't able to visit this time. He gave me some pineapple tart, one of many signature sweets of Singapore. It was very good. Gonna share them with my colleagues. It's always fun to meet up with my friends.

Dinner alone

I went out shopping the other day, and it got too late to cook dinner at home, so I ate tempra at a Japanese restaurant in the mall. It was good... But I felt lonely being the only one customer using the table for four people. I regretted eating out alone.
Hmm... This picture is one of the few ones that brings back down, bitter feelings rather than delicious, happy memory.

What can I do????

After coming back from San Francisco, I was disappointed that my English had deteriorated. I had some difficulties in catching some fast conversations. I cannot expect my English ability to improve in the countryside speaking Japanese all day. I occasionally exchange emails with Australians and Canadians, but it is not enough to even maintain the language ability at the same level. It is foreseeable, but I am hesitant to face the fact.

So... the problem is... I cannot go to the English class held every other Thursday night at a community center because either I work overtime or I get too tired. Even twice a month will be better than nothing, but I simply do not have the energy to attend the class from 7.30-9.30. We often chat till late, so I would reach home at 10 pm or so. After taking shower and doing some chores, it will be almost midnight by the time I go to bed. Too late for a Thursday, when the fatigue is its peak. Hmm.. I'm considering taking private lessons... But what I want is not an ordinary conversation like where you went and it was fun.. kind of stuff. I would like to be able to discuss deep issues and politics, science and things like that. Still trying to improve by reading magazines and listening to the radio.. Those are the only things I can do at the moment. My dream to live abroad and get fluent in English is still burning!

Maybe it's a good idea to take an intensive training course or something... as I will be accompanying foreign visitors in July and will be an interpreter/tour guide. It will be so much disappointment if my English further declined and caused difficult moments in showing them around.  I wish the company would cover the cost, just half of it will be of big help(>_<)

象は鼻が長い文

最近よく英語の校正を頼まれるんだけれど、
訳しにくかったんだろな…と思われる文というのは、人を問わず似ている。
それは！「ゾウは鼻が長い文」と言われるものだ！

ゾウは鼻が長い

と言う文には、主語のようなものが2つも入っている（！）。普通、一文の中に主語は1つ。これが混乱を招くのだ。中国語を習ったときにも同じようなことを言われたが、この構文は独特らしく、中国語や英語に直す場合、「ゾウは長い鼻をもつ」「象の鼻は長い」「鼻が長いのは象の特徴である」といった、1つの主語と1つの述語の単文もしくは単文を2つ合わせた複文にしないといけない。

単純な例ならいいが、内容が長く複雑になってくると何を主語にしてどう言い換えていいか分からなくなりやすい。

さらに問題なのは、複雑な文を「象【の】鼻は長い」形式にすると、主語がやたらと長くなり、あまり自然な英語ではなくなる。だから、根本的な変換が必要になる。二文に分けるか、長い主語の一部を後ろにおくか…。そうなると、前後の分との接続がよいかとかも見なければならなくなる。

また、「象は」の部分が不要な場合もある。
なんとなく話の流れというか、後から見れば不要だが話者本人が書いてしまったのでそのまま残っている場合がある。この場合、普通の人は「象は」を主語にしてしまって、続かなくなる。まずは、日本語の原文をきっちり書いてほしい…。

直訳の限界というか翻訳の難しさと言うか…。けっこう妥協が必要なのかもしれない。。。

思い立ったので…

古い携帯（二つ折りの！）を今日全部初期化して処分した。高校卒業時から社会人3年目までという長きに渡り使った7台の携帯。。全然使わないし見もしないんだけど、引越しのときもなんとなく捨てられずそのまま持ってきてしまったけど、今日「もういいか…」という気持ちになり、お店にもって行きました。結構場所取っていたし。中身を見るとまた迷いそうなので、見ずに初期化！　あとは、個人情報が流出しないようきちんと安全にリサイクルしてもらえるのを祈るばかり。。
いろんな思い出がつまっている携帯たちだったから、不思議な気分だった。まあ、大切な思い出は全部記憶に残っているから良いんだけど。

今日そんなことをするとは全然考えていなかった。思い立ったが吉日。
スマホが遅くなってきたので新しいのに変えようかと思ったんだけど、ソフトウエアを更新したらなぜかちょっと速くなって、まだいけると思われた。買い換えるお金がもったいないし、貴重な金属資源が使われているコンピュータ製品。できるだけ長持ちさせたい。。。

先日の取引先の人が大阪から来た人で、学生時代居酒屋でバイトしていて、焼酎の水割りをよく作っていたと話していた。で、「店長から『おまえはこう作るからなあー』と言われていた」と言っていて、「こう？　…どう作っていた？」と思っていたら、「濃く」という意味だった。「濃う」か…。わからへんわー。関西地元じゃなくても、「こう」と言うようになるのでしょうか？？

昨日は奈良県の人から電話かかってきたし、関西率高い。