Hairy Barbarians » General

渋谷の散歩

Tim — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 03:40:26 +0000

先日、私は渋谷を散歩していたら、公園にホームレスが集まっているのに気がつきました。どこの国にでもホームレスがいますが、日本のユニークなところは、公園のホームレスが日経新聞を読んでいる一方で、電車で通勤のサラリーマンが漫画を読んでいるというとこるです。

日本の社会は不可解です。

一匹ティキ

Tim — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 08:26:49 +0000

亜未はティキが嫌いだから、ティキが一匹しかいない。

一匹ティキは寂しいティキだ。

寂しいティキは悲しいティキだ。

猫かわいがり

Tim — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:38:32 +0000

猫について、日本語の慣用句は思った以上に多いです。慣用句を読むと、日本人は猫が一匹狼的な振る舞いをするところや、賢いところや、女性的なイメージを受けているように思えます。たしかに、そう言う動物かもしれませんが、たまに分かりにくい文章になります。例えば、「亜未が犬を猫かわいがる」と言うのは文章としておかしいと思います。

残り物には福がある

Tim — Sat, 22 May 2010 13:09:29 +0000

と言う表現は良く言われますが、間違いのように思います。

特に私が独身時代は、冷蔵庫の残り物には、福があるようなことはありませんでした。むしろ危険でした。毛むくじゃらなアボガトや茶色くなったトマトなどは幸運を運ぶものとは言えないと思います。

ただし、枝豆は放っておけば、結局納豆になっていくので、この慣用句は和食に当てはまるのかもしれません。

私の目標

Tim — Wed, 12 May 2010 11:37:11 +0000

日本人の友達は私の日本語より英語がわかりやすいと思いますけど、今日からはブログを日本語で書くようにします。

私は２０年以上、日本に住んでいます。来年、日本にいる期間が海外にいる期間よりも長くなります。その２０年間で、日本人の友達や会社の上司や部下もいました。また、一昨年からは結婚して、日本人の妻もいます。日本語で披露宴のスピーチをしたり、ラジオでインタビューも受けました。

日本で気楽に生活をしていましたが、日本語が上達していません。実際に２０年間も日本に住んでいるのに、いまだに中学校レベルの日本語しか話せないのは恥ずかしいです。

毎日、日本語能力試験２級に向けて勉強しているので、日本語でブログを始めます。
日本人の友達が、日本語の間違いを指摘してくれたら、徐々に日本語が上達して、２級合格もあり得るかもしません。

よろしく御願いします。

I Play to Lose

Tim — Mon, 10 May 2010 04:48:25 +0000

Playing Twister with Japanese girls is hopeless if you are actually trying to win. The flexibility gap is insurmountable.

Cricketing Confusion

Tim — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 05:40:15 +0000

India is mad for cricket. Service in restaurants stops while the game is on and then resumes in a flurry of arms, silverware and steaming dishes during the commercials. Years ago, I spent what was probably the most confusing three hours of my life at a cricket match, and watching it on Indian TV was no more illuminating.

It would not be so bad if my companions would simply leave me in my blissful ignorance, but they always feel the need to explain the game to me, which makes the confusion much, much worse.

In much the same way the cricket looks a lot like baseball, but has almost nothing in common with the sport. Cricket is explained in language that sounds like English, but bears little relation to the language. Bowlers and batsmen are fine sensible terms, but googly golden ducks and sticky wickets are simply not English.

Stopping Babies from Crying

Tim — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 02:47:11 +0000

Before I moved to Japan, I assumed that two-year-olds were unaware of things like race. I soon discovered that they are. I occasionally pass by a Japanese mother trying to soothe her screaming, crying child to have the toddler suddenly fall silent and stare at me with open mouth and pealed eyes.

On the flight to India there was woman sitting across the aisle holding a baby who had been screaming incessantly for ten minutes. When she shifted her daughter to her other shoulder, the little girl looked at me agape, smiled and pointed, and thankfully she stopped crying and everyone around could relax. I told the mother how cute her little girl was, leaned my seat back and closed my eyes for sleep.

Then, for the next hour the woman and her husband tried to turn the girl so she was facing the other way. Each time they did, she would begin to scream and squirm until she was resting with her head in a position where she could see across the aisle. Husband and wife then changed seats so the wife and daughter were by the window where the girl eventually cried herself out after another 30 minutes or so.

Strangest thing.

Unzipping Her Genes

Tim — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:51:15 +0000

In addition to lengthy online surveys, bayesian algorithms, mutual compatibility profiles, there is now genetic matching to help boy meet girl. Gene Partner claims that true love (or at least a piece of the online dating market) can be found in DNA sequences.

Too Much Information

Tim — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:57:20 +0000

I’m planning a trip to Cambodia and India next month, and I expected that being able to use the internet to, for example, choose a hotel in Delhi would be simpler that the old way in which you either booked a famous high-end place or just showed up and took your chances.

It’s not.

I don’t really need or want to look at the 200 hotels that are available and read dozens of reviews (many of them obviously planted) for each place.

In his recent book, Jason Zweig explained that after a certain point investors with access to more information tend to underperform investors with less info to work with. I am beginning to understand why.