Christmas Short Story

Here is a lovely Christmas story talking about a husband and wife give each other the most special Christmas gift of all.

Short Story: 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry
Recording: MP3.

小時候好像聼過這個故事。
窮光蛋的老公老婆各自賣掉自己最值錢的東西，一心想為對方準備一份最有價值的聖誕禮物~

這篇用字不難的英文，簡單卻清楚地描寫出主人翁夫婦為對方著想的心情。朗讀的低沈男聲也很有魅力。不知不覺地給它連聽了3次 (o^^o)

今天學的句子：
Do not make any mistake about me.
（不要誤會我。）

Habits of happiness

Let's find the happiness in our daily lives.
Are you waiting for somebody to appear or something to happen?
Instead of expecting somebody to present you with a bunch of flowers, why not grow some roses in your own garden?

What kind of seeds have you planted in your garden?
Have you planted the seeds of bliss?
Have you planted the seeds of appriciation?
Or are you still holding plenty of different seeds and standing in your empty garden?

The seeds will need to be planted by ourselves.
Let's grow the habits of happines in our gardens, in our hearts.

Evita - Another Suitcase in Another Hall

[Eva:]
I don't expect my love affairs to last for long
Never fool myself that my dreams will come true
Being used to trouble I anticipate it
But all the same I hate it, wouldn't you?
************************
[Eva:] So what happens now?
[Che:] Another suitcase in another hall
[Eva:] So what happens now?
[Che:] Take your picture off another wall
[Eva:] Where am I going to?
[Che:] You'll get by, you always have before
[Eva:] Where am I going to?
************************

Time and time again I've said that I don't care
That I'm immune to gloom, that I'm hard through and through
But every time it matters all my words desert me
So anyone can hurt me, and they do
************************

Call in three months time and I'll be fine, I know
Well maybe not that fine, but I'll survive anyhow
I won't recall the names and places of each sad occasion
But that's no consolation here and now.
************************

[Huevo:]
Don't ask anymore.

Somewhere out there

,out where dreams come true...

Honorific speech in Japanese

This is an entry I posted on an old blog 2 years ago.  Today Lang8's friend helped me to make corrections on this entry, so I would like to publish it again.

Link source: 就職に役立つ豆知識

I am not able to correctly use Japanese honorifics.  I didn't think it would give me that much trouble as long as I could express myself clearly in plain Japanese.  At least until the day I lost my wallet on the subway.

It was a usual night.  After a long day at work, my body was exhausted but my mind was still racing.  On my way home on the subway, all kinds of thoughts ran through my mind.  The last time I remembered having my wallet was when I sat down on the train. I know I was holding it firmly in my hand.  I was suddenly awakened from my reverie: the wallet was not with me anymore and I could not leave my home station because my commuter pass was inside the wallet, which I needed to get through the turnstile.

What a terrible situation on such a cold night! I needed to explain everything clearly in Japanese to the station staff so they could help me find the wallet.  After several minutes, I confirmed that my wallet was not on the train anymore, and must have been picked up by somebody.  I was pretty upset and eager to tell the station staff that all my cards and cash were inside the wallet.  It was kind of a surprise to me that one of the station staff got impatient and yelled at me that they couldn't help my find my missing wallet.

This is unusual for Japan.  A rude staff member at a train station?!

You've got a friend, Lang-8.

There was a great English old song, "You've got a friend".　　I love this sentence the best:

"Winter, spring, summer or fall, all you have to do is call. I will be there, yeah, yeah, yeah. You've got a friend!"

Lang-8 is such a friend! It is a wonderful experience to meet people in Lang-8. You may not know exactly who the people are, or where they live or what they are doing. However, as long as you "make a call" by posting an entry, the friends will soon be there to visit you. Some of them may leave comments or make corrections to your entry, some may not.

You've got a friend via Lang-8!

I love bagels

I have been working in a software company for 8 years. 3 months ago, I finally had a chance to visit our company’s US office for a global meeting. Although I had studied in the US for 3 years, that was more than 10 years ago. I was quite nervous to be back in the US, as I no longer have confidence in my English skill after living in Japan for so many years.