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Diary

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【No. 0764】Deadline for Graduation Thesis

Jan 20, 2017 20:53
At the university where I work, today was a deadline for graduation thesis.

Students have been writing their theses all over creation for the last couple of days.

Yesterday, I had to help students' studies until late at night.

It was hell in many ways and I was exhausted.

Since the entrance gate closes during the midnight, I could not go home and I had to stay the night at my university.

Next, students will prepare for the graduation research presentation, which will be held in two weeks.

I sincerely want students to prepare for the presentation as early as possible.

【No. 0759】National Center Test for University Admissions

Jan 15, 2017 16:35
The National Center Test for University Admissions has been held since yesterday in Japan.

This test is something like a common preliminary exam, which is necessary for entering Japanese national universities.

Lately, the number of private universities that evaluates the results of this test has been increased.

This test has several characteristics -- all problems are tested using computer-scored answer sheets, and IC players are used in the listening exam.

Unfortunately, since the test is held in winter every day, several students can't arrive at the venue due to snow.

I hope that this day will cause a good result for many students.
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【No. 0746】New Year's Holiday

Jan 2, 2017 19:24
Today I spent slow-paced time with my family.

First I took a shower, had a breakfast, then played with my nephew and niece.

After that, I did my work of university until around evening, then my family went to a yakiniku shop (beef barbecue restaurant) to eat dinner with my brother's family.

I ate yakiniku after a long time, and it was delicious and satisfying.

Although it is almost night in Japan, I will go back to the area where I am working to avoid a major traffic jam.

I will be careful not to fall asleep and cause a traffic accident.
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【No. 0742】E ni Kaita Mochi (A Rice Cake Drawn in a Picture)

Dec 29, 2016 11:58
Yesterday I wrote about "mochitsuki" (rice cake pounding).

Today I will talk about the proverb "e ni kaita mochi", which includes the word "mochi".

The literal meaning of "e ni kaita mochi" is "a rice cake drawn in a picture", and it means that something is totally useless or there is no possibility to realize something, even if it looks/sounds good.

This proverb comes from the fact that even if you can draw mochi (rice cake) in a picture very well, you can't eat it, and it is not useful.

The etymology is the Chinese word "gabei", ("ga" means "picture" and "bei" means "mochi") which can be found in Sangokushi.
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【No. 0741】Mochitsuki

Dec 28, 2016 20:38
Today I went to a professor's house and did mochitsuki.

The literal meaning of mochitsuki is "rice cake pounding", and it is a traditional Japanese event that is held around the new year.

In the mochituki, we pound boiled rice using a mortar and a pestle, and make mochi (sticky rice cake).

Unfortunately, since I had less stamina, physical strength, and experience, I couldn't pound mochi well.

On the other hand, professors and associate professors were getting used to the action, and they pounded mochi skillfully.

I could not contribute much to making mochi, but I ate very delicious mochi after the mochitsuki.
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【No. 0737】Christmas Gift for Myself

Dec 24, 2016 19:22
Today is Christmas Eve.

Unfortunately, there remains a work of proofreading students' graduation theses.

At first I was correcting PDF files by using Adobe Acrobat, but it was hard because there were many points that have to be modified.

Therefore, I decided to purchase iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, and use them to correct theses.

Immediately I'm working with these devices.

The hard works became easy and fun.

Actually, I thought a MacBook Pro was a Christmas gift to myself, but it has keyboard trouble and I decided to return it, so the iPad Pro became a true Christmas gift of this year.
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【No. 0736】Bonenkai

Dec 23, 2016 23:57
Today university staffs and teachers gathered and a big year-end party called "bonenkai" was held.

I eat delicious meats, sushi, fruits, and drank alcohol a lot.

Songs and showy dance by Brazilians were presented as a sideshow act.

After that, a lottery event that contains gorgeous prizes was performed.

I couldn't get anything, but they were really fun.

The literal meaning of "bonenkai" is "a party to forget the year", and it is often held in Japan to forget the hardship of the year.

However, since I still have a lot of work remain, I cannot forget this year yet.
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【No. 0709】Trial Class

Nov 26, 2016 22:05
Today I conducted a trial class for high school students entering to a university where I work.

The purpose of this class was letting them be used to a college life that will start from next year.

There was some trouble with equipment, but I managed finish the class.

I felt happy because all students were listening to my talk in a serious manner.

However, since their parents were also observing my class, I was a little nervous.

I'm concerned about the result of questionnaires about the class.

By the way, while I was working in a relaxed way after that, the gates of my university were closed, then I was confined.
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【No. 0707】The First Snow in November

Nov 24, 2016 17:37
It snowed today in the Kanto region in Japan.

It is the first time in 54 years that the first snow falls in November in Tokyo, so this weather is really rare.

Since I didn't change my car tires to snow tires, I had to go to work by train.

As expected, the train was very crowded, and it made me tired.

Also, it's still the autumn color season, so we can see the scenery that snows are piled up on autumn leaves.

I'm feeling a little strange.

It might become more beautiful as more snows are piled up, but I hope that they will melt quickly so that I can commute to work smoothly.
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【No. 0706】The Biggest Mistake

Nov 23, 2016 12:46
Yesterday I took a big mistake.

Although I continued posting English sentences on Lang-8 every day more than 700 days, it ended yesterday.

I wrote an article as always, and I believed that I pushed the "Publish" button.

However, the action didn't work.

I don't understand whether the reason was network failure or my mistake.

Anyway, I'm very sad.

A blank day was created on the calendar of Lang-8.

In fact, however, there is the fact that I have continued learning English every day.

I'm feeling regret for my blunder, but I will keep doing my study from now on also.
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【No. 0702】Yubi wo Kuwaeru

Nov 19, 2016 14:46
Today, I will talk about the phrase "yubi wo kuwaeru."

The literal meaning of this phrase is "to put one's finger in one's mouth," and it expresses a state that someone envies other people/things but can't get them.

Actually I searched for the etymology, but it was not exist on the Internet.

Note that the following sentences are just my thought.

It is said that one of the reasons why babies and young children put their fingers in their mouths is to disguise their hunger.

It looks like they envy dishes but can't get them, so eat their fingers instead.

From such a scene, I think that this phrase has come to express the above meaning.
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【No. 0699】The 700th Post

Nov 16, 2016 11:13
This is my 700th post.

When I was thinking "hmm, what should I write about today," I found that the number of my entries written is 699.

I am a little relieved because I don't need to search for today's topic.

I have managed to continue posting on Lang-8 every day, but recently, it has come to take a long time to choose a topic.

I think that I already wrote about most trivia, Japanese cultures and phrases that I know.

It's a difficult problem to search for topics.

Since I will go to Belgium to perform my presentation on a conference next February, maybe I should improve my speaking and listening skills instead of writing.
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【No. 0672】My Mother's Birthday

Oct 20, 2016 18:58
The day before yesterday was my mother's birthday.

Since I remembered that my mother said that she wanted to go traveling, I decided to give her a travel ticket.

By using this ticket, you can visit various locations of home and abroad.
(It's difficult to travel abroad in terms of the value of the ticket which I bought, though.)

However, I wasn't able to prepare it well in advance, so the shipping date became three days ago (the day before her birthday).

Unfortunately, the day when my mother received my gift was yesterday night (the day after her birthday).

It was a little bit disappointing, but I was pleased because she looked delighted.
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【No. 0667】Imoni Kai

Oct 15, 2016 21:30
Today, my laboratory members and I held imoni kai, the literal meaning of which is "stewed potato party."

Imoni kai is a traditional Japanese party that people make a nabe (pot) dish using taro and eat it in a river bed, and this party is mainly held in the Tohoku region in Japan.

Since the harvest season of taro is around October, imoni kai is normally held in autumn.

There are various seasoning ways, and we made two types of them: "Tonjiru-style"(which is seasoned like miso soup) and "Sukiyaki-style" (which is seasoned with soy source and sugar).

It was a hard work because we had to make furnaces by assembling stones.

However, both styles were really delicious and I was satisfied.
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【No. 0644】Award Ceremony

Sep 22, 2016 23:20
Today, an award ceremony of an academic society was held in Tukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, and I received a best-paper award.

Also, I performed a keynote speech after the ceremony in commemoration of the win.

Although I thought that this is a lonely expedition, I found that my former teacher was taking my picture when I was talking.

I was very surprised and a little unsettled, but I was really pleased.

In addition, he introduced me to many his friends, professors and officers at the banquet.

It was a fulfilling day.

I'd like to keep in touch with him in the future.
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【No. 0639】Acceptance Speech

Sep 17, 2016 01:08
It was decided that I (and my teacher) would receive an award from an academic society, and next week I will perform a keynote speech in English in commemoration of the win.

Since I never experienced such a speech before, I'm nervous now.

I would really appreciate if you could check the beginning part of my speech.

"Today, I'm feeling honored that we could receive this award. We'd like to strive for further developments of our study from now on also. Well, what we targeted at in this study was about a performance improvement of xxx. Since today is a rare chance, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the overview of xxx, and the stream of our study."
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【No. 0623】An Academic Conference and My Birthday

Sep 1, 2016 23:39
Today, I came to Wakayama Prefecture to participate in an academic conference and perform my research presentation.

The presentation ended peacefully and I was fun meeting my mentor after all this time.

And today was my birthday.

There were no particular celebrations, and I had much work to do.

By the way, I decided to present a [my first name].ac domain to myself as my birthday present.

Since an ac domain looks like an academic website, I wanted to get it for a long time.

The actual meaning of the ac domain is Ascension Island of British, but I don't care a damn.

【No. 0620】Expressions of Sadness

Aug 29, 2016 20:29
Today, a really sad thing happened to me.

Hence I will talk about two Japanese expressions of sadness.

"Ten o aogu" ･･･ The literal meaning is "to look up to the sky."

This phrase expresses a person who trying to call for something on the God due to despair or grief.

"Unadareru" ･･･ The literal meaning is "to bow one's nape of the neck."

This phrase expresses a person dropping his/her head due to despair, sadness, or embarrassment.

Both of these expressions mean a kind of sadness, but the direction of the face is opposite to each other.

【No. 0619】Japanese Language Proficiency Test and The Japanese Language Examination

Aug 28, 2016 16:14
Today, I tried to solve exam problems of Japanese language on the Internet.

However, I made one mistake among five problems in the second grades.

I couldn't believe that foreign people trying to take N2 solve such difficult problems, but it was not "Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)," but "The Japanese Language Examination" for native Japanese people.

To be honest, I'm relieved.

By the way, the problem that I made a mistake is related to "閑話休題 (kanwa kyudai)."

"閑話" means "digression," "休題" means "to stop the topic," and "閑話休題" means "to return to the main topic from the digression," which is translated as "but I digress" in English.

However, I thought that "閑話休題" means "to stray from the main topic and make a digression," which is something like "by the way" or "as an aside."

I heard that many Japanese people have misunderstood as I did, but I'd like to be more careful.

【No. 0612】Pin kara Kiri made (From Pin to Kiri)

Aug 21, 2016 10:37
Today, I'd like to talk about the Japanese phrase "pin kara kiri made," which means "from the first to the last" / "whole gamut."

The "pin" comes from the Portuguese "pinta," which means "point."

This became to express "one" of a dice, then became to mean "the first" or "the best."

The "kiri" means "the last" or "the worst."

There are two theories about the etymology: one is that it comes from the Portuguese "cruz," which means "cross," and the other is that it comes from the Japanese "kagiri," which means "limit."

Recently, Japanese people often say just "pin kiri" for short.