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【No. 0382】Holiday

Jan 4, 2016 17:26
Today, I was playing with my nephew and niece at a park.

Since both of them were very energetic, I was fun but also tired.

Then I went to shopping for such as suits for job interviews with my mother.

I was going to pay the price for the suit, but my mother paid and presented it to me as New Year's gift.

I appreciate it very much.

Today's dinner is yakiniku (roasted meat).

I'm looking forward to eating yakiniku.
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【No. 0381】Homecoming

Jan 3, 2016 23:29
Today, I was return home because I could pack up my work.

I arrived at my home in the evening, and gave my nephew and niece a New Nintendo 3DS as otoshidama.

Then we ate dinner, and after that, my mother and my brother-in-law and I went to watch Star Wars Episode 7.

Actually my mother and I didn't watch episode 4, 5, and 6, but we really enjoyed it.

There were some difficult parts to understand, but my brother-in-law explained it to us.

I am a little tired today.

Good night.

【No. 0380】First Dream of the Year

Jan 2, 2016 16:25
First Dream of the Year is called Hatsuyume in Japan.

Japanese people often forecast the year's fortune from the contents of Hatsuyume.

There is the saying "Ichi fuji ni taka san nasu," which represents highly auspicious tokens in Hatsuyume.

This means that the most auspicious one is Mount Fuji, the second one is a hawk, and the third one is an eggplant.

Also, dreams of death, disaster, excrement and blood also seem to auspicious.

On the other hand, dreams to be encouraged by oneself and to be chased seem to be bad.

In my Hatsuyume, I was riding my road bike with old friends.
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【No. 0379】Year Resolutions in 2016

Jan 1, 2016 16:20
Happy new year, everyone.

My year resolution in 2015 was to improve my English, but I don't know whether it was achieved or not.

Therefore, I will set a specific year resolutions of 2016:

・Perform a dissertation presentation in English and graduate from doctoral course.

・Submit at least two papers to an English journal.

・Participate in at least one international conference.

・Continue to post articles on Lang-8.

I'd like to devote myself to my work.
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【No. 0378】MacBook Air

Dec 31, 2015 15:11
Today, I finally bought a MacBook Air.

I ordered the MacBook last week, but it arrived today, because I added the memory and changed the keyboard layout, and the product had to be imported from Shanghai.

From now on, I can make presentation slides even if I'm staying at home.

At presentation venues, no longer need to use iPhone.

It's an early New Year's gift for myself.

I'm sorry this topic is unrelated to New Year's Eve.

Best wishes throughout the coming year (良いお年をお迎えください).
  • in Essay
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【No. 0377】Year-Crossing Noodles

Dec 30, 2015 18:03
Tomorrow, December 31 is the New Year's Eve.

In Japan, there is a custom of eating year-crossing noodles called "toshikoshi soba" on New Year's Eve.

According to a survey, about 60% of Japanese seem to eat toshikoshi soba.

As the reasons to eat soba, there are some hypotheses like the following:

・In order to cut off disaster seeds of the year, we eat soba that is easy to cut.

・In hope of a long life and a long-lasting bond between families, we eat soba that are long noodles.

Lazy people will eat instant soba.
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【No. 0376】Rotation Direction of Screws

Dec 29, 2015 17:00
I think many people know the rotation direction of screws when tightening.

That's right, it's clockwise.

The reason is because that right handed people are the majority in the world, and it's easy to strain in a clockwise for them.

However, there are some exceptions.

For example, since fan blades rotate in clockwise, screws of fans are tightened in counterclockwise to prevent from loosening.

For the same reason, bicycle pedals of the left side are also tightened in counterclockwise.
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【No. 0375】Certificate Exam of Santa Claus

Dec 28, 2015 16:44
Today, I will introduce a harsh exam to become Santa Claus recognized by Greenland International Santa Claus Association.

As qualifications of candidacy for the exam, you need to; be married, have children, have activity experience as Santa Claus, and weigh more than 120 kg.

If you pass the document review, you have to go to the exam venue in Copenhagen while dressing up as Santa Claus from your home.

At the venue, a physical fitness test is performed, and only the top two candidates are able to be interviewed from the elder Santa Claus in English or Danish.

After the interview, a grooming/appearance check, such as if the costume is self-made in accordance with the tradition of their hometowns, is conducted.

Finally, the candidates have to read aloud the oath words of Santa Claus by using only the phrase "Ho Ho Ho."

After the exam, if the elder Santa Claus and all other official Santa Clauses give approval, a new official Santa Claus will be born.

Currently the number of official Santa Clauses is 120, and only one of them seems to be Japanese.
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【No. 0374】Delicious Mikan (Mandarin Orange)

Dec 27, 2015 14:23
The season of mikan is approaching.

Today, I will share how to identify delicious mikan.

Firstly, the darker mikan is, the greater the amount of sugar is.

Secondly, the smaller the size/hull is, the stronger the taste is.

If there is creases on the coat, it means that the mikan grew up in a less water environment, and the taste is sweet, rich, and delicious.

You could find some damages on the coat, but it does not affect the taste.
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【No. 0373】Zebra Trivia

Dec 26, 2015 16:53
Few days ago, I wrote an article about cheetahs and zebras.

Today, I will write interesting (maybe) trivia especially about zebras.

Zebras' bodies are black, and white hairs grow in a stripe pattern.

The stripe pattern makes their bodies look big, and it has an effect to keep their body temperature by creating air flows on their body surfaces.

Also, stripe patterns of zebras are different for each individual, and they identify fellows using the patterns.

By the way, the more hot the region is, the more the stripe line grow.
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【No. 0372】Christmas Trivia

Dec 25, 2015 14:37
Did a Santa Claus visit your home?

Since today is Christmas, I will introduce trivia about Christmas in some countries.

Once in the UK, Santa Claus had worn green clothes, but they seemed to be changed to red by a Coca Cola campaign.

In the Netherlands, there are two Christmas in December, people will receive gifts in the 6th and the 25th.

In Russia, there are three Christmas, December 25th, January 1st, and January 7th.

A Russian Santa Claus seems to be often with his granddaughter (Snegurochka).

In Spain and Italy, Christmas continues from December 15th to January 6th, and the day that children receive gifts seems to be January 6th.
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【No. 0371】Christmas Cake

Dec 24, 2015 14:00
Today, I got Christmas cakes from my acquaintance.

There were various cakes, such as a shortcake, strawberries, a caramel, a chocolate, green tea, oranges and a Mont Blanc.

After lunch, my laboratory members and I ate them.

It was delicious.

Unfortunately, there is no other event in this year's Christmas Eve and Christmas.

【No. 0370】The Emperor's Birthday

Dec 23, 2015 12:02
Today, December 23 is a Japanese national holiday called "The Emperor's Birthday."

The date changed since 1989, and we celebrate the emperor Kinjo's birthday on this day.

Various events will take place in the emperor's court and the Ise Jingu Shrine.

However, most Japanese will spend the day freely as a mere holiday.

I will spend leisurely in this morning at my apartment, and go to my university in the afternoon.
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【No. 0369】Winter Solstice

Dec 22, 2015 14:50
Today is the winter solstice, which is marked by the shortest day and longest night of the year.

In Japan, it is said that eating pumpkins and taking yuzu-yu on the winter solstice can prevent catching cold.

In fact, since pumpkins contain a lot of vitamin A and carotene, they are effective in preventing cold.

Also, yuzu-yu means a bath that is floated some (or many) yuzu citron.

The yuzu-yu is effective in preventing cold, promoting blood circulation, beauty care and relaxation.

As a hypothesis of the custom of taking yuzu-yu on the winter solstice, there is something like the following: the reason is because that the term "冬至, toji" （winter solstice） is similar to "湯治, toji" （hot spring cure）, and the term "融通, yuzu"（adaptable） is similar to "柚子, yuzu"（yuzu citron）.
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【No. 0368】Cheetah and Zebra

Dec 21, 2015 12:08
In Yokohama Zoo "Zoorasia," cheetahs and zebras are living in the same area.

Since cheetahs are carnivores, you might think cheetahs would attack zebras.

However, there is no problem because cheetahs don't attack herbivores whose bodies are bigger than cheetahs.

In fact, zebras seems to be more strong than cheetahs.

By the way, lions are living in a different area.
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【No. 0367】Kilimanjaro

Dec 20, 2015 14:29
Kilimanjaro is the 5,895-meter-height mountain located in the northeastern part of Tanzania, and is the highest free-standing mountain in the world.

This name is also famous as a coffee brand, and it is one of the most popular brands in Japan.

Japanese often call "Kilimanjaro" of coffee "キリマン(Kiliman)" in abbreviation, but this split way is wrong in a narrow sense.

"Kilima" in "Kilimanjaro" means "mountain" in Swahili, amd "njaro" means "shining white" in Chaga languages.

Therefore, we actually have to split "Kilimanjaro" as "Kilima-njaro(キリマ･ンジャロ)."
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【No. 0366】Premium Registration

Dec 19, 2015 13:48
Today is just year 1 since I started Lang-8.

I've thought that I would register a premium account if I could continue to post on Lang-8 every day for a year.

Therefore, my account became premium from today.

The most useful function for me is probably "Personal Journal Search."

Also, I'm happy if the line speed of Lang-8 improved in even the slightest terms due to my small offering.

Anyway, I will continue doing my best.
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【No. 0365】365

Dec 18, 2015 14:01
This is my 365th post.

Previously, I wrote that a sum of playing cards number become 365 (when a joker was counted as 1).

Today, I will introduce more information about the number 365.

365 is expressed as a sum of consecutive square numbers, like 13^2 + 14^2.

In addition, it can also be expressed as 10^2 + 11^2 + 12^2.

In 27x27 magic square, the center is 365.

The average body temperature of us is about 36.5 ℃.

Personally, I wanted the number 365 to contain more hidden interesting facts.
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【No. 0364】Bookworm

Dec 17, 2015 12:08
Those who love reading books are called "bookworm" in English.

Such people seem to be compared to worms that eat books and live in books.

Actually, there is also a Japanese phrase called "本の虫(hon no mushi: hon means book, and mushi means bugs or worms)," and the etymology is the same as "bookworm."

We always say just "虫(mushi)," but the bug that actually eat books is called "silverfish," "booklice," or "deathwatch beetle."

Silverfish eat not only books, but also grain and clothings.

Since they have a long life-span (about 8 years), they will propagate rapidly if you do nothing.

Therefore, if you found them, you should do a thorough house cleaning.
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【No. 0363】Boring things (Tsumaranai mono)

Dec 16, 2015 10:30
There is a Japanese traditional expression "tsumaranai mono desuga (which means something like 'this is a boring thing')."

We would say this phrase when we brought someone something (presents).

You might think "to give someone gift with such a bad word is strange."

Actually, this phrase implies something like "I chose this present wholeheartedly, but it could be a boring thing for splendid people like you."

I mean, this phrase is a kind of Japanesey honorific expressions.

However, some people oppose to use this phrase because it's difficult to carry the nuance to recent generations.

By the way, my dictionary translate this phrase into "Here's a little something for you."