This article which was written by an English man embarrassed me.
This is a part of his article, "One of the biggest surprises to me when I first came here was the attitude to things like 'Soapland' and 'enjokousai'. We do not have these in my country, so I was really surprised to hear people talking about them as if they were quite natural."

Of course I knew that some bad behavior in Japan, such as child porns, has been blamed. But they are crime. There are many crime in every country and we wouldn't blame the country itself or all of the citizens because of some criminals in their country.
However, Soapland is legal, and it could be some of my coworkers go there. Girls who work for Sopelands agree to work there, so I thought that was not my business.
Yes, I was one of the people who thought "as if they were quite natural."
I used to proud of Japanese culture, not only traditional one but also modern one, such as animation or Maid Cafe. Foreigners know those culture and our embarrassed cultures as well.
Japanese are good at starting new and unique business. However, we need to think about our moral and reputation from the world.

CORRECTED
Every office worker in our company has to attend a workshop every year.
The workshop is organized by our head office to explain daily office work.
The explanation was given to us by some workers from the head office and I could see their different characters.
One of them had the habit of saying, "This part is the same as last year, so we can skip it". Oh, what would I do, if I were the freshman?
The other worker was unusual because of her very soft voice and the fact that she only read from the text book.
Last year, she was told by someone in the audience, "If you just read from the textbook again, I'll leave this workshop. After all, I can read it by myself".
This year, her explanation was better, but her soft voice made it difficult for us to hear everything she was saying. So, we just ignored her and read the textbook by ourselves.
I also tend to speak in a soft voice so I have to be careful that I speak clearly, or else everyone would just ignore me too!


ORIGINAL
Every office worker in our company has to attend at a workshop every year.
The workshop is organized by our head office for explaining the way of daily office work.
The explanation was given us by some workers from the head office and I could see their different characters.
One of them had the habit of saying, "This part is the same as last year, so we can skip it". Oh, what could I do, if I were the freshman.
The other worker was remarkable of her very small voice and she only read the text book.
Last year, she was told by an audience,"If you read the textbook completely the same, I would leave this workshop. I can read it by my self".
This year, her explanation was better, but even that her small voice made us difficult to catch the words properly. So, we avoid her and read the textbook by our self.
I also tend to speak with small voice. I have to be careful that I speak clear, or everyone would avoid me.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter (2006/05/30) Kim Edwards ¾¦Éʾܺ٤ò¸«¤ë

CORRECTED
A pair of twins were born to a happy couple, but the husband who was a doctor recognized that one of their babies, the girl, had Down syndrome.
He secretly handed the girl over to a nurse who loved him and asked her to take the girl away to a children's institution.

Sounds like a soap opera, doesn't it?
I usually don't choose this kind of books when I read in Japanese. However, the aim of reading English books is reading itself.
And entertaining books are easy reading.

When the doctor abandoned the girl he thought that would be the best for his family. He tried to be good to his son and his wife who believed that the girl had died. Their life was built on his one and only lie.
The story has someting more than entertainment.

¡ßcatch copy ¡üslogan or catch phrase

for god's sake = ´ªÊÛ¤·¤Æ¤è

sake = ¡Á¤Î¤¿¤á


ORIGINAL
The twins were born to a happy couple. The husband was a doctor and he recognized that one of their babies, the baby girl, has Down syndrome.
He secretly handed over the girl to a nurse who loved him and asked to take the girl away to a children's institution.

Sounds like a soap opera, doesn't it?
I usually don't choose this kind of books when I read in Japanese. However, the aim of reading English books is reading itself.
And entertainment books are good to easy reading.

When the doctor abandoned the girl he thought that it would be the best for his family. He tried to be good for his son and his wife who believed the girl died. Their life was built on his only one lie.
The story has someting more than entertainment.


-----------------------------------------------

The Memory Keeper's Daughter / Kim Edwards /139,900words (31/3*33*513*0.8) TOTAL 1,816,036 / ¡ú¡ú¡ú¡ú¡ú

CORRECTED
There has been tension between a person and me for years.
I think it was caused by his action, but what's done has been done.
When I see him, I say hello, but he always ignores me. It hurts me.
I wish not to see him any more, but I have to do so frequently.
I don't want him to like me. I just want to get rid of the tension. I'm tired of it.


get rid = ¥´¥ß¤ò½Ð¤¹¡¡¼è¤ê½ü¤¯

it's the water under the bridge. = ʤ¿åËߤËÊ֤餺¡Ê¸å²ù¤·¤Æ¤¤¤ë¡Ë

²á¤®¤¿¤³¤È¡Ê´¶¾ð¤Ë¤Ï¿¨¤ì¤Æ¤Ê¤¤¡Ë
What's done has been done
That's histry.
That's of the past.

no hard feelings = ¤ï¤À¤«¤Þ¤ê¤Ï¤Ê¤¤

vain = ­¡µõ±É¿´¡¡­¢¤à¤Ê¤·¤¤
in vain = ̵ÂÌ
vein = ·ì´É



ORIGINAL
There has been a tension between a person and me for years.
I think it was caused by his act, but it's the water under the bridge.
When I see him, I say hello, but every time he ignores me. It hurts me.
I wish not to see him any more, but I have to do so frequently.
I don't want him to like me. I just want to throw out the tension. I'm tired of it.

CORRECTED
Heartland beer has become my favorite beer recently. It's a beer produced by Kirin in 500ml bottles. I like the taste of course, and what's more, pouring beer from the bottles gives me a luxurious feeling.
Although, I know that beer makes me put on weight easily, I look forward to glass of beer every night.



ORIGINAL
Heartland beer is my favorite recently. It's 500ml of bottled beer produced by Kirin. I like the taste of course, and more, pouring beer from bottles makes my feel rich.
Although, I know that beer makes put on my weight easy, I want a glass of beer every night.

CORRECTED
Recently, I came across cut and packed sharks' meat in a super market near my house. The package stated that sharks' meat, when stewed or fried is really delicious. Since I had no idea how sharks' meat tasts like, I didn't bother to buy it.
Then, I watched a TV program. It was about the world wide food shortage problem. It claimed that the number of fish in the ocean is decreasing and fishermen around the world scramble to catch them. One day, only a few people would be able to get them but others wouldn't. The TV program suggested that we eat fish more wisely. We tend to eat only a few kind of fish, for example, tuna, salmon and so on.
Fishermen scramble to catch these fish but on the other hand they dump an enormous amount of unpopular fish.
The program left a deep impression on me.
After that, I decided to buy sharks' meat.
It tasted like swordfish and it was delicious.

have come across = ¸«¤«¤±¤¿

stated = ½ñ¤¤¤Æ¤¢¤ë

didn't bother = µ¤¤Ë¤·¤Ê¤¤

Since I had no idea how sharks' meat tasts like, I didn't bother to buy it. = Since Íýͳ¡Ê¡Á¤À¤«¤é¡Ë, ·ë²Ì¡Ê¡Á¤·¤¿¡Ë

It claimed = ¡Á¤Ç¤¢¤ë¤È¼çÄ¥¤¹¤ë¡Ê½ñ¤¤¤Æ¤¤¤ëËܿͤϿ¿µ¶¤Ï¤ï¤«¤é¤Ê¤¤¡Ë

scramble = Ã¥¤¤¹ç¤¦



ORIGINAL
These days, cut and packed sharks appear in a super market near my house. They exclaim that stewed and fried sharks are really delicious. I had no idea what the taste like and I ignored them.
By the way, I watched a TV program. It was about world wide foods management. They told us that the number of fish is decreasing and we race to catch them. One day, a few people would be able to get them but others wouldn't. The TV program suggested us eat fish more cleverly. We tend to eat a few kind of fish, for example tuna, salmon and so on.
Fishermen race to catch them but on the other hand they dump unpopular fish.
I was impressed and reflect on that.
This was why I ate the shark.
It tastes like swordfish and it was delicious.

CORRECTED
My husband didn't eat dinner from Wednesday to Friday last week.
I basically like cooking but I don't find any motivation to prepare a meal for myself alone.
This can be clearly seen from the contents of my lunchbox.
I have a beautiful lacquerware lunchbox which I bought in Aizu in Fukushima prefecture. I used to enjoy preparing lunch but now I have lost my motivation to do so. I now prefer to spend time for other things, such as reading books or watching DVDs.
My co-workers laugh at me because my lunch is very miserable, for example, instant harusame noodles, ochazuke, cornflakes, and so on.



ORIGINAL
My husband didn't eat dinner from Wednesday to Friday last week.
I basically like cooking but I don't find my motivation to prepare for my lonely meal.
This thing appears prominently in my lunchbox.
I have a beautiful lacquerware lunchbox which I bought in Aizu in Fukushima prefecture. I used to enjoy preparing lunch but now I lost my motivation. I prefer to spend time for other things, such as reading books or watching DVDs.
My coworkers laugh at me because my lunch is very poor, for example, instant harsame noodle, Ochaduke, cornflakes, and so on.

When you come to Japan first time, you would be surprised that trains are full of announcement.
They let us know a lot of information, such as next stations' name, transfer information. And more, they ask us to hang on to a strap, give up the seat to elderly people.
By the way, I heard the same kind of information in a weather news this morning. The weatherman gave us amount of UV light information and I didn't miss taking a parasol.
They give us seasonal information. For example, pollen load and cherry blossom forecast.
I think Japan is the best "hospitality" country.

CORRECTED
Flowers please our eyes. I used to plant some flowers in my balcony, but I killed everything. So now I sometimes buy cut flowers instead of growing them.
Although the flowers displayed in front of flower shops are vely beautiful, I've heard that they are not as fresh, so it's better to select from those in the glass case in the shop.
Florists usually don't allow us to open these glass case ourself and we have to ask them to take the flowers out. Sometimes I just want to ask the price, but the florist goes ahead to take out the flowers and i find it hard to refuse although it may sometimes be more expensive or smaller than I had.
I need to improve my purchasing skill.


green fingers = ²Ö¤ò°é¤Æ¤ë¤Î¤¬¾å¼ê¤Ê¿Í


ORIGINAL
Flowers please our eyes. I have planted some flowers in my balcony, but I killed everything. So I sometimes buy bunch of flowers instead of growing flowers.
We see some beautiful one in front of flower shops. But I've heard that they would be no longer fresh, so we'd be better to select from those in the glass house.
Florists usually don't accept us to open the window of glass house and we have to ask them to take them out. Although I just wanted to ask the price, they take one from the base. They are sometimes more expensive or smaller than I expected.
I need to improve my purchase skill.