samurai_tofu

In response to:ball size

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:06:12 +0100

Thank you very much for your comment.
It is very nice to hear that you check back of the box of condoms at your age(79?!). I would like to follow your secret practice if any.
Please ask your friends back home to send you condoms of the right size.
Hope you enjoy your life in Thailand.

In response to:ball size

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:47:36 +0200

Since moving from the UK, as an Englishman, to Thailand, if we go down to the local shop, you will find that Condoms on sale here, are marked on the back of the box 50mm up to 53 mm (Diameter of penis). Whereas, in UK, they are marked 54mm to 58mm diameter, so what is said about Ball Size, it figures. Similarly, I think , in the USA.

In response to:cricket and ants --- happy end?!

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 22:27:10 +0100

No, I don't laugh.

But it is interesting.
Yes, old children's stories are often severe, as they try to tell them lessons and they are often retold differently in our countries too.
But it is the first time for me to read this version of the ant and the cricket.

The publisher may-be wants to say that we have to be kind to people even when they were not good.

In response to:cricket and ants --- happy end?!

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 20:55:04 +0100

How about "A completely different culture may turn out to have excellent values of its own, so don't laugh too soon."?

In response to:7 countries comparison questionnaire

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 22:14:03 +0100

Thanks for your comment.

Yes all of the results above almost 20 years old! Things may have changed.

But you are very young to say that.
It seems to me 20 yrs ago is almost yesterday!

I myself onece conducted a questionnaire suvey.
And I understand that questions should be explained well but at the same time simple and short. Dilemma!

In regard to Q37, your interpretation is possible. An alternative one is that the japanese may have taken the question positively, that is, home is the best place for him/her.

According to the note, they translated the questions back and forth to make sure the translation was right. But still, it seems to me that international questionnaire is difficult.

In response to:7 countries comparison questionnaire

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 23:24:19 +0100

The UK figure is almost 20 years old - I wonder if it would show the same result now? I thought the 64% with religious belief seemed quite high - but I suppose it depends what you view as "having a religious belief", as opposed to being a regular attender at a place of worship.
I expect the high percentage of Japanese who only feel good at home reflect the formality and necessity of maintaining status in public life - we feel more able to relax and "let our hair down" in public.

In response to:loser!

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:16:38 +0100

Thank you for your comment.

Really? Is swearing regarded as so bad?

We often fail to understand how much religion is important in this country.

This is related to my today's post Q62a.

In response to:loser!

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 21:48:49 +0100

It is a very bad use of the english language.

Children nowdays do seem to have strange turn of phrase, still I suppose it is better than swearing.

In response to:loser!

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 23:30:55 +0100

Thank you very much for your detailed comment.
My understanding about english people has got improved.

Actually, "I'll kill you!" did not shock me because we often use the same phrase in our own language although this would be far horrible expression than "loser!" when literally understood.

I sometimes hear foreign women who got married with japanese men in japan complain japanese expressions "master(shujin)" for husband and "deep inside(okusan)" for wife, saying "he is not my master and i work outside too!!!"

Most of the japanese can't help but just smile, being riminded of the original meanings of the expressions which were lost long before.

In response to:loser!

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 21:24:49 +0100

I agree with you that I wouldn't care to hear a small son of mine using that expression - I think often these trendy "catchphrases" are over used and people seem not to realise the hurtful nature of them. I think the point is, that the phrase is being used by small boys in its devalued sense - we wouldn't actually jeer at someone we had just defeated in a contest in that way, but only use it in a trivial situation.
It would be like another phrase that I don't personally like "I'll kill you!" - obviously not used to mean just that, only in the trivialised sense of "you just annoyed me; how can I get you back?"
That's the trouble with another language - many phrases don't mean what they say!
But I should still discourage your little boy from using the "loser" idiom - it isn't very kind.

In response to:samurai

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 18:44:59 +0200

Thanks, varshakale.

In response to:who cleans the classroom?

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 21:08:15 +0200

Yes, rights!

"Duties before rights" is one of traditional slogans of school in our country.

In response to:eye contact

Sat, 08 Jul 2006 00:37:55 +0200

Thanks DepletedSoul,

You can communicate with people without knowing their names, like in shops.
We often don't know friends' first names.
We usually call each other by our family names or nicknames from family names.
Women may use first names more often.

Suffixes like "san", "kun", "chan" etc. can be added to given/family names to show respect, intimacy, etc.

In our names, family name comes first, and then given name, like Ono Yoko.
Family is more important than the individual, maybe.

No word for "no"? Why? There are words like "iie" "iya" "dame" etc.

Picture? Maybe sometime, that of our mountain.

In response to:eye contact

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 21:16:14 +0200

What are strangers going to call you if not by your name?, and if its only family and close friends who call you by your name how did they become close friends if they didnt know and use your name in the first place??

Very confusing for me.

I studied Shorinji Kempo for 5 years and loved every minute except for the regular injuries i sustained, i had to quit in the end cos i couldnt take anymore broken bones and black eyes.

It always bemused me that there is no word for "no" in the japanese language, but i soon learnt why that is. :)

Can you show us some pictures?

In response to:What is the most strange thing in English language

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 10:37:49 +0200

Thanks Walrus,

Ok, I see it.
Indo-european languages and our language must have diverged from each other very long ago.

In response to:What is the most strange thing in English language

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 23:52:05 +0200

I could explain the "one of the s in the " construction in English, but I have to wave my hands as I do it, so it won't work on here...

Basically, in mathematical terms, it means "X is an element of the subset of the set that is at the top end of the range". So if there are 200 good C programmers in India, any one of them can be called "one of the best C programmers..."

If that isn't clear, I'm sorry. I typed it without waving my hands.

In response to:What is most interesting in England

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 13:14:37 +0200

Let me replace "constraints" with "self-constraints".

In response to:who cleans the classroom?

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 09:30:24 +0200

British children are lazy and would probably complain that it violated their rights or something. So they hire cleaners.

In response to:What is most interesting in England

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 22:15:37 +0200

perhaps they make it interesting but certainly NOT beautiful.

a life made beautiful by constraints is CONSTRAINED

not beautiful

In response to:What is most interesting in England

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 22:11:41 +0200

Constraints make life beautiful

In response to:What is most interesting in England

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 22:04:23 +0200

old men can do whatever they want

no-one SHOULD do anything

it's a choice thing ...

:D

In response to:samurai

Sun, 18 Jun 2006 23:19:32 +0200

But they can blog.
Welcome to blogworld samurai.