Studying German

Apr. 22, 2022

I read a conversation between a university student couple in my English textbook. The guy is taking German as an elective, but the woman is puzzled because she doesn't understand the point of it as in her opinion everyone in Germany now speaks English. 

The man disagrees, though, but he discontinues the topic as he is obviously not prepared to offer an example to counter her argument. 

It turns out, though, that his main reason for choosing to take German is somewhere else. In fact, it has to do with the fact that his parents spoke the language all the time when he was a kid. Thanks to this advantage of his, he can still remember quite a few German words, which is expected to give him advantage in getting good grades. 

Later, when the woman asked him how his class was going, he admitted the grammar was harder than he had expected, but that his teacher said his pronunciation was really good, thanks mainly to his ample exposure to his parents speaking the language in his childhood. At the end of the conversation, he is hopeful that he will ace the course by getting a good grade in the final exam. 

The conversation got me wondering why I took German as an elective when I was in uni. One thing I remember is that I chose it because I learned German and English are both Germanic languages and therefore similar. I thought learning would be a lot less hard than learning a language of Latin origin, such as French and Italian. 

I was both right and wrong. I was right that they were similar in that their vocabulary was similar. For example, a man in English is ein Mann in German.

However, in terms of grammar their differences far exceeded the similarity observed in vocabulary. One thing that tortured me was different case markers multiplied by three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. 

After all, each language has some unique linguistic rule that can be learned naturally without much effort if you are born and raised in that language, but that are so hard to acquire if you try to master after you reach a certain age. Case markers are one such example. Particles, such as 「て」「に」「を」「は」are probably Japanese counter parts. Native speakers of Japanese can use them naturally without thinking. But adult foreign learners of the language are constantly frustrated by trying to figure out how to use them correctly. 

Uncle Pete's Pumpkin Farm

Apr. 21, 2022

I read an article about a pumpkin farm. According to the article, Uncle Pete's Pumpkin Farm, though closed temporarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will be back in business in October. Though location is not provided (because it is a fictional article in a textbook), it is presumably somewhere in the US that is well-known for pumpkin production.

Anyhow, not only will pumpkin fans be able to wander the farm to choose their favorite pumpkin to eat and decorate the porch, but they will also be able to enjoy various food and drinks such as pumpkin lattes, pumpkin cookies, and even pumpkin beer!

Infection preventive measures are taken throughout the farm such as availability of hand sanitizer equipment, observation of social distancing, and encouragement, but not obligation of, masks.

The farm will be open daily from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., but will close in the event of heavy rain. 

The article reminded me of a good friend of mine who is a farmer. He is famous for using this technology called iMec to produce tomatoes. He was once featured in a TV program. People visit his farm from abroad to learn about the technology. 

Not only is he interested in producing quality tomatoes, though, he is also interested in sharing the joy of picking fresh veggies. Last time I talked to him some years ago, I told me about his plan of making a farmland where families could enjoy hands-on experience of farming. I thought it's pretty cool.

Then the pandemic sets in, and I haven't been in such close contact with him as before now, so I'm not sure what has become of this project. But next time I talk to him, I would like to follow up on it. 

I have already been lucky enough to visit some of his farms to help with harvesting. I harvested corn, broad beans, potatoes, melons, and so on. It's lots of fun. Everything tastes insanely good after a few hours of farm work. I think it would be great if there is a place people have easy access to where they can be freed from the stress of daily desk work to stretch their arms and legs fully to engage in activities so essential to living such as picking food as well as helping grow vegetables.  

Fat Bear Week

 Apr. 20, 2022

I read an interesting conversation between a couple. In the conversation they talk about "Fat Bear Week". According to the woman, who is from Alaska, it is a famous custom in the state. Every autumn people vote for their favorite bear. Since I didn't know what she was talking about at first, I went online and did some research. 

Soon I came across a You Tube video that introduced contenders for the contest in Year 2021, and a webpage that gave you the details of the event. According to an online explanation, it is a single elimination tournament, where two contenders collide head-on, not physically, of course, but compete with each other through people voting. The one that wins more votes wins and climbs up the tournament. How do people make their choice? Well, basically, they are supposed to vote for whichever bear that looks fatter. The idea is the fattest bear is the one that is most prepared for the coming hibernation. It is a way of raising people's awareness of the ecosystem of which they are a part, and also of cultivating people's love of and respect for nature, which they must take good care of in order to continue a sustainable life. 

In the conversation, the woman was going to throw a party for Fat Bear Week. It's like someone from Aomori, now living in Tokyo, throwing a party in Tokyo, because it's time for the Mebuta Festival. It's very unlikely to happen. So that got me interested in the difference between people in Japan and people in the US regarding why people throw a party. 

One reason, I assume, that people in the US throw a party for one's hometown event is that they are proud of where they are from, and also that they think their locality should be interesting to their friends.

On the other hand, here in Japan, while many are presumably proud of where they are from, some may feel their hometowns are not so cool, especially compared with big cities like Tokyo and Yokohama, and therefore they don't bother to ostentatiously advertise their hometown. Also, many Japanese, somewhat by cultural trait, tend to be rather reserved about sharing their locality with others who are from different hometowns. 

Regardless of the cultural difference on why people throw parties, though, joining a Fat Bear Week party sounds like fun. I can imagine myself getting so excited about choosing my favorite bear. I may even develop a feeling of love for my choice as it climbs up the tournament...until one day, of course, I accidentally come across one in the woods and get eaten by it. 

  

ゴロフキン vs 村田戦 / Gennady Golovkin vs Ryota Murata

さいたまスーパーアリーナで行われた世界ミドル級統一王座決定戦は、40歳のゲンナジー・ゴロフキン選手の右のカウンターストレートを受けた36歳の村田諒太選手が身体を反転させてマットに跪いた直後、セコンドからタオルが投入され、TKOで幕を閉じた。

序盤、予想外の右ボディストレートを織り交ぜて、王者ゴロフキン選手を後退させた村田選手だったが、中盤以降細かいパンチを数多く受け、R7以降は、蓄積したダメージを1分間のインターバルでは回復できない様子だった。

最後の3ラウンドは手数が減って攻めが単調となり、ダッキングやウィービングなどで必死にパンチをかわすも効果は限定的だった。ガードを固めてひたすら堪える姿を見て、カウンターを狙っているのだと思った人もいるかも知れないが、実際は中盤以降にガードをかいくぐるようにふりおろされるゴロフキン選手の左フックを耳の辺りに大量に浴びて、朦朧としていたのだろうと思う。

村田諒太選手はオリンピックの金メダリストであり、とても強い選手だ。しかし、ゲナンジー・ゴロフキン選手の豊富な戦歴に由来する試合運びの巧みさと心身のタフさは、若さに勝る日本人王者の強さを、質的にも量的にも凌駕していた。

ゴロフキン選手のファーストネーム、ゲンナジーは、ロシアの男性名で、 ギリシャ語で「高貴な、名門の、身分が高い」を意味するゲンナディオスの訛だという。まる。

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The unified title match between Gennady Golovkin and Ryota Murata saw a 9R TKO finish when the Kazakh great smashed the Japanese former Olympic gold medalist into the mat with his counter straight shot. A tower was thrown into the ring a second after Murata was on hands and knees.

In the early few rounds Murata set the pace with his unexpected right straight body shot, together with his iconic one-two combination. The Kazakh legend was seen to step back frequently.

But his dominance didn't last long. As the bout unfolded, the Kazakh master landed countless small shots on Murata's face. Murata was gradually robbed of his stamina. Murata's damage was so severe that the one-minute interval didn't look enough for him to recover. Slowly but surely the moment of truth was approaching...

In the last three rounds before the bout ended, Murata remained defensive. He did his best to avoid Golovkin's increasingly persistent attach with ducking and weaving, but their effect appeared limited. To some viewers Murata may have appeared to be looking for an opportunity for a counter shot. But the truth of the matter seems that he wasn't able to do anything because he was so groggy from so many left hook shots that Golovkin landed around Murata's right ear behind his guard.

Murata was a great champion. No question about that. He is an Olympic gold medalist. But Golovkin’s strength was on another level. He was far superior to Murata in terms of the variety of

techniques, mental toughness, and the amount of experience which he can always to resort to in time of need.

Golovkin's first name, Gennady, is a common male name in Russian. It is a phonetic variant of a Greek word meaning "noble."

ﾏｳﾝﾃﾝｸﾗｲﾏｰ1,000回 / Mountain Climbers Total 1,000 Reps

ﾏﾗｿﾝﾗﾝﾅｰﾘﾊﾋﾞﾘ体幹ﾄﾚ (04072022)

ﾋﾞﾝﾃｰｼﾞ爺さんへの道 (How to be a vintage 爺さん)