Adventures in English, continued

     Eleven on the dot on Wednesday morning means a parade of elegant English speakers ring the doorbell. The Manor's attentive building manager reserves guest parking for the Mercedes driver who lives down the road in Shirokane (white gold).  Suki-chan greets the ladies, sniffs their shoes as they step out of them in the genkan (entry hall) then retreats to a bedroom for a 90 minute nap. Coffee and cookies are on the table since speaking English requires fuel.

     Predictably, we discuss Algeria's neighbor, Tunisia: One member just returned from a visit to that offbeat destination. Pharmacist by training she is an archaeologist at heart. In a nutshell: thumbs up for Carthage, thumbs down on food and nothing worthwhile in the souk despite masses of sheep. "You have to tip the ladies who work in the toilets!" she remarks, eyes wide open. Living in a world without tipping, this is hard to digest. Next topic: the Olympics. Poor Akiko-san, the skater who suffers from anorexia. Does she have a chance against her two team mates, not to mention South Korean star Yu-na? Sad faces all around. Thirdly, we touch on the Tokyo Marathon, next Sunday. "Abe-san will run," mentioned the Shirokane resident (referring to the wife of the prime minister before Hatoyama, Aso and Fukuda, going back to 2007).

     Returning to Mr. Milne's magnum opus, the chapter on Kanga and Roo features a series of exciting adjectives (namely, fierce, splendid  and husky). Naughty Pooh is trying to abduct Roo, which is a treacherous subject for a group of mothers. How often Milne uses the verb "fidgeting"!  Today I notice that rather than illustrator Ernest H. Shephard's original drawings are called "Decorations" on the title page. Dare I reveal that this is news to me?

     My inbox has photos from Sudoku Fun Day to be included in the Tokyo American Club magazine. Shock, horror, not all the winners are pictured so there is some discussion about the layout. Secondly, there is an update about E-books, which are still not available in Japan but for purchase at the US Army Base. Next Wednesday John Wood will tell us why he left Microsoft. Rather than dream up original opening remarks, it's time for a visit to the hairdresser.