Like clockwork the doorbell rings at the appointed minute every Wednesday. As the Filippina housekeeper says goodbye in stride four elegant ladies primed for English conversation. Coffee is brewing; sweets are plated. Our American cat, Suki-chan, greets the guests as they remove their shoes by the front door per local custom. Suki-chan knows the drill and retires to the bedroom. We begin with a review of new words from the prior week's reading. The list includes a three letter word from the text: G-A-Y.
"Is this like the word in 'gay bar' ?" asks N-san. Everyone is scribbling in her notebook. I explain that when Mr. Milne wrote the book, it simply meant happy or carefree, as in the title of the film "The Gay Divorcee."
"Do you use the word to mean happy or carefree?" N-san challenged. It is embarrassing to admit that, no, the word is not often used in its original sense. More scribbling in notebooks.
The difference between bored and boring then leads to a discussion of childhood past. How easily for 20th century children to become bored without iPods, cell phones and the Internet. Students get bored when a teacher is boring, I observe, which sparks the musician in the group to recount a lecture she gave yesterday. In Japanese she relates a joke she made. The group laughs and kindly explains the joke to me, a pun that doesn't work as well in English.
"'Over the hill' has such a pretty sound,' " one lady remarks. How disappointed they are to learn it is not what they imagined. Same with 'full moon,' which is revered in Japan. "We love to admire the full moon," they say, without any reference to lunatics. They are pleased to hear about the notion of white lies. "You use them, too? " they ask.
"'Over the hill' has such a pretty sound,' " one lady remarks. How disappointed they are to learn it is not what they imagined. Same with 'full moon,' which is revered in Japan. "We love to admire the full moon," they say, without any reference to lunatics. They are pleased to hear about the notion of white lies. "You use them, too? " they ask.
Since sudoku is mainly a masculine pastime, these good women are not big fans. My e-mail now reports we are at capacity for February 6th! The only unknown now is how many staff from Nikoli will attend? The puzzle people are all eager to set foot in the Tokyo American Club. I hope they don't outnumber the contestants.
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