World's Slowest Bicycle Crash

The other day I was riding my bike to the station, to go to work. Everyday I ride past the first crosswalk and think to myself, someday, someone is going to crash at this corner. That is because, there is no mirror and the corner is at a very sharp angle, which makes it impossible to see people coming from the other side. On this day, I was thinking the same thing as usual, when another bicyclist came speeding around the corner. We both saw each other and put on our brakes, but it was too late. Our bikes collided. Fortunately, it was so slow that only the front tires of the bikes touched, escaping any serious harm. The other person and myself could only laugh and keep riding, in opposite directions.

That day I was lucky, but it could have been bad. I am actually surprised that it was the only time I have seen a crash on that corner. It looks like I will have to be more careful in the future.

----------　Word Help　---------
crosswalk 　横断歩道
crush 　　　　クラッシュする、ぶつかる
sharp angle 急な角度
impossible 　不可能な、ありえない
put on one's preaks ブレーキをかける（過去形もput）
collide(d) 　　衝突する（した）
furtunately 　幸いにも、幸運なことに
opposite derections 反対方向

House Husband

I spent all day doing the weekly house work, then I realized that some people might find it interesting, that I am basically a house husband. Meaning, with the way that mine and Marta's work schedules are, she is at work all day, every day and I only work part time. So, for us, it is more convenient for me to do all of the house work, during my days off.

From what everybody tells me, this set up is, almost completely opposite to Japanese culture. Most of my students get really surprised when I tell them that, I am the one who does all of the cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc. Of course Marta helps when she can, but she is usually really busy. When we were living in America, we both did the house work evenly and it seemed to work really well.

---Word Help-----------------------

realize(d) 　気づく（気づいた）

basically 基本的に

house husband　家事を専業とする夫　→housewife 主婦

convenient　　　便利な、都合のよい

house work　　　家事

completely　　　完全に、徹底的に

opposite 　　　反対の、逆の

Couch Surfing?

This weekend I learned about a very interesting website, called `couch surfing.` This website allows travelers, to meet with people in foreign countries and stay on their couch, for a short time, while they are traveling.

On Monday, our friends told us about this website and that they would be having a man from Australia stay at their house, for two or three days. That night, we went to a traditional Japanese restaurant in Odaiba, with our friends and the Australian man. He was on his way to visit America, but decided to stay in Japan for three days, for sightseeing. Everyone had a great time!

It sounds like a very nice good idea, but I’m not sure that I would ever try it. I think it would be very convenient, if I was to ever to visit another country for only a few days.

Word Help
couch 　　　　カウチソファー
decide(d)　　決定する（した）
sightseeting 観光
convenient　便利な

Happy Halloween

This year, Halloween was a little different than what I am used to but, it was still really nice. It was also the first year that I did not carve a pumpkin. Instead, I went with Marta and some friends, to a night club in Shibuya. Most of us were wearing costumes and getting a lot of stares from people, on our way to the train station and on the train. Some people could only look at us in confusion. Others, laughed and gave us high fives while, saying “sugoi! ”

My costume was a skeleton. I had white face paint and black on my eyes, nose, and mouth. I was wearing a shirt, a suit jacket, a bow tie, and black slacks. Oh, and white, spiky, hair. Marta was “a dead school girl.”She wore a school uniform, white face paint, with blood, and black lipstick. It was pretty scary. Our friend’s were a bee, an old man. They were more funny than scary. The club was really fun and there were a lot of different costumes to look at. One of my best Halloween parties ever!