Imagine: A past life

In Buddhist countries the idea of having past lives is not considered unusual.  In Tibet, for example, people believe that the Dalai Lama is reincarnated each time he dies.  So the current Dalai Lama was chosen when he was a child because he had certain characteristics or mannerisms which were similar to the former Dalai Lama or former Dalai Lamas. 

In some ways Japan is a Buddhist country but people do not seem to take the religion as seriously as in Tibet.  There are many Buddhist temples, and people go there for funerals or to celebrate New Year or other festivals.  But they also get married in a Christian church.  And they ask for the help of local Shinto gods when they go to shrines for the worship of the spirits of mountains, an oddly shaped rock etc. 

Do Japanese people believe in reincarnation, or past lives?  I would be interested to hear my students’ opinions or stories. 

The reason I have been thinking about past lives today is because in a Haruki Murakami short story I have been reading, one of the characters claimed to remember her past life as an eel.  This is good timing since on Tuesday this week, it is traditional to eat eel in Japan.  I think any country which seriously believed in Buddhism couldn’t have a special day to eat eel since the eel may have once been a human or may one day become a human. 

But anyway, it reminded me of a belief I had when I was younger.  When I was in elementary school (we call it primary school in the UK), I decided that in my past life I had been John Lennon.  I had no evidence for this; it was just a feeling that rose up in me. 

A few years later I found out that John Lennon died on 8^th December 1980 (or 9^th December, UK time), several days before I was born.  I liked the idea that John Lennon’s spirit floated around the world for several days before finding a newborn baby to inhabit.  Perhaps he was flying from New York to the UK, looking for Liverpool and got a little bit lost and ended up in Glasgow? 

I can’t say that I truly believe that I was John Lennon in a past life.  It is just a feeling that I remember.  And if I was possessed by his spirit, he unfortunately did not bring much of his musical genius with him.  I can play the guitar and have written a few songs.  But they haven’t sold 100 million copies yet.  They haven’t sold even 1 copy yet. 

But, like him, I am a bit of a dreamer.  Like him, I married an older Japanese woman.  I think I will carry on imagining that there is a little of John Lennon inside of me.  It must be better than having a little eel inside of you... especially on July 29^th.

 

Vocabulary:

To be reincarnated – To be reborn as another person or creature.

A characteristic – A property which sets something or someone apart or makes it unique.  For example, a characteristic of mammals is their warm blood.

a mannerism – A habit or way of behaving  that  somebody has but is not aware of.  A good actor can imitate the voice and mannerisms of another person.

A funeral – A ceremony held when someone dies.

Oddly – Strangely; unusually.

An eel – A kind of fish which is long and thin and looks a little like a snake.

Evidence – If you try to prove something, you look for evidence.  For example, after a murder, the police collect blood, ask witnesses what they saw etc.  They are collecting evidence.

To inhabit something or somewhere – To live in something or somewhere.  For example, this island is inhabited by cats.

To be possessed – To be taken over by a spirit or ghost or demon etc.  For example, in the film “The Exorcist”, a little girl is possessed by a demon.

 

 

 

Cooking with your nose and ears

Question: How do blind people cook?

Answer: Carefully.

 

 That sounds like a joke.  But basically it is true.
 

If you can see normally, can you imagine cooking dinner without being able to see what you are doing?  I had to learn how to do that when I lost my eyesight.  I’d like to share some of my experiences.
 

I am married and my wife, thankfully, is a good cook.  But I like to help with the cooking so I cook twice a week, on Thursdays and Fridays.
 

Some blind people cook using the gas flame, frying pans etc. But I am not so brave.  I am a little bit scared that I will forget to turn the gas off or accidentally touch the flame and so I do all my cooking using the microwave or other electrical devices such as a rice cooker.

You might think that it would be impossible to cook a nice meal using only a microwave.  That is because the microwave is often used to defrost frozen meals or to heat up pre-prepared meals which are of a poor quality.  But the microwave can be used to steam food, which is healthier than frying it.  And with practice it can be used to do most things, like making pasta.
 

All you need to do is learn how long you should put each food in the microwave for, find the right container to put them in and learn where all the buttons are on the microwave.
 

I have attached some stickers on the buttons of my microwave.  So I know that this one is one minute, this one is ten seconds, this one is start etc.  I also regularly use a silicone steamer.  If you put meat, fish or vegetables in the steamer and then inside the microwave, you can cook them without the need to add oil.  This is not only healthy, but also very convenient.  It is quick to use and easy to clean.  My wife has also started using the silicone steamer that I bought instead of frying many foods.
 

Washing, cutting and chopping vegetables can all be done quite easily if you are careful.  I have been cooking this way for about three years and have only cut myself once.  That was while trying to grate daikon and I tried to grate a piece which was too small.  Basically, I forgot the first question I asked at the start of this blog.  How do blind people cook?
 

The biggest problem I have with cooking is deciding if the food is old or rotten and cannot be eaten.  Of course, if my wife is home I can ask her.  Otherwise, my last defence is my nose.  Unless it is expensive cheese, if it smells bad then you probably shouldn’t eat it.
 

I would like to post a simple recipe for something that I cook but my blog has become long already so maybe I will do that next week or soon.

 

Vocabulary:

A flame - A small fire

To be brave - A brave person has courage.  They do not run away from difficult or dangerous situations.

An electrical device - A machine which uses electricity to operate.  A tv is another electrical device.

To defrost something – If something is as cold as ice, you defrost it by heating it up.

A container – A container is something which holds something else inside it.

To grate something – To peel or cut food into many small pieces.  Daikon and cheese are examples of food which is often grated.

To be rotten – To become old and smelly; to be bad.

 

Are you a dumb-walker?

This post was inspired by an article on the BBC’s web-site recently.  That article looked at people crossing the famous intersection in Shibuya, and how more people are apparently crashing into each other because of increasing use of smart-phones.

But let me go back a little and look at the title of this blog post.  Do you know what the word “dumb” means?  One meaning describes the condition of not being able to speak.  Someone who cannot hear is deaf.  Someone who cannot see is blind.  Someone who cannot talk is dumb.  But more often the word “dumb” is used as a slang expression.  In that sense, it means someone stupid, someone without much brain-power.

So in this sense, it is easy to imagine what a dumb-walker is.  It is somebody who walks without using their brain to pay attention to what is around them.  The problem has become particularly big recently since so many people walk around while looking at a mobile phone or smart-phone screen.

I think that the use of the word dumb is appropriate to describe this behaviour because it not only describes their inability to focus their brain power on their surroundings, but the stupidity of choosing to do this.  If it is so important for someone to read an e-mail or check their location on a map or whatever, why can’t they just stop walking and move to a safe place first?

People who are dumb-walking do not generally cause a problem if their numbers are very low.  If there are twenty people crossing at an intersection and one of them is dumb-walking, then the other nineteen people will walk around the person who is not paying attention.  However if there are twenty people crossing at an intersection and four of them are dumb-walking, then there is obviously a high chance of them bumping into one another. 

Some people can be really careless when using their mobile phones and smart-phones.  I remember my wife and I being passed by a woman cycling.  She had a young child strapped into the bicycle and the mother was looking at her mobile phone while cycling.  She was risking her own life, making things difficult for all other road-users, and even endangering her young child just because she was addicted to her mobile phone.  That’s definitely dumb. 

There are some stupid people in the world.  In general, I don’t mind that because it makes me feel smarter.  But I would rather that stupid people were not driving cars near me, cycling bikes while reading their smart-phones near me, or running on train platforms near me.

I wonder if my students have any similar stories of stupid behaviour they have seen in public.  Or maybe you have some confession you would like to make about your own behaviour?  You are not walking along the street as you read this, are you?

 

Vocabulary:

To be inspired by something – If B is inspired by A, it means that A gave the idea to B.  For example, this novel is inspired by my time living in Japan.

Apparently – According to what I have heard or read.  For example, you might read a newspaper article that says that parasols are becoming popular.  You might then tell your friend, “Apparently parasols are becoming popular.”

To crash into something – If you crash into something then you contact it accidentally with force.  For example,, “My car crashed into the back of another car waiting at the traffic lights.”

To bump into something – To crash into something, but “bump” sounds less violent than “crash.”  Cars crash into other cars.  People walking slowly bump into other people.

To be addicted to something – If you are addicted to something, then you cannot stop doing or using it.  Many people are addicted to drugs or alcohol.

To make a confession – If you make a confession, then you admit to doing something wrong.  For example, “The criminal made a confession to the police.”

 

 

Streets of London

Streets of London is the name of a song written by Ralph McTell.  Maybe you know it?  It was released in 1969 and was a big hit.  It has been covered by hundreds of different singers. 

I heard the song again recently and was struck by how beautiful the lyrics are.  It is a song which contrasts the life of someone who is complaining about how hard their life is and a number of different homeless characters, whose problems are obviously greater than most listeners’ are. 

I’ll post the lyrics below along with some notes on the vocabulary.  I’ll also post a link to a version of the song on Youtube.  The Ralph McTell version is very good but I’ll post a version by Mary Hopkin because her pronunciation is very clear and it is easy to catch the lyrics. 

Please listen and feel guilty for a moment about the complaints you make about your life (like getting caught in the rain and getting a little wet!)  

 

Have you seen the old man
In the closed-down market
Kicking up the paper,
with his worn out shoes?
In his eyes you see no pride
Hand held loosely at his side
Yesterday's paper telling yesterday's news

So how can you tell me you're lonely,
And say for you that the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something to make you change your mind

Have you seen the old girl
Who walks the streets of London
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags?
She's no time for talking,
She just keeps right on walking
Carrying her home in two carrier bags.

Chorus

In the all night cafe
At a quarter past eleven,
Same old man is sitting there on his own
Looking at the world
Over the rim of his tea-cup,
Each tea last an hour
Then he wanders home alone

Chorus

And have you seen the old man
Outside the seaman's mission
Memory fading with
The medal ribbons that he wears.
In our winter city,
The rain cries a little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world that doesn't care

Chorus

 

Vocabulary from my introduction:

To be struck by something – For something to make an impression on you, to stick in your mind.

To contrast A with B – If you contrast A with B, then you compare the two and show how different they are.  For example, the painter contrasts the quiet of night with the noise and movement of a big city.

To feel guilty – To think about your actions and feel that they are/were wrong.  For example, after lying to my wife I felt guilty. 

Vocabulary from the song lyrics:

Closed-down – A business which has closed down is no longer open.  It has closed permanently.

Worn out – If something is worn out then the quality has declined because of overuse.  For example, I had better buy a new hat. This old one is worn out.

“and say for you that the sun don’t shine” – This is not grammatically correct.  It should be, “And say for you that the sun doesn’t shine.”

Rags – Completely worn out clothes or cloth. 

A carrier bag – A plastic bag, as used in supermarkets.

The rim of something – The rim of something is the edge, especially of a cup or mug.

Seaman’s mission – A mission means a charitable organisation.  So the seaman’s mission is a charity for sailors or seamen.

 

British slang expressions, 01

Recently I discovered that there was a band from my hometown called Beerjacket.  I hadn’t heard the expression before but someone explained what it meant and I thought it was quite interesting.

If you have a beer jacket on then you are not wearing a jacket because you have been drinking alcohol and you have over-estimated your ability to stand the cold.

 It gave me the idea to write down some other interesting expressions used in British English. Here goes.

Beer goggles – Similar to a beer jacket, if you are wearing beer goggles then you over-estimate how attractive something is because you have drunk too much alcohol.  After kissing a beautiful girl in the pub or nightclub, if she doesn’t look so beautiful the next morning then maybe you were wearing beer goggles.

To bite someone’s hand off – This means you are desperate to accept someone’s offer.  This is often used in sport.  For example, “If you offered him a draw now, he would bite your hand off.”

To chat someone up – To try to attract a boyfriend or girlfriend by talking to them.  For example, “I was chatted up by a pretty girl in the pub last night.”

A fag – In Britain this means a cigarette.  For example, “I am going to buy a packet of fags.”  In America this is a rude way to refer to someone who is gay.

Not my cup of tea – I don’t really like that kind of thing.  If someone invites you to play tennis you could answer, “To be honest, tennis isn’t really my cup of tea.”

It has gone (a bit) pear-shaped – It has gone badly or there has been some major problem.  For example, if you had made plans to go on holiday but the flight was cancelled you could say, “My plans have gone a bit pear-shaped.”

Someone’s round – If you drink in a pub with your friends in Britain then people generally take turns to buy drinks for the whole group.  For example, “Hey, Will!  Stop hiding in the corner.  It’s your turn to buy a round of drinks.”  There is a great skill in finding the right time to go to the toilet.

Ta – This is a very casual way to say thank you.  For example, in a shop, the clerk might say “Here’s your change,” and you can reply, “Ta,” as you receive the money.

To wind someone up – To make fun of someone, to play a joke on someone.  For example, on April Fool’s Day you might tell a lie to someone as a joke.  Then you might explain the truth, saying, “I’m sorry.  I was just winding you up.”