What Do You Want for a Needle in the Arm? －腕に針を刺す代わりに、何が欲しい？－

I am scheduled to get my first coronavirus vaccine next week. 

I warned one of my students, who had booked a lesson for the day after, that there was a small chance that I would feel unwell and have to cancel the lesson. 

My student sounded concerned.  “Teacher, I wouldn’t take the vaccine yet.  I am going to wait until more people have had it before deciding whether or not to take it.” 

Listening to the news this morning, I heard that Pfizer is projected to make a profit of 26 billion Dollars this year from selling their vaccine.  The report said that they have already delivered hundreds of millions of doses.  If hundreds of millions of people have taken it before me, that’s a big enough number to give me confidence! 

But some people need more incentive to take the vaccine.  Different countries and regions have been offering special prizes to encourage people to get jabbed.  This has been an especially popular method in America.  Here are some examples: 

The state of New Jersey offered a free beer for those who got vaccinated.  A needle in the arm for a beer belly? 

The US government partnered with online dating apps to allow vaccinated people to get premium access to dating sites.  A needle in the arm for a broken heart? 

And New York offered 20 Dollars worth of lottery scratch cards to those who got jabbed.  A needle in the arm for a gambling addiction? 

Some of these incentives don’t sound very healthy.  I hope before next week, Japan starts offering healthier incentives to get vaccinated.  A needle in the arm for sushi?  A needle in the arm for karaoke?

 

Vocabulary:

an incentive to do something – a thing that motivates or encourages someone to do something

to get jabbed – (casual) to receive an injection

a beer belly – to be fat from drinking too much beer

 

I Do Love to Be Beside the Seaside －海辺にいるのが好きだ－

“Daddy, Daddy!  It’s the sea!  It’s the sea!” 

During the short gap between two states of emergency in Tokyo, my family and I booked a two night stay in a hotel in Kamakura.  We were on the train out of Tokyo, and my four year old son was delighted to have seen the sea from the carriage window. 

My wife glanced out of the window.  “That’s not the sea.  That’s a river.,” she said. 

My son had never seen the sea before, and had gotten a little confused. 

“Rivers are much smaller than the sea,” I said.  “They are like long snakes, carrying water from the mountains down to a lower level.  The sea is like a huge bath tub.” 

“Like a bath tub even bigger than our house?” my son asked. 

Eventually we did make it to the seaside, and my son was suitably impressed.  He stood at the water’s edge, and ran screaming backwards as the waves crashed onto land.  He went searching for life, and proudly brought me samples of wakame seaweed, shells, and a starfish. 

It was even more exciting than our bath tub at home.

 

Vocabulary:

a carriage – on a train, one section like a room, which usually has a door at one or both ends, connecting it to other sections of the train (Example: I’ll meet you on the platform.  I will get off at the first door on the third carriage.)

to glance somewhere – to look somewhere quickly or briefly

 

English Cooking and Elephants －イギリス料理と象－

English people don’t cook elephants.  At least I have never seen it.  I have been reading a book of essays by George Orwell recently.  In the book, he writes about many different topics, including English cooking, and the time he shot an elephant. 

Orwell is most famous for writing the books “Animal Farm,” and “1984.”  He was born in 1902 and lived a fascinating life.  He was educated at Britain’s most elite school, Eton.  But he spent some time homeless as he struggled to sell his writing.  He worked for a while as an administrator in the British Empire in Burma, before coming to hate the Empire.  He volunteered and fought in the Spanish Civil War where he was shot in the throat by a fascist. 

Here are a few quotes about English cooking, and elephants, from the essays I have read so far. 

1

“It is commonly said, even by the English themselves, that English cooking is the worst in the world.  [But] there is a whole host of delicacies which it is quite impossible to obtain [elsewhere].” 

Orwell recommended many great British foods, such as kippers (smoked fish), Yorkshire pudding (a baked egg and flour pudding, served with gravy), and boiled potatoes served with mint and melted butter, among many other dishes. 

2

“As for the job I was doing [as a police officer in British controlled Burma], I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear.

…

Early one morning, the sub-inspector of the police station at the other end of town rang me up on the phone and said that an elephant was ravaging the bazaar.  Would I please come and do something about it? 

…

The Burmese population were without weapons and were quite helpless against [the elephant.]

…

As I started forward [with my rifle], practically the whole population of the [area] flocked out of the houses and followed me.  They had seen the rifle and were all shouting excitedly that I was going to shoot the elephant.”

 

Orwell felt that the elephant had calmed down, and he didn’t want to shoot it.  But a crowd of local people had gathered, expecting to see the white man shoot the elephant.  Orwell felt powerless to go against the crowd’s wishes, and so shot the elephant.  He says that the incident made him realise how foolish it was to think that Britain could really control its empire.  Although he was the only one with a gun, he had to follow the wishes of the crowd, to avoid being laughed at.

 

Vocabulary:

an administrator – a person who helps to manage an organisation, do the correct paperwork, etc.

the throat – the part of the body at the front of the neck, important for breathing, swallowing food, etc.

a whole host of – a huge number of, like a gathering army

a delicacy – a rare or special food

to obtain something – to get something

to hate something bitterly – to hate something with strong feeling

to ravage something – to do terrible damage to something with violent force

a bazaar – a large market, especially in the Middle East

to flock  - to gather together in large numbers, like a group of birds