Monday, April 07, 2008

A language mini-lesson and a happy math explanation....

After last night's late night posting, I'm going to make tonight's post, hopefully, a little quicker. Tomorrow is the first day of school for Issei....he is going to be a 5th grader this year...and I have to wake up a bit earlier than usual because I need to make a bento ("boxed lunch") for him. Tomorrow will only be a half-day of school, with no lunch served, so he will take a lunch to the after-school program he usually goes to. Today was the kids' "last hurrah" and the weather was absolutely gorgeous....temperature about 22 degrees (about 70 degrees for those of you in the States!!)...sunny skies...no wind...and the boys were outside ALL DAY LONG!!! It was wonderful!!! Anywhoo........

Does anyone remember, back in the mid-70's, when some company (maybe Proctor and Gamble) sent samples of their new lemon-scented dish washing soap to people all over the States...and many, without bothering to really read the label saw "100% Real Lemon Juice" written on the label and then proceeded to put the soap in tea, on salad, and Lord-only-knows what else?!?!


The reason I ask is this:

I was shopping at my favorite discount shop (the Japanese Target!) and found this. Now...my English is pretty good and I can read the label, I even recognized the product, even though it is from Viet Nam. My thinking is this: isn't there a possibility of another potential mix-up?!?!?!

Look at the picture....the woman, is obviously relaxed, hell.....she's asleep!!!

Then the words: Relaxing Rose With Vanilla Extract

Even Japanese, with limited English ability can understand most of that phrase.


Do you know what this product is?!?!?!?!
(and yes, I blocked out the name and some other valuable info....shows creativity on my part, don't ya think?!?!)







Any clues?? Any ideas?
C'mon...take a guess......!!!











Okay....I must admit...that I do have a soft spot in my heart for the smell of Downey (oh..please...the whole Tide/Downey combo almost makes me wanna cry!!!).....but I seriously have never thought about putting it in my bath!!!!!
(One time, when I opened the lid to see what one of the new fragrances smelled like, I accidently got some right under my nose and the smell just about drove me crazy...I got such a headache!!! Word to the wise...be careful sniffing products in stores!!! And yes...I do realize that is not something most of you would ever have to be advised against doing!!!)

*I think I'm going to use this in my classes in the next few weeks....just to see if my students actually read the English printed in the bottom...in the smaller font!!!
I'll let you know how they do!!!! :-D


Finally.....a math equation I don't mind doing and am actually happy about.
And...before I continue...I understand that gas prices in the States have gotten really high....don't get me wrong, this is not one of those "oh what the hell are you complaining about, you don't know how good you got it" kind of posts. Really. It's not.
It's just that, for too long, gas prices here in Japan have just been outrageous.
The government finally decided to jump in and do something about it.
Last week they announced that the price of gas would go down 25 yen a liter...which would be a little more than 75 cents a gallon....less!!!
This all has to do with the government cutting the tax on new gas that companies put in their main tanks. So for us, here in Nagasaki, we started getting the lower prices, in most places, this weekend.
Here was our receipt:



Last week, the same amount of gas cost me more than
10,000 yen.....about $104!!!! FOR ALMOST 18 GALLONS OF GAS!!!!!!

For many people, spending that much might not be too terribly much of a strain...but for me...this full tank of gas will hopefully last me about a week and a half!!! I drive to 3...sometimes 4 places a day for lessons....in all directions around the city!!!

So.....be strong Americans....there is hope....maybe the government will see what Japan is doing and decided to follow.......

yeah...I know...."when pigs fly out my butt"...sure...that'll happen.

Happy thoughts everyone....happy thoughts!!!!

7 comments:

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

We just cannot bear to think about what we're spending on gas per month (okay, it's about $700). Something's gotta give soon.

I hope school goes well.

Taylor said...

Lower gas prices. Sounds awesome. I know, I'm only twelve and I don't know that much about money and prices and gas and stuff, but I know it's a HUGE problem. (Why can't they just lower it?) I love your creativity on the downy box. And I like the smell too, but if I EVER got any under my nose, I think I'd just die. I HATE really strong smells. I have to go now. Bye!

Grandy said...

Holy Crap Batman!! Wanna feel better? Our fuel bill is $5000 a month. Gotta love a self-employed hubby who drives a semi. :)

Mary Alice said...

yoooowwwzzaaa. I'm glad we live close enough to my husband's office that he can walk to work - and so far the school bus is still free.

Minnesota Matron said...

Wow. We are all oil-crazy, the entire industrialized planet. Sorry about your nose! I hate those lotion/perfumed tissues,myself!

Gina said...

My favorite downey scent is lavender and vanilla and it has candles on the box.

Now could you please explain how your school year is organized? Taylor and I were talking about this yesterday trying to decide if you are on a year-round schedule or what. We lived with a full year schedule for many years and it was a little disorienting for old me. School will always be Sept to June for me regardless of what the actual schedule is.

Ciara said...

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I have nominated you for a blog award. The details are on my blog.
Ciara