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カランメソッドとトーキングキッズを使用した長岡市の英会話教室です。

Season's Greetings 2012

本年もどうぞよろしくお願い致します。
このグリーティングカードは昨年英会話教室に通って下さった生徒の皆様へ送ったものです。(いち)
 
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いちむら英会話スクール
長岡市三和1−3−42
Tel 0258-89-6701 / Fax 0258-89-6703
http://iecs.jp
Email info@iecs.jp
無料体験レッスン受付中!!(要予約)
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昨日の社会人向けカランメソッド英会話レッスン終了後、現在Book4を学んでいる生徒さんから質問がありました。Book4のp639に出てくる下記の質問の答えの意味が良く分からないとのことでした。
 
質問:What does it mean - "you cannot have your cake and eat it"? 
 
答え:The literal meaning, of course, of "You cannot have your cake and eat it." is that you cannot eat your cake and still expect to have it on your plate or in your hand; but as an expression, it means you cannot expect too much from life. You cannot, for example, spend your money and still expect to have it... etc.
 
そこで、辞書や参考書でこの諺を分析してみることにしました。
 
まず、Longmanの英英辞書ではどのように解説しているか調べてみようと 「cake」 という単語を引いてみました。すると、"have your cake and eat it" が載っていました。意味としては、to have all the advantages of something without its disadvantages. とありました。何か有利なことを不利となることなしに全て手に入れること、つまり手にしたケーキを誰かに取られることなく自分ですべて食べてしまうこと ですね。
 
次に、30年前に購入した小学館のProgressive English-Japanese dictionaryで 「and」と「have」 を引いてみると、「and」のところにもこの諺が載っていました。ここでの「and」とは、行動・状態の同時性を示し、「・・して同時に、・・しながら」の意味とあります。「have」はいろいろな意味がありますが、ここでは持つとはobtainの意味、手に入れるとか得るの意味になると思いますが、「残す」と訳したほうがわかりやすいかもしれません。つまり、have your cake and eat it = ケーキを残しながら食べる。矛盾したことを言っていることがわかります。
 
最後に、「cannot」を調べるために、河合塾の「英文法・語法の出るトコ、大事なコト」という大学入試向けの参考書で文法チェック。「できない」という意思を示す意味と、「〜のはずがない」という否定文での無意志の強い否定の推量の二つの意味があると書かれています。ここでは後者に該当します。
 
上記をまとめると、この諺、You cannot have your cake and eat it.とは、「ケーキを残しながら食べれるはずがない。」 という二つの事が両立しないことを説いています。よって、「両立しないことはどちらかに決めなければならない」 という時に使う諺です。
 
冒頭のカランメソッドの答えに戻ると、この諺について以下のように解説しています。
 
原文に忠実な訳では、勿論、「あなたはケーキを食べ、まだ自分の手の中または皿の上にそれがあることを期待できるはずがない」の意味となります;しかし、表現としては、「人生においてあまりに多くを期待できるはずはない」。あなたは、例えば、お金を使いまだそのお金があること(残っていること)を期待できるはずがない・・・など。
 
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いちむら英会話スクール
長岡市三和1−3−42
Tel 0258-89-6701 / Fax 0258-89-6703
http://iecs.jp
Email info@iecs.jp
無料体験レッスン有り(予約制)
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恒例となりました、社会人生徒さんを対象としたクリスマスパーティーを今年も開催します!これまで通ってくださった生徒さんも参加OKです。事前予約が必要です。もしこのブログをご覧になられていましたらお気軽にお問い合わせくださいね。皆さん奮ってご参加ください!締切は12月9日です。 (いち)
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いちむら英会話スクール
長岡市三和1−3−42
Tel 0258-89-6701 / Fax 0258-89-6703
http://iecs.jp
Email info@iecs.jp
無料体験レッスン有り(予約制)
-------------------------------------  
 
 
 
----- Linguistic Synchronicity
 
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Japanese and English have been developed in two different worlds, and there wasn’t much contact between them until as recently as the mid 19th century. Nevertheless, many English proverbs and idioms have a Japanese counterpart and vice versa.
 
For instance, we have “類は友を呼ぶ” for Birds of a feather flock together, “早起きは三文の得” for the early bird catches the worm, “蓼食う虫も好き々々” for There is no accounting for taste. Literally, those idioms are talking about different things, but figuratively, they enlighten us about roughly the same thing.
 
Having said that, I contemplated if there were any expressions between Japanese and English that coincidentally had same meaning, in both literal and figurative meanings.
 
How about kill two birds with one stone? It means to do two things at the same time, therefore save time and energy. I couldn't help noticing that a Japanese phrase, “一石二鳥”, has exactly the same meaning on two levels.
I did a little online research to ascertain the origin of “一石二鳥. and found out it was a straightforward translation of the English two birds. I must say I was disappointed to know that because I thought it would be interesting if such specific expressions coincided in two distant countries.
 
There are some other idioms that have exactly the same meanings both literally and figuratively, such as A drowning man will catch at a straw (溺れる者はわらをもつかむ) , Time flies like an arrow (光陰矢のごとし) , Strike while the iron is hot (鉄は熱いうちに打て) , and so on. Unfortunately, however, I think most of them have the same meanings simply because they have the same origin.
For example, Silence is gold was cited from a passage of Thomas Greys poem, and the Japanese counterpart, “沈黙は金なり, was a mere translation of that. An eye for an eye and “目には目を” both came from the Hebrew bible. Cast pearls before swine, can be found in Bible, Matthew, chapter 7. verse 6, and there is a pretty good chance that “豚に真珠” came from that too.
 
Third time is a charm is used when something goes well at the third attempt. We say “三度目の正直” on such occasions. As far as I know, “三度目の正直” is a Japanese indigenous proverb. That means both English and Japanese people defined the third time to be an auspicious time, NOT the second time or the fourth. Maybe people statistically did better at the third trial in the old days both in England and Japan, and as a result of that, such a coincidence occurred.
Both expressions are still in use today. It appears that the jinx continues. Maybe people are still most likely to screw up in the first two attempts, and accordingly, there is a demand for those idioms.
 
As for me though, it does not ring true with my current mood. Last week, I received the result of the Kanji Kentei, semi-1kkyu test, and it was my fourth attempt. I flunked this test three times before, and this time, I finally passed.
The fourth time seems a bigger charm to me now.
 
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Ken
 
 
proverb : ことわざ
vice versa : 逆もまたしかり
enlighten : 啓発する
contemplate : 考えをめぐらす
literal : 文字どおりの
figurative : 比喩的な
ascertain : 確かめる
coincide : 同時に起こる
cite : 引用する
Hebrew : ヘブライの
indigenous : 固有の
auspicious : 幸運の
coincidence : 偶然
jinx : ジンクス
flunk : 失敗する

 
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いちむら英会話スクール
長岡市三和1−3−42
Tel 0258-89-6701 / Fax 0258-89-6703
http://iecs.jp
Email info@iecs.jp
無料体験レッスン有り(予約制)
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----- New York City Tour Guide

I was going to propose how to travel New York City by reenacting famous movie location sites, and I found this website. http://www.onthesetofnewyork.com/locations.html
The site covers all movies that I was going to talk about and even many more. So I quit. Instead, I am going to talk about music sites.

The cover of the Who’s Kids Are Alright was shot at Carl Schurz park, located on the corner of 116th St. and Morningside Drive. The park is on top of the hill near Colombia University, and has a great view of Harlem.
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CBGB at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street became the home of underground rock bands such as the Ramones, Patti Smith Group, Television, Talking Heads, and many of the UK punk bands as well. Unfortunately this legendary venue closed in 2006. I took the first picture in 2001, and the second one in 2006.
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Joey Ramone, the lead singer from the Ramones, died in 2001. In 2003, East 2nd Street in East Village was officially renamed Joey Ramone Place in honor of this punk icon. The street sign was one of the most stolen signs in NY as of 2010.
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The vocalist of the Clash, Joe Strummer, died in 2002. His mural can be found at 7th Street at Avenue A. The cover of London Calling was also portrayed in a hall located on the south side of East 14th Street, between Irving Place and 3rd Avenue. Unfortunately, the place was demolished in 1999.
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The cover of the Door’s sophomore album, Strange Days, was captured in the alley on 36th Street between Lexington and Third Avenue. Take a peek through the entrance fences, and you will be amazed at how little the inside has changed in more than 30 years.
 
 
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Bob Dylan’s The Freewheelin' was shot at the corner of Jones Street and West 4th Street. The girl clinging to him is his then girlfriend, Suze Rotolo who passed away two months ago. The couple used to live in an apartment in this area.
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David Bowie filmed a video for the song I’m afraid of Americans with Nine Inch Nails. The video starts from a shot in front of Christopher Street - Sheridan Square Station.

A building located at 96 and 98 St. Mark's Place was immortalized in the cover of Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti. The actual building is a 5-story-building, but on the cover, one floor is cropped out.

The Rolling Stones filmed a video for their 1981 song, Waiting on a Friend, in front of the very same building.
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John Lennon lived in Dakota which is located on the northwest corner of 72nd Street. His widow Yoko Ono still resides there. He was assassinated in front of the building on December 8, 1980. Across the street from the apartment is Central Park where the Strawberry Fields monument was created posthumously in his honor. Also the video for his song, Mind Game, was filmed in the park.
http://youtu.be/8dHUfy_YBps
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Hotel Chelsea is located at 222 West 23rd Street. The hotel used to accept long term residency, and was a home of various artists such as Janis Joplin, and the Grateful Dead, but it is most notably remembered as a place where Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols allegedly stabbed his girl friend Nancy to death in October in 1978.
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Some people may not enjoy visiting those places. For instance going to the Carl Schwalz park does not mean you can meet The Who sitting there. However, the place to me has a special meaning. When I sat down on the same spot as The Who did 40 years ago, I was enchanted.
I think it all depends on your sense of value and imagination.
 
Ken 2011
 
reenact : 再現する
mural : 壁画
demolish : 破壊する
alley : 路地
immortalize : 永久にする
reside : 住む
posthumously : 死後に
enchant : 魅了する

 
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いちむら英会話スクール
長岡市三和1−3−42
Tel 0258-89-6701 / Fax 0258-89-6703
http://iecs.jp
Email info@iecs.jp
無料体験レッスン有り(予約制)
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----- Just What the Doctor Ordered
 
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When I was in America, I went to the college medicare center to consult with a doctor every time I got sick. Insurance was included in my school fees, so I could get free medical advice and some easy treatments.
There was one time when I went to a hospital because I got so obstinate a cold. When I blew my nose, it started bleeding, and I could not make it stop. I almost panicked and asked my friend to take me to a big hospital in neighborhood.
 
After checking in, I was made to wait for more than one hour. While waiting, I thought about money. Even though I had insurance, I was quite anxious about the payment because I knew the insurance companies tried to get around giving money by throwing all kinds of run-arounds, and the medical fees were extremely high in America.
I also remembered about affirmative action. This policy gives minorities priorities to go into some schools or to get a job. I had read before that thanks to the policy, sometimes incompetent people easily got responsible jobs like doctors or nurses. This thought got me scared.
 
I was finally admitted into a doctor’s office. The doctor diagnosed my condition as a regular cold and told me to have a drip.
A young male nurse took me to another room and started preparation. The way he did things looked inexperienced, and it frightened me. When he successfully put a needle on my elbow, I could see some bubbles in the tube coming into my veins. I knew if you injected air into your blood vessels, it went up to your brain and killed you. I asked him if it was okay. He said it was okay, and it was okay. Perhaps what I heard was about different kinds of veins or arteries. Anyway I was frightened to death.
 
After the iv started dripping, I was handed over to another nurse, and she guided me to another room. This female nurse also made me nervous because she had been babbling with her coworkers ever since I entered the doctor’s room and looked to me very unprofessional.
I was made to wait in an icy cold room until the whole pack of fluid went into my body. The doctor told me to bring a blanket for me, never to come back.
 
When the drip was done, the female nurse told me to get up and follow her to the other room. She grabbed a caster-stand on which my sugar water pack was hung, and started moving when I was still lying on the bed. She was so busy clattering with her friends and paying no attention to me. The needle was still put on my elbow and if she moved forward, the tube got straightened and hurt my elbow. I asked her to stop and wait until I got out of bed. She stopped for a few seconds, but soon turned around and started moving again before I finished wearing shoes. With a feverish brain and a loss of half pint of blood earlier, I could not stomach her misbehavior any more. I yelled at her to stop, in Japanese.
 
So this was my first experience in an American hospital. It was exciting enough as it was, but there is a sequel to it.
A few days later, I received a half dozen of letters from the insurance company and the hospital. Some of them were deceptively looked like a bill. They even kindly enclosed an envelope for me to gullibly send a check that I did not have to.
 
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Ken
2011
 
 
obstinate : 頑固な
diagnose : 診察する
feverish : 熱のある
blood vessel : 血管
vein : 静脈
artery : 動脈
inject : 注射する
babble : ぺちゃくちゃしゃべる
clatter : ぺちゃくちゃしゃべる
tolerant : 忍耐強い
stomach : 我慢する
sequel : 続き
deceptively : 紛らわしく
gullibly : 編まされて

Kenさんのブログ31

----- Eastern European Odyssey ~ Bohemian Rhapsody
 
In August 2002, disastrously continuous rain hit central Europe. One month later, I visited Prague, which had not yet fully recovered from the damage. For example, the subway network was partially out of service. Some historic sites, such as the Old Jewish Cemetery, were closed.
Nevertheless, the Czech Republic was known as “the most developed country in Eastern Europe.” There were so many things to check out.
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First, I checked out Wenceslas Square. The square is the cultural and economic center of the country, and has become the background of historical events like the Prague Spring in 1968 and the Velvet Revolution in 1988. During the Prague Spring, tanks of the Warsaw Pact, led by the Soviets, barged into the square to oppress the liberalistic demonstration. I think I saw the real footage of the incident in the Czech movie, “Unbearable Lightness of Being.”
The square did not look so much a square as a broad street, and there were an assortment of souvenir shops throughout it. I bought lovely paintings.
 
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Secondly, I checked out the Vltava River. In Japan, the river is more commonly known as the Moldau, ever since it was immortalized by the Czech composer Bedrich Smetana. The Charles Bridge, which crosses the Vltava, was busy with many tourists and street venders. On the sides of the bridge were mounted 30 statues, one of which was of St. Francis Xavier.
 
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Thirdly, I checked out Franz Kafka’s house. Even though Kafka is liable to be considered Austrian, he was actually born in Prague. His house was opened to the public with no admission fees. Having read only one work of his works (the Metamorphosis) before, I did not know much about him. I asked a stranger to take a picture of me in front of the house and then left.
 
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Next, I checked out Prague Castle. The guards in a blue uniform rotated their shifts every hour and did a ceremonial drill to take over their tasks. I did not know about the drill, but happened to witness one. Their performance was precisely choreographed and so mechanical. During the drill, all the guards kept their faces solemn all the time. It was funny that as soon as the drill was over, the guards suddenly relaxed their faces and started chitchatting.
 
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In the old square, I checked out a famous astronomical clock. Every hour, moving statues of religious figures popped out from within it. When I got underneath the clock, there was already a large crowd of tourists all looking up and waiting for the moment.
 
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I also checked out St. Vitus Cathedral. I could go to the top of a watchtower. I kept ascending the narrow, dark helical staircase. When I had almost lost count of the steps I had stepped, I finally reached the top. The view of the old district was so beautiful that my tedious ascent was way worth the effort.
 
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The design of houses in Prague is characterized by their white brick walls and vermilion roofs. The beauty of the architecture is effectively utilized in another Czech movie, “Kolya.”
I also checked out the huge, magnificent stained-glass windows. I did not know this until recently, but the windows were designed by the Czech-born artist Alphone Mucha.
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I checked out the Toy Museum. Being full of toys, I think the museum is intended as a place for adults to indulge themselves with nostalgia. Being surrounded by antique robots, dolls, miniature trains, musical boxes, Barbies, etc, elicited a very warm feeling. I bought a clockwork-frog toy for my girlfriend in America.
 
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As much as I had hoped to check out more sites in Prague, I couldn’t because I was running out of my budget. However, Prague was so beautiful that even wandering around inside the town was enough fun.
 
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to be concluded…
 
Ken
10/15/11
 
 
Warsaw Pact : ワルシャワ条約機構
barge : 侵入する
footage : 映像
assortment : 各種
immortalize : 不朽にする
choreograph : 振り付けする
solemn : 厳しい
astronomical : 天文の
ascend : 登る
helical : 螺旋の
tedious : 退屈な
vermilion : 朱色の
elicit : 引き出す
clockwork : 機械仕掛けの
----- Eastern European Odyssey ~ Coda
 
I had a plane ticket from Vienna to Tokyo in my backpack. I chose Vienna as my last destination because the ticket price was much cheaper than flying from Prague or other Eastern European cities. Taking a train from Prague, I arrived at Vienna South Station at night. The end of my journey was nearing.
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In the previous two cities, Prague and Krakow, I was stopped by a private hotel barker at the station. In Vienna, there was none, and it meant I had to find accommodation myself. Luckily, I was able to find a place after a few hours of searching.

The next day, I spent time just walking around the city because I had almost depleted the last iota of my sightseeing budget. Prague was clearly more modernized than other cities I had gone through, but even compared to Prague, the refinement of Vienna was unparalleled. I felt as if I was shown the power and wealth of the Western world.
 
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Come to think of it, I visited eight countries in total in this trip, and Austria and Greece were the only EU members. Roughly speaking, I geographically moved from East to West. As I proceeded further, the countries got wealthier and wealthier, the prices got higher and higher, and people spoke more and more fluent English.

One thing I regret is that I did not go to any museums in Vienna. Austria is the home country of 20th century art virtuosos like Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, and, Koloman Moser, whose names were still unheard of.
 
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A few years later, I started studying art and was deeply influenced by those artists. Going to their hometown and not hitting any museums was probably the damnedest idea.
Oh well. My hindsight is always 20-20.

The next day, I took a subway and went to Vienna International Airport. First, I went to Heathrow, changed planes, and flew back to Japan after an interval of 21 months.
From Athens to Vienna, the total distance I went through amounted to approximately 2,300 miles, which is roughly equivalent to the distance between the north end and the south end of Japan. The language spoken, culture, and lifestyle were all different in every stop. I am from the world's most homogeneous country and it was quite amazing.
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Speaking of language, the prevalence of two things amazed me in the trip; McDonald’s and English. I did not understand a word of each country’s indigenous language, but thanks to English, I was just about able to communicate with the local people. English was obviously becoming the standard language in Europe. In Japan? Let’s not even mention that.

More than nine years have passed since the trip. So much has changed in these countries. The six ex-communist countries have now officially become members of the EU. A Polish prime minister, Lech Kaczynski was killed in a plane crash. The previous Pope, who was also born in Poland, passed away. Both Greece and Hungary are suffering from economical breakdown. Romania underwent a currency reform…etc. If I should ever visit these countries again, they would probably show me different faces.

Though I rarely recall the trip nowadays, the 22 days I spent in the eight countries is one of the most adventurous and glorious times in my entire life.
The memory of Eastern Europe is like a small stamp affixed inside my brain. It is so tiny that usually I am not even conscious of its existence. However, when I see, hear, or smell a certain something, the stamp suddenly glimmers in my head, and it brings me back vivid memories.
 
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Ken
2011/11/19
 
deplete : 使い果たす
iota : 微塵
refinement : 洗練
unparalleled : 比べ物にならない
geographically : 地理的に
virtuoso : 達人
damned : 馬鹿げた
hindsight : 後知恵
will : 遺言
equivalent : 等しい
homogeneous : 同一の
prevalence : 普及
indigenous : 固有の
glimmer : 光る
vivid : 鮮やかな
 
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いちむら英会話スクール
長岡市三和1−3−42
Tel 0258-89-6701 / Fax 0258-89-6703
http://iecs.jp
Email info@iecs.jp
無料体験レッスン有り(予約制)
-------------------------------------  
 

Kenさんのブログ30

----- Eastern European Odyssey ~ Monochrome Memories

In Auschwitz, I saw heaps of prisoners’ hair, piles of confiscated belongings, barracks, barbed wired walls, watch towers, gallows, gas chambers, etc. There was an execution spot between two buildings. All windows were blocked with black boards so that the prisoners could not see what was going on in the spot.
 
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There were many guidance panels with gory pictures. Those panels were coated with a transparent plastic board if they had a picture of Hitler in them because Hitler’s faces had all been defaced by visitors. Those plastic boards were placed to prevent his faces from getting any more scratches.
Although I couldn’t blame those vandals, at the same time, I thought that Hitler was not the only one to blame. After all, this whole massacre was done on the nation’s level, and not to mention the fact that other countries including Japan and America also did atrocious things in their history.
 
I also went to Birkenau (aka Auschwitz II.)
There was a railway leading inside. It made me recall a scene from “Schindler’s List” in which prisoners were squashed into cargo trains and sent to the camp. Birkenau was the final stop for them, literally and figuratively.
Allegedly, the Nazis tried to erase all the evidence of the holocaust when withdrawing, but could not destroy everything. Those half-collapsed gas chambers were standing there as exhib
it A, convincing us it was real.
 
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While I was walking around, the sun set, and it started raining. The other visitors had all gone before I realized. When I found myself standing under the rainy, dark, leaden sky in the middle of Birkenau, I felt so alone. I was as though I had been left in the world’s end.
I took a bus back to Krakow. The bus went through a dark forest. I remember when I finally discerned the city lights of Krakow in the distance, I felt so relieved.
 
The next day, I did not do much sightseeing. Even though there was a lot to see in Krakow, the aftertaste of Auschwitz was still lingering in my head, and I did not feel like fooling around. Plus, my depression was heightened to the nth degree by the rainy weather of the day. Therefore, I just looked around the old districts.
 
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I went to an internet caf? and checked the latest news. The tension between Palestine and Israel was more acrimonious than usual around this time, and I saw the news of another suicide bombing terrorist attack. I thought of the Israeli children that I met the previous day. Clearly, war had not ended in some parts of the world.
 
While I was in Poland, it was cloudy all the time, and the color of the gray sky is branded in my brain. The darkness of Auschwitz and Birkenau is also engraved into my head. The explanatory pictures I saw in the camp were all black and white. “Schindler’s List” and the Polish movies I used to watch are black and white as well.
When I think about Poland, the images are always monochrome.
 
to be continued…
 
Ken
09/01/2011

 
confiscate : 没収する
barbed wire : 有刺鉄線
gallows : 首吊り台
gas chamber : ガス室
gory : 残虐な
deface : 顔を傷つける
massacre : 大量虐殺
atrocious : 残虐な
holocaust : 虐殺
exhibit A : 重要証拠
discern : 見分ける
aftertaste : 後味
linger : 消えずに残る
nth : 最高点
acrimonious : 敵意のある
 
------------------------------------
いちむら英会話スクール
長岡市三和1−3−42
Tel 0258-89-6701 / Fax 0258-89-6703
http://iecs.jp
Email info@iecs.jp
無料体験レッスン有り(予約制)
-------------------------------------
 
 

Kenさんのブログ29

----- Eastern European Odyssey ~ Alone in Auschwitz
 
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I think I had more knowledge about the next country, Poland, than the other countries I visited. For instance, I would often watch classic Polish films when I was 18-19 years old. “Ashes and Diamonds” by Andrzej Wajda is one of my most favorite movies of all time.

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When I stepped out of Krakow Station, an old woman stopped me. She said in broken English that she lived near the station and was renting an extra room for tourists. She showed me a notebook which was full of feedback written by Japanese travelers who had previously crashed at her house. I was reassured by the solid feedback they left and decided to stay with her.
 
 
イメージ 2
 

Krakow is a most historic city. It is on the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites, and also has two other World Heritage sites in the vicinity; the Wieliczka Salt Mine and Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The reason why I went to Krakow instead of Warsaw was because I was anxious to visit the latter.

As a matter of fact, the reason why I traveled Eastern Europe was partially because I wanted to witness the war history. After all, both world wars started in this part of the world. World War I was triggered by the assassination of an Austrian prince in Sarajevo, and World War II started after the Nazis attacked Poland.
 
I took a bus. About two hours later, I knew the bus was nearing Auschwitz, but I did not know where to get off. I didn’t check the name of the nearest bus stop because I assumed there would be many other tourists, and it would be hard to miss. The other passengers, however, all appeared to be local Polish people.

When I started worrying, the driver pulled over and said something to me. Another passenger told me the bus was then in front of Auschwitz. Apparently, I missed the stop, but the driver stopped there just for me. I thanked them and got off.
Admission was free, in Auschwitz. I bought a guidebook and went inside.
 
イメージ 3

First, I was welcomed by the infamous entrance gate, “ARBEIT MACHT FREI (Work makes you free).” I had seen the gate in the movie “Schindler’s List.” The “B” in “ARBEIT” was placed upside-down on purpose supposedly because the prisoner who was forced to attach the letters wanted to express a modest show of defiance.

イメージ 4
 
There were some groups of children in blue-white Israeli outfits. Obviously, Auschwitz was a standard place for Israeli schoolchildren to visit. It was understandable. After all, a lot of Japanese schools send students to Hiroshima or Nagasaki for their school trip. It also explained why all the displays in Auschwitz were written in Hebrew in addition to Polish and English.
 
イメージ 5
 
One of the groups was holding a Jewish ritual sitting in a circle on the floor, and the teacher was recording it with a SONY camcorder. Some children were crying. I was watching it for a while.
 
イメージ 6
 
to be continued…
 
Ken
08/22/11
 
 
feedback : 感想
reassure : 安心させる
vicinity : 近隣
latter : 後者
partially : 部分的に
trigger : 引き起こす
assassination : 暗殺
defiance : 反抗
after all : とどのつまり
Hebrew : ヘブライの
camcorder: ビデオカメラ
 
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