This week's question focuses on best friends. So, here's the question: If you could be friends with anyone (living or dead), who would it be?
もし誰かと友達になれるなら（生きている人、亡くなった人問わず）、誰を選びますか？

My answer:

If possible, I would love to be friends with Benjamin Franklin, American newspaperman, scientist, inventor, philosopher, politician, and diplomat. Considered to be the greatest public servant in American history, it seems everything he did, he did with focus, purpose and a sense of duty for others. Of course, I would have to travel back in time since Franklin was one of the key people to help create the country of America—over 230 years ago. Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706 and died on April 17, 1790.

Franklin lived his life (as best he could) based on what he called the Thirteen Virtues (フランクリンの十三徳 [編集]). He developed these “rules” when he was 20 years old and tried to live by them until he died. It is written that he focused on one rule each week and leaving the others to chance.

His Thirteen Virtues in English are:

"TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation."
"SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation."
"ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time."
"RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve."
"FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing."
"INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions."
"SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly."
"JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty."
"MODERATION. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve."
"CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation."
"TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable."
"CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation."
"HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates."

His Thirteen Virtues in Japanese are:

節制　飽くほど食うなかれ。酔うまで飲むなかれ。
沈黙　自他に益なきことを語るなかれ。駄弁を弄するなかれ。
規律　物はすべて所を定めて置くべし。仕事はすべて時を定めてなすべし。
決断　なすべきをなさんと決心すべし。決心したることは必ず実行すべし。
節約　自他に益なきことに金銭を費やすなかれ。すなわち、浪費するなかれ。
勤勉　時間を空費するなかれ。つねに何か益あることに従うべし。無用の行いはすべて断つべし。
誠実　詐りを用いて人を害するなかれ。心事は無邪気に公正に保つべし。口に出ですこともまた然るべし。
正義　他人の利益を傷つけ、あるいは与うべきを与えずして人に損害を及ぼすべからず。
中庸　極端を避くべし。たとえ不法を受け、憤りに値すと思うとも、激怒を慎むべし。
清潔　身体、衣服、住居に不潔を黙認すべからず。
平静　小事、日常茶飯事、または避けがたき出来事に平静を失うなかれ。
純潔　性交はもっぱら健康ないし子孫のためにのみ行い、これに耽（ふけ）りて頭脳を鈍らせ、身体を弱め、または自他の平安ないし信用を傷つけるがごときことあるべからず。
謙譲　イエスおよびソクラテスに見習うべし。

I think Franklin would have made an incredibly interesting, exciting, deep, enlightening and loyal friend. Besides that, he could be a great teacher.

To learn more about Benjamin Franklin in Japanese, do a simple search on Google for ベンジャミン・フランクリン here.

So, how about you? Who would you like to be friends with?

I will look forward to hearing your answers this week.

Be well,

Keith//

We took a little break for Silver Week. Thanks for waiting. So, here we go again with this week’s jump off question. This week’s question may seem difficult at first, but if you use your imagination, I am sure there are MANY different answers you might want to share.

So, here goes:

If you could travel back in time to witness an event(s), WHEN and WHERE would you go?
もしタイムトリップをして過去のある出来事を目撃できるとしたら、いつ、どこへあなたは行きますか？
My answers:

I would love to travel back to June 12, 1952 and attend my parent’s wedding ceremony and wedding reception. I have seen old video tape of that day and have been amazed to see my relatives and family friends laughing, dancing, smiling and YOUNG! My parents seemed like they were only children. That would be incredibly fun to witness.

After that, I would travel to Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963 to listen to Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech for racial equality. It is considered a definitive moment of the American civil rights movement in the US and a great source of inspiration for me. If you don’t know about him or this speech, you can watch it here or ask me about it when we speak next.

And finally, I would travel to February 22, 1980 to an Olympic ice hockey game between the USA and the USSR. To non ice hockey fans, this is not a famous date in history. But to sports fans, this is the date of one of the biggest upsets in sports history. And for me, who in 1980, was 11 years old, this was the greatest night of my young life. The American team was not supposed to win—they were considered too young, too inferior and too inexperienced. They were incredible underdogs. However, the US team beat the Russian team 4-3 and then went on to win the gold medal two days later.

So, What what event(s) would you travel back in time to witness?

I will look forward to hearing your answers this week.

Be well,

Keith//

Some vocabulary help!

witness｜ 〜を目撃する
a wedding ceremony｜結婚式
a wedding reception｜結婚披露宴
definitive｜決定的な
racial equality｜人種的平等
upset｜ 〜を（予想に反して）打ち負かす.
underdog｜（ゲーム試合などで）勝ち目のうすい人；敗者.

Oops, sorry to be late for this week’s question...

This week’s question to consider: What is the most important thing you learned from your parents? あなたがご両親から学んだ一番大切なことは何ですか？

Of course, there countless things I learned from my parents, but “mental toughness” (精神的強さ) is probably the most important thing I learned from them. My father was very tough physically and even tougher mentally. My parents never told me to be tough, but by example, I saw them deal with different adversities and issues that come with raising a family of 8 kids and they always seemed to tackle issues “head on” (まっこうから問題に取り組む)—no whining, no complaints. I am probably not as tough as they would want me to be, but I do my best to follow their examples.

What was the most important thing(s) you learned from YOUR parents?

I will look forward to hearing your answers this week.
Be well,
Keith//

This week’s question is...

A genie has just granted you three wishes. You can wish for ANYTHING, except more wishes. What three wishes would you ask for? (you can look at the end of the blog to see important definitions (定義) to help you understand.)
ランプの魔人ジーニーがあなたに３つの願い事を叶えてあげようと言いました。あなたはどんな願い事をしても構いません。ただし、３つ以上の願いことをお願いすることはできません。あなたの３つの願いごとは何ですか？

First off, I would wish for good health for my mother. For the last few years, my mother has been having health problems and spends a lot of her time in pain or trying to deal with her aging body. I would wish for her health so she could spend her senior years ONLY having fun with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Next, I would wish that my wife (Hiroe) would be a GREAT singer. When she was young, her dream was to become a singer and to sing in front of many people. She did sing and she was mildly successful but she never fulfilled her dream of one day becoming a FAMOUS singer. I would make that dream come true with my second wish.

And last, I would wish that all my English students all had the ability to speak English fluently. Of course, I would have to find another job, but it would be worth it to watch so many people achieve their goals.

What would you wish for?

I will look forward to hearing about your wishes when we speak next.
Be well,
Keith//


Key words:
GENIE/dʒíːni/名　詞〘イスラム神話〙魔神, 霊魔(jinn)；（ランプ瓶の中から出てくる）魔人.
GRANT ɡrǽnt | ɡrάːnt/ (動　詞•他動詞)
〈人の願いなどを〉かなえる；［grant A B/grant B to A］〈A（人）のB（要求嘆願など）に〉応ずる, 同意する, 〈AのBを〉聞き入れる；［III that節］〈…ということを〉承諾する
(Example: grant a request｜願いを聞き入れる)
(Example: grant a child his wish｜子供の望みをかなえてやる)
WORTH /wə́ːrθ/ 形容詞｟叙述｠｟動作を表す名詞などを伴って｠（…する）価値のある, （…に）値する｟doing｠
(Example: be worth the time｜時間をかける価値がある)
(Example: Learning a foreign language is very difficult, but it's worth it.｜外国語を学ぶのはたいへんむずかしいが学ぶだけのことはある)
(Example: What is worth doing at all is worth doing well.｜｟ことわざ｠ やる価値が少しでもある仕事はりっぱにしとげる価値がある.)

We have a simple (maybe) question this week.


Describe a perfect day.
パーフェクトな一日を説明して下さい。

My day:

It would start at dawn. I would wake up in my tent in northern Minnesota. I would be in my sleeping bag and hiroe would be next to me in her sleeping bag. And of course, near our feet Lily would be waiting to go outside. I would open the tent flap (door) to reveal the dawn—the time before the sunrise. I would then start a small fire and get some water boiling for coffee. After waking Hiroe, she and I would have a chat around the fire while watching Lily run around chasing birds and squirrels.

After coffee, I would get in our canoe and paddle to one of the nice fishing spots near our campsite. I would be able to see Lily and Hiroe from my there and I would spend the next hour or so catching (or not catching) fish. If I did catch any fish, I would quickly release them, taking only a quick moment to thank them for the few moments of excitement before sending them on their way.

After fishing, I would paddle back to our campsite, all the while smelling the blueberry pancakes that Hiroe is cooking.

After a warm “welcome back” greeting from Lily and Hiroe, the three of us would have breakfast and talk.

During the day, we would spend the day chatting, canoeing, swimming, reading, napping and hiking.

The day would end with a simple dinner, a campfire and a star-filled sky and of course, a s'more (名　詞｟米略式｠スモアズ：キャンプファイヤーでとろとろに焼いたマシュマロをグラハムクラッカーに載せ, 板チョコと重ねて, もう1枚のグラハムクラッカーを載せたもの.［I want to eat some more. ］.

What would you do, see, eat, watch, or where would you go on your perfect day?

I will look forward to hearing about it when we speak next.

Be well,

Keith//