痛い

There are various ways to talk about pain.

Nouns:

• pain
• ache

Examples:

• I have a pain in my foot so I can't play football today.
• I drank too much wine last night and now I have a headache.

Verbs:

• hurt
• ache

Examples:

• My feet hurt from too much walking.
• My head aches; I'll never drink alcohol again!

Adjectives:

• painful
• sore

Examples:

• My feet are painful so I'm going to stay at home today.
• I have a sore throat and a fever; maybe I've caught a cold.

Another adjective is hurtful. We use hurtful to describe emotional pain.

• His comments about her appearance were hurtful.

Some body parts commonly form compound nouns with ache:

• headache
• toothache
• backache
• stomachache

飲み物サービス

People have said they are not worried about contaminated water in Machida so I have resumed the drink service. The British embassy has been issuing iodine tablets to British nationals and their families; I collected mine today; hopefully I will never need them.

Open as usual

Open as usual!
Sorry, no drinks being served due to the radiation problem.
Lessons might be suddenly cancelled due to power cuts or earthquakes.

地震

I hope you are all safe and well after the terrible earthquake. Many people are suffering now so let's help each other. Please let us know if you need help.

There is widespread devastation especially in north-eastern Japan. The aftershocks are continuing so take care.

詐欺

If the price is too high we can say it is a rip-off.
Seiji: "Curry & rice is 1600 yen at the ski resort."
Kenta: "What a rip-off!"

Miku: "That pub charges 950 yen for cassis-orange."
Saori: "That's such a rip-off!"

We can also use rip off as a verb.
Mikiko: "My rent is 89,000 yen a month for an old 1K apartment in Machida."
Kazu: "You're being ripped off. You should move out."

Hanako: "Don't go to that hair salon; I had only a trim but it cost 12,000 yen."
Yuki: "Wow! You were ripped off."

Note: rip-off (noun) needs a hyphen; rip off (verb) doesn't need a hyphen

Sometimes we say extortion which can mean the same as rip-off.

町田原町と新宿歌舞伎町

Daisuke was telling me how Machida has changed since he was a child. He said Machida used to be dangerous, full of criminals and dodgy businesses such as brothels. Machida isn't dangerous these days but at night, it is seedy, especially around 原町。

Another example of a seedy place is 歌舞伎町。That place is seedy 24-7!

Another similar word is sleazy.

24-7 = 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

ワインテースティング

On 19th February, we enjoyed a wine tasting party. We also welcomed new member Ken who is a keen photographer. Here is a link to a gallery of that night's photos:
http://gallery.me.com/theroots/100684

Please ask me for the password because the photos are for members only.
Thank you to Toru for his lesson on wine and thank you Ken for the photos.