First of all, I'd like to apologize for not updating this 'Murmur' quite a while.
My partner MowMow's (Mr.Cow's) hard disk of his computer broke, and it took some time to rescue MY data out of it.
I...I'm sorry folks, really. Caterpillar

I tried to write about Tanabata for July's 'Seasonal Calendar', but it took much more time than I had expected until it was finished.
Since there still are Tanabata festivals in August, I believe everyone would forgive me even if it's updated in the end of July ... hopefully. Caterpillar

There's a wart on my knee.
I've known it's been there for some time, though I hadn't done anything about it the past couple of months.
Well, I knew something had to be done before it gets too big, so I've been wearing one of those patches that removes warts for a couple of days.
But my, they come off so easily, I'm having a struggle ... . Caterpillar

It said on the instructions of the wart remover, that affected area should not be exposed to air, moreover it shouldn't be wet when taking baths.
Now, how am I supposed to keep it dry when I'm taking a good soak in the tub?
It's on my knee, you know, that's practically impossible.
But I was desperate to take a good hot bath, though I also wanted to get rid of my wart.
So after a good deal of thinking, I took a quick dip in the tub folding my leg, so that my knee stuck out above the water, and used the shower standing in an unnatural yoga-like pause, in order to avoid getting the affected area wet.
I dried myself with a towel, not to mention, with extreme care only to find the bandage hanging helplessly from my knee ... .
Oh man, after all these efforts ... . Caterpillar

A couple of days ago, my neighbor brought me two bottles of home-brewed Ume-shu ( plum wine, literally ).
I met her at the door, thanked her politely, and went back inside the house with the bottles in my hands, feeling grateful for the natural blessings and my neighbor's generosity.
But soon after I left her at the door the bell rang, and there outside my door was that neighbor again.
She bowed in a courteous manner, and said that she might have brought the wrong bottle containing vinegar. She handed me a large jar filled to the top with Ume-shu, apologizing for her carelessness and ran home before I opened my mouth.
The truth is Mrs. O, you did not make any mistakes, and now I'v got nearly a gallon of Ume-shu on my kitchen counter... .
So I'm sipping it from my mug these couple of nights, though I'm not a beetle, and it seems that I still have a long way to go.
But thanks anyway, Mrs.O. Caterpillar

On my way home, I got off at the station as usual, and went straight up to the vending machine as usual, to adjust the fare which my commutation ticket didn't cover.
I inserted my ticket into the slot as usual, and waited for the machine to display the amount of fare I needed to pay, which must be 40 yen as usual.
But approximately 3 seconds later, the vending machine spit out my ticket.
Heey!!
I bent down, picked up my ticket and tried once more, but it reacted just the same.
I'm pretty sure that my ticket zipped through the air, at least 2 inches from the machine.
Is that how you treat a customer? What's the problem with you!
I tried inserting my prepaid card first, but the machine only displayed coldly, "Please insert your ticket."
I did, you ...look, I'm tired. I still have to take another train from here, and walk 20 minutes to get home. If you do this to me one more time, do you know waht's gonna happen to you, you stupid old vending machine? I'm gonna scrap you. Now let's see if you got some sense in you huh?
The machine must have heard my inner voice.
It worked this time.
One thing I learned is that it's not only human beings that's ill-mannered these days. Caterpillar

Tsuyu ( the Rainy Season ) is getting too long.
Usually in Tokyo, Tsuyu starts from about June 20th and stays for a month.
The summer vacation for school kids, usually begins around this time at the end of Tsuyu, as if they've been waiting for the end of it, and the coming of abundunt sunshine.
This year it's already July 24th, but it seems that Kanto area including Tokyo is still under a long spell of rainy weather, while Kyushu, Nagano and some other areas are experiencing serious damage caused by record downpour.
Where has summer gone?
According to the weather forecaster on TV, it is because the high-pressure system in the Pacific Ocean, doesn't have enough power to boost up the seasonal rain front of Tsuyu.
Warm and humid winds flowing along the edge of the high pressure systems, combined together with the seasonal rain front, are the cause of heavy rain in parts of the country.
I've heard before that atmospheric pressure is deeply related with ocean currents, and ocean currents are made to move by deep currents. But these deep currents are said to be losing its power recently, due to global warming.
That means it's all our own fault, that Tsuyu is lasting so long or damages are being caused by heavy rinfalls... . Caterpillar

They sasid in the evening news that Tsuyu is nearly coming to the end, but the temperature would be rising before it's over.

It's been rather cooler in Tokyo these couple of weeks, but the Temperature-Humidity Index must have been very high, because of this humidity and the gloomy weather. Adding the rise in temperature on top of it makes me feel terrible, just to think that the crazy heat and stickiness is coming back again.

I don't know about other places, but I surely won't recommend tourists to come to Tokyo during this season.

Alhough there are actually some attractions that can't be experienced in other seasons, such as traditional local festivals, fireworks displays, or dishes that are only eaten during summer, but the summer in Tokyo makes me wilt.

It may be a good time of year to enjoy some Japanese atmosphere, but I strongly suggest tourists coming to Tokyo during this season, to be mentally prepared.

Yesterday night, I got bitten by a mosquito on the middle of my forehead, while I was having supper.

The place where I got bitten turned red and swelled up in no time, forming a tiny lump on the middle of my forehead, and it started to itch.

..... .

I am a grown up adult. And I've got a mosquito bite on the middle of my forehead ... that's pretty embarrassing ... . You wait there little mosquito, I'm gonna light a mosquito coil, and you'll be down in less than 5 minutes.

For your information who still don't know about Katori-Senkou ( Japanese mosquito coils ), it really works.

Katori-Senkous are incense coils, popularly used in Japan to repel mosquitos. It could be purchased in every drugstore throughout Japan, during summer season.

I believe every one of you must have different taste for smells, but I personally like the scent of Kincho mosquito coils, and I could sleep through the most sweltering summer nights in Tokyo, if I have the smoke comming up from that Kincho coil.

So you wait and see, mosquito.

Another item besides Katori-senkou ( mosquito coils ), which is essential to get over hot and sticky Japanese summer, is Mugi-cha.

Mugi-cha ( literally barley tea ) is a drink made by infusing roasted threshed barley, usually served cold. To be precise, I guess it shouldn't be categorized as tea, since Mugi-cha isn't made from tea leaves, but it is known throughout Japan as Mugi-cha ( barley tea ).

Mugi-cha is a typical summer drink in Japan, which recently is gaining attraction because of its health benefits.

It seems to be drank in Korea too, wow I didn't know that.

It is said that Mugi-cha contains lots of minerals, and by drinking it you can make up for the loss of minerals, caused by sweating in summer heat. What's more impressive is that by drinking Mugi-cha, it prevents your blood from thickening up, protects stomach lining, regulates the functions of the intestines, brings down your body temperature, and it's caffeine-free.

It's a SUPER drink especially suitable for summer!

But I personally like that spicy savor most. Mmmmm.

Caterpillar

Talking of Mugi-cha, there's another kind of drink that comes up to Japanese's minds, when summer comes around.

It's Karu-pisu, or Calpico in English-speaking countries. The registered brand name for the drink in Japan is Calpis, but since it sounds like 'cow' 'piss' to English speakers, they say the company registered a different brand name Calpico, in English-speaking countries.

Karu-pisu is the world's first lactic acid bacteria beverage, which is the leading product of Calpis Co., Ltd.. The drink itself is concentrated and cannot be drank straight, and must be diluted by adding 3 to 5 times as much water, hot water, or milk, but of course it is diluted by water with additional cubes of ice, during summer.

Kaiun Mishima, the founder of Calpis Co., Ltd. who also has the background as a Buddhist monk, is said to have visited the present China's province Inner Mongolia, in 1902 at the age of 25. When he was there, he met a chance to taste a traditional Mongolian drink, made from horse milk. Young Kaiun must have been inspired by the taste, he created a similar drink on his own, and started selling them in Japan as Karu-pisu in 1919.

Karu-pisu has been loved in Japan as a cold beverage during summer, for more than 80 years. When gifts were sent during summer according to a Japanese custom, Karu-pisu has always been the staple. I remeber dancing a hornpipe for Karu-pisu gifts, when I was a kid.

On its package, they used to have a trademark of a black male figure wearing a Panama hat, drinking Karu-pisu from a glass with a straw, but it was changed to the present design of a glass of Karu-pisu with a straw in 1989, after someone had pointed out that it could lead to thoughts of racism.

The former design is said to come from a poster that came in 3rd in the 'International Prize Contest for Posters', which was held by Kaiun Mishima himself, as to save the German artists after the First World War.

By the way, while searching about Karu-pisu on the internet, I came across some information about Yaku-ruto, another famous lactic acid bacteria beverage maker in Japan.

Well, I didn't know that their company name was 'Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd.', which literally means 'Yakult Head Quarters Co., Ltd.'.

Caterpillar

Mugi-cha and Karu-pisu were familiar drinks of Japanese summer, but there are also typical Japanese food eaten often during summer too.

Sou-men is a very thin type of noodles, often eaten during summer in Japan. As I looked up the Japanese word Sou-men on the web dictionary to find some English explanations, it said 'silver line noodle', so I might as well note that too for your information.

It is made from wheat, salt, water, and just a little bit of cooking oil, and usually eaten dipped in seasoning soy sauce called Men-tsuyu, with additional condiments of minced Negi ( green onions ), sesame seeds, sliced Myouga ( Japanese ginger ), and grated ginger or grated Wasabi ( Japanese horseradish ), after it's cooked in boiling water.

Though you once have to cook Sou-men in boiling water, it wuld be rinsed with either running water or ice water to cool down, and are served cold during summer. It sure is a refreshing menu, on a hot and steamy summer day.

But it's not only because it's cold that Sou-men is loved so much as summer food, it has a replaceable charm of Nodo-goshi.

Nodo-goshi, now that's a hard word to explain, is a sort of sense or feel you get when sallowing noodles, or drinks. The word is used as 'Nodo-goshi-ga-ii ( literally, good Nodo-goshi )', when noodles or drinks feel especially smooth and comfortable to swallow. Sou-men has a very good Nodo-goshi, which even doubles the refreshing power of Sou-men, also making it easier to eat when you're losing appetite because of summer heat.

Speaking of Sou-men, I haven't had Sou-men recently ... .

I've heard about Sou-men made in Mishima, Shizuoka prefecture, that it's made extra long so that it has super good Nodo-goshi. I wish to try that some time. Uh-oh, my stomach's crying ... .

Caterpillar

The day before yesterday, I happened to see a TV program featuring Shizuka Arakawa, a Japanese female Figure Skater, who won the gold medal in Turin Olympics.

The program was telling that she was participating in the 'Champions on Ice' show in America, and Shizuka seemed to have some trouble communicating in English, which reminded me of Japanese's reluctance to speak English.

Most Japanese has experienced English education as a second language, for at least 3 years in junior high school. People whith higher education, which I personally assume more than 50% of the whole Japanese population fall under such conditions, must have experienced longer.

However, most Japanese tend to be silent in cases when they have to speak English. They seem to feel insecure that they might not be able to make themselves understood in English, because of their poor vocabulary or bad pronounciation.

Shizuka seemed to have the same kind of trouble.

I really shouldn't boast, since my English isn't that good either, but to encourage Japanese who feel afraid of speaking English because they might not be good enough, here's a couple of advice from my experience.

POINT1 Forget about the pronounciation. Japanese English would be understandable enough, as long as you get the accents right.

POINT2 Don't try to speek in complete sentences. Short sentences in simple English words would be enough to tell the bare minimum. When you think that's not enough, make use of facial expressions and gesture as a communication tool, since that's what they are for.

POINT3 Make positive efforts to speak English. Don't just sit around waiting for someone to talk to you. And remember that 'a creeky wheel gets the oil'.

POINT4 Don't be afraid to make mistakes or be embarassed. Making mistakes or being embarassed won't kill you. Just relax and take it easy, simply as an experience. You are trying to speak in a language which is not your mother tongue, and that isn't easy. Making mistakes at first is nothing to be ashamed of, but do not forget to learn from your mistakes.

POINT5 Be brave. You are apparently an Asian, and a foreigner in English speaking countries. No one would expect you to speak fluent English. So don't worry, be brave and tlak.

POINT6 Try to enjoy communication. If you seem to be enjoying, people would gather around you to join the happiness. Then, it wouldn't really matter if you can or can't speak English.

I hope that my advice could be of some help to Shizuka too ... .

Caterpillar