7 - My first day in Paris I planned to spend my first day in Paris walking along the Champs-Elysees. Of all places, this fine avenue lined with chestnut trees has a lot of appeal for me, perhaps because of the song, for one thing, Oh! Cham…

ちょっと休憩、パリ、モンマルトル、冬の1景

6 - A little bit in Korean at Montmartre - continued The next day after arriving at the hotel, I was having breakfast when I saw within earshot distance a man like me sitting at his desk with his back toward me. I called to him asking in K…

6 - A little bit in Korean at Montmartre While searching for a hotel on the Internet, I came upon a two-star one in Montmartre. The hotel had a garden with flowers in bloom and accommodations good enough for me. I felt inclined to decide o…

Me playing on 尺八、July 5th 2016, on the bridge popularly known as `Pont de Solferino`.

5 - My first French in Paris - continued The third taxi that took me, after all, turned out to be my very first and last taxi I rode in throughout the whole of my stay in Paris. The driver, a French man in early middle age, was friendly en…

5 - My first French in Paris June 22nd, 2016, at long last, I was in Paris for the first time in my life at the age of 70 plus 9 months. I was so excited. This sort of excitement is something I could never experience if I kept on living ju…

4 - My bucket list - continued "Just hang around in Paris?" She looked askance at me. "Yes." "I'm sure no one would take kindly to an old Oriental like you in Paris." "I don't expect any kindness of anyone." "Well, then, what's on your min…

4 - My bucket list It was an African-American English teacher Jtn that first introduced me to this interesting word - a bucket list - just before my dismissal from the school. The word really prompted and urged me to think seriously about …

3 - Away from her For about a month I concentrated and spent all day long every day except when to eat and sleep translating from English into Japanese some 180 pages filled with IT related technical jargon on `Maritime Navigation and Comm…

2 - English grammar and feminism They say misfortunes never come alone. Indeed, what made me feel yet badder was the school I worked part-time for as a Japanese teacher of English sacked me due solely to my having reached the 70th of age. …

Wallowing in languages, a Japanese septuagenarian travels abroad alone - Oh, Ojinjin 1 - Coqui ou cocu? Back in Sepetember 2015, I became 70. In Japan, the age of 70 is referred to as 古希、pronounced coqui, coki, or koki, anyways, meaning…