[laurel]

Hi, Suki-chan!

Woah that would be great! But I think it'll take me two more years to save enough money or I might ask my parents to pay for the trip as a birthday present... ^.^

I'm not sure if I still live in Japan two years later (in fact I'm planning to work in London to earn my tuition fee); but I'm willing to be your guide d(*⌒▽⌒*)b

By the way, the expo will be held at Barcelona, too!? Wow, I feel glad and proud to know that so many foreign people love Japanese culture (≧∇≦)

I know this two Japanese girls who are studying Spanish at university and they say they find it much easier than English due to pronunciation similarities. Guess it just depens on each person.

I see. One of my tutors (he is a native British guy) told us that English is rather complicated language; people all over the world use English not because it is easy, but because it is the heritage of British Empire.
Maybe only one advantage for Japanese people to learn English is, there are so many loan words.

I must admit they're rather similar though, but that's just cause they both come from Latin.

Thank you for your explanation; this sentence is quite clear and makes good sense


So, can I ask one question from a Latin song "O Fortuna"? I can't get the following lines;

ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem, potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.

I checked dictionary and guessed the meaning of each word; but I can't understand the syntax of "ludo mentis aciem". These words seem to indicate "play, whim", "mind" and "look", but I'm not sure what this line exactly means. If you have some suggestion, will you tell me, please?

I once translated this poem into Japanese, but just based on English translation. The whole Latin lines are at the following page:

http://laurel.otogirisou.com/miscellany/ofortuna.html

The reason why we don't usually eat it any other time of the year is because it's a hot dish.

Oh, I see. We Japanese do not have hot dish during Summer; but -- do you hear something about "我慢大会" (gaman taikai: patience competition)?
It is a game to prove one's own endurance. People wear warm, thick clothes and eat hot food even though the temperature is more than 30c degree!!
I wonder if the participants are a bunch of masochists or not ...

I'm totally surprised at your explanation of political situation during Franco's dictatorship. That was ... so terrible, I feel sorry for Catalan people. Also, I feel respect for them, because they keep their own culture, their own Catalan language.
Thank you for your explanation, Suki-chan (＾▽＾) I greatly owe to you!