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- March Comes in Like a Lion...
March Comes in Like a Lion...
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We have an expression, "春の嵐(haruno arashi)" that means "spring storms". Actually, in March there were many rainy and stormy days in Japan. Even in the middle of March we had some very cold days just like winter. There are also heavy snowfall areas in the northern Japan. Every single day, they have to remove accumulated snow on the roof in order to protect their houses.
This kind of weather always reminds me of an English old saying, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." I like this expression because it is admirably put. After a long cold winter, many of us are waiting eagerly for a spring, but it usually doesn't come right away.
Today, March 20th is the Vernal Equinox Day, a national holiday. It was a warm and beautiful day. Many people were strolling around a shopping mall, a park or a sight seeing place and enjoyed lots of sunshine and a mild weather. My family and I also went to see colorful plum blossoms in a plum garden. They are truly signs of spring and in a few weeks, we are going to see gorgeous cherry blossoms everywhere. Now I think spring is just around the corner.
This kind of weather always reminds me of an English old saying, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." I like this expression because it is admirably put. After a long cold winter, many of us are waiting eagerly for a spring, but it usually doesn't come right away.
Today, March 20th is the Vernal Equinox Day, a national holiday. It was a warm and beautiful day. Many people were strolling around a shopping mall, a park or a sight seeing place and enjoyed lots of sunshine and a mild weather. My family and I also went to see colorful plum blossoms in a plum garden. They are truly signs of spring and in a few weeks, we are going to see gorgeous cherry blossoms everywhere. Now I think spring is just around the corner.
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There are were also heavy snowfall areas in the northern Japan.
This kind of weather always reminds me of an old English saying, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." I like this expression because it is admirably put.well stated.
After a long cold winter, many of us are waiting eagerly for a spring, but it usually doesn't come right away.
Many people were strolling around a shopping mall, a park or a sight seeing place and enjoyed lots of sunshine and a mild weather.
There is snow on the ground in Utah.
でもほんとう ふじゅがありませんでした。
But we didn’t have winter.
だいじょぶです。
It’s fine.
みそをいります。
We need the water.
しかしながらはるはきれいです。
However, spring is pretty.
If you use the singular, you are referring to a specific park, mall, etc. that people know.
If you use the plural, it is a general idea that people go to those places.
We have an expression, "春の嵐"(haruno arashi)" that means "spring storms".
You put the quotes around exactly what you're emphasizing, so the parenthetical is left outside.
If you put the last quote before the period, that's British-style punctuation.
Even in the middle of March, we had some very cold days that felt just like winter.
I would prefer saying that they feel like but were not just like winter.
Some places in northern Japan are still getting a lot of snow.
I made it more casual. If you want a very formal sentence, the correct way would be: "There are also areas in Northern Japan with heavy snowfall."
In either case, put "in Northern Japan" closer to "areas/places" to make it clearer.
Every (single) day, they have to remove (accumulated) snow from their roofs (in order) to protect their houses.
Every "single" day is a little dramatic for this.
"Remove X from Y."
You can take out the blue words to make it more casual.
This kind of weather always reminds me of an old English old saying, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." I like this expression because it is so (neat and accurate / cute but true).
Old should come before English. (Word order.)
I'm not sure what you mean by "admirably put." So, I came up with two possible alternatives.
After a long cold winter, many of us are waiting eagerly for a spring, but it usually doesn't come right away.
No need for "a."
Today, March 20th, is the Vernal Equinox Day, a national holiday.
Lots of people were out in the malls and parks, enjoying the sunshine and a mild weather.
"Lots of" is more casual.
You use plurals for general things, like "stores" or "hospitals."
I couldn't think of a natural way to refer to "sightseeing spots," so I took it out.
My family and I also went to see the colorful plum blossoms in a nearby garden.
I think it sounds more natural to mention where the garden is, rather than what kind of garden it is. Even if they only have plum trees, it seems redundant to say a "plum garden." If you're going to see plum blossoms, then they must have plum trees. :}
I love these signs of spring and in a few weeks, we are going to see gorgeous cherry blossoms everywhere.
"They are truly" is quite dramatic. ^_^;
Now I think Spring is just around the corner.
You said there were already signs of spring, so you shouldn't say "I think."
It's been warm over here, too. We've been around 27 degrees for days!
"When winter comes, can spring be far behind?"
One of the most beautiful sentences (from "Phantom of the Opera") I have ever heard is:
"Turn my head with thoughts of summertime."
It's kind of like Nihonjins' "giraffe" statement: You're in one room and you can smell the aroma of coffee from the kitchen, so your neck "giraffes" (new verb?) toward the kitchen anticipating fresh coffee. Can't wait. Looking forward to it, ya know?
But the line I quoted, to me, is just so beautiful, poetic. I'm sure the woman-singer, ("Christine" in the musical), was metaphorically experiencing a "cold winter" (unhappiness).
"Turn my head with thoughts of summertime," here, means "help me think about better times to come. Take my mind off today's troubles, difficulties."
Is this "giraffes"(new verb) a joke? or American people use it as a verb??
>"Turn my head with thoughts of summertime."
Yes, indeed. It's beautiful and poetic, but as you may know, Japanese summer is way too hot and humid. Soooo summertime in Japan isn't better times for us.
Is it OK to change this way?
"Turn my head with thoughts of Springtime." **?
Well, at least one of my Nihonjin Lang-8 friends introduced me to the "giraffe"-noun, which I thought was hilarious and very picturesque. You guys really have some wonderful, humorous analogies in Nihongo! I'm lovin' it! ;-)
Speaking of "worms" (hahaha) and "summertime" (tokoro de, yes, "springtime" is better for Nihon), here in central Texas we tell a joke like this: "In the summer here, it's so hot that, even if it's only 6 a.m., the birds are using potholders to help pull the worms out of the ground." ;-)?
[Joodan's explanation: It's soooo hot, like frying pans, that we use pot holders (thick square cloth, sometimes mitten) so that we won't burn our hands on the pan's handle.]
Poor John Boy, you gotta explain your joke all the time, since Japanese don't get your joodan. This time I didn't need your explanation, though. It was funny~~
You (plural), of course, are free to say "Hen na gaijin" but at least you know WHY we laugh. ;-) I've had Japanese jokes explained to me. Many of them are hilarious. Others are (to me) not. Cultures, traditions, Pacific Ocean .... ;-)
Would you confirm to me the use of "giraffe neck" in Nihon to mean longing for, yearning? Onegai shimasu. (Maybe it's just a regional saying -- popular in one prefecture, not so in another?)
That's exactly "giraffe neck"meaning longing for.
We all know this expression!
You can say that "I'll be waiting eagerly for you to come back."
The following example may sound a little bit funny.
"I'll be waiting eagerly for a cup of coffee. " cause it takes only a few minutes.
We all make mistakes. It's just more fun when we can laugh.
私たちは (私 は) みすが つきます。 いつもわらいます、もう たのしいです。
いつもわたしに わらいます。
I laugh at myself all the time.
いいえ、私の叔母の庭でいくつかのワームは、この冬はありませんでした!xD
Yeah, That was a typo, I meant to say warm(暖かい)...Also I'm american(If you think I'm not)
うん、それはタイプミス、私は暖かいと言うことを意味でした...(また、私はアメリカ人だ)
One time I talked to someone in japanese that was showing me kanji stroke order,It meant to say "your writing is beautiful and my writing is really sloppy" But what he heard was "you have really sloppy writing compared to mine"
He jest laughed and said pointed out my mastake...xD
Last week, I typed that "It was a real problem" but after pushing a send button, I found out that I sent "I was a real problem". WAS I a problem? **?
The only thing that is a problem to me at this moment are Google chrome's shortcut's*O*
Anyway, I rapidly typed (without checking) that I was eating my bkfst (short for "breakfast") and sent the message ... only to realize -- too late -- that my "smart" phone had changed "bkfst" to "bidet."
I had some real fast explaining to do to my son. :-0 ;-( ;-)
>that my "smart" phone had changed "bkfst" to "bidet."
"bidet"stands for ??? nothing?
Kind of like Nihon's spray potties, ne? (used by both sexes, I assume).
@ John Boy It was fun! I LOVE silly jokes. Actually I went to bed around 11:30pm. (^^)v
But straightforward can follow my tip. :}
What's wrong with windows?
At least I don't use Linux! xD
Yes! I can follow your tip. He (Mac) is very smart! (**)/
JK...And my name is ジョサイア = Josaia Josiah :D
Mac is short for Macintosh the computer line made by apple corp. :D
>Mac is short for Macintosh the computer line made by apple corp. :D
I know...
Jest kidding xb
>Maybe, I'll sue you for harassment! xD
Sue me, if you can. (Just kidding xD) lol
I miss the sunshine.
The other side of it is that our summer will be really hot and long. I'm hoping for a nice April and May.
The good news this year was that we didn't have another year of drought. March saw quite a bit of rain in the center and north of the country. Everyone was happy about that.
In another two or three weeks there won't even be a chance of rain again in my town until next September or October.
It may not be true for everyone but the weather has such a big effect on my mood and activity.
Soooo do I.
>I'm hoping for a nice April and May.
Here in Japan, April and May are the most colorful season. Pink and yellow flowers can be seen when you go out.
>It may not be true for everyone but the weather has such a big effect on my mood and activity.
I think that the weather has such a big effect on people's mood. Gloomy weather gives us gloomy mood. ~~
There was also heavy snowfall areas in the northern parts of Japan.
Even in the middle of March we had some very cold days that felt like winter.
There were also heavy snowfall areas in the northern Japan.
Every single day, they have to remove accumulated snow from their roofs in order to protect their houses.
This kind of weather always reminds me of an old English saying, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." I like this expression because it is well put.
After a long cold winter, many of us are waiting eagerly for spring, but it usually doesn't come right away.
Today, March 20th, is Vernal Equinox Day, a national holiday.
Many people were strolling around a shopping mall, a park or a sight seeing place and enjoyed lots of sunshine and mild weather.
My family and I also went to see the colorful plum blossoms in a nearby plum garden.
It was very cold today, but I could take a walk under the sunshine. *a*!
The sunshine is nice~~!
i know it has nothing to do with your diary, but the title reminded me of that movie :D
Thank you for telling me about a Japanese movie called "三月のライオン".
I rarely watch Japanese movies, so didn't know that film. I guess that the story will end happily, right? Because March goes like a lamb...
>i know it has nothing to do with your diary, but the title reminded me of that movie :D
I think it has something to do with my entry, you know, they have same titles! :D
yes and no :D
the ending is a very weird 'happy end'.
Japanese don't say "Yes" or "No" right away. Do you like that weird happy end??
the ending is very interesting in context of the movie - the final situation is a happy one(a baby is born), but when you know everything that took place before it, it becomes depressing.
but in real life i usually prefer blunt and direct actions :D
March winds bring April showers.
April showers bring May flowers.
The second line is more well known than the first line. Ironically in Florida we haven't had much rain at all this April. We still have flowers though ^_~
It seems for me that two lines are a set phrase.
It is true that May flowers are extremely beautiful and colorful, and that exquisite beauty is formed by March winds and April showers!
Do the upper sentences make sense?? **?