April 1, 2010
What a great start for the new month, which, by the way, is my birthday month! We had  Yes, that's right, we had 7 people today!
Angela from the Acropolis, Ashley & Shelby from Westminster, Erica & Kelsey from Stockholm, Brooklyn from New York (Brooklyn), and Jade fell off the Sagrada Familia! By the way -and this is NOT an April Fool's joke- it was Shelby's birthday, so please join the choir:
Topics covered today were various, as many people obviously means many things come up.
We started with a query about the very simple: How are you - I'm fine, thank you - phrase, and its' correct usage, and if it's okay to answer with "so-so". Well, it turned out, it is okay (although I somehow don't feel comfortable using it). As two of us came from Scandinavia today, Finland for some reason was one of our topics, and some questions arose about origin & language background, and we were right - Finnish is the ONE language in Scandinavia not being of Germanic origin. And YES, it is part of the EU - for curious people, read on!
Our maybe most exciting thing to talk (and complain!) about today were "sag pants". Brooklyn shared the news with us that some states in the U.S are considering making this stupid fashion become illegal, even imposing fines in some cases. The question is, where to draw the line - when do "sag pants" become "sag pants", and "qualifying" for a fine?
Well, look for yourself - this diagram should clear up all the "grey areas" in this matter!  What I can't comprehend and really feel unbelievably paradox is the fact that America is preaching democracy, freedom,freedom of speech etc, but don't let people dress like they want to....doesn't add up! Not that I'm on the side of the young people dressing like that - personally I find them extremely stupid!Another point discussed today was the fact that the English language is lacking a good word or expression for the Japanese "Hansei", and I was asked by one of the ladies (Erica, maybe?) to find out. Yes, and I did my homework:
はんせい 反省
self-examination; 《熟考》reflection; 《再考》reconsideration.
〜する reflect on ((one's action)); reconsider.
反省会 a review meeting. There even is a word for the "drinking party"! The request by the same lady for the picture & story about the "Jesus thing" can be found here:
And our (slightly fragile) C.C.C.C looked like this:
Wow, this took a while!
The "Master"
Posted by Tilo Zimmermann. Posted In : One Category for all
March 30, 2010
Last day of March (for the Cafe, one more day to go in "real life"!), and hopefully last day of winter - we had a layer of snow this morning - an amazing 0.1 cm was covering my bike, my roof, my garden table etc!! A fairly quiet Tuesday with Jade from Spain, Laura from a Latin place, and Cassandra from Greece. Oh yes, and me, from Kobe, Japan!
All I remember is that we had "serious" talks. I don't really remember about what though, as it's already 22:51 now - the Cafe finished about 7 hours a... Continue reading...
Posted by Tilo Zimmermann. Posted In : One Category for all
March 27, 2010
Now, somebody please tell me - is it REALLY Saturday today? Why? Well, because today Eddie, Briana (she preferred to be called Nancy), Samantha, Mariah, Gracie, and Catherine gathered today! This just might be a new record for Saturday (although I'm too lazy to check my records!). At the beginning, Eddie was really quiet. When asked if he was all right, he said he was okay, just very full! (Maybe he was nervous being surrounded by so many nice ladies!) He had 3 portions of curry for lunch! Nev... Continue reading...
Posted by Tilo Zimmermann. Posted In : One Category for all
March 26, 2010
Hi, "international community"! So, this is part one of 32co's report on India. I corrected only a very little grammar & spelling - excellent job! Please enjoy!The "Master" I went to India to see my son and my friends last month. This is my fourth time to visit there. To tell the truth, my first impression about India wasn’t good, and I didn’t want to go there again. But, the more times I go there, the more interested I get in India. There are so many “How come?” things in India. I’... Continue reading...
Posted by Tilo Zimmermann. Posted In : Students' Contributions
March 25, 2010
It was a crowded Thursday today, mainly thanks to Heather showing up after ages, and not alone! She brought two new girls with her by the names of Laura & Breanna! Welcome to the "chaos" called the "SilberCafe! As both of you seemed to have enjoyed today, and you both spoke very good English, we all expect to see you two again in the not too distant future! Once again - WELCOME!
Subjects varied, although most time was spent today asking each other the routine line-up of questions, as usual when... Continue reading...
Posted by Tilo Zimmermann. Posted In : One Category for all
March 23, 2010
The weather is really playing games with us, don't you think? The 連休-long weekend I think we were lucky, because the forecast was quite different from the actual weather. Basically, all three days stayed dry! It was really important to me, as on Sunday I took my son on the back of my bike to Intex Osaka to check out the annual Motorcycle show! The weather was pleasant, also the temperature, but all the yellow stuff "made in China" (黄砂-"yellow dust") turned out to be pretty bad on tha... Continue reading...
Posted by Tilo Zimmermann. Posted In : One Category for all
March 20, 2010
Hi, nice people! I am going to keep today's post really short - I have to go to Sannomiya tonight for some casual drinking with my
bike mates!
Today saw Felix (by now our regular "Saturday boy"), and Gracie, also very much a "Saturday face" - but I sure missed the
500+ other members today who didn't show up. Hanami already? Just kidding!
Our main topic today was about courage - Felix ran into some German-speaking people in Osaka the other day, and decided to talk to them! That's courage!! So, ple... Continue reading...
Posted by Tilo Zimmermann. Posted In : One Category for all
March 18, 2010
What a CROWD! Wow! Well, not really, but as the Cafe is a bit quiet these days (especially on Thursdays), it sure felt like a crowd being surrounded by Kelly, Kiara, Jack (!), Heather, Brooklyn, and Laura. We talked about a scary dragon painting (its' eyes follow you wherever you go!!) on a ceiling in a shrine (temple?) somewhere in Kyoto. Sorry, but I couldn't catch the name. I think Heather went there. Also movies were discussed today:
Laura mentioned old, good quality movies being shown on ... Continue reading...
Posted by Tilo Zimmermann. Posted In : One Category for all
March 16, 2010
Today was "very different", I felt. The atmosphere seemed really relaxed, so settled. Not dull or boring, though. We sure had fun, but it was more "adult fun" (please no misunderstanding here!), difficult to explain. Maybe thanks to our topics? We talked about how people (in this case the U.S) cannot write cursive handwriting anymore, and only learn block letters in school. So Christina asked us coffee-drinking members of the group if we could. It was also pointed out, that Japanese English te... Continue reading...
Posted by Tilo Zimmermann. Posted In : One Category for all
March 13, 2010
Heeeello, crowd! It was Abigal, Cassandra, and "our man", Barret, today! When the Cafe started, the sky looked like it would start to rain any minute, but when people left, we had blue sky!
Again today, we talked a little bit about the "very small fish" (after all, it's the season), and Barret told me some interesting Japanese: "Sandeel-Poorness". He also told us that in season he catches a lot of octopus, which he boils, freezes, and then sends out to people, and so experiences "Octopus-Poorne... Continue reading...
Posted by Tilo Zimmermann. Posted In : One Category for all
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SilberBahn/SilberCafe 挨拶
SilberBahn＜ズィルバーバーン＞
はドイツ語、
SilverTrain＜シルバートレイン＞は英語、
日本語で＜銀色の列車＞を
意味するこの言葉には「乗ると
楽しい所に向かっていける」という
願いを込めました。
それはある日、私のところに
「ドイツ語を教えてほしい」と
女性が一人たずねてきたところ
から始まりました。
2000年１月に語学学校として
スタート、現在は翻訳通訳や海外
との商品取引の仲介等語学サービス
全般に関わる業務を行っております.。
SilberBahn＜ズィルバーバーン＞
の詳しい情報は下の青いリンクをクリック
して下さい。
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