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Puti in Japan, 1 of 3
This is a description of my family's trip to Japan in July 2005. The trip is one of those we make every second year to maintain contacts with the relatives and friends of my Japanese wife. That is also the only time that my two teenage children can spend time with their Japanese cousins.
We left from Finland for Japan in the end of June and returned in the end of July. Our traveling time is usually dictated by the summer vacations of our children, as it was this time, too. The timing is not a happy one from my viewpoint, as I have to trade the excellent Finnish summer weather and the white nights for hot, damp, and very rainy season in Japan, and also have the sun set at 7:00 p.m. However, I like Japan quite much and have many experiences on the positive side of the balance, too.
My relatives live in the western part of Tokyo, among the vast sea of small houses for single or a few families. Even after multiple visits the size and building density of Tokyo still manages to amaze me, coming from Finland, which is in comparison nearly empty of people. I am impressed by the ingenuity of Japanese traffic planners, as they can transport those millions of people every day to work and back home again through the mazes of the vast city.
The first half of our vacation we stayed at my wife's mother's house. When the house was built many decades ago, it had plenty of space around it, as it was the first building of that neighborhood. Now it has drowned out of sight with new buildings, and one has to look carefully to even find the narrow entrance passage to it from the street.
The house has plenty of nice neighbors now, and they often stop to chat with us and invite us to their homes when we pass by. One of them remembers Finland as "a country of no decayed teeth" from a TV advertisement about xylitol chewing gum. Well, perhaps the reality is not quite up to the fame yet.
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Language pair: Finnish; Thai
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Juha-Petri T.
August 6, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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Mark S.
August 5, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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Re:Russian for Arabic
hi lena
i'm a girl from egypt
i can help u to learn arabic
and i hope to learn Russian
i'm not a golden member
take care . bye
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Language pair: Russian; Arabic, Egyptian
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wafa a.
August 2, 2005
# Msgs: 2
Latest: August 2, 2005
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Jesse H.
July 27, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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I'm going to Argentina!
Ciaooo! I'm italian guy from Rome and the next month I'm going to Argentina for 1 month....I'd like to meet some locals and please give some tips!!!
See ya
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Language pair: Italian; English
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francesco m.
July 7, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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Hello everyone!
Hi, i'm a girl from spain who speaks spanish, english, french and italian and would like to speak with people who speaks those languages and if anyone could TEACH ME CZECH, would be great! thanks a lot.Hope your aswers back ;)
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Language pair: Spanish; English
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Carmen F.
July 1, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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where can i go for fun in Los Angeles?
hi every1,
im going to LA this summer and i really dont know where i can go for shopping ,seeing movies,concert,or some must-go places!! .can anyone who live in LA or has been to LA tell me more about it??im really looking forward to this vacation!!thanks!!
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Language pair: Chinese, Mandarin; English
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Vicky L.
June 19, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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Re:Re:I want to have friends all over the world!!!
Hi Yu Yu,
Like you, I too am interested in making friends.So if you wish we can be penpals.
I am from India.My native language is Bengali,known for its richness in literary works.My hobby is reading literature and music.Bye.sutapa d
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Language pair: English; German
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sutapa d.
June 19, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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Can anyone host me in Germany?
Hey guys,
I'm really eager to learn the German language. 21, male, Australia. I want to find somebody in Germany, preferably a family or a student who can adopt me for 1-3 months so I can learn German that way.
I did this in Egypt already - it was very successful and I can speak Arabic extremely well.
I am a Gold member.
Thanks :),
-Donovan-
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Language pair: German; All
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Donovan N.
June 16, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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Re:Want to help me brush up on my French?
Hi Maria,
I would be delighted to help you in french. I am a native french speaker and live in the french speaking part of Switzerland. So tell me in which ways I can help you improve your French.
As far as I am concerned I really need to improve my fluency and grammar in English, so it could be a nice opportunity to keep in touch with you!!!
Hope to hear soon from you
Agueda
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Language pair: English; French
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Agueda G.
June 1, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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