3 degrees

It's 3 degrees Celsius today. -- coldest day so far, I think.

'degrees of separation' is an expression.
If you have a friend, and the friend knows Obama, then you are 2 degrees of separation from Obama. They say that everyone is six degrees of separation from anyone on earth.

Xmas decorations

The shopping malls start putting up xmas decorations around the middle of November. 'xmas' or "Xmas" is short for 'Christmas'.

Some people say "Holidays" instead of 'Christmas' if they are not Christian.

Cherry Blossoms

SAKURA

KIYOMIZUDERA KYOTO 2005

KIYOMIZUDERA KYOTO 2005

take care

KI WO TSUKETE

Kyoto Eki 2005

...

Toronto is 14 hours behind Tokyo

Daylight Savings Time is over.

We are now on EST (Eastern Standard Time).

Now Toronto is 14 hours behind Tokyo.

When it is 10pm in Tokyo, it is 8am in Toronto.

comparatives in English

If an adjective has one syllable, you make the comparative form by adding "er" to the end:

brown -> browner
green -> greener
red -> redder (double 'd')
cold -> colder
hot -> hotter (double 't')


If an adjective has 2 syllables and it ends in 'y', you change 'y' to 'ier':

sunny -> sunnier
funny -> funnier
cloudy -> cloudier
windy -> windier


if an adjective has 2 or more syllables, you put 'more' at the beginning:

purple -> more purple
wonderful -> more wonderful
interesting -> more interesting

Spring forward, fall back

........
... is an expression that means:

In Spring, we move the clocks forward one hour for Daylight Savings Time.

In Fall, we move the clocks back one hour to end Daylight Savings Time.


'spring forward' means: to jump at someone

'fall back' means: to run away, or retreat

DST

......
Daylight Savings Time ends in Canada this weekend.

It's autumn now. Summer is over.

Hallowe'en

Hallowe'en (October 31 - the last day in October) is not a statutory holiday, but it is a day when traditionally kids wear masks and/or costumes and beg for candy.

The name comes from the Old English: All Hallow's Eve

All Hallow's Day was November 1 in Old England.

The 'eve' (evening) of All Hallow's Day is the day before November 1.

Christmas Eve (December 24) is the day before Christmas.

going downhill

... 'going downhill' is an expression meaning: 'getting worse'.

For example: The world economy is going downhill.

CHEESEY

'CHEESEY' means 'cheap and bad'.

For example:

It was a cheesey movie. The special effects were cheesey.

It was a cheesey concert.

You can't fight city hall

is an expression that means:

If you don't obey the government, you will get in trouble.

stories

All the buildings here are about 24 stories high.

There is no 13th floor in buildings,
because there is a superstition that the number 13 is bad luck.