Chinese culture and traditions documentary

Mike and Molly- Peggy's Little World

I'm sorry I can't post the answers for the last exercise yet. Please wait for the answers- by next week they will be posted!!

Vocabulary

Podiatrist- foot doctor

Anderson Cooper- head anchor for CNN news

Deluding myself- lying to myself

Trying to get back to it- trying to get it to the same color again by coloring it

Talk to the hand- a common expression and gesture in American culture to tell someone to be quiet

Came up with it- thought of the idea

Cooking in bulk- cooking very large quantities of food

Tests the plumbing- uses the bathroom

Muse hits- when he has to go to the bathroom

Tiara- little crown worn on the head

Golden years- age of retirement

Ingrate- ungrateful person

Put in a good word for me- give me a reference

Griddler- a person who cooks, but it is being said with a negative connotation

Bitter and toxic- a person who is not happy

Questions
1.What does Molly say Mike’s mom really believes?

2. In Mike’s mom’s little world, who is in love with her?

3. What did Molly do with “talk to the hand?”.

4. What does Mike’s mom enjoy?

5. When does Mike always come to visit?

6. Mike likes to eat at Abe’s.  What sends him to his mother’s?

7. Where does Mike’s mom want him to put in a good word for her?

8. Why doesn’t Mike want to put in a good word for her?

9. What happened to her at the cafeteria?

10. Why does Mike say she got fired?

Minamisanriku Diary (from the Asahi newspaper)

Photo: A truck loaded with household belongings on its carrier  ‘Sorry for doing well’
Translated by: Masaharu Yamauchi

山内　雅晴

Edited by: Rebecca Silva

In the devastated area, as a reporter, there are two questions I have to ask sufferers: ‘how about your house?’ and ‘how about your family?’ I sometimes feel heart broken when I ask these questions that evoke the depth of their hollow sorrow.

I got a similar feeling when I asked Ms. Hiromi (35) these questions. She bowed her head saying, “I’m sorry. Both my family and house are ok.”

Her house, that was built on a highland, was spared the damage from the tsunami. But, the next day after I met her, her family moved to the next city. “We can’t live in Minamisanriku where there is no water supply and most of the shops have been flooded by the tsunami. Above all, when I walk in the town, I feel like being told, ‘You have good luck, because both your family and car are ok.’ and bursting.”

The other day, when her son tried to bring a baseball uniform to join a baseball practice, she told him, “Your teammates won’t have them. You have to think more.” After she said this, she was about to break into tears and put her arm around him. “Sorry. You have done nothing wrong.”

She told me that she would come back someday…. She looked over her shoulder many times from a truck that was loaded with her household belongings while driving away from the devastated town.   

(Hideyuki  Miura)