Australian Food
There are restaurants of every kind in Australia. Lots of people from Italy, Greece, Turkey and Vietnam live in Melbourne, so there are many great Italian, Greek, Turkish and Vietnamese restaurants. Sydney has good seafood restaurants and most cities have many Japanese restaurants.
Meat is a popular food in Australia (Aussie beef) and having a barbecue [...]
Western First Names
Western first names (also called given names and Christian names) have many different meanings.
Some names come from the bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and many others).
If you want to find out the origin of a Western first name you can try looking at
http://www.behindthename.com
Many English speakers are given a middle name as well, this is often a common [...]
Doll Festival
The Doll Festival
日本の祭り – ひな祭り
In 2008 I visited Awashima Shrine to see the doll festival.
The shrine is in Kada (加太) in Wakayama has a special doll festival. Awashime Shrine is famous for fertility, women say a prayer if they want to get pregnant. On March 3rd, the day of the doll festival, they put lots [...]
English Family Names
English Family Names
Hundreds of years ago English family names (also called surnames or last names) often came from people’s jobs or where they lived.
Some examples of jobs that became family names -
Baker (パン屋の主人)
Smith (鍛冶屋)
Carpenter (大工)
Taylor (tailor, 仕立屋)
Cooper (樽類製造者)
Miller (粉屋)
Some examples of locations or natural features that became family names -
Underhill
Hill
Lake
Stone
Ford
Other family names mean son of. TheO’ in [...]