ごますり

"sesame grinding"
Ingratiating oneself, apple-polishing, overtly flattering, toadying, sucking up to one's superiors

When a person makes an overtly ingratiating remark, he/she is 'grinding sesame seeds'. Like the messy sesame seeds ground up in the mortar, the person seeking favour is sticking to everything (one).

A: 加藤さんいよいよ課長に昇進らしいですよ。

B: やっぱりそうですか。ここ三年間ずっとごますりよやってきたんだから、そろそろ課長になるだろうとは思ってましたけどね。

what does she want

Some think Japanese often use ambiguous expressions so that you never know what they are thinking.

e.g.

A先生：お茶がいいですか。

　　B小姐：どうぞおかまいなく。

　　A先生：ジュースがいいですか。

　　B小姐：どうぞおかまいなく。

　　A先生：コーヒーがいいですか。

　　B小姐：どうぞおかまいなく

A still have no idea what B wants after asking her three questions. In this case he may draw the conclusion that this Japanese lady is 'trying to' be ambiguous. In fact instead of blaming the lady, he should blame himself in the way he directs the conversation. It is natural for the Japanese to answer どうぞおかまいな, which is a gesture of politeness. Without this, the person would be considered rude. So A must change his strategy for the right response as shown below.

A先生：お茶がいいですか。

　　B小姐：どうぞおかまいなく。

　　A先生：どうぞご遠慮なく。お茶がいいですか。

　　B小姐：はい。どうも。

　　A先生：喝点茶好吗？

　　B小姐：请不必张罗了。

　　A先生：请不要客气。喝点茶好吗？

　　B小姐：好吧。非常感谢。

The Pre-universe Scene

The following passages are from the book The Origin of Existence, which I enjoyed a great deal. It illustrates vividly what is like even before the universe taking its shape using beautiful language. Use your imagination and begin the journey with me!

"Long before Earth drifted lazily through its solar orbit, long before the galaxy slowly condensed out of the cosmic background, things were different. Time was an imaginary concept. Space was not so well defined either. Even the universe itself did not really exist. Not yet.

In the dim ages of this forgotten past, space had more dimensions than the three we have today. In stark contrast to our present day poverty, the spatial dimensions numbered nine or ten or elven, depending on the moment and on the view. These extra dimensions were complicated, all tied up in intricate knots. Quantum mechanics ruled its high-energy domain along with gravity, and so the knots fluctuated. The knots collapsed. The knots united. And then they tied themselves up again in myriad different configurations. In what would have surely been Euclid's worst nightmare, the geometry of space and time varied from moment to moment.

Beneath the fluctuations of this probabilistic foam, hidden order and elegant symmetry were subtly running the show. Although chaotic and complicated, space and time obeyed a well-defined set of physical laws. These very laws would later rule the universe, albeit in a vastly different regime and only after it was created. These laws ultimately responsible for making and governing the universe - also transcend the universe."
译文：
远在地球懒洋洋地漂浮在太阳轨道上之前，远在星系缓慢地从宇宙背景中凝聚而成之前，一切都与现在大不一样。时间只是一个想象中的概念，空间也还未成型，就连宇宙本身也并不真正存在。嗯，还没有呢。
在这被遗忘的不为人知的岁月里，空间远不止我们今天所见的三维。取决于观看的时间和视野，空间可达九维，十维，甚至十一维，与今日的贫瘠形成鲜明的对比。这些多出的空间错综复杂的集结在一起。量子力学和引力支配着多维空间的高能范畴，连接点因此而不断波动。结点散开了，又连在一处，然后又以无数种不同的方式集结起来。空间和时间的几何（属性）瞬息万变，这毫无置疑该是欧几里德最糟的噩梦。
然而在量子泡沫的波动之下，隐藏的次序和精致的对称巧妙地操纵着一切。尽管表现得杂乱无章，毫无头绪，时间和空间却遵循着明确的物理定律。正是这些定律之后将主宰宇宙，虽然仅在宇宙形成后以完全不同的方式进行的。这些定律最终决定了宇宙的形成，掌管着整个宇宙，并凌驾于宇宙之上。

The season of cherry blossom （with picture)

The moment my eyes met up with the close-up shot of cherry blossom, my mind 'clicks'. Childhood memory was weakening under the 'spell' of the cherry blossom. Its stamen radiates away from the pistil. The yellow dots on the top of stamen against the embracing white petals like fireworks warming up the night sky. They chanted at me, " Come on.It's the season of cherry blossom!" Yes. How can I forget? March is the season of cherry blossom.

I saw a little girl walking towards me, in the aisle of cherry trees. The branches of the trees tangle together to form a beautiful flowery arch. Pure white and light pink cherry blossoms are thick yet airy, floating in the air like pieces of cloud, swaying in the wind, and shedding petal rain occasionally. The eeriely beautiful scene is like a dream, the one that one would never want to wake up from.

Yet in reality, it cannot last long. Cheery blossoms are very vulnerable to wind and rain. Often overnight they are gone. Only the petals on the ground can prove their short-lived existence. But deep in my heart, I know they will come back again, next March, and the next. It's a renewal of life in predictable cycles.

[To my own life, I think I hold the same sentiment. I know I will die someday, although I don't know exactly when. Man's life span is known to all of us. Few of us can live to 100. So it's a two digital cycle. I don't necessarily feel sad about it (at least not now). Everyday new lives (not limited to human life)come into this world . Although they are not directly related to me, I accept they are renewal of my life in some way. Who knows where the atoms in my body come from and where they will go after me. Maybe one of them will dwell inside a cherry blossom petal :) ]

突然一个想法跳入我的脑子，如果想在双语的世界中进退自如的话，为什么不从自己的文字开始呢？虽然喜欢英文，但对着自己的语言更有着一种深深的眷念，我想汉语的精深是穷尽今生也无法完全领略的。加之身居国外，如果汉语能力退化，着实是一件很悲哀的事情。作为一个non-native speaker，英文的世界也充满了遨游的空间。因为是自己的文字，所以翻译的时候比较灵活。不过信达雅的信字应该不会偏颇太多，应为无论怎样也是表达的 自己的思想，也可以算作忠实吧（呵呵，这个空子好钻）

译文：

当我的目光落到樱花的特写照片时，脑子里一个激灵，童年的回忆在樱花的“符咒”之下复苏了。那花儿的雄蕊从中心的雌蕊处辐射而出，雄蕊顶端的一个个小黄点 在环绕的白色花瓣的背景中，如同夜空中升腾的烟花，平添了一丝丝暖意。他们对我低吟着：“来吧，到樱花的季节里来吧！”对啊，我怎能忘记3月正是樱花盛开 的季节。

我仿佛看到一个小女孩在樱树的游廊中向我走来，树枝的顶端环绕在一起形成了一个美丽的窿穹。纯白和粉红的樱花厚实而又轻盈，如同云朵般漂浮在上空，随风而动，时而洒落一阵阵的花瓣雨。这奇妙的景色美丽如梦，一个永远不愿醒来的梦境。

然而在现实中，这美景是短暂的。柔弱的樱花经受不住风吹雨淋，往往在一夜之间就离我们而去，只有地上散落的花瓣记录着她们曾经的停留。但在内心深处我知道她们在下一个三月将会再来，在下下个三月。。。。。。这是生命的更新在以我们可以预知的方式循环着。

后记：小时候几乎每年三月都会到武大工作的小姨家去暂住几日，一览校园里颇有盛名的樱花，一直到小姨结婚。后来每年三月的时候好像武大都有樱花节，虽然没有刻意去观赏，但路过仍忍不住驻足片刻。现在，又是樱花盛开的季节了，不知是怎样的情景呢？

I am here

Finally I am here.

A new place to start with :)