First Bird Flu, then Pig Flu!

The other day a student asked me "what does swine mean." I told them that it was a word that we didn't use anymore, but is a technical name for pigs. That is why we are hearing so much about swine flu lately, it is a flue virus carried by pigs. Earlier, we heard about "avian" flu. "Avian" is just a technical word for bird. Sometimes I think that using technical words, and not ordinary English, can make things seem scarier than they really are. Luckily, people seem to be remarkably calm about the new swine flu in Mexico. Though many people have died so far, all of them have been in Mexico, and the disease seems to be not as bad as people thought orginally.

One good thing about all the preparations for bird flu is that when pig flu came around, though it happened from an unexpected source (pigs) and in an unexpected place (Mexico, not Asia) many health professionals, such as doctors and governments, were ready for the rapid spread of a dangerous virus. So far the swine flu has not been as deadly as it could be, and we have the preparations made for bird flu to thank for that. This just goes to show that it always pays to be prepared, even if it pays off in ways you might not have expected!

Golden Week Plans

Golden Week is coming up soon! I hope that everyone has made some interesting plans. I have talked to many students who are going traveling around Japan and some who are going to other countries, like France. Some people are just planning on staying home and relaxing, like me.

One of my students asked me today if "Golden Week" was Japanese English. The answer is yes. We don't have any holidays that last for nearly a week like in Japan, so it is a word that Japanese people made up. We do have a similiar idea though. American call the time from Thanksgiving to New Years the "Holiday Season" because three of the biggest holidays in the United States happen within about one month of each other. Sadly, we don't get to take that month off work! "Golden Week" may be Japanese English, but I think it's a good word. In Japan, people do not get very much vacation time, so the time that they do get to take off work is truly "Golden."

What are your plans for Golden week? Please let everyone know what you did by making a post on the blog! You can even include some photos!