When I first visited Canada, it was to Granville Island that I first headed from the airport. Several friends, including me, dropped in here to get fresh food in the public market. Whistler is now the place that most Japanese skiers want to visit at least once in their lifetime, but at that time, the magnitude of Whistler as a ski resort was far smaller if compared with today and it had about a third of its present prosperity. There was only one small grocery store in the village then, 20 years ago and moreover the prices were usually higher than those of Vancouver. Therefore, we brought a couple of empty coolers from Japan and bought food with a focus on fresh meat, seafood and vegetables in Granville Market, which I'll show you in the picture.
By the way, a considerable level of English skills is required to enter national medical schools in Japan. I naturally learned it to a high degree. So, around the end of my high school days, I could understand from English newspapers to a series of tough works by noted philosophers such as Bertrand Russel. However, the education had a tendency to attach too much importance to the comprehension of English papers, and to make light of the expressions of what we were thinking. Consequently, my English skills, even acquired by consuming a great deal of time and effort, didn't work well in the market. I didn't know lots of verbs or adverbs, to buy what we needed. I couldn't say "Could you take a credit card?". I naturally knew "take", but didn't know such a usage of "take". My mentor, whom I had written about in this blog several times, said to me, "You can only go so far, and you have to learn much more." He suffered from retinopathy and stopped travelling overseas 5 years ago, but every time I go out of the Vancouver Airport and run along Granville St., I recall him and his words. If I had not met him, what would have become of me? One thing is for sure, I wouldn't have known Canada, nor would my daughters.
I found a really small sightseeing boat sailing on the calm False Creek. I talked my friends into sailing. I'll show you some pictures shot from the boat.
(Vocabulary)
with a central focus on ～を中心として
degree [C,U] 程度, 度合い
He has changed to an astonishing degree. 彼は驚くほど変わってしまった．
[＋degree of] a degree of risk 危険の程度
[＋degree to which] the degree to which diet influences health ダイエットが健康に影響を及ぼす度合い
to a large degree 大部分は, 大いに
to some/a certain degree (to a degree とも) ある程度は, いくぶん
to what degree? どの程度まで
attach importance/significance/value to sth ＜…＞を重視する
My family attached great importance to food. 私の家では食べ物を非常に大切にしていた．
attach blame to sb/sth ＜…＞のせい［責任］にする
be attached to sth 〈危険性・恥辱感などが〉 ＜…＞に伴う
the risks attached to extreme sports 過激なスポーツに伴う危険性
make light of 軽視する
can only go so far その程度でしかない
talk sb into sth [句動詞] ＜人＞に＜…＞をするよう説得する; 誘う
She didn't want to come, but I talked her into it. 彼女はいやがってたけど来るように説得したよ．
talk sb into doing sth ＜人＞を説得して＜…＞させる
I managed to talk them into paying me more money. 彼らをどうにか説得してもっと金を払ってもらった．
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