Tag Archives: marriage

20 Mar

shack up

Who taught: Patty, Amber and Tami

shacking up

Shacking up (source: http://www.cartoonstock.com/)

Hello there, my friends! It’s been more than a week without a new post. Sorry about that!

I was in San Francisco for a biz trip last week with my colleagues. Unfortunately, we did not have usual Californian sunshine but rain the whole week. But, we got to visit a few great companies and meet great people. We used public transportation a lot. During the time we sit in a Caltrain, we had a lot of talks about random things.

For some reason, we started to talk about me not wearing my wedding ring. Jessy also does not wear a ring. She actually does not have it at all. As we were talking about it, Patty said, “So, you guys are shacking up.”

Of course, I did not get what she said. Shack is a small and sort of dirty hut built from wood. Jessy and I bought a house and I can say that it is not just a shack in my opinion. Then, what is shacking up and what does it have to do with marriage or wedding ring?

If you shack up with someone, that means you guys live together (often while having sex) but not married. Why there is shack? My guess is that living together with someone else without marrying happens when people are young and, at that age, they cannot afford a nice place to live together. They usually end up being in a place like a shack. Don’t you think so?

So, literally, you live together in a shack which is “shacking up.” What do you think, my American friends? Am I right?

By the way, Jessy and I are not shacking up. We have been legally married for more than 10 years.

10 Jan

long haul

Who taught: Ginny

Long haul - a ghost marriage (source: http://thelonghaulproject.com/)

If you want to live in the U.S., there are a few things that you really need to try to have interest in. American football is one of them. NFL (National Football League) has 32 teams (16 under AFC and 16 under NFC). There are so many offensive and defensive positions and also the rules are pretty complicated. But, once you start to watch games, you would enjoy them a lot. I love them. And, of course, I am a big fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you do not support any team yet, you should consider to be a fan of the Steelers. It will be more fun. 🙂

Even though it is fun to watch games, there is one thing I do not like when it comes to any game time. There are so many ADs. In theory, a game should take only an hour (four 15-minute quarters) to finish. However, in reality, it usually takes around 3 and half hours. If it is a Sunday afternoon or night game, it is not bad to watch. But, sometimes, a game can be scheduled to be held at Monday night. It is a pretty tiring experience to watch a Monday night game.

A few weeks ago, Steelers played agains San Francisco 49ers at Monday night. Right before I watched the game, I checked facebook need. Ginny, one of my friends, updated her status, “I am in for the long haul tonight,” meaning a long Monday night football game between Steelers and 49ers.

That was my first time to see the expression, long haul. I automatically looked it up on a dictionary. It says it means “a long distance” or “a lengthy job.” A few days ago, I heard the same expression watching a TV show. On the show, an actress said, “We have been married for the long haul.”

We all know what long is. Knowing the definition of the word, haul, will definitely help you feel this expression. It means to pull or drag forcibly. Does it make you think? You know what I think now. I think of pulling a washer. Man, a washer is too heavy to even lift. You gotta just pull or drag with a lot of efforts. What if you haul a washer for a long time? You would be exhausted. That is what a long haul means. For example, a long flight from the U.S. to South Korea is definitely a long haul. It is a long distance as well as a hard and lengthy job. Don’t you agree? The opposite expression is of course a short haul. And there is another expression, backhaul. Why don’t you look it up by yourself?