楽しみ
I have been struggling to understand the way 楽しみ is used as a noun. I have no problem understanding it in its verb and adjective form. However all the sources I have consulted translate the noun as 'looking forward to', but that isn't a noun.
Here is an example provided by my language partner, to try and illustrate its use as a noun:
朝 おきたとき、花を見るのが楽しみです。While I understand the sentiment, I can't see how 楽しみ translates into a noun when used this way. I guess you could translate it as, "my greatest anticipation on rising each morning is seeing flowers". I just don't think we have an equivalent English word/expression to substitute for this and sound natural. After talking to my teacher, we both agreed to put this in the "just one of those things said in Japanese that doesn't translate easily" category. I just wondered if anyone else could shed more light on it?