2013年3月22日金曜日

2013年3月22日金曜日 -

Michael - St. Patrick's Day in Osaka


I’ve met a lot of new and interesting people in Japan. When meeting someone for the first time I’m often asked the same 3 questions.

Where do you come from?
Why did you come to Japan?
What do you think about Japan?

I always try to give good answers but most of the time; I fall short on the first question. "Where are you from?"
People often say "Oh Ireland, I hear you have a lot of hot springs in Ireland", or "Oh, is it very snowy in Ireland?"

I always find this quite funny as I think they are confusing Ireland with Iceland!



It seems to me that only a few people in Japan know about my home country and its traditions. For my first few months in Japan I was pretty sure I wouldn’t find anything Irish in Japan. It appears I was wrong…

After searching around I’ve managed to find a number of Irish bars in Osaka. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t go to Irish bars often because I feel it would be ignorant of me to come to all the way to Japan and not sample the Japanese style of night entertainment. However, I do enjoy a Guinness every now and then!

One of the most important days of the year for all Irish people is St. Patrick's day!
On St Patrick's day Irish people everywhere celebrate being Irish, they are supposed to be generous, happy, and patriotic. People often celebrate St Patrick’s Day at the pub.

This year my friends and I decided try and find the best pint of Guinness in Osaka! So we went Irish bar hopping. After two or three pubs we finally found a decent pint of Guinness.

After our pints of Guinness we were in need of some food so we decided to go to a Japanese Izakaya. We ate and drank and talked for hours! I think this year was one of the most special St. Patrick's days I ever had. Thank you Japan!

fall short ：つまずく
hot springs：温泉
It seems to me  ：私には～のように思える。
traditions：伝統
pretty sure  ：かなり確信がある
It appears ：～であることがわかる
managed  ：どうにかして～する
don’t get me wrong：誤解しないでください
ignorant ：無知だ
all the way ：はるばる
Guinness：ギネス（アイルランドGuinness社のスタウトビール）
every now and then：時々
St. Patrick's day ：聖パトリックの日(アイルランドの守護聖人を祝う祭日）
generous：気前よく
patriotic：愛国的
bar hopping：はしご酒
decent：ちゃんとした

2013年3月15日金曜日

2013年3月15日金曜日 -

Mark - Trip to Wales


Last summer, I went to Wales for my summer vacation. It was the second time for my wife to visit my hometown, Cardiff. We stayed at my parent’s house for the majority of the vacation. However, for four days we traveled along the Southern coast of Wales. Our first destination was Tenby, it is a popular tourist destination. 

Stained glass window from inside Cardiff Castle


Our hotel was very old, and was built on the edge of the cliff. We could see the ocean and walk along the beach every day. 



We visited two popular attractions: Saint David’s Cathedral (Welsh: Eglwys Gadeiriol Tyddewi) and Caldey Island (Welsh: Ynys Bŷr). St. David’s Cathedral is built in the city of St. David’s, which is the smallest city in the United Kingdom. They started construction on the cathedral in 1181, which makes it very old.  Caldey Island is famous for having a Benedictine monastery. However, the first monastery was founded in the sixth century by a group of Celts. The only way to get to the island is by boat. If you are lucky you can see lots of wildlife. On our journey we saw some grey seals!


On our way back to Cardiff we stopped off at Castle Coch. Some people say it is fairytale castle because it looks like a castle from a child’s storybook. My father says it is haunted, but we didn’t see any ghosts!


 
 
majority： 半分以上
southern coast： 南海岸
destination： 行き先
tourist destination： 観光目的地
edge of the cliff： 崖の端
walk along the beach： ビーチ沿いを歩く
attractions： アトラクション
Cathedral： 大聖堂
United Kingdom： 英連合王国
construction： 建設
famous for：～で有名な
Benedictine monastery： ベネディクト会修道院
sixth century ： ６世紀
Celts： ケルト人
wildlife： 野生動物
journey： 旅
grey seals： 灰色のアザラシ
stopped off： 途中下車した
fairytale： おとぎ話の
haunted： 幽霊が出る
ghosts： 幽霊

2013年3月8日金曜日

2013年3月8日金曜日 -

Dana - Kotobiki Beach in Kyoto

  
Last week, I went to Kotobiki Beach in Kyoto with some friends. The commute to get there was going to a bit difficult, costly, and time consuming so we all chipped in and rented a car.


 Normally, the trip would have only taken around two hours, but there was a massive traffic jam and it took us almost eight hours to get there! We were all a bit bummed by how long it took and it was nearly twilight by the time we arrived, but the beach was beautiful! Seeing as it is still only March, the water was quite cold but regardless of that, my friend and I both took off our shoes and climbed over some of the rocks off the shore. We explored the tide pools and found some really bizarre creatures that we had never seen before.  


As dusk approached, it was getting very difficult to keep track of all the strange things we had seen in the water, so we decided unanimously to leave the water before something strange touched our feet. That was okay, though, because Kotobiki Beach is famous for the squeaky sound the sand makes when you step on it. That was a strange phenomenon that we had never heard of before, so we weren't sure what to expect. It really did squeak when we walked! It required some force in order to be heard, so we had to stomp to hear it, as we were still barefoot. We finished off our day at the beach by hunting for seashells and writing our names in the sand. It was a short day at the beach, but we all had a great time!


commute：乗り物に乗って移動すること
costly：お金がかかる
time-consuming ：時間がかかる
chipped in ：お金を出し合う
massive ：大規模な
traffic jam ：交通渋滞
bummed ：がっかりさせられた
twilight：たそがれ時
off the shore：岸を離れて
explored ：探検する
tide pools ：潮溜まり
bizarre creatures ：奇妙な生き物
dusk ：夕暮れ
approached：近づいてくきた
to keep track of ：～を追跡すること
unanimously：満場一致で
squeaky ：キューキュー言う
strange phenomenon ：不思議な現象
squeak：キュッキュッ鳴る
stomp：足を踏み鳴らす
barefoot：裸足
seashells：貝殻

2013年3月1日金曜日

2013年3月1日金曜日 -

David - IAIDO



This weekend I went to an IAIDO workshop (koushukai). I have been doing IAIDO for about five years and will be grading for my 2nd dan in March. IAIDO is a Japanese martial art. Practitioners of iaido perform solo katas using a metal Japanese sword. Beginners use a special dull sword called an iaito. Advanced practitioners use real sharpened swords (shinken). An iaido kata has four basic parts. Drawing the sword (battou), cutting with the sword, flicking the blood from the blade, and finally re-sheathing the sword (noto).
Iaido is not very popular in Japan and even less popular in Canada. Being able to train with so many high level iaido sensei is an amazing opportunity. It can be difficult, since my Japanese level is pretty basic and doesn't include many of the words used to explain how to use a sword. But, by watching and listening carefully I can pick up a few things being taught. We met in a large gymnasium near Shinosaka Station. There was no heating in the gym, so many of the attendees were quite cold. Since I'm from Canada, the cold didn't effect me too much but it did make my legs quite stiff. We were divided into groups based on our ranks, each group being led by a different sensei. The sensei would first demonstrate a kata then we would do it together. After that, the sensei would give advice about common problems they saw. It made me nervous to have so many people watching me, but it felt great when they would look at me, nod and say “good”. The workshop ended with a demonstration (enbu), with each group going up one at a time to perform for the other attendees. I had been struggling with the cold in my knees and the sticky floor all day, but was very happy with how I did at the end.
It was a long hard day of training, but I felt that I had done well. Being able to do martial arts is one of the main reasons I came to Japan. It can be confusing at times but really helps you become a better person!
workshop = 講習会
grading = 級づけ
martial art = 武術
practitioners = 実践している人
solo = 単独で
dull sword = 居合の稽古用の切れ味の悪い刀(居合刀）
drawing the sword = 刀を引き抜く
flicking = さっと払い落とす
re-sheathing  = さやに戻す
opportunity = 機会
pick up  = 聞き取る
gymnasium = 体育館
heating = 暖房
gym = ジム
attendees = 出席者
stiff = 硬直する
ranks = 階級
being led = 主導される
demonstrate = 実演する
common = よくある
nervous = そわそわする
felt  = 感じた
nod = うなずく
struggling = 悪戦苦闘する
sticky = べたべたひっつく
confusing = 混乱させる

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