2016年2月26日金曜日

2016年2月26日金曜日 -

Tony: Happy March everybody!

As you might know, I'm from Canada. Vancouver Island specifically, but since most of the cities on the Island are relatively small, I thought you might be more interested in hearing about Vancouver city and what kinds of things happen there in March.

The biggest thing going on during March is March Break (or Spring Break). Public school students have two weeks off starting March 14th to gather their energy before the final push to the end of the school year in June. Amusement parks, shopping centres, and ski hills can be quite busy around this time.

Then there is the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival. Vancouver's climate is quite similar to parts of east Japan which means that ornamental cherry trees do very well there. Japan has far more parks and avenues where people can see the cherry blossoms, but as a country that has serious winters, you can rest assured that Canada's early blossoms are highly anticipated.  The festival runs from the end of March into the first weeks of April. That's according to the city calendar. The blossoms themselves will follow their own schedule, just like in Japan.

Tons of activities are scheduled in March throughout the city: Farmers' Markets, The Polar Plunge (a Special Olympics Charity event where people jump into the Ocean on March 5th to raise money for charity), the Vancouver Canucks have several home games in the month, the Festival du Bois (a francophone festival), Madam Butterfly at the Vancouver Opera, and dozens more.

Like other world-class cities, Vancouver has more going on at any one time than could possibly be kept track of. In my opinion, the greatest thing about a Canadian spring is that the idea of spring arriving is so seductive after the long winter that people step out and start living the idea even though it is, to be truthful, still pretty cold in March.

March Temperatures in Vancouver:
Average Daily High: 10 degrees Celsius

Average Daily Low: 2 degrees Celsius

specifically：具体的に言うと
ornamental：鑑賞できる
rest assured that：ご安心ください
anticipated：心待ちにされている
Tons of：たくさんの（少し大げさに言いたい時）
raise money for charity：チャリティにお金を募る
The Polar Plunge：寒中水泳イベント
the Vancouver Canucks：バンクーバーを本拠地にするアイスホッケーチーム
the Festival du Bois：「森祭り」フランス系カナダ人のカルチャーフェスティバル
kept track of：把握する
seductive：人を惹きつける
Celsius：摂氏