2018年2月23日金曜日

2018年2月23日金曜日 -

Sahil : My First Time in Japan


My interest in Japanese culture and language increased as I got older. I grew up with anime such as Dragon Ball, Inuyasha and many others. I started to think about life in Japan when I was in high school. After college, I decided to apply for an English teaching position in Japan. When I was accepted, I was super-excited for the journey ahead. I knew that there would be challenges that I would have to overcome, but that made it all the more exciting.
When I arrived in Japan, I was nervous as well as excited. It was going to be my first stay abroad for a long period of time. I didn't know what to expect. It was all new for me. On the night of my arrival, I went to a small yakitori bar and enjoyed some delicious yakitori along with a cold glass of beer. I couldn't believe that I was finally in Japan, and that I was living my dream. Everything was exciting, from convenient stores to small restaurants. I started to explore Osaka, seeing places like Osaka Castle, Tennoji Zoo, Namba and Dotonbori. It was all so much fun.
After a few weeks, I went to Kyoto, which was fantastic! It's a beautiful place with lots to see. I had a great time exploring Arashiyama, Kinkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji and much more. Also, I really enjoyed seeing the red Japanese maple leaves. A few weeks later I went to Nara, which was as beautiful and exciting as Kyoto. The colorful leaves, temples and tall grassy hills made it an amazing place to visit.
Recently, I visited Kyoto again to see a festival. Also, I went to Takayama in Gifu. It was covered in snow and we went snowboarding, visited temples and relaxed in an onsen. This was my most recent experience.  I'm looking forward to many more experiences to come.
apply for：応募する
ahead：前途に
overcome：克服する
expect：心積もりする
along with：～といっしょに
explore：探索する
maple leaves：紅葉


2018年2月16日金曜日

2018年2月16日金曜日 -

Jinhyoung：Introduction to the PyeongChang Olympic Mascots


평창올림픽 캐릭터 소개
Introduction to the PyeongChang Olympic Mascots

평창올림픽 캐릭터인 수호랑을 소개합니다.
수호랑은 백호인데요. 백호는 한국을 대표하는 수호 동물입니다.
올림픽의 든든한 친구 수호랑의 이름은 올림픽에 참가하는 선수, 참가자, 관중들에 대한 보호를 의미하는 수호와 호랑이와 강원도 정선 아리랑을 상징하는 랑을 담고 있다고 합니다.
I’d like to introduce you to the PyeongChang Olympic mascot Soohorang.
Soohorang is a white tiger. The white tiger is Korea's guardian animal.
Sooho means protection in Korean and symbolises the protection offered to the athletes, participants and spectators at the 2018 Olympic Games.

두번째 캐릭터로 반다비를 소개합니다.
Now I’d like to Introduce you to the second mascot Bandabi.

2018평창 동계패럴림픽 캐릭터 반다비는 반달가슴곰을 모티브로 하고 있습니다.
반달 가슴곰은 의지와 용기의 동물인데요. 패럴럼픽의 소중한 친구 반다비의 이름은 반달을
의미하는 반다와 대회를 기념하는 의미의 비를 담고 있습니다.
The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympic mascot Banda
bi is an Asiatic black bear.
The bear is symbolic of strong will and courage. The Asiatic black bear is also the symbol animal of Gangwon Province. The name Bandabi comes from banda meaning half-moon, indicating the white half moon on the chest of the Asiatic Black Bear, and bi has the meaning of celebrating the Games.

평창올림픽은
Pyeongchang Olympic Games


캐릭터kaeligteo：Mascots：キャラクター
수호suho：guardian：守護
선수seonsu：athletes：選手
참가자chamgaja：participants：参加者
관중들gwanjungdeul：spectators：観客
의미하는uimihaneun：symbolises：意味する
반달가슴곰bandalgaseumgom：Asiatic black bear：ツキノワグマ
의지uiji ：will：意思
용기yong-gi：courage：勇気
반달bandal：half moon：半月

2018年2月9日金曜日

2018年2月9日金曜日 -

Anna: Chocolate

　

For me, February is one of the best months to be into making sweets because of Valentine's Day. Stores all over the country are advertising the best or most beautiful chocolate, and the designs and flavors are different every year. I've only been interested in sweets for a few years, but I always like looking at the special offers in February to get some inspiration. I'm not very good at making small sweets or making my own chocolate, so I'm always impressed by the quality of the chocolate I see in the store windows or even at the convenience store!
      Another point I like about chocolate in Japan is that there are so many different flavors compared to the Valentine's Day (or even regular) chocolate I remember seeing in America. In addition to caramel, nougat, cookies or mint, which are also popular in the US, Japanese chocolate is often combined with fruits or matcha, which can make it more sour or bitter instead of just sweet. Probably the most extreme example of this is all the different flavors of KitKats that can be found all over Japan, which are now so popular across the world that many people collect them.
      Apart from just the taste, though, what I think is really amazing about special chocolate in Japan is the design. There are so many beautiful handmade chocolates that are unique, even the packaging, so in the end they're almost like art and not only sweets for you to enjoy. Sometimes I even feel a little guilty about eating them, since they look so nice. But sharing something so beautiful with someone important to you is worth it!

be into： be interested in; like：～にハマる
compared to：～に比べ
combined with：～と組み合わされて
apart from：～の他に
handmade：made by hand, not with a machine：手作りの
guilty：feeling like you did something bad or wrong：罪悪感

worth it： has value; a good reason to do something：価値がある

2018年2月2日金曜日

2018年2月2日金曜日 -

Joss Winter Holiday 2017, part 1

At the end of last year I was lucky enough to take a trip with my girlfriend to Vietnam and Thailand, where we stayed in Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok respectively.

       We started in Vietnam and arrived at around midnight on the 27th of December. The manager of our accommodation had kindly offered to pick us up from the airport and was there to meet us. When we pulled up near the hotel he explained that we would have to walk down a small alley to reach the entrance. It didn't exactly look inviting in the dark. However, the hotel turned out to be in a very convenient location near most of the things we wanted to see in the city and not as dangerous as it first appeared.

       The first day in Vietnam we spent visiting the famous landmarks, such as the old post office and Notre-Dame Cathedral, and wandering the streets and local markets. We ate many delicious meals (all of which I have forgotten the name of), my favourite consisting of a bowl of flat noodles topped with deep-fried crispy tofu, puffed rice and fried greens. We also found a tour office and booked a tour of the nearby Mekong river for the next day.

       The tour started at the tour office at 8 a.m. We were part of a group of twenty-two people in total. On the highway it only took around one hour and thirty minutes to reach the first stop on the tour. This was a small port where we would take a motor boat over the river to the other side. The area we arrived at was a honey farm and we were quickly shown the bees and given a chance to hold a piece of their nest (which was covered in them). We were then led to one of many tables where we could taste the honey in some tea along with some dried food snacks. We later watched a traditional Mekong musical performance and tried many local fruits, and visited an area where they make coconut candy. The highlight of the tour was getting on a small canoe and joining the masses down a tight stream, which we followed back to the river. We were served a great lunch, with elephant fish, cat fish, rice noodles, fried greens and fruit. All in all it was a fantastic tour and definitely worth the money.
 
       The following day we were scheduled to leave for Bangkok at around 5 p.m. so we spent the morning visiting the more classy shopping area in the city, a stark contrast to the market stalls of Ben Thanh, and later buying some souvenirs from a local supermarket. We took a taxi to the airport at around 14:30 p.m., checked in and relaxed until the plane was due to depart. The flight was short and we had a great view of Bangkok at night as we came in to land.

       At Bangkok airport we inquired at the information desk about the best way to get to our hotel. We were told to first take a bus, then change to a train and then get a taxi. So we started by heading outside to the bus stop. The bus was cheap and on time and we arrived at the train station in no time at all. We were very hungry by now as it was around 9 p.m. and we hadn't eaten anything since lunch. Luckily, there was one shop open at the train station, a Yamazaki bakery, so we grabbed a savoury snack and felt much better. The train seemed modern and clean although the high-powered air conditioning made it uncomfortably cool. Halfway to our destination the train stopped, and after waiting for fifteen minutes there was an announcement in Thai causing most of the passengers to get off. Thankfully, there was an English speaking family who seemed to know what was going on and they told us the train was changing direction! We swapped to the other side of the tracks and shortly arrived at our stop. We headed down


to street level and attempted to catch a taxi. After a while of trying to find a taxi with a driver who either used the meter or charged a reasonable price, we ended up getting in a tuk tuk. Tuk tuks have no doors, no seat belts and they drive very quickly. We had to surround our suitcases with our legs to stop them falling onto the road as we rocketed through the Bangkok streets. It was really fun and a great experience but I was glad when we finally arrived at the hotel as I had started to feel a little nauseous.

       The staff greeted us at the hotel and showed us to our room. After a short rest and a shower, I was actually feeling pretty terrible. I thought I must have been really tired so went to bed soon after. The next three days were not good for me.

To be continued...

pulled up：車を止める
consisting of：～で構成されている
puffed rice：ポン菓子
masses：
All in all：大概
The following day：翌日
classy：高級な
stark：著しい
savoury：ピリッとする
attempted to：しようとした
ended up：結局～することになった

nauseous：吐き気

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