2018年3月30日金曜日

2018年3月30日金曜日 -

Stephen G: Osaka


It's been over a year now since I made the move from the Gold Coast, Australia to Osaka, Japan. It's been a challenge getting set up in a foreign country not speaking the language, but it's been exciting too.

I'm really excited to be living in Japan, everything about this country is great. I find the history to be very interesting, especially the Sengoku and Meiji periods.

There are a couple things in Japan that I have found to be surprising and which I didn't expect. The first was how cold it can get in winter. On the Gold Coast the temperature in winter ranges from 8°C at night and gets to 20°C during the day, so in Osaka where the day time maximum was only 6°C was a huge shock for me. Having seen snow only three times in my life, every night I wish that I could wake up to see snow covering the ground, however it has not happened yet, maybe next year though.

The second thing that surprised me was how many people there are in Osaka. Before I left Australia I knew Japan had a large population, but just how many people there can be in one place at one time was really surprising. The Gold Coast's population is just over half a million, so stepping into a city with over two million residences was a big change. It's amazing to see how everything can run so smoothly. I have never seen lines outside restaurants during lunch before and rarely during the evening, which I found interesting.

The people also are extremely polite in Osaka. Whenever I'm traveling and get lost (which is often), someone will always stop what they are doing and help, and most of the time they will walk me to my destination.
Cherry Blossoms!

I was very excited to experience my first sakura season in 2017. Having only seen pictures of the blossoms online, I was looking forward to seeing them up close and taking lots of pictures (which I did). I decided to visit Osaka Castle and the Expo '70 Commemoration Park and I was not disappointed. I was completely unaware that there were so many types of blossoms, ranging from white to bright pink flowers. Seeing so many people outside having picnics together under the blossoms made the day feel so festive. The only disappointing part of the sakura season is its short duration.
Osaka Summer
Arriving in Japan during the start of winter I experienced the chilling Osaka temperature which was great as I love the cold. It's easier for me to warm up than it is to cool down. However, when summer came around I was shocked at the temperature difference. Osaka has actual seasons which is a very different experience. In Queensland it is always warm and hot with winter still being around  20°C during the day.

Ranges：範囲
Maximum：最高
Residences：住居
get lost：道に迷う
destination：目的地
Expo '70 Commemoration Park：万博記念公園
Unaware：気がつかないで
Festive：お祭り気分で
duration：持続期間

2018年3月23日金曜日

2018年3月23日金曜日 -

Kyle

I haven't done many of the things in Japan that I thought would be priorities for me once I got here. I haven't gone to Osaka Castle, I haven't been to the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, and I certainly haven't been to Umeda Sky Building. I'm not disinterested in any of these things, or in other, similar places and activities; I plan on doing my share of sightseeing at some point. I've just been much more interested in meeting so many new people. The people of Osaka are, for the most part, very outgoing. I only speak a little Japanese, but I've still been able to function well here, be it in social situations, in restaurants, or while setting up things like a bank account.

The food in this city is absolutely incredible. Things like takoyaki and okonomiyaki, which can be difficult to find in the United States, might as well grow on trees here. I've always liked Japanese food, and I knew b

efore I came that Osaka has a good culinary reputation, but I was still astonished when I got here. The quantity and quality of food here is staggering. I had a piece of fatty tuna recently that I barely had to chew; it nearly melted in my mouth. Generally when I travel, I don't take food into consideration when thinking about destinations. I decide where to go based on what I want to do or see. What I'll be eating is usually an afterthought. I'll be thinking a bit differently in the future, I suspect.

I've been doing some research recently on places to go hiking near Osaka. I haven't left the city since I landed at Kansai International Airport, and, as exciting as it is, I'm starting to miss trees. Fortunately, it looks like there are lots of different places to go, like Minoh Valley or Mt. Kongo. The next time there's nice weather on one of my days off, I'll make my way out there. I've heard excellent things about Minoh Valley. Apparently, the trail has amenities (toilets and vending machines) that I'd never imagine finding on a hike in the US. And of course, the valley itself is said to be quite beautiful, especially in spring.

priorities：優先するべきもの
disinterested：興味がなくなった
outgoing：外交的
culinary：料理の
astonished：驚いた
staggering：驚異的
fatty：脂ののった
barely：かろうじて
take ～into consideration：～を考慮する
afterthought：付け足し
Minoh Valley or Mt. Kongo：箕面と金剛山（関西のハイキングスポット）
amenities：文化的な設備

2018年3月16日金曜日

2018年3月16日金曜日 -

David: Taiwan trip

wiki

For my New Year's vacation, I spent a week in Taiwan. This was my first time going there and I have to say I was impressed. I decided to go to Taiwan because I wanted to visit a country I'd never been to before and I also wanted to go somewhere a little warmer than Japan. 
     The first thing I did when arriving in Taiwan was to visit one of the famous night markets. It was quite overwhelming at first, with all the different smells of food, the massive crowds and the bright lights. I was hungry so I decided to get some food. I'm not very good at speaking Mandarin, the Chinese dialect used in Taiwan, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that nearly everyone was able to communicate in English. I was just as surprised at how delicious and how cheap the food was. Needless to say, I ate my fill and then some more that night.
wiki
     The next day I decided to explore the city a little. The subway system in Taipei is quite well organized and it was a big help that all the signs were in English, and as a result, I even managed to learn a little bit of Mandarin here and there. First, I decided to visit the Chiang-Kai Shek memorial hall, which is a huge area dedicated to one of their leaders. I got to see the changing of the guards, which is similar to the guards outside Buckingham Palace in that the guards have to stand as still as statues. I also visited the Botanical Gardens as well as some museums dedicated to Taiwanese history and art.
wiki
     The most impressive part of my trip was on New Year's Eve when I visited a quiet town on the side of a mountain. After that, I went back to Taipei and watched the New Year fireworks with some friends I made while staying there. The display lasted several minutes, but apparently they had fewer fireworks this year than previously. Then we decided to go to the beach and watch the first sunrise of the year. This turned out to be the only disappointment of the trip as it was cloudy, so we couldn't even see the sun! Still, it was a very enjoyable trip!
impressed：感動した
overwhelming：圧倒されるほど
massive：大量の
dialect：方言
Needless to say：いうまでもなく
fill：たらふく
explore：探検する
organized：整備されている
managed to：なんとかやってのける
Chiang-Kai Shek memorial hall：中正紀念堂　
dedicated：建立される
display：花火の打ち上げ
lasted：続いた




2018年3月9日金曜日

2018年3月9日金曜日 -

John Keating: Tokyo


My wife and I spent Christmas in Tokyo last year and found it to be wonderfully surprising. The most surprising thing had to be just how clean Tokyo was. Even places like Shinjuku, where we visited the famous Robot Restaurant, were beautiful with no beer cans or cigarette butts littering the ground. Fantastic. The people were really friendly and polite and quite accepting of tourists. I never expected getting off a packed train to be so easy, although rush hour seemed to last all day.

The Robot Restaurant was spectacular and the only Japanese customers were my wife and her sister so it felt quite strange, like going to another country. The restaurant seems to be far more famous outside of Japan, where things like YouTube has made it easy to see and it fits one of the three images foreigners have of Japan（＊）. It was totally nuts in the best possible way. You walk in and buy a drink, like Chuhi in a "lightbulb" glass, then sit down and watch the show. A variety of dancers in costumes dance along with these massive robots in a mass of light and noise. Almost as good as watching the show was watching the audience on the opposite side. Most people, especially the western otakus, were really getting into it, but a couple of their girlfriends seemed to be very confused about what they were watching and were unsure how to react! As wacky as it was, my wife and her sister seemed to have more fun than anyone, enjoying how "out there" it was compared to regular life in Japan, and they really got into it.

Wiki
After that we went to a namahage restaurant in Ginza, which was wonderful. We got a private table in a cubbyhole and had some excellent food and nihonshu. You know a restaurant is really good when food you ordinarily don't like tastes amazing. In my case it was a variety of delicious fish. While we were eating, two oni gave us a delightful fright, jumping out at us in costume. The restaurant must be famous because their English was excellent and they were really funny, with one of them telling us how sad he was that no one had said “Happy birthday!” to him.

The Ghibli Museum was rather small and not really a museum, more of a shop, but we also went to Sanrio (Hello Kitty Land) at my wife's request. Now, this was clearly not designed for me (a man) but my wife loved it. It was sickeningly cutesy, even the curry was pink, and I appeared to be one of only seven men in a sea of about ten thousand mothers and daughters. All the men looked exhausted and clearly there to make their families happy. I saw all of them slumped against a wall at one point, although one smart man had been clever enough to bring along a Nintendo Switch so he could sit in a corner and relax! To see how happy it made my wife was good though and the boat ride was fun. We also took a photo with Hello Kitty and bought way too many souvenirs.


（＊）The three images of Japan:


1: tradition. Samurai, Ninja, Geisha, Onsen, temples.
2: technology. bullet trains, air conditioners, Playstations.
3: crazy/strange. robot restaurants, strange variety shows like Human Tetris.


cigarette butts： タバコの吸い殻
littering：ポイ捨てしている
spectacular：すばらしい
fits：ぴったり合う
nuts：ばかばかしい
lightbulb：電球
getting into it：夢中になっている
wacky：風変わりな
cubbyhole：こぢんまりして気持ちのいい部屋
sickeningly：うんざりするほど
cutesy：かわいこぶる
slumped：ドスンと落ちた

2018年3月2日金曜日

2018年3月2日金曜日 -

Lucy ： Spring in the UK

Wiki

Spring, for me, is the best season of the year. Not only is it my birthday, but it also sees nature come back to life. The colours in England at this time of year are simply breathtaking. The English countryside is filled with lots of beautiful flowers like daffodils and bluebells.
     During spring we have several religious holidays that we celebrate: Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Aside from New Year's, these are the first religious festivals of the year.

Shrove Tuesday: (Also known as Pancake Day.) Traditionally, this day is celebrated by making and eating pancakes for either breakfast or dinner dessert. This is the last day before the period of Lent. Shrovetide consists of three days: Shrove Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. It is during this time that confessions are made in preparation for Lent.

Ash Wednesday: This is when Lent begins. Lent is a period of time which lasts for around forty days. It is a time of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter. During this time we give up something we enjoy. The most common sacrifice is chocolate; however, some people choose to give up things such as alcohol, meat or other food and drink. It is said that during this time Jesus fasted in the wilderness, so Christians also fast in order to commemorate him.
Wiki

Good Friday: In Christianity, the Friday before Easter is observed as the commemoration of the crucifixion of Jesus.

Easter Sunday: (End of Lent.) This was the day Jesus was resurrected. This is the day we eat Chocolate Easter eggs. One of the most popular symbols of Easter is the infamous Easter Bunny. This folklore figure is depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs. Originally, the Bunny played the role of a judge, and determined whether children had been good or bad during Eastertide. However, now the Easter Bunny is seen as an adorable Easter mascot. Easter Sunday is the first day of Eastertide, which is a period of 50 days ending on Pentecost Sunday.

Wiki
I've been asked a lot of questions about springtime in the UK and what the meaning of Easter is. Recently, holidays such as Easter and Christmas have lost their religious significance as Britain has become a more secular society. Despite this, these holidays are still important in UK culture, and we continue to celebrate them every year. Easter Sunday and Christmas Day are the only two days of the year where the majority of British people have time off. Apart from the few exceptions, such as restaurants serving Christmas dinner, all establishments are closed.

Breathtaking：息を呑むほど美しい
daffodil：ラッパ水仙
Shrove：懺悔
Aside from：～を別にすると
Lent：キリスト教の受難節
confessions：（カトリックの）告解
fasting：断食
penitence：懺悔
sacrifice：犠牲にする
wilderness：荒野
commemorate：～を記念して
observed：執り行われる
crucifixion：キリストの磔/苦難
resurrected：生き返った
infamous：悪名高い
folklore：民俗的な
depicted：描かれる
Eastertide：復活祭の季節
Pentecost：聖霊降臨節
secular society：世俗社会
establishment：（学校・病院・会社・お店などの）施設


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