2018年10月27日土曜日

2018年10月27日土曜日 -

Lucy: Worcester


wiki
Originally I'm from Bath, Somerset, which most people seem to be familiar with. But for around twenty years I lived in Worcester. Worcester isn't a very well known city; however, there are many beautiful things in and around Worcester that are sure to make it your next ideal vacation destination.

Located between the West Midlands and Gloucestershire, counties which include famous cities and places such as Birmingham, Tewkesbury, and the Cotswolds, Worcestershire is a small county which is divided into six districts: Worcester city, Malvern Hills, Wyre Forest, Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wychavon. Worcester city is best known for being a cathedral and university city, the origin of Worcestershire Sauce and the final battle grounds of the English Civil War. It's in Worcester that you can learn a lot about English culture and history, and you can also meet some of the friendliest people in the West of England.
  
Wiki
If you ever decide to visit Worcester, I would suggest going in June. Unlike Japan, English summers are comfortable with average temperatures reaching no higher than 27 degrees and quite low humidity. During summer it's very common to find Beer & Cider festivals in nearly every county. Local producers gather to provide a variety of homemade, locally sourced beers and ciders, which are unlike anything you buy in the supermarket. These festivals are very popular during the summer, and many people muster here to relax. Worcester also holds an annual Foodie Festival, where you can sample a wide variety of delicious foods as well as locally produced alcohol. There's also the opportunity to meet celebrity chefs, who offer free demos at this festival.

wiki
Close to the city of Worcester is the beautiful countryside town of Malvern. Here you can admire the mesmerising landscape that is the Malvern Hills, and if you are an aficionado of hiking, the view from the highest hill is one of the most beautiful in Worcestershire. During the summer, Malvern is host to a festival called the Three Counties Show. If you're interested in farm animals, local farm produce and sampling a wide variety of English foods and drinks, then this is the place for you. You have the opportunity to watch and learn about poultry, pig and cattle competitions, which regular attendees at the show take very seriously.

If you're not a lover of summer and prefer the colder seasons, autumn and winter are interesting months to visit Worcestershire. Although the weather might not be so inviting, the English countryside during autumn is a very beautiful spectacle. As most of the countryside is trees and fields, the changing leaves during autumn turn Britain into an fiery wonderland. It's during this time of the year that I would suggest delving more into our history and heritage. As I mentioned before, Worcester is famous for being the site of the final battle in the English Civil War. You can learn about this infamous era of our history at a place called The Commandery located in Worcester city. This takes you on an illustrative and enthralling journey through English history and allows you to fully understand our ancestors. You can also visit Worcester Guild Hall, which was originally built as a meeting place for merchants during the 1200’s. The exterior of this building is impressive; however, I highly recommend you step inside and lay your eyes on some breath-taking interior design!

I hope this encourages you to visit my home city. It might be small, but it is full of exciting and interesting things to do. From Worcester you can easily reach big cities like Birmingham and Bristol, so don’t be put off by the size. It's always quality over quantity!

districts:地域
muster:集まる
mesmerising:魅惑的な
aficionado:熱狂的な愛好者
poultry:家禽(鶏)
cattle:家畜(牛)
attendees:出席者
spectacle:光景
fiery wonderland:おとぎ話の不思議の国
delve:掘り下げる
lay your eyes:見る
breath-taking:息を呑むような
quality over quantity:量より質

2018年10月19日金曜日

2018年10月19日金曜日 -

Helene : Les vacances d'été - Summer Vacation


Tous les étés, en France, comme dans de nombreux pays, les enfants et adolescents sont en vacances. En France, on parle de «grandes vacances». C'est, actuellement, l’occasion pour les enfants de se détendre après une longue année scolaire et pour les plus chanceux de partir en vacances. Mais, auparavant, les vacances étaient avant tout une nécessité pour beaucoup de familles. Pendant l'été, il y avait, et il y a toujours, beaucoup de travail dans les fermes. Dans un monde avec beaucoup d'agriculteurs et de petites exploitations agricoles, toute la famille devait participer. Les enfants ne pouvaient donc pas aller à l'école. Progressivement, les sociétés sont devenues moins agricoles donc la majorité des enfants n'a plus à aider aux champs.

Every summer in France, as in many countries, children and teenagers are on vacation. In France, we talk of "big holidays". It's an opportunity for children to relax after a long school year and for the lucky ones to go on vacation. In the past, however, holidays were a necessity for many families. During the summer there was (and still is) a lot of work to do on the farms. In a world with many farmers and small farms, the whole family had to work and children couldn't go to school. Gradually, society has become less agricultural so the majority of children no longer have to help out in the fields.

De nos jours, les enfants sont donc libres pendant plusieurs semaines. Souvent, leurs parents ont moins de vacances qu'eux. Il est donc nécessaire pour les parents de trouver des occupations aux enfants. Les grands-parents peuvent parfois aider, mais d'autres solutions existent. Il y a les centres aérés. Ils fonctionnent aussi souvent le mercredi quand les enfants n'ont pas école. Ils proposent différentes activités ludiques, sportives, artisanales et/ou culturelles pour occuper les enfants pendant la journée. Certains parents préféreront envoyer leurs enfants en colonie de vacances. Comme les centres aérés, elles proposent de nombreuses activités mais loin de la maison. Ainsi, comme pendant un voyage scolaire, les enfants auront l'occasion de découvrir un nouveau lieu.

Nowadays, children are free for several weeks and their parents often have fewer holidays than they do. So parents need to find something for their children to do. Grandparents can sometimes help but other solutions exist. There are day camps, which also open on Wednesdays when children don't have school. They offer various fun activities, sports, craft and/or cultural activities to occupy the children during the day. Some parents prefer to send their children to a summer camp. Like the day camps, they offer many activities but far from home. And as with school trips, children have the opportunity to discover a new place.

Comment cela se passe-t-il au Japon ?
How are things going in Japan?

Lexique
un agriculteur(trice)(s) farmer農民
une exploitation agricole farm
progressivement gradually:徐々に
agricole(-)(s) agricultural農業が発達した
aider aux champsto help in the fields農作業を手伝う
un centre aéréday camp / outdoor centers:学校が休みの昼間に子供がスポーツやアウトドア活動をする場所
une colonie de vacances summer campサマーキャンプ
ludique fun / playful 楽しい

2018年10月12日金曜日

2018年10月12日金曜日 -

Tony - The Search Game


What do you like to do to jump-start your brain?

Let's say there is a topic that you are mildly interested in: popular music, games, or food, for example. I'm into music at the moment, so that's my choice.

Take the topic and a letter/character from the alphabet. Since I'm writing this on the 25th of August, I'll take the 25th letter in the alphabet: Y.

Now that I have my topic and letter, all I need to do is open the internet and do a search. Here's my search string: "y popular music".

Now I can scroll through the search results until something catches my attention. The third result is for a Wikipedia article on the subject of Yé-yé.

Let's see what that is.

Yé-yé: French: a type of popular music from the early 60's. Yé-yé comes from the English "Yeah! Yeah!" made famous by the Beatles.

So, it turns out that as Beatlemania swept Europe and kids from all over picked up guitars and started banging out Beatles covers and songs of their own it got labeled as "Yeah! Yeah!" music, or in French,  Yé-yé.

You can learn something new every day. All you have to do is go looking for it.
  
jump-start : 活性化させる
mildly : いささか
catches my attention :興味を引く
turns out :明らかになる
swept :風靡する
banging out :大きな音で演奏する


2018年10月5日金曜日

2018年10月5日金曜日 -

Jonathan: Self introduction


It wasn't until I graduated high school and went to college that I was able to experience different kinds of culture and started developing a desire to travel and experience other cultures. Being raised in California I was always able to see and admire other cultures but as a student in Los Angeles I was able to experience it fully, and began to appreciate it more and more. The vast differences in manners and rules were really interesting to me, and the history of each nation and the culture that was born from the history made me want to figure out a way to live in it first hand. So when I heard of an opportunity to teach in Japan, I leaped at it. I learned a small amount of Japanese history through school and the stories my Japanese friends in college would tell me but it's very different hearing about something and being able to experience it yourself.

Now that I'm in Japan, I'm trying my best to learn the language by going to a friend's bar where the locals are kind enough to teach me two or three words a day, and I'm trying as many foods and delicacies that Japan has to offer. So far, my favorite food is tongkatsu and my favorite restaurant is Torikizoku. I hope to visit Universal Studios Japan very soon for Halloweenfest and meet new people and make new friends.

developing:~を持つようになる
Being raised:育てられた
fully:十分に
appreciate:良さがわかる
vast:大きな
figure out:理解する
leaped:飛びついた
Now that:今や~なので
Delicacies:珍味

2018年10月5日金曜日 -

John : 2018

It's been a strange year. This year Osaka had its strongest earthquake in the eleven years I've been here. Waking up to your apartment shaking wildly is not fun but thankfully everything was okay. On Tuesday 4th September we then had a massive typhoon (again the strongest I've experienced in Osaka) which caused a lot of damage and meant I couldn't get to work. Normally they tend to miss Osaka but not this time. Seeing shattered windows and people's washing in the strangest places was odd.

wiki
For Obon we went to visit my wife's family in Shikoku and participated in a Houyou ceremony for my wife's grandfather who passed away. Coming from a different culture it was a fascinating and beautiful ceremony and it was interesting to see how people here pay their respects.

On a happier note my mum is visiting Japan for the fourth time and possibly last time since she is getting on in years, and assuming Kansai airport is fixed in time. We have exciting plans to visit Shikoku, Nagano, Tokyo and many other places for a trip of a lifetime. Japan has beautiful countryside, exciting cities and delicious food so I will show my mum as much of it as possible. Tonkotsu ramen is definitely the first food she will eat, as has become our tradition, at our favourite shop in Osaka (Kin-Ryu!). M

 
y mum also loves making clothes so we will look for some beautiful Japanese material to use and also participate in some traditional Japanese activities.

Hopefully we can have a fun time and look forward to an exciting 2019.

shaking:揺れる
massive:大規模な
participated:参列した
fascinating:魅力的で
pay their respects:敬意を払う
assuming:(証拠はないが)~だと思う
material:(服などの)記事