2019年12月27日金曜日

2019年12月27日金曜日 -

Kate - Osaka Housing Museum


In August, my friend and I went to the Osaka Housing Museum for the first time. We had seen advertisements for it and decided it was time to go. The museum itself is relatively small but quite interesting. The day we visited there was also an exhibit of beautiful kimonos owned by a prominent Osaka shipping family.

The museum is divided up into four floors. You start at the top and walk down, back to the entrance. The top floor is like an oberservation deck with large windows that look out on to the main floor of the museum. There is also a recording about the museum narrated by a famous rakugo actor from Osaka speaking in Osaka dialect.

The next floor down is the main floor of the museum. It is a life-sized recreation of what Osaka looked like in the 1800's with real streets, buildings and a boat that is used in the Tenjin Matsuri every year. There are even fake animals to give the replicas a life-like feeling. There are a few different stores and houses you can walk through with information about what every building is and what it was used for during that time period.

The next floor down has more of old Osaka, including the old Luna Park and what the Tsutenkaku Tower originally looked like. It was very interesting to see these dioramas because I had no idea that there had been a small amusement park near Tsutenkaku when it was first built. The tower looks very different today.

The special exhibition room is near the entrance. When I was there, the exhibit was a collection of kimonos that belonged to an Osaka merchant shipping family. It was fascinating to see such old beautiful kimonos and the different patterns and colors that used to be popular.

If you visit Osaka and have the chance, please visit the Osaka Housing Museum. It is a wonderful immersive way to experience history and see the old Osaka.


relatively: 比較的
exhibit：展示会
prominent：有名な
divided up into：～を～に分ける
oberservation deck：展望台
narrate：～を物語る
life-sized：実物大の
replicas：レプリカ
dioramas：ジオラマ
merchant：貿易商人
fascinating：うっとりさせる(ような)
patterns：模様

2019年12月20日金曜日

2019年12月20日金曜日 -

Danny-Minnesota, USA


Hello everyone! I want to write to you about my home state of Minnesota, which is in the Midwest region of the United States. It borders Canada to the north and shares a border with Lake Superior, one of the five Great Lakes. There are no mountains for many miles so the land is really flat, and since there's no ocean nearby, the temperature can easily change. In one day, the temperature can change over 20 degrees Celsius.

      Minnesota has a similar climate to Hokkaido. It has long cold winters and the snow can last up to six months! The average temperature during winter is around -5 to -10 degrees Celsius but can get lower. In spring and autumn, the temperature is around 15 to 25 degrees Celsius so it's very comfortable to walk outside with a light sweater. In summer, the temperature is around 28 to 33 degrees Celsius and it can be humid at times. Because of the long periods of cold weather in Minnesota, we like to do many outdoor activities during the warmer times of the year.

      Minnesota's capital city is St. Paul. However, there's a larger city right next to St. Paul named Minneapolis. These two cities border each other and together they're known as the “Twin Cities”. It's similar to how Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto are near each other and when grouped together are considered a metropolis. (I should add that the size of the Twin Cities is much smaller than the Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe area!)

      The Twin Cities is the most populated area in Minnesota and it's known as a very progressive city in politics.  There's no sales tax on clothes so buying clothes is really cheap! The Twin Cities has many Fortune 500 company headquarters in the area such as Target, General Mills, and 3M, which brings a lot of young professionals to the city from all over the US. There are many cafés, breweries, museums, and parks for Minnesotans to spend their free time. Also, the largest mall in the United States is located in the Twin Cities. It's called the Mall of America and has many popular shops and restaurants inside. There's an amusement park inside as well. The mall is currently under construction so there'll be more activities to do there in the near future. It's a great place to spend time with your family any time of the year and especially during the winter when it gets really cold. Overall, Minnesota is a great place to visit if you love both nature and city life.

      I hope that you can visit Minnesota someday when you travel to the United States. It's a very unique and special place in the country and is very different than California, New York, or Hawaii.

Midwest：中西部 region：地域
border：～に面する
climate：気候
last：続く
up to：～まで
comfortable：快適な
capital city：首都
considered：～と考えられる
metropolis：主要都市
populated：人口の多い
progressive：革新的な
headquarter：本社/本部
breweries：(ビール)醸造所
Overall：総合的に

2019年12月13日金曜日

2019年12月13日金曜日 -

Jason's Archery Adventures - Continued


So, the last time I wrote a blog, I talked about going to Hamadera Park to practice archery. That was in April 2018, and a few months after that I bought a new carbon fiber recurve bow, one of the best on the market, but I only got to practice with it one time. It was way too hot to practice in summer, so I was going to take classes again in October 2018, but the Archery Practice Range was damaged by Typhoon Jebi in September last year, and I wasn't able to get time off until October this year to resume, so in total it's been about fifteen months or so since I was able to practice.

My first practice was back on October 5th, and I was just happy the arrows tended to fly in one particular direction! I got a couple of arrows in the yellow (the bullseye), but mostly the black and blue rings (the outer edge of the target). I did have a few bad shots, one hit the target next to the one I was aiming at, and one sailed over the target altogether.

My next few practices were much better. I met a coach named Yoshii, who gave me four tips to improve my performance: 1) keep my right elbow up to pull the string with my back and not my bicep, 2) anchor my ring finger on the corner of my mouth, 3) peer down the arrow with my right eye to see if the string is aligned with it, and 4) don't do a deep hook of the string with my tab, have the string resting on the tips of my fingers. Since then, I went on to shoot my best round ever, 50 out of a possible 60 points.

The real challenge now is to get 200 points shooting at 30 meters, and at the time of the writing, I have two weeks to do it. If I succeed, I'll have earned my proficiency badge and can practice on my days off. If I fail, I'll have to wait another nine months before I can take time off on Saturdays again.


archery：アーチェリー
carbon fiber ：カーボン繊維の
recurve bow：競技で使用される弓
be damaged by：～によって被害を受ける
resume：再び始める
in total：全体で
arrow：矢
tend to～：～の傾向にある
particular：特定の
bullseye：中心部
aim:狙いをつける
tips：ちょっとしたテクニック
bicep：力こぶ
peer down：覗き込む
align：一直線にする
proficiency：熟練

2019年12月6日金曜日

2019年12月6日金曜日 -

Joshua- Swimming with killer whales


One of my favorite things to do when I'm home in New Zealand is to go spear fishing. Nothing beats being in the ocean on a beautiful Wellington day. Spear fishing can be done while scuba diving, or my favorite, while snorkeling. The aim is to swim down into the reef and shoot fish with your spear gun. A spear gun is pretty much just a spear, a piece of string and a giant rubber band that you release with a trigger.


I will never forget the day that I accidentally swam with orcas (also known as killer whales). I was spearfishing as usual but then I heard the horn of the boat and saw my father frantically gesturing at me to get out of the water. It was far too early to be time to leave but I made my way back to the boat. Once I was aboard, 

 I could see why my father was so frantic: not fifty meters away there was a pod of killer whales.
The adults were teaching the young orcas how to catch stingrays and fling them into the air. It was breathtaking to watch these powerful and majestic creatures teach their young. However, it was equally terrifying knowing that if they had wanted to they could have just as easily flung me into the air. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.






spear fishing：スピアフィッシング
beats：～に勝る
Wellington day：ウェリントンディ(ウェリントン地方の祝日)
aim：目的
reef：礁
string：ひも
trigger：引き金
accidentally：偶然に
orcas：シャチ
horn：警笛
frantically：半狂乱で
frantic：大慌て
a pod of whales：クジラの群れ
stingrays：アカエイ
fling：投げ飛ばす
breathtaking：あっと言わせる
majestic：威厳のある
terrifying：ぞっとするような

2019年12月6日金曜日 -

【結果発表！！】ハロウィン仮装コンテスト2019

お茶の間留学センターです！ 
皆様のご投票ありがとうございました！
少し遅くなりましたが、ハロウィン仮装コンテストの結果発表です！ 


今年の優勝者は.......
ハーレークインの仮装をしたドイツ語Maria先生！★★

 そして準優勝には........同じくドイツ語のLuisa先生でした！★























2人には景品としてNOVAグッズをプレゼント♪
２人とも「お弁当箱を入れようかな～？」ととても嬉しそうでした♪

お茶の間留学でも季節に合わせたイベントを開催しております！
今回ご参加頂けなかった方も、次の機会でお待ちしております！


登録: 投稿 (Atom)