Japan to Korea Community Presentation

～韓国コミュニティへのプレゼンテーション（マイク講師）～

マイク講師が海岸清掃についてのプレゼンテーションを行いました。海岸清掃の大切さを子ども達にも知ってもらいたいと思っています。そして次の海岸清掃もとても楽しみにしているようです。みなさんは海岸清掃をしたことがありますか？一度は体験してみたらおもしろいものが見つかるかもしれませんね。

Hello Everyone, its Mike

Last weekend I did a presentation about the Japan to Korea kayak expedition with Koji, the expedition leader.

プレゼンテーションの様子

We were able to talk about all of the beach cleanings we did. Also, I showed the children some trash art that I had made which was trash from Tsunoshima beach in a yellow plastic box. I wanted to children to know that it is very important to clean the beaches.

海のゴミで作った作品

I'm looking forward to next weekend because I will be doing a beach cleanup of Tsunoshima. We are joining the Tsunoshima community. Maybe 200 people will come to the beach cleanup. I will post come pictures on the blog after the cleanup. Have a good weekend.

Shirodani village

～四郎谷村（テイラー講師）～

テイラー講師が以前電車から見て気になっていた場所をついに見つけました！
そこはそんなに遠い場所ではないけれどテイラー講師がまさに探し求めていた場所だったようです。古いトンネルを抜けたり、静かな海に入ったり、すても良い時間を過ごされたようです。みなさんは電車からの風景で気になるところはありますか？その場所を探し求めるのもいいかもしれませんね。

Do you ever take the train between Hofu and Tokuyama? If so, you know that the stretch between Tonomi and Heta is quite beautiful. The tracks here hug the coast, providing wonderful views of the ocean to the south and of mountains covered with wild forest to the north. The view here is worth the price of the ticket!

But I always wonder about this stretch between Tonomi and Heta: Where is it, and how do I get there? Recently, my wife and daughter and I tried to find out. After eating some delicious soft serve ice cream at Soleine michi no eki, we turned off Route 2 onto a small road and headed towards the mountains. We went through two tunnels beneath the expressway and then up and over a mountain pass. On the other side, we found the little town of Shirodani sitting quietly next to the sea.

四郎谷

Shirodani　

We drove through Shirodani, feeling like we were far, far away from Hofu and Tokuyama, somewhere deep in the mountains, maybe even back in time. It was very peaceful there.

Continuing through the village, we found a little road and decided to follow it through an old, dark tunnel.

四郎谷の古いトンネル

Old tunnel outside of Shirodani　

After bumping through the dark, wet tunnel, we emerged to find the sea and forest and mountains and nothing else other than train tracks. The sea here was very beautiful. Two men in boats were collecting oysters, but they were the only people around.

富海と戸田の間の海の静かな場所

Quiet spot on the sea between Tonomi and Heta

After a few minutes enjoying the view, we heard the sound of a train approaching. Sure enough, it was the yellow train that goes between Hofu and Tokuyama. So this was indeed the spot I had seen from the train. We had found it!

娘と電車が来るのを見ているところ

My daughter and I watching the train approaching

We stayed here for a little while enjoying the peace and quiet. We walked down to the sea, and my daughter and I walked into the water a few meters, looked at colorful old shells on the sea floor and watched fish jump into the air.

Amazing that we were only about ten minutes from Soleine, but we felt like we were deep in doinaka. What a pleasant and surprising side trip! :)

Taylor

2,100 Kilometer Motorcycle Tour and Mt. Fuji

～周南から東京２１００Kmバイクの旅（マイク講師）～

マイクが周南から東京までバイクで旅をしました。
途中富士山に登ったり、下田のビーチに立ち寄ったりと楽しいお盆休みをすごしました。みなさんはどのような夏休みをすごしましたか？

Hello Everyone,

Its Mike and for my Obon vacation I went on a 2,100 Kilometer motorcycle tour from Shunan to Tokyo and back. I left Shunan on the night of August 8th and rode my motorcycle for 20 hours. I arrived in Tokyo on Saturday evening.

Also, I climbed Mt. Fuji. I started at 7:00pm and climbed all night until I reached the top for sunrise. The view was amazing. Have you ever climbed Mt. Fuji?

富士山頂上からのご来光！

Also, I went to Shimoda Beach. I went snorkeling and enjoyed swimming in the warm water. At night we slept in a tent on the beach. I LOVE ADVENTURE !!!

下田ビーチで海水浴！

Pronunciation Challenge

～発音練習にチャレンジ！（マイク講師）～

　日本人が苦手なr と l の発音の違いを、下記のエクササイズで練習しましょう。プリントをダウンロードして、まずは上のトラックを使い、違いを聞き分けてみましょう。何回か練習した後で、二番目のトラックを聞いてみて下さい、マイク講師がそれぞれどちらの単語を読み上げたか、聞き取ってみましょう！

Hello Everyone,

Its Mike and I want to share a pronunciation exercise with you. First CLICK HERE
and download the exercise document. It is a pronunciation exercise for /r/ and /l/.

Second, listen to me pronounce the words in Column 1 and 2 a few times.


After you Listen to "Pronunciation (Reading Column 1 and 2)" a few times listen to the track below. I will select words from Column 1 or 2 and read them. Try to guess which words I am reading. Also practice reading the words yourself.

～夏休み、神戸の旅（レスリー講師）～

　夏休みを利用して、車で神戸旅行に出掛けたレスリー講師。姫路城、神戸牛を堪能、そして大好きなパンダに会いに動物園にも足を運び、忙しくも充実した休暇を過ごしたそうです。皆さんは夏休みをどのように過ごされましたか？

Hello Everyone!

I had a very busy, but very fun Obon vacation. I drove to Okayama, Himeji, and Kobe.

I heard that Himeji Castle has been under construction for a long time, but luckily they recently took off the scaffolding so I was able to get some good pictures. 

長らく工事中だった姫路城ですが、ちょうど工事が終わって全貌が見えました！

I really enjoyed Kobe! It's one of my favorite cities I have visited so far. I splurged on a nice lunch of Kobe beef that the chef cooked in front of me. It was very delicious :) I also found out that Kobe has a panda at their zoo, and pandas are my favorite animal! I was lucky enough to see the panda eat and do a little walking around.

目の前で神戸牛を調理してもらう、贅沢なランチ♪

王子動物園で大好きなパンダを見ました！

On my way back from Kobe, I stopped at "Rabbit Island"/Okunoshima, so I could feed and play with the many, many rabbits. They were very cute and friendly :)

神戸の帰りにうさぎの島、大久野島へ行きました。

I hope you had a wonderful vacation!

Leslie

Picking weeds in the Rice Field

～田植えに挑戦！（ショーナ講師）～

　皆さんは田植えをしたことがありますか？ショーナ講師は週末、マイク講師と共に知人の稲田を訪れ、田植えのお手伝いをしました。暑い中の作業は大変でしたが、仕事の後の昼食の味は格別だったに違いありません。

Hello everyone, this is Shauna.

Last weekend I went to pick weeds in an organic rice field with Mike. Have you ever picked weeds in a rice field? The rice field was located in Hirao, near Yanai. It was the rice field of Mike's kayak teacher, Koji Hara. It was very hot but also a lot of fun. The rice is still young so it was not very tall.

まだ背の低い稲を植えていきます。暑かったですが、楽しい作業でした。

In the picture, Mike decided to wear his motorcycle riding clothes so he could be protected from bugs. He said it helped prevent bug bites but it was very hot.

虫よけにモータバイク用の服を着たマイク講師、暑そうです。

After two hours of picking weeds we had some great lunch with Koji's family. All the food was tasty and also very healthy.

お手伝いの後はヘルシーで美味しい昼食を頂きました。

The Art of Making Sushi!

～寿司はアート(ミッシェル講師)～

　
　寿司が大好きなミッシェル講師。アメリカにも寿司屋はありますが、日本の寿司屋とは、ネタの種類やメニューも異なっています。日本で、たくさんの寿司屋で食べた経験のあるミッシェル講師、何と今回は、手作り寿司にチャレンジしました！プロ顔負けのミッシェル講師の握り寿司、作り方のコツを英語で学習して、皆さんも手作り寿司にチャレンジしてみませんか？
　

Hello everyone!

Do you like sushi? Most people who come to Japan are big fans of it! In America, there are many Japanese restaurants that serve sushi - but as you might imagine, the menu is a little different than usual. Salmon and tuna are popular, of course, but octopus, squid, and sea urchin are hard to find. 

In Japan, I often go to sushi restaurants (my favorite is Kappa sushi!) and try many types. Recently, however, I wanted to try to make it myself!

On the outside, sushi looks very simple and easy to make. But I've heard there is a secret art to preparing it, and that sushi chefs must train for many years before they are considered professionals. So I studied hard before attempting to make sushi, everything from the way to slice the fish to the recipe for perfect sushi rice. 

First, I sliced the fish. This is yellowtail, or buri. It doesn't look so pretty yet.... 

まずはネタを薄く切ります。鰤"yellowtail"です。

Then I made the rice in a rice cooker. I added sushi vinegar and a little sugar, and it smelled delicious!

When it was time to make the sushi, I prepared a bowl of water with a little vinegar in it. I dipped my fingers in the water, and started to roll the rice in my right hand. To make the shape of the sushi, I pressed the sides and ends of the rice ball in my palm until it formed a rectangle with the sushi laying on top.

Did you know that the trick to making delicious sushi is speed? If you hold the fish too long, the heat from your hand will warm up the fish, and it will spoil quickly. So after a few practice tries, I had to work fast!

サーモン"salmon"、鰤"yellowtail"、鯨"whale"のお寿司が並びます。

二人前、こんなにたくさん出来ました。

This is the final result! I made a lot of sushi for two people, and we even had some sashimi left over! It was SO delicious! Can you recognize the three types of sushi? If you guessed salmon, yellowtail, and whale, you're correct!

So, what do you think? Would you like to try some of the sushi I made? I'm sure you'll like it!

Until next time,

Michelle