My Golden Week Vacation

〜ゴールデンウィーク、四国の旅(レスリー講師)〜

レスリー講師は、ゴールデンウィーク休暇中、四国横断、ドライブの旅に出掛けました。松山城、金丸座、鳴門の渦潮、アートで有名な直島など、有名な観光地を数多く訪れたそうです。
もちろん、うどんもたくさん食べましたよ！

Hello!

I had a busy Golden Week vacation, but it was very fun as well! I spent the week driving around Shikoku. I drove through Ehime, Kagawa, and Tokushima prefecture. Some of the highlights of my trip were seeing Matsuyama Castle, a kabuki theater in Tokushima prefecture, and the whirlpools in Naruto. 

I also went to Naoshima island, which has many wonderful art museums and outdoor art as well. I highly recommend you visit the island. Unfortunately, I could not take pictures inside the museums. I also ate lots of delicious food including many, many bowls of udon :)

I hope you had a relaxing and fun vacation!

Leslie

Amanda's Golden Week

〜私のゴールデンウィーク(アマンダ講師)〜

皆さんはゴールデンウィークをどのように過ごされましたか？アマンダ講師は秋吉台にハイキングに出掛けました。あいにくの曇り空でしたが、秋吉台高原は過ごしやすい天気で、お弁当を広げてピクニックを楽しんだそうです。


Hello, everyone! did you enjoy your Golden Week vacation?

During Golden Week, I stayed in Shunan. I usually like to travel somewhere during vacations, but I decided to stay home this year.

I did go on one short trip to Akiyoshidai. I visited some friends and went hiking. It was cloudy, but the weather was still very comfortable.

I also got to enjoy some delicious Jamaican food for lunch. It was vegan, so it didn't have any milk, eggs or meat. It was really good!

とてもヘルシーなジャマイカ料理のお弁当でピクニック気分♪

What did you do for Golden Week?

-Amanda-

Golden Week Kayaking Adventure

〜カヤック大冒険(マイケル講師)〜

　ゴールデンウィークの間、マイケル講師はほとんど毎日カヤックの練習をして過ごしました。総距離は何と190km以上！柳井から九州に向けての長旅にも挑戦したそうですが、残念ながら強風の為途中で断念したそうです。カヤックを楽しむマイケル講師の動画は以下からご覧頂けます。

Hello Everyone its Mike

I went kayaking almost everyday for my golden week. I kayaked over 190 kilometers. One trip of my longest kayak training days was the 6th of May. On that day I kayaked with my expedition partner, Koji. We tried to kayak to Kyusyu from Saga (near Yanai) but we had to stop because the wind became very strong. We went back to Saga and continued to kayak near the coast and did 64 kilometers.

Spring Time in England

〜イギリスの春(メル講師)〜

長い冬が終わり、イギリスでは暖かい季節の訪れを祝う伝統行事がたくさん行われます。パンケーキの日やイースター、そしてエイプリルフールなど、イギリスの春はexciting(ワクワク)です。

Spring in England is an exciting time.

Winter is long and hard so we like to do many things to celebrate the warmer weather.Here are some English Spring traditions you might find interesting.

イギリスのパンケーキは薄く、カリッとした食感。
レモン汁と砂糖をかけて頂きます。

Pancake day is 47 days before Easter Sunday, this year it was on the 4th of March.

On Pancake day we make a big stack of pancakes and sprinkle them in fresh lemon juice and sugar.As you can see, English pancakes are much thinner than American ones which makes them a little crispy at the edges.

Delicious!

イースターにはチョコレートの卵を隠し、子ども達が探します。

Of course we celebrate Easter. It celebrates the Spring equinox. The name Easter comes from the pagan goddess of spring Eostre, her symbol was the rabbit which is why we also have Easter bunnies! We like to eat chocolate Easter eggs and hide them in the garden for children to find.

メイポールの先にカラフルなリボンを取り付け、子ども達がダンスをすれば、
可愛らしい模様が完成します。

In villages all round England we errect large poles. Brightly coloured ribbons are attached to the top and children dance around it making a very pretty pattern as they wrap the ribbon round the pole.

The children wear very pretty clothes.

４月１日は、ジョークを言い合って楽しみます。

April Fools Day is on April the 1st. On this day people in England play jokes on each other. These jokes are not very dangerous but always funny for example, putting sugar in the salt pot. 

Every year English newspapers will publish one false news article, for example "Drinkable wine found on the Titanic!" 

Dirt Biking in Asa

〜ダートバイクで厚狭を走る！(マイケル講師)〜

皆さんはダートバイクをご存知ですか？dirt bikeは、オフロード(未舗装の道)を走ることの出来るバイクです。厚狭の山道で４時間のツーリングを楽しんだマイケル講師。まだ初心者ということで、何度も転倒してしまったそうです。迫力満点のダートバイクの映像をお楽しみ下さい。

Hello Everyone,

Its Mike. This past weekend I rode my dirt bike in Asa, near Ube. A dirt bike is an off road motorcycle that you can ride anywhere. It rained in the morning so I was very cold. Riding in the rain is very hard. It stopped raining when I arrived in Asa.

Have you ever rode a dirt bike before?

My friend and I rode our dirt bikes in the mountains for 4 hours. My friend is very good but I am a beginner so I fell many times. I made a video about my dirt bike riding last weekend. I hope you enjoy.

Sunameri and Kayaking near Kasado Island

〜スナメリと一緒にカヤッキング (マイケル講師)〜

　笠戸島の近くでカヤックを漕いでいたマイケル講師。そこに現れたのは、何とスナメリ達！天気も良くなり、野外活動にぴったりの季節、カヤッキングはとても楽しいですよ。

Hello everyone, Its Mike

Last weekend I was kayaking near Kasado Island and saw some Sunameri. It was the first time I saw them so close. I made sure to record some video so you could see them. Have you ever seen Sunameri before? I hope you enjoy the video and please make sure to go outside and enjoy the weather. If you are adventurous, you should try kayaking. It's very fun.

English Wallpaper.

～故郷、イギリスの春（メル講師）～

　気温が暖かくなり、花々が咲き始めるこの頃、春の訪れを感じているメル講師。日本ではこれから桜のシーズンとなりますが、彼女の故郷、イギリスの春には、水仙、ユキノハナ、ツリガネスイセンなどが咲き、色とりどりの花々で溢れるそうです。公園や庭が春の色に染まっている風景はとてもpretty(美しい)ですね。

Spring is here and that means warmer weather and spring flowers.
Japan is getting ready for cherry blossoms and over in the U.K. the land is covered with flowers.

メル講師の故郷、ヨーク市では水仙がたくさん咲いているそうです。

In my hometown, York, everywhere is covered with daffodils.
They are on the side of the roads, in the city centre and of course in parks and gardens.
York is yellow in Spring.

林は１月下旬～２月初旬にかけてユキノハナで白く染まります。

The woods turn white with these flowers.
They are called Snowdrops and usually arrive in late January or early February.
They can be seen growing through the snow which is still on the ground.
Japan has some similar flowers but they are larger than the English snowdrops.

ユキノハナの後にはツリガネスイセンが青い花を付けます。

Then the woods turn blue with these flowers.
These are called bluebells. They are protected and so it is illegal to pick them.
In Spring the English countryside turns yellow, white and blue.
It is very pretty!

>Mel<