Happy New Year!

カリーナ講師

ロシアでのお正月の過ごし方や幼少期の思い出について語ってくれています。

また、お気に入りのホットワインのレシピも載せています。

カリーナ講師にとってお正月は特別な休日のようですね。

みなさんはどのようにお正月休みを過ごしていますか。

Hello Everybody! This is Karina. It’s getting really cold outside and that means that my favorite holiday is coming! It's a New Year. I find it very interesting, that unlike many other countries, where Christmas is much more important than New Year as a holiday, both Russia and Japan put New Year on the first place.

Russians have a great tradition of celebrating it - they all get together and make lots of food, than they drink sparkling wine and watch New Year's TV programs the whole night. On 31st of December everybody is waiting for the midnight - to have a big dinner, play in the snow and watch the fireworks.

  

Beautiful Russian winter
美しいロシアの冬

For me, New Year always brings back the best memories from the childhood. It is a white snow on the ground and a blue ice on the lakes, it's a smell of oranges and homemade gingerbread, it's colorful lights everywhere on the streets, it's a cozy warm blanket and hot chocolate, it's all my favorite Christmas Movies ("Home Alone" never gets old!:) , it's fireworks and presents under the Christmas tree.

Our Christmas tree last year.
昨年のクリスマスツリー

New Year’s Eve is a very special time. That's why I want to ask all of you to stop for a minute and look around you - the whole world is about to step into the New Life. Make your own step too, and let it be a confident one, made with a happy smile on your face:)

In addition, I want to share one of my favorite recipes with you. It’s called “Mulled wine”, which is a hot wine with spices and fruits. It’s popular all over the world now,  but the origins of this drink come from Germany, where it’s called “Gluhwein”.

“Come the festive season, there's nothing better than a spiced, warming glass of mulled wine” J. Oliver
（ジェイミー・オリバーの言葉）

Ingredients:

1 bottle of red wine (you can choose any wine you like)

2 small oranges or 1 big orange

1 apple

5 tablespoons of brown sugar or honey

1 cinnamon stick

2 stars of anise

1/4 of a teaspoon of nutmeg

Directions:

Pill the orange and cut it into 4 pieces.  Cut the apple into small cubes.

Combine wine, sugar, spices, orange pills and apple cubes into the pot, than squeeze the orange into that mix.

Turn the heat on and keep heating for about 10 minutes, making sure it doesn't come to a boil and stirring occasionally to make sure the honey dissolves.

When the wine is steaming and the ingredients have been well blended it is ready to serve.

Mulled wine can be left on the stove to heat for many hours.  It can also be stored in the fridge and reheated the next day.

I hope you enjoy your holidays as much as you can! I wish you all the best and… I see you next year!

Autumn in the U.K.

～イギリスの秋(メル講師)～

夏も終わり色づく季節となりました。メル講師がイギリスの秋について書いてくれています。日本同様きれいな紅葉も見られ、冬眠支度する動物たち、秋のイベント、風習や伝統的な食べ物それぞれにイギリス独特の秋を感じられましたか？また、日本との違いや他の国との違いを見つけられましたか？

秋

The Summer is finally over and the temperature is cooling.

It is 18 degrees in my hometown now and 28 degrees here.

Let's look at the U.K. in Autumn.

The leaves change colour of course. On a traditional English home it looks beautiful!

This is a thatched cottage covered in ivy.

Isn't it pretty?

ツタにおおわれたわらぶき屋根の家

During autumn, animals that hybernate come out to look for food to last them through winter.

This is a hedgehog.

It wakes up sometimes to have a snack but will sleep from the end of Autumn until Spring.

Isn't it cute?

冬眠準備をするハリネズミ

We have many festivals in the U.K. over Autumn.

You all know about Halloween.

It is thought that Halloween comes from a Celtic festival for the dead.

Collecting candy by saying "Trick or Treat" is an American tradition. In the U.K. we are more likely to lock the door and tell ghost stories to each other in the dark.

Very scary!

ハロウィンには怪談話をします

We do have toffee apples but they are apples covered in toffee not candy.

They are sticky and the toffee doesn't fall off as you bite it!

This is a very traditional Autum food in The U.K.

Doesn't it look delicious?

タフィーアップル

I hope you stay warm over autumn and enjoy it as much as I do!

-Mel-

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