Hey y’all. I hope everyone’s doing good.

I’d like to share this photo I took during a trip with my best friend.

We went to Shirakawago. People usually go there in winter but we decided to take a glimpse of what it looks like without the snow covering everything.

It was breathtakingly beautiful! I took this photo just with an iPhone but I am very happy with the output. I want to go back to take more pictures!

Our current topic in S6 class is “seasonal events,” and this is something that I think is great for students to talk about.  Japan is famous for its various festivals and traditional events throughout the year, and giving students the opportunity to talk about their own culture in another language is very important.  Festivals in particular are very interesting to me and I wanted to experience one the first time I came to Japan.  Luckily, when I came to Japan for the first time in 2005, I was living in Kyoto.  That summer I experienced my first festival when I went to Gion Matsuri with some friends.  It was a lot of fun to see such a massive festival in person.  

When I asked my students about their favorite seasonal events, the answers were mostly about local festivals.  With Ogaki Festival having just happened, we got to talk about that and it sounded like a lot of fun.  A couple weeks ago, my neighborhood’s local festival also happened, and we had a great time.  Here’s a picture from that event.  What’s your favorite seasonal event?

アメリカでは地下鉄はsubwayといいますね。イギリスではundergroundになります。特に、イギリスの地下鉄は「Tube」と呼ばれています。ニューヨークの地下鉄に乗ったことがある人経験したかもしれませんが、薄いカードを縦にスワイプしなければいけません。うまくできなくて地下鉄を通れなった生徒も過去にはいました。イギリスはというと、Oyster CardなるTOICAやSUICAがあり、タッチで通れます。だからそのカードを購入しなければならないと思ってしまうのですが、チャージをしなければいけないですし、余った分を使いきれないこともしばしばです。実は、日本のクレジットカードでも通れるのです。もちろんタッチ決済可能なタイプでしかダメなのですが、普通に通ることができるので、これからイギリスに行く人はぜひ日本からタッチ決済のマークのあるクレジットカードやデビットカードを持っていくといいと思います。ちなみに料金はすごく高いです。日本の倍くらい払う覚悟でいてください。

カツオは春と秋に旬を迎える魚です。

春鰹は脂肪分が少なく、さっぱりと引き締まった身質をしています。秋鰹は脂肪を多く蓄え、脂ののった味を楽しめます。

ゴールデンウィークに高知県の「ひろめ市場」で食べた鰹のたたきがとても美味しく、岐阜に戻ってきてからも美味しい鰹が食べたい病にかかってしまいました。

夏になる前に今度は静岡県の沼津に鰹を食べに行きたいですね。

ちなみにカツオは英語で「bonito」です。覚えておきましょう。

Hey y’all! 

Did y’all see that the new Zelda game came out? If you know me, Breath of the Wild is my all time favorite game. After 5 long years, Tears of a Kingdom has launched! Just like BOTW, the game is stunning and the story is exhilarating. I’m just so happy to be playing Zelda once again. Are y’all playing it? 

See y’all in class!