みなさんこんにちは。

今日の月は満月のようです。そして、５月の満月には「フラワームーン」という名前がついているようです。

自粛期間中で人と会えない期間が続いていますが、今日は大きな月を眺めながらゆっくりした時間を過ごしてみてはいかがでしょうか？

夏目漱石のエピソードで、英語の先生をしていた漱石が ” I love you. ” という英語を「月が綺麗ですね。」と翻訳したという話を聞いたことがあります。

もちろん、英語のテストでこのような答えを書いたら不正解になってしまいますが、なんとも文学者らしいロマンチックな考え方だと思います。

写真は、いつかの満月です。　わかりにくいですがいつもより大きく見えます。

Now that it’s starting to warm up, I’ve been eating a lot more ice cream to cool down! When it’s super warm on my way home from work I’ll stop by the grocery store or a convenience store and get some ice cream! Chocolate ice cream is my favorite! In Japan there’s a lot of different and interesting flavors, like cola, and calpis! In America you can normally see vanilla chocolate and strawberry. Drink flavors aren’t that common in America, so I’ll try them next time! 

I’ve noticed that ice cream is also very small here in Japan. In America, Ice cream can come in very large sizes! Large enough for you and your whole family to enjoy for an entire week! I don’t mind the smaller sizes here, it makes having ice cream more special. Plus you can try different flavors and don’t have to worry about wasting a lot of ice cream in case you don’t like it.

So when it’s hot, or you just want to have something sweet, eat some ice cream! Of course wash your hands before eating! Stay healthy and stay safe!

Hey y’all! 

 Over the course of this break, all of the Americans got together on Zoom to play the famous role playing game, Dungeons and Dragons. The point of the game is to create an imaginary character, and then play as the character throughout an imaginary world that one person, “The Dungeon Master” has created. Throughout the game, your character will have to overcome an assortment of obstacles with a group of other players. These players are normally played by your friends who each have their own imaginary characters. This time I’m playing as a character named Silaqui Amastacia. She’s an Air Genasi wizard that enjoys spying on people in her free time. 

 This game is quite complex… I really don’t know to explain it. Just know it is an extremely fun game that can be played either in person or through Zoom! It is also a really creative way to practice English, so I highly recommend giving it a try! 

See y’all in Zoom classes! 

P.S!

  This AMAZING PORTRAIT of Silaqui was created by the ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE Emily Oliver! 

She sends her “hellos” to all of y’all! 

Hello! Blair here! I am so surprised at how fast the weather is changing these days. Even though weather in Texas is quite similar in that way, I think the season change in Japan is faster. It seemed like only last week I was wearing a big coat! The good thing about the weather getting warmer is all the plants and flowers that return to life at this time. I love to take flower pictures while taking walks so this is a great time for that. I really like all the Azaleas that you can find in Ogaki. They make for great pictures! 

Hope everyone is enjoying the new weather!

– Blair 

This month, it started to get warmer and we started teaching online classes at Hello!s branches. I started to want to ride my bike again after mostly walking in the winter! The bike I got when I first moved to Japan is very old. It was hard to go up hills or go anywhere fast. I wanted to buy a new bike so I could go to work quickly and easily with my new morning schedule. I bought a pretty normal looking white bike. Even though my old bike is also white, I don’t feel tired of looking at the color. I have had fun riding my bike through Ogaki again!