Before heading to Vietnam, Michael, Sam and I went to the Cup Noodles Museum in Osaka. Sam was ecstatic. I just wanted to eat noodles. Actually, the highlight of the museum was getting to make your own custom cup of noodles. First, you get the styrofoam container which you can decorate with markers. Then, you get your noodles and can pick your broth flavor. I picked chili tomato. After that, you pick four toppings to finish it off. I chose kimchi, pork, garlic, and cheese! Finally, you have your cup sealed with a lid and get to stuff it in an inflated plastic bag. Later that night I ate my noodles. They were delicious. If you like instant ramen, you should try your creative hand making your own at the museum! 

ハローズの春の海外研修「スプリングブレイクインアメリカ」が3月末から4月にかけて2週間行われます。それに合わせて、出発前の研修を行っています。高校2年生になる18人の生徒のみんなは、アメリカの地元の高校ジャクソンカウンティハイスクールで一日授業体験をします。その際、それぞれが授業の中で日本についてのプレゼンができるように練習をしているわけです。しかし、やっぱり難しい。紙に書いた英語を前に立って読むだけ。では、プレゼンではなく、英語のリーディングを声を出してしているだけです。相手にわかりやすいように、できればキャッチャボール、言葉を投げかけあいながらプレゼンをしてほしいと思っています。日本の生徒よりもアメリカの生徒の方がノリがいいから、こちらがしっかり準備をすれば有意義な時間を過ごせます。研修の中では厳しく指摘していますが、みんながアメリカで現地の高校生と最高の時間を過ごして、いい関係を作ってきてほしいと願うばかりです。これからの時代、人前で話す力は本当に大切ですよ！

Photo of several employees during presentation with focus on their leader

While living in America, I never ate oysters.  This is mostly because no one in my family liked them much.  I always loved seafood of all types, though.  Shrimp was my favorite.

After moving to Japan, I was served kaki fry, or fried oysters.  These were delicious.  I have enjoyed eating kaki fry every winter, when they are in season.  This year, I was invited to go to Mie ken, which is known for oyster bars.  You can sit at a table with a grill and eat all the oysters you want for 1 hour.  What a treat!  

So we drove to Mie to eat oysters.  It was about a 3 hour drive.  When we got close to the oyster bar, the roads became mountainous, with lots of dangerous, winding roads.  We finally arrived, and were seated quickly because we had reservations.

The workers had to show us how to grill and eat the oysters.  I didn’t know how long they needed to be cooked, I didn’t want to under or over cook them.  I ate tons of oysters and got very fat.  I’m happy to have the experience of eating oysters in Mie ken.  i would recommend it to everyone.

みなさんこんにちは。

ハローズでは毎年春休みに、高校生を対象に

「Spring Break in America」というアメリカ研修のプログラムがあり、

今年は18人の高校生が参加してくれます。

事前に出発前研修を行っていて、

自己紹介や日本文化の紹介の仕方を練習しています。

At the start of each new year, in lieu of a resolution, I experiment with making small, specific changes to my lifestyle. If the changes become habit, I usually stick with them. If they’re bothersome, I give them up. I suppose this seems a little wishy-washy when compared with the firm resolutions of others, but I personally find putting less pressure on myself usually means I can view these sudden lifestyle changes as fun challenges and thus get better results. For example, one year, I tried going vegan, basically expecting to give it up after a month or two. But five years later, I was still at it!

This year my experiment is avoiding elevators and escalators. By taking the stairs each day, I’m hoping I can gain at least a tiny bit more strength and endurance. So far, it’s been working well (although when I visited some friends who lived in a 14th floor apartment they refused to let me take the stairs… and one was a doctor, so I figured I couldn’t argue!). Since I have a fourth-floor apartment, and two of my classes during the week are five stories up, it’s made for a small but palpable increase in my exercise. I hope I can keep it up! 

It can sometimes prove rewarding to rethink our habits or tendencies. I hope those of you reading can experiment with changing something small in your life, too. To be honest, there is one other lifestyle change I’m trying to make, but I won’t write about it here. If you’re interested in what it is, please ask me and maybe I’ll tell you! 

Ryan