Last Saturday night Dave, Nick and Jules joined a group of NEO students for an Indian curry dinner and a live jazz performance.

We ate dinner at a restaurant called Sundar Mahal that is close to Tenmaya. I had chicken curry with cheese nan. I don’t really like spicy food, so I ordered “child mild”. Some of the other people ordered very spicy curry, though.

After dinner, we all walked down the shopping arcade to Bird, one of Okayama’s oldest jazz bars. We watched a five-member band consisting of piano, trombone, saxophone, bass and drums. They played 2 sets, lasting about an hour each.

The band was great. All of the songs were original compositions. I had a fantastic time talking to everybody and listening to some great music.

At the end of Golden Week I went to Osaka for two days. It was a trip with very few plans. We just wanted to take it easy and explore Osaka. One thing we did a lot of was eating. Osaka is famous for its food and there are many things I still want to try there.

Our first stop was Takoyaki. We ate at a famous chain called “Kukuru”. Despite the heavy rain that day there were a lot of people lining up outside both their stores in Dotonbori. I was surprised how soft it was compared to other Takoyaki I have eaten. Soon after we also ate some hamburgers. There is a lot more choice of burger shops there. That night, we went out to eat kushikatsu near our hotel. I had never had kushikatsu in Osaka before, and it was amazing. The waiter also made a mistake, and they prepared some kushikatsu we did not order.  So, they let us have them for free. I felt a little bad, so I ordered some extra food.

The next day we went over to the Expo ’70 Commemorative Park. At the expo mall, there is a KFC restaurant. While I had eaten too much the day before, I had always wanted to try eating there. The KFC restaurant offers an all you can eat service for about 90 minutes. This includes regular KFC dishes such as chicken or fries, but there are also many other kinds of foods you usually cannot get there on offer from salads to desserts and many kinds of bread and meat. I enjoyed eating there, even if my stomach regretted it after. The last stop was 551 Horai before we caught a train back to Okayama. The pork buns there are always delicious.

If there is one memory I will remember from my trip to Osaka this golden week, it will be the food, that’s for sure.

Golden

WEek 2023

Huis Ten Bosch

During Golden Week, I had the opportunity to go to Kyushu and hang out with some old friends. We did things in both Fukuoka and Nagasaki, but the highlight for me was a place I had never been before: Huis Ten Bosch, the Dutch-style theme park and popular tourist attraction.

This park was not quite like anything I’ve ever been to, and it’s a little hard to explain. It’s similar to a theme park like Disney or USJ, but forgoes the roller coasters and teacups in favor of more small-time attractions, such as VR headset “rides.” Many of the “attractions” are actually just fancy shops and restaurants with an eye-catching façade.

That may sound negative, but in the end, Huis Ten Bosch is still an interesting place to walk around and explore. The park is built around a series of canals and expertly decorated with European-style structures, including the famous windmills. Of course, there’s a flower garden as well – we didn’t go at the right time to see tulips, but it was beautiful nonetheless. In addition, there are a number of musical shows that happen at regular intervals on several different stages around the park. The taiko show was particularly exciting!

One day was enough to walk around the whole park, but there were several areas and attractions that we skipped because the lines were so long during Golden Week . I’m sure there’s much more to see and experience, and it may even be worth another trip someday!

Hello May！

It’s been getting hotter and hotter these days.

I’ve been wasting my time thinking of how to not get sunburned…

さて、もう5月です！

寒くなったり暑くなったりのこの気候にすでにうんざりしていますが（汗）、皆さんはいかがお過ごしでしょうか？

先月は私の誕生日がありました。

26歳、若いのかそうではないのかいまいち分からない年齢です。

子供の頃は26歳は大人なイメージを持っていましたが、実際26歳になってみて「何が変わったんだ？？」が私の感想です。

変わったのは怪我の治りが遅くなったことと痩せにくく太りやすくなったことでしょうか。

せっかく落とした体重がまた戻ってきました。

必死に運動しても500g減るかどうかです。

「こんな苦労しても年下の子とは消費カロリーが全然違うんだろうな、、」と自らやる気を無くす言葉を自分自身にかけてしまう私です。

NEOではそれぞれ講師の誕生日にはケーキを買ってきてくれます。（なんといい職場なんだ…）

今年はひよこの可愛らしいケーキを選びました。

まさかのDaveとAyumi先生の息子さんが選んだものだそうです！

9歳の男の子と同じ嗜好をしている26歳の私…本当に成長してる？？

Julesが「今日はまりなの誕生日だよ〜」とキッズに伝えてくれていて、「Happy Birthday~」と言ってくれました。

誕生日を覚えてくれていた生徒さんがなんとわざわざ素敵なプレゼントをくださいました。

こんな嬉しい誕生日を過ごせる私はやっぱり幸せ者だなあと思った1日でした。

What is the best birthday gift you’ve ever received?

Let’s talk about your best birthday with me in class!

この現代において、国家間で良好な関係が保たれている地域と未だに武力で互いの主張をする地域とあり、前者に属している自分がとても幸運だとしか表現が見つかりません。遠いアフリカのスーダンで起きている部族間の衝突は、散々報道されていても対岸の火事以上に遠く感じられます。それがぐっと身近に感じられたのは在スーダンの邦人脱出策がメディアで報道されてからです。特にNPO法人を率いている理事長の川原尚行さんが画面によく登場されたため、この方のことを調べてみたら外務省の「医務官」だったそうです。私は純粋にスーダンに日本大使館があることに驚きましたが。スーダンと日本に何の国交があるんだ…？？？

川原さんは日本大使館の医務官としてスーダンに赴任されていた際に、現地のスーダンの人に対しては診療行為ができないことを始め、葛藤することが大いにあり、栄えある外務省勤務を辞してスーダンにNPO法人を設立して医療行為を自らはじめられたそうです。それだけではなく現地での教育活動も行われていて、平成22年（2010年）には社会貢献者として受賞されています。その他多数。とても優秀な方です。

目の前で苦しんでいる人を助けられない、何かしてあげたいという気持ちはあれど、実行に移す勇気があるかどうかは千差万別。こういう大人に育つにはどういう幼少期を過ごしてどういう家庭環境に育ったのかとても興味があります。川原さんはこのNPO活動に関して著書がおありです。

https://kifunavi.jp/program/rocinantes-ikuzo/

GWもやってくるので新しい本を読みたいと思い早速注文をしました。さすがアマゾン、この本は売り切れです。売り切れと知って少しホッとしました。私と同じようにスーダンからの邦人救出を知り、川原さんのことを知りたいと思って検索をし、その著書を読んでみたいと思った人が沢山いたということ。少なくとも無関心ではない人たちが多くいるということ。アマゾンでは本が売り切れだったのでメルカリで発見し、購入しました。

出品者のコメントを読んでずっこけました。「一度も読んでいませんので中身はきれいです」

はぁぁぁぁ？？

Dave-sensei was on "Let's Enjoy English!" on Radio MOMO (79.0 FM). Dave and D.J. Chiaki Kamibeppu talk in English and Japanese about Dave’s latest home improvement project and Golden Week. Click the button below to listen.