Yesterday was the final episode of "Let's Enjoy English". Dave-sensei and DJ Chiaki Kamibeppu were on the air for 8 years, starting in 2016. Thank you for listening to our show, you will always be able to hear the old episodes here on the blog.
きのうは「Let's Enjoy English!」の最終回でした。Dave先生とDJの上別府千晶さんは2016年から8年間、この番組を担当してきました。これまでご視聴いただきありがとうございました。過去の放送分はこのブログでいつでも聴くことができます。
Dave-sensei will be on Radio MOMO (79.0FM) with D.J. Chiaki Kamibeppu on Thursday, March 28th (today!), at about 5:40 pm. Unfortunately, today is the final episode of our “Let’s Enjoy English!” program. Thank you all for listening during the past 8 years.
Dave先生は、本日3月28日 (木) の午後5時40分頃、Radio MOMO (79.0FM) でDJの上別府千晶さんと一緒に放送される予定です。残念ながら、今日が「Let’s Enjoy English!!」番組の最終回となります。これまで8年間お聴き頂きありがとうございました。
http://www.fm790.co.jp/
Throughout the year, Tenmaya and Takashimaya hold events for food and goods from Hokkaido and Okinawa. Recently the Hokkaido event was held at Tenmaya. I often go in the hope of finding some nice snacks. To be honest, I am not much of an expert on foods from the area. I have only been to Hokkaido once, about fifteen years ago. At that time, I did not know much about the cuisine there.
Recently, most of my exposure to Hokkaido foods has been at these department store events. When I go, I usually end up buying snacks or sweets. This time I bought some chocolate and muffins. I like black thunder, and the white flavour from Hokkaido is delicious. I also wanted to try some Royce chocolate as I had heard about the brand many times. The muffins I bought I forgot to take a picture of, but they were around five hundred yen each and were quite large. They had an interesting selection of flavours. I bought two; one was apple cinnamon, and the other strawberry and white chocolate. Some other flavours I remember were earl grey and even curry! The snack area had its own surprises too. I saw expresso-flavoured jam which did not seem tasty at all.
If you are interested in foods from either Okinawa or Hokkaido, these events are worth checking out. They have all kinds of foods such as fried foods, seafood, sweets, snacks, soups and so on. But maybe it is best to try and go on a weekday if you can.
Many years ago, not long after I came to Japan, I was riding my bike down the little road that goes past the library when I noticed someone working on a big mural. It had an eye-catching design – a large, green, reclining Buddha with a pink-and-white lotus flower at his head. I knew this type of street art was fairly rare in Okayama, so I stopped and admired it for a minute. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really speak Japanese at that point, so I left without speaking to the artist.
That mural remained on the wall for many years, and even became a minor tourist attraction. It was a regular sight for commuting students, local pedestrians, and anyone taking a shortcut downtown. I’ve seen photo club groups examining it in search of a good angle, and even professional models posing in front of it for the camera.
Now that old mural is gone, but a new one is being painted in the same place by the same artist. It has a similar Buddha motif, but now it’s a bit brighter and more colorful, not to mention larger. It extends beyond the big stone wall onto the walls of other structures on the property.
As luck would have it, I happened to ride past the wall again while the artist was working on it! Determined not to let the chance escape me a second time, I stopped my bike and struck up a conversation. The artist is a friendly, interesting guy who goes by the street name of ACUTE. It seems he’s been active in Okayama for many years now, creating murals in addition to canvas and print works of art. Since the original Buddha piece, which he did for free at the time simply to gain exposure, he has been called upon for numerous projects around Okayama. This is in addition to canvas and print works, many of which can been viewed on his website:
https://www.acuteartworks.com/profile
If you’re in the area, check out the new mural and take some pictures! It’s already quite impressive, and it’s not even finished yet.
The old mural as seen during hanami season.
Hello March！
Spring is just around corner, which I’m happy about!
As some of you might know, the flu knocked me down and coerced me to stay home for about one week.
Since I live by myself, I asked both of my parents if I could isolate at their home.
They were gentle enough to accept my réquest.
My sister wasn’t pleased to let me come in though…
ほとんどの生徒さんがご存知かもしれませんが、1月のとある1週間、インフルエンザにやられて家に引きこもっていました。
とある日曜日、喉の違和感と共に目を覚ましました。
「寝冷えしちゃったかな〜」と思い、薬を飲んで様子を見ることにしました。
夕方の時点で関節痛と38.5°の高熱。しかし、以前風邪でそこまで熱が上がったことがあった私は「ああ、風邪っぽいな」とインフルエンザとは思いもせず、「解熱剤飲んで寝たら治るだろう」と思っていました。
が、私の予想は全くの見当違いでした。
その数時間後、解熱剤のおかげで熱が下がったものの再びぶり返して38.8°まで上がりました。
「まさかインフル…？でもどこにも出かけてないしNeoにしか行ってないのに…？」と思い「インフルじゃないインフルじゃない」と自分に言い聞かせながら寝ようとしました。
しかし、関節痛＋悪寒がひどすぎるため一睡も出来ないまま朝を迎えました。
高熱が出ているため、食事どころか水分も取れず、頑張って取ると嘔吐してしまうというなんとも言えない状態。
諦めて友人に頼み病院に連れて行ってもらいました。
待っている間になぜか手から手首にかけて痺れてきました。
病院で熱を測ると39.7！久しぶりの39°台〜何年ぶりかな？と思いながら先生の診察を待ちました。
コロナとインフルどちらの検査も受けさせてもらい結果は案の定インフルエンザA型。
「あ〜やっぱり」と同時に「なぜ？」が止まりません。
生徒さんは私が運動が苦手でほとんど動かないという印象を持たれている方が多いですが、こう見えても動くようにしてるんですよ…（小声）
元々そんなに体が強いわけではないため、食事・運動等色々と健康に気を遣ってきました。
心はバリバリ仕事をしたい、なのに体がついてこない。
また体調を崩してしまいました。
「体調管理が出来ないなんて社会人失格」
「体が弱いなんてただの言い訳」
などのご意見が飛んできそうですが…本当に頑張ってるんです 涙
「ああ。。また迷惑をかけてしまう」と思いながら自己隔離をするため実家に戻るとなんとお布団とこたつがちゃんと用意してありました涙
その晩から母が献身的にケアをしてくれ、
毎朝「体調はどう？」「今日は何食べたい？」など私が母親になってもこんなに献身的にお世話ができるかしら…と思うくらいケアしてくれました。
父も「体調はどう？（父の）アイスあるから食べてもいいよ」と父なりの優しさを感じる一言をくれました。
病院に連れて行ってくれた友人も毎日LINEをくれました。
はあ。。こんな素敵な人たちに囲まれて私は本当に幸せ者だなと感じました。
親孝行しよう！！
世の中の虚弱体質の皆さま、一緒に頑張っていきましょう！！
I LOVE YOU MOMMY AND DADDY♡
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 Leap Day and Dave’s birthday. Click the button below to listen.