Saint Young Men
saint-young-men-1340.jpg

I don’t usually read manga, but I definitely need to do more Japanese reading practice. I tried to read Fullmetal Alchemist (鋼の錬金術師) and ONE PIECE (ワンピース) before, but the vocabulary and slang were too much for me.  I gave up pretty quickly.

Recently, Ryo introduced me to a manga called Saint Young Men. The English title sounds a bit strange – it’s 聖(セイント)☆おにいさん in Japanese). It’s written and illustrated by Hikaru Nakamura. Put simply, the story is about the religious figures Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha living as roommates in modern Tokyo. They’re on a kind of vacation on Earth, experiencing many ordinary things for the first time – riding on the subway, sightseeing, visiting amusement parks. It’s what we call a “slice of life” story, but with an interesting twist.  

I’m a slow reader, but I’m enjoying it so far. Thanks for loaning me your books, Ryo!

Nick VastaComment
花見パーティー!3月31日 Cherry Blossom Ⅴiewing Party! March 31st

今年も花見をやります!
今回3月31日(日)です。
旭川の県庁通りの橋のちょっと北のほうにします。
私たちは1時から一日中にいます。
何時でも来帰ってもいいです。
私たちは大きなレジャーシートを持っていきます。
皆さんは自分の食べ物と飲み物を持って来てください。
売店とトイレがあります。来たら連絡してください。友達や家族でも連れて来ても良いよ!

■日時
3月31日 1時~夕暮れ

いつ来ても、いつ帰ってもオッケーです。自由な感じです♪
日が暮れたら片付けする予定です。
雨天の場合は、風が強くなければテントを準備します。ご心配なく!

■場所
県庁の近くの橋と屋台との間

もし、分からなければご連絡ください。もっと詳しく伝えます。
あと迷ったら電話してください☆0903-746-3283

友達や家族は自由に呼んで構いません♪みんなで楽しくやりましょう!!
私の誘い忘れがある恐れがあるので、そういう人がいれば自由に来てくださって大丈夫です♪

David FulvioComment
Tree trimming

I spent yesterday cutting the trees in front of NEO. It was a lot more work than I imagined. It took me all day and I still had some cleaning up to do this morning.

tree trimming.jpg
David FulvioComment
A Decade in Japan

Last month passed by so quickly I hardly realized it, but January 9 was my ten-year anniversary in Japan. When I came to Okayama in 2009, I only intended to stay for a year or two. But I quickly found that I had good friends, a job that I enjoyed, and lots of opportunities to travel. So here I still am, a decade later! Here are a few memories from that first year.

Nick VastaComment