最近、右の手首と前腕に変な違和感があります。パソコンを使いすぎたせいかわかりませんが、運動する時によく感じるようになってきました。ちょっと心配なので、前腕のストレッチもし始めて、新しいマウスも買っておきました。

写真のような不思議な形をしていますが、人間工学的なマウスです。でも、使いづらいのではないかと思って、ひとまず安い方を買いました。実際に使ってみたら、私の手に合っていたので、ちょっと安心しました。

今は少しずつ慣れてきましたが、まだ違和感が残っている気がします。何かアドバイスがありましたら、コメントをいただけるとうれしいです。

For my first five years in Japan I taught at a junior high school out in the countryside. I taught all kinds of students. Some were super motivated and interested in English, some not so much. Overall, I felt like I got along well with a lot of the students I taught regardless of how they felt about English and foreign cultures.

Recently I had two former students from that time reach out to me. They are both in university now, a few years apart. One of them was doing her thesis about English teaching in Japan and wanted to know about my experiences. I was glad to see how passionate she still is about English, not to mention how much her ability seems to have improved. The other student told me he is now studying abroad in Taiwan. He is not there to study English, but instead Chinese. It was cool to hear he was motivated enough to study somewhere abroad.

As a teacher, you do not often know where a lot of your students may end up. But learning that they are still trying hard to improve their English or have an interest in foreign countries and cultures is a great feeling. I hope some of my other students from many years ago are also following similar paths.

Hige-Danshaku

Soup Curry

Last month, I went to Hokkaido for the second time since I came to Japan. It was a real pleasure to see Sapporo again, to go skiing in the pristine powder of Rusutsu, and of course, to enjoy the variety of amazing foods on offer in Japan’s northernmost prefecture. But I realized there was one thing that had escaped me during my first visit: soup curry! This warm, satisfying meal was apparently invented in Sapporo in the 1970s, and has been a mainstay in Hokkaido cuisine ever since. I adore curry in pretty much any form, so it seemed like a great choice after a few days on the slopes – our final meal before heading to the airport.

There’s no shortage of soup curry restaurants around downtown Sapporo, but we approached the front desk of our hotel to learn where the locals go. The clerk smiled, pulled out a pen, and circled an unmarked area in the margins of the map. “This place is a little far,” he told us, “but you won’t regret it.”

After a 10-min walk, we arrived at a small, inconspicuous shop at the base of an apartment building. There was only one small sign with the name written in black and yellow letters: ひげ男爵. But as we stepped inside, we realized this small, cozy shop was packed with business people having their lunch break - not tourists. We knew we had found something special.

Soup curry is more “soup” than “curry.”  It’s a relatively thin broth, but filled with an abundance of spices and large chunks of meat and vegetables. It’s probably more flavorful than your average Japanese curry, and the rice is served on the side. Mine also had coconut in it, which I highly recommend. You can adjust the spice level, add a variety of toppings, and even choose from several types of rice.

We passed the better part of an hour at Hige-Danshaku, filling our bellies and enjoying the warmth of the shop. It was the perfect way to restore our energy at the end of a fun, active week.

Hello, February！

It's been getting colder and colder and I'm shrinking with cold..

新年が明けてからすでに1ヵ月が経ちました。

レッスン内で皆さんの冬休みをお伺いすると「家でのんびりしてましたね～」や「親戚のお家に行きました」などご家族やご親戚の方とのんびりとした時間を過ごされた生徒さんが多い中、Kさんがびっくりなエピソードをお話してくださいました。

Kさん「I had shingles.」

私「How long did you have them?」

Kさん「Ah... two weeks?」

私「You've had shingles for two weeks?！」

さて、この会話をしたKさん、なんと2週間帯状疱疹に悩まされていた(悩まされている)とのこと。

かなり痛かったとのことです。

Kさんのお話を聞いて私も高校生の頃に帯状疱疹に悩まされたことを思い出しました。

私が帯状疱疹になったのは17歳の頃でした。

私は背中に帯状疱疹が出来たのですが、最初は小さいできものが出来たとしか思っていませんでした。

次第にチクチク痛むようになり自分で調べると症状が帯状疱疹と全く同じで、だんだん針で刺されているかのように痛むので母と皮膚科に行きました。

病院に行く道中、こんな会話を母としました。

私「絶対帯状疱疹。痛すぎるもん」

母「帯状疱疹〜？大げさすぎん？」

私「いやめっちゃ痛いよ、ほんまに(いやほんまに)」

そして皮膚科に到着し、先生が一言。

「ああ、帯状疱疹ですね。でももう治りかけですよ～よく我慢できましたね？」

私(心の中)「ほぼ完治のところで受診している私って・・・」

20歳を境にどんどん免疫力が低下し、少しの寝不足でも肌が荒れストレスを感じると胃が弱くなってしまいました。「無理をしない」ということが1番難しいのではと感じる今日この頃です。

How do you get rid of your stress?

For me, doing exercises is the best way of releasing mine.

If you have any tips, let's share them with me！

The demon

Yesterday, on Setsubun, the brave children of NEO used roasted soybeans to battle a terrible demon.

The brave children

The demon was so scary, but eventually he ran away.

Eating silently

My family all ate Ehomaki (sushi rolls). We had fried shrimp and teriyaki chicken flavors. Everybody except Ayumi ate their sushi roll silently while facing this year’s lucky direction, South-Southeast.

Who are they?

Later at night, some cute demons appeared, but we also threw beans at them until they left. 笑