detoxing

デトックスが流行りの昨今、どんな解毒をしたことがありますか?写真は解毒作用のあるどくだみ茶を我が家で作ろうと手で摘んで干しているところです。

キッズたちがNEOの待合で時間をつぶす間、本を持参して読むことは数えるほどであとはスマホに頼ることが多いものです。コロナ禍でよほど待合の本を撤去しようかと思ったのですがスマホを使うよりもいいと思ったので敢えてずっと本は読んでもらえるようにしていました。

このスマホは恐ろしい。中毒性が恐ろしい。大人の自分でさえ、本が好きな自分でさえ、手軽に情報が得られるスマホをずっと触ってしまうのです。朝起きてからどれだけの間スマホを触っているのか、私の家に監視カメラが設置されていたら赤面ものでしょう。せめて朝食の際は使わないようにしています。

そんなワケで子供たちに携帯を触らない、YouTubeは見ない、というのは大変です。大人が自分を律することができないのに子供に言えません。おまけにひと昔前のゲームと違い、今のゲームの中毒性はすごいのです。

いつか自分の休日にメディアデトックス(digital detox)をしてみようと考え中です。趣味のスポーツで家を出ているときは仲間とスポーツをしているので携帯は触る必要がないので楽勝です。要は予定がない日に携帯を触らないようにするのです。それをいつにしようか…したくないから先延ばし中です。

似たような概念で、カタカナ禁止日を設けてみました。自分が話すときにとにかくカタカナを使わないという試練です。きちんと日本語が使えるかと思った事がきっかけでしたがこれが大層「難儀」でございました。

ドア⇒扉、トイレ⇒お手洗い、ベッド⇒お布団、とひたすら言い換えます。スプーン⇒えっ?なんだっけ?匙?そうなるとカタカナ抜きでフォークが言えません。ではフォークと言うのを止めよう。

その結果。コーヒー⇒その日は飲まない。テレビ⇒その日は見ない。ソファ⇒座らない。こういった単語をひたすら会話に使わないようにする羽目になりました。

AyumiComment
Radio MOMO「Let's Enjoy English!」第89 - 結婚式 - Wedding

Dave-sensei will be on Radio MOMO (79.0FM) with D.J. Chiaki Kamibeppu on Thursday, May 25th (today!), at about 5:40 pm. They will talk in English and Japanese about weddings in America and Japan.

5月25日(木)5時40分ごろにDave先生がRadio MOMO (79.0FM) に出演します(DJは上別府千晶さん)。英語と日本語の両方でアメリカと日本の結婚式について話します。

http://www.fm790.co.jp/

David FulvioComment
Curry and Jazz

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.

David FulvioComment
Osakan Food

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.

Jules WhiteComment