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 the end of the year. Click the button below to listen.
Dave-sensei will be on Radio MOMO (79.0FM) with D.J. Chiaki Kamibeppu on Thursday, December 28th (today!), at about 5:40 pm. They will talk in English and Japanese about the end of the year.
12月28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年末について話します。
http://www.fm790.co.jp/
One of the most exciting things for me when moving somewhere new is checking out the kinds of shops and places that are nearby. My current apartment has a lot more places than where I lived before. So, over the past few months since I moved, I have been checking out various shops. I have been particularly interested in places where I can eat out.
While there are many chains, there are also many other places to eat out. One store called ‘Tora Tora Ice’ usually serves summer treats but during this season serves toasted sandwiches of two kinds; ones with some kind of meal theme (in the blog picture = chicken nanban) or dessert toasted sandwiches with ice cream. Another unique place was a local izakaya. When I went there, I was surprised to see not only cat / dog goods everywhere around the room, but even a real cat freely walking around. The owner loves animals, and inside was mostly themed around them. The last place I want to mention is not a place to eat out, but a bakery near my apartment. It’s called ‘Hermes’. I liked the shop before I moved to my current apartment, and now I live so close which is a nice bonus.
One of the reasons I’m so interested in places to eat around my apartment is probably because of where I grew up. I may have grown up in a city, but my suburb only had one shop. It was a dairy; a corner store that sells basic foods like bread, milk, snacks, and so on. It isn’t a place to eat out. Some of the nearby suburbs had takeout, but there were few choices. Having so many choices is fun, and it can save the stress of cooking every day. My biggest problem is that while I now have many choices, It can be expensive, and I’m also very indecisive…..
ふと載っていたネットニュースの他愛ない内容に目頭が熱くなりました。
高校時代の親友が「お弁当（の量）が多くて食べきれんから手伝って」と言うので、何年も食べるのを手伝ってあげていた。と思っていたら実は違っていたという内容です。高校にお弁当を毎日持って行けるわけでない台所事情の家庭に育ったトピ主さん。時には昼ご飯がなかったトピ主さん。そんな彼女の親友さんが自分のお母さんにお願いをしてかなり余分な量をわざとお弁当に入れてもらったそうです。トピ主さんも食べられるように。
頭を使い、そのお弁当をトピ主さんへ出す際に「うちのオカンはお弁当を残して帰ると悲しむから一緒に食べるのを手伝って」という真っ赤な嘘までつき、トピ主さんはすっかり騙されたそう。そのトピックを見た他の方からの書き込みには、似たような経験をした人、親切をしたつもりが相手を怒らせてしまった人などの経験もありました。その中で日本らしいセリフがあったのです。「私の母はいつもこう言っていました。親切は相手が分からないようにそーっとするものだ、と」。これがなんとも超絶日本らしい。見えないところで行う親切が日本式。
欧米では人が困っていると「お助けしましょうか？」と聞いてくれます。重い荷物を持っているとさっとかけよってきて声をかけてくれる場面に遭遇した人も多いでしょう。チャリティーなどその親切の最たるもの。それを見た人が真似をして同じように親切をする。
因みに漢字で書く「親切」は「深切」とも書けるそうです。
画像のGingerbread manは中学2年生女子（のお母さん）のお手製。包みも可愛く、相手を思って包んでくれるのが嬉しいです。
Last week, one of my students asked me what I was looking forward to the most when I go back to visit the US this month. It will be my first time home in 5 years, so it’s a good question. It took me a minute to come up with a good response.
The obvious answer is my family – I’m excited just to be at home with them for a couple of weeks, so I didn’t plan any big road trips. However, we will be spending a few days in New York City together, and there’s one big thing I’ve never done there before: a live jazz show.
The reason I’m excited about about this show in particular is that the musician is from Okayama! Her name is Kyoko Oyobe, and she’s been working as a jazz pianist in New York for quite some time. Her quartet is playing at a place called Cellar Dog, and we’ll be there to see it.
Hopefully I’ll have some good stories to share when I come back to Japan!