Blog – Daniel

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ダニエル先生、ゴールデンウィーク中に　キャンプを楽しんだようです。
最近はキャンプファイヤーの炎の色を変化させて楽しアイテムなどがあって驚いたようです…

Over Golden Week I got my first camping experience in Japan.  It was
really nice to meet some new people, sit back and relax.  My friends
cooked up some chicken and beef on the grill while we all got together
to talk together and drink.  Even though it was my first camping
experience in Japan I felt so comfortable and relaxed, it seemed to be
very similar to a camping experience in Canada although I think my
friends prepared for camping much better than me and my friends in
Canada would have.  We also cooked up some super spicy yakisoba, my
friends said it was too spicy so I ended up eating most of it. Towards
the end of the night we had a campfire and some of the kids had a
special package called “ArtFire” that they threw into the fire to make
the fire change colours from blue to green, it was my first time to
see something like that and it reminded me of a fire version of the
Aurora Borealis.  The smell of a campfire was really nostalgic for me
and brought back memories of camping with my family as a child.  I
wonder if camping is as popular in Japan as it is back in Canada,
regardless I had a lot of fun and I think everyone else did as well.
I would like to go camping again soon and for a longer time to relax
and enjoy the outdoors.  What did you do for Golden Week, I hope
everyone had a fun and relaxing week.  As always, stay safe and I hope
everybody has a good weekend.

END

Blog – Daniel

投稿日時: 投稿者:
ダニエル先生の日記

～年末年始の買い物～
Happy New Years!

During the holidays leading up to the new year I did quite a bit of
eating so I think my New Year’s resolution this year should be to lose
weight as well as trying to learn new kanji and trying to save up
money for whatever this year will bring.  For Christmas eve I went to
Odaiba to have dinner and go shopping.  The year has only started and
I already have a few first time experiences.  I went to Saitama for
the first time to celebrate the new year.  Saitama was very quiet and
peaceful so it was nice to get a break from the hustle and bustle of
Tokyo for a while, also the sky and air is very clear so I was able to
stargaze at night.  It was also my first time having a traditional
Japanese New Year meal.  Afterwards I spent my first time going
holiday shopping for my family in Kawagoe.  It’s always difficult to
buy gifts for family members especially in a foreign country because I
don’t know if they will understand how to use it or be able to enjoy
it completely.  So I decided to keep it simple and get practical gifts
for my family such as soaps, incense as well as some cute socks and
clothing that I knew they would enjoy.  Gift giving is an important
part of North American culture and often we feel that we haven’t given
enough to our friends or families, but this year I know that everyone
is going through a difficult time and I am sending them my best wishes
as well as things that will make them feel more relaxed and
comfortable.  I am certain that my family will be happy regardless of
what I give them but I always still feel like it’s not enough. I hope
that everyone has a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous new year
despite any challenges you may face.

From here in Tokyo we are wishing everyone a Happy New Years and Happy
Holidays!

Wishing you all the best!

ダニエル先生年末年始はいろいろなところで買い物を楽しんで、初めて日本のおせち料理をだべたようですね。

Blog – Daniel

投稿日時: 投稿者:
Daniel 先生の日記
ハロウィンの思い出（カナダ）
It’s been a long time since I have celebrated Halloween but I still
have fond memories of the fall season in Canada.  Everybody gets
really excited for this season even now.  It’s a time where kids can
go out with their friends and collect candy, friends can get together
and watch scary movies, and adults will throw parties with all of
their friends.  For my first Halloween I dressed up as a dinosaur, it
was my favourite costume and I used it for many years.  Me and my
parents would walk around the neighbourhood and collect candy late
into the night.  When we got home I would empty my bag of candy on to
the floor, sort through everything I had collected and organize my
favourite candies.  After a couple years of Halloween my parents
started to realize I was eating too much of the candy at once so they
started to take it away from me, hide the bag and ration it out to me
so that I wouldn’t eat it all at once.  As I grew into my teens it
wasn’t so “cool” to go trick or treating with your parents anymore so
me and my friends would all meet up at one of our houses dress up and
go out for many hours collecting candy and then when we were finished
we would come back to one of our parents houses and talk about our
favourite houses, costumes, and decorations we saw that night.  Once
you hit a certain age trick or treating is no longer seen as
acceptable and if you go to houses to collect candy the owners of the
house will start to chastise you and say “Aren’t you a little too old
for this?”.  So once we turned 18 we would start to have our own
Halloween parties and watch scary movies together or go camping and
tell scary stories to each other around the campfire while cooking
marshmallows.  Some people really love Halloween so much that they
spend many hours decorating their homes to be like a haunted house.
Is Halloween as popular in Japan as it is in Canada?  What will you do
for Halloween?   I hope you get to enjoy this Halloween as much as
possible.  Have fun and stay safe.

THE HORROR of ZOMBIE CICADA ~ゾンビ蝉の恐怖~　－洋平ブログー

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アメリカのウェストバージニア州といえば、かの有名なジョン・デンバーの名曲「カントリー・ロード」の主人公の故郷ですが、近ごろこの州で、大量のゾンビが飛び回っているそうです。
ゾンビといえば、数々のホラーゲームや、「ウォーキング・デッド」のような海外ドラマでもおなじみの、「意志も知性もない死から蘇った生ける屍」で、ひとたび噛まれると、普通の人もゾンビ化してしまうという、恐ろしいやから達ですね。でも、ゾンビはあくまで架空のキャラクターのはずです。
しかし、このゾンビ蝉は架空ではなく、実在する本物の「ゾンビ」なのです。「マソスポラ」という細菌が蝉の個体に入り込み、下腹部の内臓を食い尽くし、できた空洞に胞子を張り巡らせ他の蝉へ感染拡散ができる状態にすると同時に、蝉の脳神経経路完全に乗っ取るのだそうです。
つまり、この細菌に侵された蝉は、自分の意志とは全く切り離されながら、飛び回るというのです！！まさにゾンビです！！更に、マソスポラという細菌は幻覚症状を引き起こすともわかっているよう。つまりこの蝉たちは何も知らずに幻覚を見ながら飛び回っていることになります！
このゾンビ蝉の英語記事はプラネットアカデミーのツイッターでリツイートしましたので、興味ある方はぜひ、英語で読んでみてください（ゾンビ蝉の写真もありますよ！）
twitter: @sasahataenglish

Blog – Daniel

投稿日時: 投稿者:
Daniel先生の日記：
ダニエル先生、週末に焼き肉、たこの刺身、激辛ラーメンなど「本場」の日本食を堪能したようです…

This has been a good week for me to eat some different types of food.

While I know they are very common for most Japanese people, I still haven’t had the chance to eat them so often. I was lucky to have been able to eat a lot of really tasty meals over the past couple of days.
First I had yakiniku which I found to be really fun as well as delicious.  In Canada I would really enjoy barbecuing in the backyard, and although it’s inside it’s still really enjoyable.
I also got to have salted octopus sashimi which is one of my favourite foods.  Many of my friends think that it’s strange but it’s so tasty to me.
Finally I had spicy shoyu ramen.  I really love spicy foods so I try to get the spiciest dishes there are to offer whenever I get the chance.
Japan has so many delicious foods to try and I have only scratched the surface.  I hope everyone is staying safe, having a wonderful weekend.

Blog

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A bag for life?

今日(7/1）より日本ではスーパーやコンビニでのレジ袋が有料になりますね。すでに日本ではエコバッグの使用は浸透しているようです。世界でも環境のためにプラスチックゴミを減らす運動が広がっています。そこで、英語でエコバッグのいろいろな言い方を紹介します。

eco-bag
eco-friendly bag
reusable bag
reusable shopping bag
shopping bag
tote bag
shopping tote
ここまではだいたいどこの英語圏でも違和感がなさそうですが、
bag for life （一生使えるバッグ）という呼び方はイギリスでしか通用しないかもしれません。

Blog – 新ネイティブ講師　Daniel先生

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今月から、Mark先生に代わってキッズ、社会人のクラスを担当するネイティブ講師のDaniel 先生の初ブログです。子供のころの思い出の映画、バックトゥザフューチャーの日本語吹き替え版をテレビで見た驚きを書いてくれました。

Hello everyone my name is Daniel and I recently moved to Tokyo.
I wanted to talk about my first experience watching a movie from home on cable television in Japan. Last night was the first time I’ve watched Japanese television in about 4 months. I was really surprised and excited to find out that they were playing one of my favorite childhood movies “Back to the Future” on the television. I was also very surprised that all of the voices have been changed to Japanese because usually when I watch western movies the audio usually remains the same. I had expected it to be in English with Japanese subtitles, but since I already knew the movie very well it was good practice for me to work on my listening skills. I think it’s a really good practice to watch movies in the language you are learning and to read the subtitles in your native language. My friend even informed me that they will be playing the sequel this upcoming Friday so I am really looking forward to that. It was a very nostalgic feeling to see a movie that I haven’t seen in over a decade.
I hope you all have a great week and enjoy your upcoming weekend.