Blog – Mark

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Mark先生の日記　家族や友人のために祈ろう
Hello,
Today I want to talk about family. With this hellacious Coronavirus Pandemic going on across the planet, there’s a great need to express the love and care we should be showing each other. Family, friends, and neighbors should work together so we can all get through it. My Family’s in Hawaii, California, DC, New York, South Carolina, etc.. We can stay in touch via Skype and other apps. Well for me, prayer is num #1. Believing and having faith in Jesus helps me to stay strong and keep pushing forward. So if you’re feeling down and negative. Try concentrating on family and the many blessings you already have. Don’t forget to reach out to others because everybody needs somebody in times like this. Lets all keep the positivity flowing! PEACE!
2020
世界中でコロナウィルスの感染が深刻です。マーク先生の家族は皆アメリカのいろいろな都市に離れて暮らしています。
遠くにいる家族や友達は心配ですね。どもそんな時こそみんなと協力しながら強く前進していこう、というメッセージです。頑張って読んでみてください！！（写真はマーク先生とご家族）

Blog – Mark

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マーク先生の日記

Do you believe in visualization? Lately I’ve been watching a lot of videos on Youtube about the power of visualizing your goals into reality. It’s about living your dreams and not your nightmares. One of my best motivational speakers goes by the name “Les Brown”. His speeches are very moving to me. It’s like taking a morning vitamin of pure life and energy. It gives me the confidence and energy I need to get through the day. Also I listen to a compilation of speakers from many different genres. Some are movie stars, sportsmen, world leaders, and regular individuals who strive and are destined for greatness. So if you need a little “pick me upper” in your day then I recommend listening to different motivational speakers and find the ones that moves you best. I swear to you it works, PEACE!
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
visualization: 視覚化
compilation: 編集物
strive: 努力する
destine: 運命づける
motivational speaker:動機付けスピーカー

＊解説
マーク先生、最近「視覚化」（Visualization）をつかった自己啓発にはまっているようですね。
自分の夢や目標を「視覚化」できれば、実現につなげるというポジティブな考え方です。
確かに、海外や日本でも、この「視覚化して夢を叶える」という考え方は多くの人に指示されていて芸能人やスポーツ選手、政治家がこの方法をいろいろなメディアで紹介や推奨をしています。
中でもマーク先生がYoutubeではまっているのが アメリカのLes Brownという人で、米下院議員、著者、ラジオDJ、テレビ司会者などの経歴を持ち、”It’s possible!” （それは可能です!）をキャッチフレーズに活動をする最も有名な動機付けスピーカーの一人です。
（写真はハワイにいたときのマーク先生とマーク先生のご家族）

Blog – Mark

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【Mark 先生のつぶやき～最近ハマってるTVドラマ】
So… I’m like really into TV series nowadays. Recently I’ve been locked into a TV series titled “IMPULSE” season 1. You can watch it on YouTube Premium. What a strange name right? Anyway, I highly recommend this TV show. It’s exciting, intriguing, and suspenseful. Also, if you’re into a little blood and gore then you’ll love this. Basically it’s about a girl who discovers she has a super power. Through emotions, fear, and anger triggers her teleporting ability. When she first starts noticing she has this ability, she didn’t have a clue about how to control it. That resulted in her accidentally killing people. So eventually she grasped her ability and did unimaginable things which some she regrets and some she doesn’t. Also she finds out her power isn’t a secret and there’s been a private elite team tracking her every move.Now she’s faced with having to choose between using her power for the greater good or the dark side. I can’t wait for season 2!! PEACE!
～～解説～～
Mark先生、YouTube Premium のシリーズドラマ　”Impulse”にはまっているようです。
本人曰く、このドラマは exciting（ハラハラドキドキ）で intriguing（刺激的）で、しかも suspenseful（サスペンス満載）と絶賛しています。
シーズン１では、時には制御不能な超能力を持つ女の子がその力を使って善(the greater good)につくのか、悪(the dark side)につくのか、もしくは力を封印して普通の人として生きるのかという葛藤を描きつつ、その力に目をつけ彼女に忍び寄る謎のエリート組織が登場します。
バイオレントなシーンもあるようで、Mark 先生は、多少の流血シーンがOKな人という条件付きでこのドラマをお勧めしています。上記英文の　”… if you’re into a little blood and gore…” という部分ですが、
be into ~: ～に興味を持つ、はまる
blood and gore: 血液や血のり
a little:少しだけ
ですからわかりやすいですね。
それにしても、最近アメリカでは、超能力をもった子供が主人公のドラマが流行ってますね。
この”Impulse”の他にもNetflix が配信する”Stranger Things” や “Raising Dion” も大ヒットしています。どれも期待を裏切らないクオリティーなのでお勧めですよ。是非吹替ではなく、原語（英語）で見てください！
でも、テレビの見過ぎ→寝不足にならないよう、お気をつけを。

Blog – Mark

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Mark先生の日記

Buffet Party!!

So my wife and I decided we wanted to pig out today. We chose the Prince Hotel in Shinagawa. HAPUNA LUXE DINING. This place is amazing! So many different varieties of foods to choose from! It’s like heaven for people who loves to eat lol. When I arrived, the first thing I dove into was the crab legs. It was an all you eat buffet so that’s exactly what I did. I ate all the crab legs I could. Then I got sick… what a bummer. I ate that seafood like a wild man! Maybe I shouldn’t have but at least a brother got his money’s worth. Ha-ha got you suckers!

マーク先生、先週末は品川プリンスホテルのレストランでビュッフェを楽しんだようですね。大好物のかにを食べすぎた、と書いてあります。
面白いネイティブの表現として、”pig out” （大食いする）というのがあります。lol はアメリカの絵文字です。

Blog – Sharika

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シャリカ先生の休日日記　～奈良　室生山公園芸術森～

Hello, everyone.
Happy New Year.
I hope that you ended 2019 with a blast and I am wishing for a prosperous New Year. May we all be blessed this 2020.

Last New Year holiday, I got some free time, so I decided to go to Kansai area with my friends. There’s this place that I’ve been dying to visit the first time I saw its picture. This place is not as popular as other tourist spots in Japan. Only a few people are aware of it as well. It’s located in the remote part of western Nara. Let me tell you more about it.

The place I’m talking about is Muro Art Forest. Have you heard of it before? It’s an open-air museum and park in the heart of Muro village. It is a 700 meters (2,300 feet) in length park. It is originally conceptualized by Bukichi Inoue, a local sculptor and the varied art pieces in the park were designed by renowned Israeli sculptor, Dani Karavan. The art used was based on the theme “Harmony between Nature and Art”.

This place is a family-friendly destination. It is a perfect place to relax and escape from the bustle of everyday life. It’s such a peaceful place. I hope you’ll get a chance to see and visit this place. For you to get to there, you have to go hiking for 30 minutes, not to mention the train and bus rides for long hours. It may be difficult to get there but it’s all worth it.

Let me share a picture of me in my favorite art piece.
I hope you’ll like it.

＊シャリカ先生、今回の年末年始休暇を利用して写真で見た時からずっと行きたかったという「室生山公園芸術の森」を訪れました。素晴らしいアートを堪能できて、しかも奈良県の他の観光スポットにくらべると、訪れる人が少ない穴場スポットだそうです。皆さまも訪れてみてはいかがでしょうか?

Blog – Mark

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Mark 先生から年末年始バケーションのレポートです！
Happy Holidays fam. Wow! I had a blast this year. I went shopping, hit the slopes, and dined on a yacht amongst other things. I had no time to waste. We had such a short holiday break from work that I had to get it all in  fast lol. I miss that amazing weather in Hawaii right now but the cold weather here is kind of growing on me. At first, I couldn’t handle the cold but now it’s chill. So much excitement here in Japan that I can’t seem to get enough. Japan’s a place where the gaijin learns how to party for real lol. I mean the party doesn’t ever stop! Anyhow, I just want to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a better New Year. Peace!
ハワイ生活が長かったマーク先生、日本の冬の寒さは苦手だったけど、最近は慣れてきて “It’s chill” と言ってますね。Chillは冷たい、という意味の他に、落ち着いている、とか、心地よい、という意味でもネイティブの人たちはよく使います。つまり、この冬の寒さも問題なくなった、ということでしょう。それににしても、マーク先生の年末年始は、ショッピング、スキーにいったり（hit the slopes）、ヨットでの食事などなど、ずいぶんと楽しんだようです。正月の日本人のパーティー三昧にも驚いたと言ってますので、きっと楽しいバケーションだったのでしょう。

Respect The Culture by Mark (English Instructor)

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So the other day I was strolling through Shibuya-Ku. I instantly felt as if I was home when I spotted what looks to be a wall of graffiti. Wow! What a beauty. Growing up as a kid in the U.S. east coast, I was deep into the art. A connoisseur if I may. It was very interesting to capture this style of graffiti art all the way here in Japan. “I wonder whose?”, I thought. It was breathtaking to realize how small this world really is because this culture started from the streets and ghettos across America. Now it’s here all the way in Japan. I give my Japanese bros props for carrying the culture on their backs. Respect!

米国出身のマーク先生、渋谷で見つけたグラフィティ（落書き）に、子供時代を過ごした故郷をおもいだして感動したようですね。米国の東海岸周辺のグラフィティを見て育ったので、本人曰くグラフィティに関しては「目利き」のようです。落書きは迷惑行為でもありますが、アートやカルチャーとして好むひとがいることも事実のようですね。