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スピーク英会話サロン【福岡】

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Chapman Kindergarten

May 2, 2019

Three-thirty in the morning and I’m wide awake. I thought I had this jetlag licked, but apparently not.

So, . . .

My older son Yuk-kun kicked and screamed yesterday morning: he did NOT want to go to kindergarten. He was adamant and couldn’t be coaxed or forced out the front door no matter what I tried. After a while, my wife gave in and told him to go back to bed and rest.

“But no books! No toys! No TV!”

Rather than try to deal with it further, I went out with his younger brother to a park that is located just outside the school grounds.

When we arrived at the park, everything—the swings, the slides, the tire, the lawn—was covered with dew. Living as long as I have in the southwest of Japan where it’s seldom foggy, I had forgotten all about dew. I had even forgotten the word “dew” and wouldn’t have remembered it if it weren’t for a young girl of about three or four who called out to her mother and told what the swings were covered with.

“You don’t want to sit down on the swing,” I told my son. “They’re covered with dew, with water. If you sit down on it, you’ll end up with a soggy bottom.”

About forty minutes later, my wife showed up with Yuk-kun. The boy looked genuinely happy to be there.

“What happened?” I asked.

“He had to poo.”

“Aah.”

Yu, standing at the edge of the playground, was about to step in when he stopped himself and suddenly remember: “Oh, I gotta go to school!”

He then ran off towards the school’s doors, my wife chasing after him.

 

Now the funny thing about kindergarten here—and I don’t know if it just Chapman, or all the kindergartens in the Portland Public School system, or all of them in the States—but the daily routine is highly regimented. There are, for starters, quite a few musts: You MUST drop your child off at school between 7:55 and 8:00. If you are ten minutes late, you MUST report to the school office and bring a note to the teacher! You MUST pick your child up at exactly 2:15! And so on.

My son’s kindergarten back in Japan is, by comparison, in a state of virtual anarchy. Arrival and dismissal times are not clearly defined: you may drop your child off between 8:30 and 9:30. And there is no need to notify the school if you’re late. You can alternate between commuting by school bus and bringing your child on foot or by bicycle, as you please. You may even change the bus stop at which your child gets off as my son often requests. And once at school, the kids spend most of their time playing in the schoolyard and roaming about in the classroom, rather than engaged in structured lessons.

Another big difference, though, is the rituals that mark the day. The kids at my son’s Buddhist school go to school in their formal school attire. Once at school, they remove their street shoes, place them in a cubbyhole, and change into their indoor shoes. Then, they progress to their classrooms where they put their bags into another cubbyhole, hang their water bottles on the appropriate rack and change into their play clothes. For the next hour or so they are allowed to run around, play in the mud, get unbelievably filthy, catch insects, and so on. They are, for the most part, free to do as they like, though there are some controlled activities, such as practice for the school summer festival and the autumn field day.

When lunchtime comes around, they spread their furoshiki out, pray to the Buddha, and then eat. School lunch is served about two or three times a week. On the other days, the children bring their own bentō.

 

Later that night when Yuk-kun and I were lying in bed, I asked him how his day had been. Unfortunately, I didn’t get many answers. He had fun, that much was clear.

While he didn’t have many answers for me, he certainly had a lot of questions: What does this mean? What does that mean? What is this? What is that? Whenever I explained something it was like a powerful light coming on in his brain: “Ah! So that’s what that was all about!!!”

 

Tomorrow, er, today will be his third day at Chapman. This weekend we’ll have three days off, thanks to the Labor Day weekend, which will provide all of us a much-needed rest.

But for now, it’s back to sleep!

In Life in America, Life in Japan, Traveling with Kids Tags Portland, ポートランド, アメリカの幼稚園, Kindergarten in America
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Will Leather Goods

February 27, 2019

When we were visiting Portland back in 2015, we needed to buy a backpack for our son who went to the local kindergarten for a few weeks. At first, we thought about buying something reasonable, but then we happened upon a Will Leather Goods store.
The backpack was a bit pricey, but the size, color, and design couldn’t be beat.



2015年にポートランドの小学校に通うために現地で購入したバックパックです。可愛いでしょう!!!

「WILL」 というブランドで、オレゴン州に本社があります。

アメリカにはランドセルの文化がないため、小・中・高・大学生まで、ほとんどの人がバックパックで通学します。バックパック文化なので、デザインも豊富にあるのです。

WILLの子供用のパックパックはおシャレで、頑丈!8000円とそこそこの値段はしますが、生地がしっかりしているので、かなり長持ちします。この質と可愛さ、日本にはこんなリュックないです!

全米に6店舗ありますので、アメリカに旅行の際はぜひ店舗に足を運んでみてはいかがでしょうか。

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Tuesday is Soroban/Abacus Day and the boys usually go to their lesson with their Will bags on their backs.

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The company donates backpacks to needy kids.

Join us as we kick start our 2019 Give Will campaign. It’s very simple. Right now your purchase of any Oregon Collection bag from Will Leather Goods will result in us donating one of our iconic Dream backpacks this Fall.

It’s that easy… You buy one. We give one!

For more, go here:

https://www.willleathergoods.com

In Life in America, Traveling with Kids, 子連れ旅行 Tags Will Leather Goods, Portland, ポートランド, Backpacks, Give Will, 英会話, 英会話スクール, 福岡市英会話
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ポートランドの日本庭園

January 18, 2019

ポートランドの日本庭園を主監されているという

造園家の内山貞文さんの記事を雑誌でたまたま見つけました。

やっぱり!ポートランドの日本庭園は

日本人の本物の造園家の方が手がけてらっしゃったんだ!

すごい!!!



ポートランドのダウンタウンから車で15分ぐらいのところに

ワシントンパークという広大な敷地の公園があります。

その一角に日本庭園があります。

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海外で日本庭園???

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と、まったく期待せずに入ったのですが…

これが実によくできていました!

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例えば、日本ならではの「透かし」の技術。

茂みのボリュームを削っていくことで、

向こう側の風景が透けて見えるようになります。

光の抜け感が出ることで、風景に奥行きが加わり

美しく見せるという技術だそうですが、

ポートランドの日本庭園の木々は

この技術を用いて剪定されていました。

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石の置き方にしても、きちんと配置されています。



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ウォークラリーができて、

子どもたちは広い公園を一生懸命に走ってくれました。


懐かしい風景に、心が和んだひと時でした。

大人も子供も楽しめた思い出の場所です。

ポートランドに行かれる際はぜひ、

ワシントンパークはもちろん、日本庭園にも

足を運ばれてください。

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Portland Japanese Garden

HP: https://japanesegarden.org

Winter Business Hours (September 30 – March 11)

Monday: Noon-4:00pm
Tuesday to Sunday: 10:00am - 4:00pm

Summer Business Hours (March 11 – September 30)

Monday: Noon-7pm
Tuesday to Sunday: 10:00am-7:00pm

Admission

Adult: $16.95
Senior (65+): $14.50
Student: $13.50
Youth (6-17): $11.50
Child (5 and under): Free

In 子連れ旅行 Tags 子連れでアメリカ旅行, Portland, ポートランド, ポートランドの日本庭園, Japanese Garden
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Have a nice one!

August 29, 2018
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"Have a nice one!"

The first time I heard that I was taken somewhat by surprise and didn't quite know how to reply. After a moment, I said, "You, too." And that seemed to work.

The longer I was in Portland, the more I heard it--from baristas, from people at the supermarket, from just about everyone.

Years ago, people used to say, "Have a nice day!" or "Have a great weekend!" Now, they just say, "Have a nice one." I guess it's easier and more convenient because it can be used at any time and on any occasion. 

So, . . . 

Have a great one, everybody!

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In Everyday Conversation Tags Have a nice one, Portland, Coffee Shop, Barista, ポートランド, 英会話スクール, 福岡市 英会話, 英語教室
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Instagram

Back at Sri Lanka Nishijin today. Never gets old.
Curry Tiner’s South Indian Chicken & Mutton Curry

I have been following the guy for years on Instagram and have been meaning to go, but the planets never quite seemed to line up. Today they did and thank God for that.

Wow!

Expect a long
Ippodo Tea Shop, Kyōto
Higashi Hongan-ji, Kyōto
All ready for Thanksgiving.

#shochu #imojochu #焼酎 #いも焼酎
Display Cases of Kyoto
Inukaeshi in Kyōto 

京都の犬返し

#Kyoto #Inukaeshi #犬返し #京都 #Machiya #町屋
Walls in Gokusho Machi, Hakata
The 15th of August is the last day of the Bon Festival of the Dead, Japan’s version of Dia de muertos. On this day, Japanese say goodbye to the spirits of their ancestors. Today I say goodbye to my last drop of Yamato Zakura Beni Imo 35%. Forgi
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#櫛田神社 #Kushida #springinjapan #Fukuoka
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Another one of my somewhat hard-to-find favorites. Sang Som from Thailand. So smooth. I used to keep a bottle of it at Gamaradi before the pandemic. May have to do so again. Missed it. Missed Mr. Chang.
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