Boys of Summer

This was a fun surprise.

Spent most of the day indoors, but in the afternoon my older son wanted to go out and shoot hoops and play catch, so we went to “Yakuin Park”. About an hour later, a large group of tanned kids in sandals showed up. Judging by the buzz cuts most of them had, I figured they were baseball players, but not from these parts.

After chatting and playing with them for about an hour, I learned that they were from Nakagusuku Village, Okinawa, a small town in the middle of the main island, close to Ginowan and the massive Kadena Air Force Base. As I suspected, most of them had distinctly Okinawan family names—Kinjo, Miyagi, and so on. They also had more brothers and sisters than the typical Japanese family. Okinawans are famous for having larger than average families and none of the kids I talked to were only children; all but one had more than two siblings.

They came to take part in a baseball tournament, something they try to do every year and use the Campfire crowdsourcing to fund the trip. (I will be happily donating to the cause in the future.)

When they left, one of the younger boys hugged me. Another, who had been playing basketball with my younger son, told him to come down to Nakagusuku and play with him there. They were all so sweet.

I guess because they were from Okinawa and used to seeing the mixed-race kids of the US military personnel, they had no qualms about approaching us and talking. So very different from kids here in Fukuoka who can be more standoffish towards outsiders.

Later, I googled their school, Nakagusuku Minami. It’s a new school with over 700 students. Liam’s own school has about 600, but Akasaka Elementary which is in the next district has much fewer. Unlike schools here in Fukuoka which are being merged to maintain enrollment, their school was created due to overcrowding at another school.

Our little park hardly has any kids in it most times—the heaviest users are my own two boys—so it was nice to see it packed with kids, spontaneously playing different games and filling the air with their laughter.

Road Trip to San Diego

パームスプリングスから車でサンディエゴに移動します。

ハイウェイだと２時間ぐらいで着きますが、アメリカの道路に不慣れなので、山道を通るルートで行くことにしました。

街灯もない。ガードレールもない。夜の運転は恐ろしいですね…

南カリフォルニアのコロラド砂漠にあるCoachella Valley

カリフォルニアの乾燥した景色を堪能できます。

彼の名前はSMOKEY

山火事のお知らせをしてくれます。

山火事の跡も残っていました

今年のアメリカの冬は、カリフォルニアの砂漠に大雨が降るほど異常気象だったそうです。

山の方はまだ雪が残っていました。

こんなに山が緑なのを初めて見ました。

Palm Springs Life

パームスプリングスは広い一軒家が多い地域になります。

広いリビング

寒い日は暖炉で暖まります。

広いキッチン。鬼ごっこができそうです。

nap time

細長ーーーいプール

温水にする機能がついているので、外が少々寒くても入れます。

携帯電話から温める操作ができるそうです。ハイテクですね。

とうっ！！！

splash!!!

夜は外の暖炉を囲んで、おしゃべりに花を咲かせます。

５日間のパームスプリングを家族と堪能することができました。

次はサンディエゴへ車で移動です。

The Architecture of Palm Springs

Two main styles of architecture predominate in Palm Springs—Mid-century modern, as I have mentioned in a previous post, and the “hacienda” style. I am a big fan of both.

Homes designed in the Mid-Century fashion in Palm Springs are usually single-story, with geometric rooflines. Most of these houses were built in the 1950s and 60s.

According to Wikipedia, the movement behind mid-century modern architecture (1950s/60s era) in Palm Springs is backed by architecture enthusiasts, designers, and local historians to preserve many of Palm Springs' buildings and homes of famous celebrities, businessmen, and politicians. Stores sell furniture and gifts that feature a mid-century modern theme. The city holds a Modernism Week celebration every February, along with several related smaller events during the year.”

The other style is called hacienda.

Again, Wikipedia, “The term hacienda is imprecise, but usually refers to landed estates of significant size, while smaller holdings were termed estancias or ranchos . . . In Mexico, as of 1910, there were 8,245 haciendas in the country. In Argentina, the term estancia is used for large estates that in Mexico would be termed haciendas.

“In recent decades, [however] the term has been used in the United States for an architectural styleassociated with the traditional estate manor houses.”

The hacienda style that you can find in Palm Springs typically have reddish brown tiled roofs, white or beige stucco wallswith plants growing up them, colorful shuttered windows, and covered patios.

Palm Springs 1

Our first destination on this trip was Palm Springs.

Palm Springs is a small city of about 40,000 people, located about 2 hours east of Los Angeles.

 

When I was a child, my father bought the home pictured below with some of his coworkers who were all in the real estate business (不動産業界). During the spring and autumn months we would spend about one weekend a month at the Palm Spring house, swimming in our pool, playing in the local park, taking walks in the evening, and eating at our favorite Mexican restaurant. It was truly a happy time for all of us.

About ten years later, my father sold that house and bought another slightly bigger one in the nicer Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs. Here, our neighbors included the famous statesmen Henry Kissinger and actor Rock Hudson. All of the houses, or at least most of them, were designed by the same architectural company, so they have a similar style that is very Mid-Century Modern.

This was the house across the street from ours ↓

Although it may look dry—and to be honest, it is—this view is one I love. Palm trees, Mid-Century Modern architecture, the mountains and blue skies.

When we had the house, most of our neighbors had laws in front of their homes. The drought (干魃) of the past two decades has caused everyone to turn their gardens into desert ones.

Here is a more iconic image of Palm Springs. Golf course, palm trees, blue skies and mountains. As you can see from the photo, there is snow on those mountains. The highest mountain is San Jacinto. It is about 300 meters lower than Mount Fuji and can get a lot of snow. The water in the local springs come from that snow.

There is a tram that goes from Palm Springs all the way up into the mountains. I must confess that I have never been on it.

We meant to go up into the mountains this time, but it was too cold and rainy.

Supermarkets in America

One of the things I love to do when traveling abroad is to visit local supermarkets. It can be so revealing (啓発), providing you with valuable insight (見識) into the daily lives of the people who live there.

When it comes to supermarkets in America, the first thing that hits you is the size. They are HUGE (広大), the aisles wide enough to drive a Japanese compact car (軽自動車) down them.

The second thing that will impress, or shock, you is the amount of processed, instant and frozen food there is.

The frozen food section at our supermarket in Fukuoka looks like this:

The frozen food section at the Ralph’s in downtown Los Angeles looked like this:

What’s more, there were about six of these gigantic freezers. The frozen food section alone was bigger than our local Bon Repas supermarket.

It was the same with just about every section of the supermarket.

The cereal section at our local Bon Repas.

There were two walls of cereal at the Ralph’s in LA.

Chips at our local supermarket.

Chips at a supermarket in Palm Springs. There were so many different types, we couldn’t decide what to buy.

America

From March 17th to April 6th, we traveled to America. Well, actually, just Southern California. It was our first trip back to the US in almost five years. Five Years! We had originally planned to return in the summer of 2020, but then the Covid-19 pandemic closed the world down. It was good to be back, as you can see from the excitement in my face.

In the coming days and weeks, I will be sharing our adventures.

Stay tuned!

FTD the floral-gifting experts

アメリカのお母さんへお花を贈りました。

アメリカに住んでいる人へお花を贈りたいときはFTDがおすすめです。

FTD 　→　https://www.ftd.com/?cid=ftddts&prid=ftddts

FTDは日本版花キューピットのアメリカ版で、the floral-gifting expertsだそうです。

贈り先の近くの花屋さんが花束を作り、届けてくれます。

アメリカにいる大切な人への贈り物に

ぜひご利用ください！

Hydrangea

あじさいの季節です。

梅雨入り後、しばらく雨が降らなかったのですが、

またどんよりとした梅雨らしい空になりました。

鮮やかなピンクが綺麗です

お散歩が楽しい季節です

News Eigo Jutsu

NHK’s ニュース英語術 is a great site to help you improve your reading ability, particularly when reading news stories.

Almost every weekday, one short article is uploaded. If you have trouble understanding the sentence, click on the arrow to reveal not only a translation of the sentence, but also grammar and vocabulary pointers.

Christmas in the US and Britain

You may think that just because Americans and the British speak the same language and share a connected history they must also celebrate Christmas the same way.

Well, actually, we don’t.

The customs and traditions are quite different, though, thanks to Hollywood movies and TV shows, the British Christmas is becoming more and more like America’s.

What's Santa's Name?

How many different names for Santa Claus can you think of? I come up with ten, many of which are just variation of Saint Nicholas or Father Christmas.

The following was taken from Busuu. You can read the entire article here.

What is Santa Claus’ real name?

The concept originated from Saint Nicholas, a patron saint famous for giving generous gifts to the poor. The pronunciation of Saint Nicholas in Dutch is Sinnterklaas, which is where the name Santa Claus came from. Spelling Sinterklaas as Santa Claus dates back about 200 years in New York.

10 different names for Santa Claus around the world

1. English: Santa Claus / Father Christmas

In the UK, US and Canada, “Santa Claus” or “Father Christmas” is believed to travel around the world sporting a red suit on his sleigh, pulled by reindeer. 

He comes down the chimney the night before Christmas (between 24 and 25 December), leaving presents for children under the Christmas tree! Children often leave Christmas stockings by the fireplace that Santa can fill with small gifts and sweets. 

Some families will leave a snack for him for his travels. In the UK, it’s common to leave a mince pie (a traditional festive pastry) and a glass of whisky / sherry for Santa, and a carrot for the reindeer! Americans leave cookies and milk.

2. American-English: Kris Kringle

In the US and Canada, some people call him Kris Kringle, which originates from the German word Christkind (Christ child). 

3. French: Père Noël / Papa Noël (lit. Father Christmas / Daddy Christmas)

In France, it is Père Noël who delivers presents either on the eve of 23rd December, or on the morning of 25th December. 

In the east of France, he is accompanied by Le Père Fouettard, a man dressed in black, who is said to punish the children if they misbehave.

3. Spanish: Papa Noel (lit. Father Christmas)

The man behind the Spanish name for Santa Claus is commonly known to give out presents on 24th December or 25th December (from Papa Noel), or on 6th January (from the Three Kings). 

In South America, a family member often dresses up as Papa Noel and gives gifts to the children.

While in countries like Mexico and Venezuela, presents might also be brought by El Niñito Dios (baby Jesus) or Santo Clós (Santa Claus).

Santa is actually Spanish and means “saint”. The only problem is that Santa with an “a” is used for women, such as Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara. Men use “San” or “Santo”, as in San Francisco, San Diego, San Antonio, etc.

4. German: Weihnachtsmann (lit. Christmas man)

The festive season in Germany starts early, with Nikolaustag – St. Nicholas Day – on 6th December. It is thought that St. Nicholas comes in the night, and puts presents in the children’s shoes, which are usually polished (kids have got to get in Santa’s good books somehow!) and placed by their front doors the evening before.

In some parts of Germany, das Christkind (Christ child) is thought to bring children presents on Christmas Eve. Children also write to him asking for presents before Christmas. They even decorate their letters by gluing sugar to the envelope!

In other parts of the country, der Weihnachtsmann (Santa Claus) is the one who brings presents to the children. Traditionally, German people open their presents on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day.

5. Italian: Babbo Natale (lit. Daddy Christmas)

In Italy, Babbo Natale is thought to deliver presents at Christmas. Italian families start collecting presents at the start of December and they are opened either on Christmas Eve or on Christmas morning. 

It is also believed that the witch, La Befana, arrives during the night of 5th January bringing smalls gifts, sweets and dried fruits which she leaves in the socks of the good children.

6. Portuguese: Papai Noel (lit. Father Christmas)

In some parts of Brazil, children leave a sock near a window. If Papai Noel finds their sock, he’ll exchange it for a present.

In Portugal, Santa Claus is called Pai Natal. He is believed to bring presents to children on Christmas Eve. Presents are left under the Christmas tree or in shoes by the fireplace.

In both countries, families will either open presents on the eve of the 24th after Midnight Mass or on Christmas morning.

7. Russian: Дед Мороз – Ded Moroz (lit. Grandfather Frost)

In Russia, Christmas is actually celebrated on 7th January, which is the Orthodox Christmas, and therefore goes by a different calendar. This is true for many Easter Orthodox Christian denominations, such as those in the Middle East.

However, people do also exchange presents on New Year’s Eve. It is believed that Ded Moroz (the Russian and interpretation of and name for Santa Claus) brings presents with the help of his granddaughter, Snegurka. The tradition goes that children make a circle around the Christmas tree and call for Ded Moroz and Snegurka. When they appear, the star and other lights on the Christmas tree light up.

8. Turkish: Noel Baba (lit. Father Christmas)

Christmas isn’t widely celebrated in Turkey, but some families celebrate popular Christmas traditions on New Year’s Eve. They might have a ‘New Year’s Eve tree’ and give gifts.

9. Polish: Święty Mikołaj (lit. Saint Nicholas)

In Poland, it is generally believed that Święty Mikołaj brings presents which are opened after the Christmas Eve supper is finished. Sometimes the adults tease the children by dragging out the meal so they have to wait longer for the presents!

In some parts of Poland, there are different traditions. In the east, presents are given by Dziadek Mróz (the same as Ded Moroz in Russia) and in western and northern Poland people believe that Gwiazdor (the starman) brings them.

Peacock Lane

Peacock Lane is a four-block street in southeast Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It is known for its elaborately decorated homes during the Christmas and holiday season. During this time of year, thousands of people come to view the displays, buy cocoa, take horsedrawn carriage rides, and sing. The street earned a listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

The tradition of decorating thehouses dates backto the 1920s. Since beginning, the event has occurred annually, except for a short interruption during World War II while the United States was rationing valuable resources, including electricity.

Many homeowners voluntarily pass along their decorations to new residents when they sell their properties. Homeowners are not obligated to put up any lights or displays, but most do.

Christmas Tree Farms

One thing I miss doing is going to Christmas tree farms and picking out a tree. These videos show what it is like.

The Seasons of Fukuoka Tower

Fukuoka Tower has really upped its illumination game in recent years.

LeBRETON

今泉にあるフレンチカフェ

ル・ブルトンのマカロン

包装もオシャレです。

カラフルで可愛くて、贈り物に喜ばれます。

彼はマカロンよりこちらがいいそうです。

いつ行っても幸せな気持ちになるカフェです。

ル・ブルトン → http://www.lebreton.jp

Summer Souvenir from Taiwan

なんて、なんて、おしゃれで華やかなパッケージでしょう！

こんなに素敵な包装のお土産をいただけて、本当に嬉しいです。

これは何かと言いますと、

台湾の定番土産パイナップルケーキです！！！

箱もとっても素敵です。

大倉久和大飯店（オークラプレステージ台北）１階にある

ベーカリーThe Nine 烘焙坊のパイナップルケーキだそうです。

Speak!英会話サロンの同じクラスの生徒さん３人が

ものすごーく仲良くなられて、女性３人で旅行に行かれ、

そのお土産としていただきました。

そんなに仲良くなっていただけたことに驚きです！

英語だけでなく出会いの場も提供できて、こちらも嬉しいです！

ありがとうございました。

・The Nine 烘焙坊　→ http://www.okurataipei.com.tw/zh-tw/餐廳介紹/The_Nine%20烘焙坊(1F)

Souvenir from Okinawa and Kyoto

沖縄土産に「ちんすこう」をいただきました。

ここ１０年ぐらい、ちんすこうは美味しく改良され

お土産人気を盛り返しましたね。

しっとりとした口当たり。ほんのり甘いミルクの味。

クッキーとはまた違う食感で、とても美味しいです。

そして、京都土産に、

聖護院八ツ橋をいただきました。

ニッキの独特な味が苦手な方も多いと思いますが

苦手な方でも食べられるように？

だいぶ控えめに味付けしてありました。

さすがは京都土産、箱が可愛い

ですね。