RICKY DLS 英会話 blog

Boy oh boy … what a week. I overindulged, overworked and just did a bit too much of everything. We had a CookEnglish lesson last Thursday, Benjamin made fish&chips and flapjack, real British, check out the pics. After that I kinda started craving English treats and went to the Jersey Cafe where they used to make the best fish&chips (not as good as Benjamin’s though …). I said used to cause when I went there this week I realized something was different - the portion and, most importantly, the taste. I then asked the waitress if the chef had changed and she said yes … As an old proverb states: A good cook is the peculiar gift of the gods. A meal apparently as simple as fish&chips can turn out to be a disaster if the chef doesn’t know the basics. But well, I’m in Hokkaido and one dish they do know how to make here is “kakifry” or deep fried oysters. They’re only available in the cold season and sooo good that they’re hard to resist! Big, fresh Akkeshi oysters, mmmhhmm, can’t miss them! The raw ones are awesome too, Japanese people eat them with soy sauce, I prefer fresh lemon juice. I still remember the Akkeshi oyster festival a couple of years ago in October. The whole town revolves around oysters for three days, in every possible version, raw, steamed, grilled, fried, you name it. Oyster lovers’ paradise!

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

The Sapporo White Illumination a few years ago (above) and now (see yesterday’s post): Yellow light has been replaced by white light, and the allover predominant color now is blue.

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

This year’s Sapporo White Illumination starts today. Trees and large objects will be lit up in Odori Park’s main areas until February for a festive, wintery mood. Blue lights have increasingy been replacing the traditional yellow and red lights, and the TV Tower, one of Sapporo’s landmarks, changes from red to pink and to blue as well. Don’t miss it!

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

Today three of my students showed up late for class because their trains were delayed due to a suicide attempt at Soen Station. Suicides in Hokkaido sharply increase during the dark winter months. The limited hours of daylight - these days dusk falls at 4 PM and at 4:30 it’s pitch-black - and the hardship of the current recession are literally a fatal combination. In Tokyo the situation is not much better actually, and earlier this month East Japan Railway Co installed blue LED lights in all its 29 station on the Yamanote Line, Tokyo’s central train loop which is horribly crowded at almost any time of any given day. Blue light supposedly has a soothing effect on people’s minds and JR Co is hoping to reduce self induced deaths. In 2003 suicides were at a record high with 34,427 cases, a number that will likely be surpassed this year. In my opinion, more counselors are needed to change people’s mindsets from “suicide is the only way out” to “there’s always a way” and “suicide is not an option”.

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

Starting today, the Beaujolais Nouveau 2009 is sold all over Japan. Drinking Beaujolais Nouveau is an extremely popular contemporary Japanese custom, and on the first day - the third Thursday in November - supermarkets and convenience stores report peak sales. This tradition, as well as eating Mont Blanc desserts in the fall, has been adopted from France where the Beaujolais wine originated. It is made from red Gamay grapes that are fermented for just a few weeks and is intended for immediate drinking. The color is purple-pink and the taste fruity and lovers of traditional wine often criticize Beaujolais Nouveau as being too simple. However, it is said that this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau is the best in fifty years and after trying it I can only agree: The body is fuller this year, the taste deeper and even the color is darker than in previous years - the latter usually points to more tannin in the wine. Masayo brought us a beautiful bottle of Georges Duboeuf today. Thank you so much, we all enjoyed!

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

Commemorating 40 years of Sazae-san UHB broadcasted a 2 1/2 hour special consisting of 30 minutes animation and 2 full hours of drama last Sunday. For outsiders: Sazae-san is the longest-running animation series in Japan and has fans of all ages glued to the TV every Sunday at 6:30 PM. The comical cartoon revolves around Sazae, a woman who was considered boldy liberated for her time, and her numerous family - all of them living under the same roof. The humor used in the series is witty and universal. I feel a large cultural barrier when watching contemporary Japanese comedy shows, and nowadays popular anime use too much modern slang, hence incomprehensible … well, for me at least. Sazae-san, however, uses standard Japanese paired with a cross cultural sense of humor i.e. a must for every foreigner living in Japan. Watching the drama I also realized that there was a time in Japan when people actually wore colorful clothes, a world apart from the now prevalent greys and browns.

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

A must in the Japanese fall: Mont Blanc
I don’t know if it’s just me but Japanese sweets seem to be getting sweeter. I don’t eat cake during the summer months for obvious reasons, lol, but just had my first two cakes of the season, a creme brulee roll and a mont blanc cake, the latter indispensable during the Japanese fall. Both cakes were extremely sweet and especially the mont blanc was so loaded with sugar I had difficulty eating the whole thing. It is a statistically proven fact that during an economic downturn people crave sugar. More glucose in the blood gives us the sensation of being high, and eating chocolates releases the feel-good chemicals endorphins in the brain. According to an internet article, another item that sells well during a recession is beer. Sweets and beer, OMG, what is that going to do to everybody’s waistlines!

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

First snow and with it comes the start of the Christmas season. I already got my first X-mas gift, wrapped in a delicate white and golden cloth: Kiyoshi Hikawa’s latest album containing the smash hit “Rumba”, released yesterday. I vividly remember Kiyoshi performing the somewhat tropical Enka song on stage, dressed in a glamourous satin-silk outfit. Thanks Shuko, I love it!

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

Tatsuya Ichihashi before and after his surgeries
Lindsay Ann Hawker who was brutally murdered
Better late than never: Tatsuya Ichihashi, the killer of British English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker, was arrested last night in Osaka after being on the run for more than 2 1/2 years during which he underwent several plastic surgeries to alter his appearance. I had followed the case from the very beginning because - you may laugh at this - I am also an English teacher in Japan, I am also a brunette with big brown eyes and at some point I even thought “it could have been me”. My heart goes out to both Lindsay’s parents and the killers’ for their losses, but at least the Hawker family finally got closure as the criminal who bestialically killed their daughter is about to be brought to justice. Ichihashi lured Lindsay into his apartment - don’t blame her for being naive, she was only 22 - and tortured her for about 36 hours, stripped her of her clothes, bound her with duct tape, cut off her hair and beat almost every inch of her body blue and black before eventually killing her. He then abandoned her naked body in a bathtub filled with sand on the balcony of his apartment. The motive? That remains a big mystery. It is pretty obvious that Ichihashi is a psychopath but what eventually triggered his vicious crime might forever remain a secret. I hope he gets the maximum sentence.

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。

MJ and Orianthi
I went to see “This Is It” and even though I have never been a real Michael Jackson fan, I was not disappointed. In the beginning MJ’s moves are a bit clumsy and he appears out of shape but as the rehearsals progress his body seems to remember how to move rhythmically and gracefully on a huge stage filled with dancers from around the globe. What caught my attention was that about 90 % of his dancers were male. This sheds light on his troubled relationship with women - although I don’t quite get it, I mean the one that abused him was his father, not his mother. The one person that blew me away was the guitarist, Orianthi. Her performance, personality and looks are impressive. The documentary also shows a successful remake of “Thriller” with eerie zombie dancers on stage, as well as an on-screen interaction with Hollywood legend Rita Hayworth. Michael’s voice was not at 100% and I think he was probably holding back a lot, saving energy for his booked out 50-night London tour. In any case, he did not look like a sick man and his death was untimely and unfortunate. Funny but June 25, the day of MJ’s death, has a different kind of significance for me: It is the day Zafiro got fixed and he started his new life as a castrated cat so to speak.

私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。