ChanomiTalk

For some reason, I’ve acquired a taste for Italian food as of late. Probably, this is because I discovered two Italian restaurants on Oahu that serve really good food. The first is cafe Olive in Wahiawa. They have a great atmosphere with live music, and I love the meatballs. The second is Amina Pizzeria, on Kalakaua avenue. I go there often when I take a break during my NACOS session. The place is halfway between a sit-down restaurant and a fast food place in price, speed and quality, so it’s great for a quick bite that you can actually savor, as opposed to going someplace like McDonald’s.


新しい好物

　最近、どういうわけか、イタリア料理が好きになりました。オアフ島で、大変美味しいイタリアレストランを二つ見つけたからかも知れません。一つ目は、ワヒアワにあるカフェ オリーブです。この店は、生演奏のある素晴らしい雰囲気のレストランで、ミートボールは絶品です。二つ目は、カラカウア通りの傍にあるアミナ ピッツェリアです。ナコスの休憩時間によく行きます。この店は、値段、速さ、味、三拍子揃った店で、本格的なレストランとファストフードの中間に位置します。ですから、急いでいる時は最高です。マクドナルドのような所とは違って、限られた時間の中で、料理を味わい、楽しむことの出来るレストランです。唯、このレストランには、一つだけ難点があります。この店で料理を食べた後は、睡魔に襲われると云うことです。

Here are some photos from the Ms. Aloha Hula competition. There are two different categories: kahiko & awana. Kahiko is more traditional hula. Awana is more contempory. The main difference is the style of dance and music.

My sister & I were able to attend the Ms. Aloha Hula competition at the 50th Merrie Monarch Hula Competition in Hilo, Hawaii. It was such a festive evening! Everyone was dressed in their finest aloha attire adorned with fragrant colorful flowers and leis. There were people from all over the world celebrating. It was a night to remember.

NACOSの新しいちらしをご覧くださいませ。

また、日本の諺にも親しんでいただけるように、英語で作成しました。

Hello,

I have just spent the last month in Melbourne on a working holiday and had a lovely time. Michael, Bali and I took the opportunity to tour around Melbourne on the weekends and see lots of lovely sights (see photos in my last post). Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city and it is certainly an international “melting pot” of a city! There is China town, Greek precinct, Little Italy and a small Malaysian area too. Lots of artists and producers live in Melbourne and of course lots of people from all walks of life.

Next we are on our way to teaching for 2 weeks in Sydney. Sydney is a lovely city. It is like another home to me (along with Hawaii, and Japan!). Right now I am about 80kms away from Sydney in the famous Blue Mountains. It is certainly a contrast to be in the mountains after being in a city for so long. It is gorgeous here in Fall. It is a lovely cold climate and gets very misty when it rains, the temperature averages about 14 celcius, and it is a lovely sunny day today. When it is not sunny the whole area can be filled with mist and it is very surreal indeed.
Walking on the trails can be like walking in another time, I am really enjoying my time off in the Blue Mountains and will send some photos soon.

Aloha!

今、有名なブルー・マウンテンズ国立公園にいます。
ここで、１週間ほど、骨休めをしています。

添付した写真は、メルボルンです。
ハイクポエムも考えています。
来週から、又、シドニーで忙しい生活が始まります。

When I find myself in Ala Moana shopping center, I often visit the Book Off located in Shirokiya. They have a wide selection of Japanese books, manga and magazines, and I　enjoy browsing to look at the titles and the categories. Sometimes I even buy some thing if the price is right. Particularly, I enjoy the Kodansha “Bilingual Books” series, because they provide interesting perspectives on Japanese culture and a running English translation so I don’t have to look up the Japanese words I don’t know. My most recent purchase within this series was “Miyazawa Kenji Tanpen Shuu” (“The Tales of Miyazawa Kenji”). I bought the book because the stories are vivid and interesting, yet also written primarily as children’s stories. As such, they’re also perfect for an adult learner of Japanese such as myself.

So far, I’ve read the first two in the collection, “Donguri to Yamaneko” (“Wildcat and the Acorns”) and “Chuumon no Ooi Ryouriten” (“The Restaurant of Many Orders”). In the foreword, the translator had written that these two were perhaps the most similar to Western children’s stories, and yet having read that, the I was surprised with the stories’ endings. To me, they are actually quite Japanese in their artful incompleteness, lasting just long enough to conclude the story and then going a bit further still so that the reader understands that nothing was concluded after all. The impression left afterwards reminds me of a skillfully executed haiku poem. Another thing that the translator mentioned in his foreword was that these shorter stories embody the best of Miyazawa’s artistry, and I can already see why this would be the case. I look forward to gaining a deeper appreciation as I read more.

私は、アラモアナショッピングセンターに行く時、白木屋にあるブックオフへよく行きます。そこには、本、漫画、そして雑誌が色々あります。その題名やカテゴリを見るためにブラウズするのが好きです。時々、値段が良ければ何かを買います。ことに、講談社のバイリングアルブックスというシリーズを楽しみます。それには、日本文化に対する立場も、沿っている英語翻訳もあります。素の翻訳のお陰で、知らない日本語の単語を調べなくてもいいです。そのシリーズの中に、最近、「宮沢賢治短編集」という本を買いました。なぜかといえば、その小話は、主に子供に向けて書かれましたが、生き生きして面白いです。それで、私のような日本語を勉強する大人にも完璧です。

今、その短編集の二つ目までに読みました。「どんぐりと山猫」と「注文の多い料理店」です。前書きに、その二つは恐らく短編集で、最も西洋の童話と似ている小話だと翻訳者は書いていました。しかし、それを読んだ私は、小話の最後に驚きました。私は、全てを語り尽くさない未完成な美しさに、日本的な美意識を感じます。話を終わる時までに行って、もう少し行って、結局何も締め括らないことになります。後で残された余韻は、上手に詠んだ俳句を思い浮かべます。翻訳者の前書きで、このより短い話の方が、宮沢の特徴が現れているとも書いていました。その理由は、もう分かると思います。宮沢賢治を読み続けることで、彼を更に深く理解することを切望します。