月: 2022年3月

小3のサキちゃん（仮名）からLINEがきた。

Saki lined me a message. She’s in the third grade.

NHK朝ドラ「カムカムエブリバディー」を見ていて前日習ったばかりの フレーズ、オブコースが聞き取れた、と言っていた。

While watching the TV series titled “Come come everybody “ , she noticed “Of Course” was spoken there – the phrase she had learned in my lesson the day before.

大きなことではないけれど彼女がなぜそんなに興奮したのかわかる気がする。習ったばかりの表現を聞き当てることが出来て嬉しかったのだろう。

Although it’s not a big thing but I can tell why she’s so excited. She was happy she was able to identify what she just learned.

I made a small donation to Ukraine.

ウクライナにわずかながら寄付をしました。

Ukraine and Russia have been at war for almost a month.

この１ヶ月、ウクライナとロシアは戦闘状態が続いています。

I had a few chances to get to know some East Europeans and Russians while I was working for a trading company. They were very friendly, open-minded and easy to deal with.

1990年代に貿易会社で働いていたとき、東ヨーロッパやロシアの人々と知り合う機会がありました。

みんなフレンドリーで、開放的で、近づきやすい人たちでした。

Now it makes me sad to see them killing each other.

両国が殺戮を繰り返しているのを見ると悲しくなります。

Luckily or unluckily, I have never seen or experienced a war directly. But I remember having been told by my father how atrocious war is.

幸か不幸か私は戦争を見たり体験したことはありませんが、どんなに悲惨なのか父から聞いたことがあります。

He was in Chiba on March 10th, 1945.

父は1945年3月10日、千葉にいました。

He witnessed a part of the sky turn blood red in the direction of Tokyo. He soon realized it was an air raid by the US army.

東京方面の空が血の様に赤く染まるのを見て、米軍による空襲だと気づいたそうです。

Before long, there was a smell – similar to the one in cremation center.

It was so strong – strong enough to tell that a countless number of human bodies were being burned during the attack by the U.S. Air Force.

まもなく付近ににおいが立ち込めました。火葬場と同じにおい。米軍の攻撃によって無数の人々の体が焼かれているのだと思った。

This story was told to me by my father about 50 years ago. It was so shocking that it still remains vivid in my memory.

この話を父から聞いたのはおよそ半世紀前。子供の頃でした。とてもショックで今でもまだ記憶から消し去ることができません。

I want them to stop killing right now. The revenge spiral must be stopped somewhere before it is too late.

もう殺し合いはやめてほしい。復讐のスパイラルはどこかで止めなくてはなりません。

少し前になりますが英国の男性と会話する機会があったのでアップします。シェークスピアのことを偉そうに語る資格などないくせに、と思われる御仁もいらっしゃるでしょうが、ぜひ聞いてみてください。

One of my students sent me a photograph.

“Nomura Sensei. I’ve made a sweater for my dog. Take a look.”

“How cute it is! How did you learn to make it?” I asked her.

“I saw some YouTube tutorials and got interested in a handmade work called crochet.”she replied.

“Do you use the machine or your hands?”

“I do it all by hands. It gives me a chance to sit , relax , and enjoy my time.”

I like the way she puts it.

Doing things in a traditional way surely gives you something special.

I remember my childhood days. My mother was weaving yarns to make me a muffler for the upcoming winter. It took her many days to finish the handmade job. It didn’t matter to her how long it would take. She was just enjoying her time.

Mom did not care if her cat played with her yarn balls and ended up in tangled messes.