Wednesday, February 25, 2009

わたし の しゃしん/ My Photograph

わたし の しゃしん の なか は わたし と ともだち です。 ともだち の なまえ は アリサ です。アリサ は すごい です。おかしい でも うるさい です。

In my photograph are me and my friend. My friends name is Alissa. Alissa is great. She is funny but loud.

The picture I am referring to is my profile picture.

じゃ ね!

Christian Reyes

Saturday, February 21, 2009

佐渡島の鼓童( KODO ) in Chicago

二月十七日に岩岡アレクサさん(日系人の生徒、四年生)とキ・ダオくん(四年生)と私(教師)はシカゴのオーケストラ・ホールに行きました。
佐渡島の鼓童( KODO )のコンサートを聞いて、見ました。
とても印象的で素晴らしかったです。
佐渡島は新潟県じゃないかと思っています。そうですか。
市立のみなさん、鼓童( KODO )を見た、聞いたことがありますか。

On February 17th, Alexa I., Keith D., and I went to Chicago's Orchestra Hall. We saw dand heard a concert by the Kodo drummers from Sado Island. They were very impressive and splendid. I'm thinking that Sado Island is in Niigata Prefecture. Is that correct? Have any of you Ichiritsu people ever seen or heard Kodo?

Monday, February 16, 2009

As all of you already know, Feb. 14th was St. Valentine’s Day and last Friday was an important day for our students. This day is a little bit different from what American people imagine, so I’ll explain some differences.

既にご存じの通り、2月14日はバレンタインデーということもあり、先週土曜日は生徒にとっては重要な日でもありました。この日はアメリカと日本では様子が少し違うので、簡単に説明します。

In Japanese society, it is customary for girls or women to give chocolate for their favorite boys or men on this day. In other words, we can say Japanese teenagers make use of this special day as a means of confessing their love. This kind of chocolate is called “Honmei Choco” which can be translated into “Chocolate for Someone Special.” On the contrary, we have also a custom that girls give chocolate to boys or men whom they owe some obligations. This custom is popular in Japanese companies, and that means they give their chocolate as a sign of thanks even if they do not like him/them. Many women also buy so-called "obligation chocolate" at supermarkets, and convenience stores, on the other hand, as for their special chocolate, they are apt to buy only ingredients and make their chocolate on their own from the beginning, spending as much time, effort, and money as possible.

日本では、この日に女子が好きな男子にチョコを送るのが習慣になっています。言い換えると、日本の若い女の子達はこの日を愛の告白の手段として考えています。なので、このチョコは「本命チョコ」と呼ばれています。一方では、女性が特にお世話になっている男性にチョコを送るという習慣もあります。これは日本の企業では一般的ですが、お礼の印として女性がチョコをあげているという習慣だと解釈できます。多くの女性は、このいわゆる「義理チョコ」をスーパーやコンビニなので手軽に購入するのに対し、「本命チョコ」に関しては、材料だけを買って時間・労力・お金をかけて最初から自分で作る傾向があります。

As for our students, St. Valentine’s day is the day not for their confession of love but for their chocolate exchanging meeting. So fortunately I have got some from my students.

市立生に関しては、バレンタインデーは愛の告白日というよりは、チョコレートの交換会のような雰囲気です。そのため、私もいくつかチョコをもらえるという訳です。

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Hi!

私 の 名前 は エリザベス アレシャンダー です。 十六才です。 私
は ペエトン の 三年生 です。 六月に、私 は 大阪 に りょこう しました。みのり さわ は 私 の ホースト でした。とっても たのしかった です。

My name is Elizabeth Alexander. I am 16 years old. I am a 3rd year at Payton. In June, I traveled to Osaka. Minori Sawa was my host. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

notes from June 24, 2008, during Payton's trip to Japan

Tuesday, June 24th, we (the Payton group of 20 students, 3 teachers, and 1 parent) visited Osaka City Hall to present our banner, the one commemorating the 35th year of the Chicago-Osaka Sister City relationship. We participated in a formal ceremony, all of us seated on chairs with gold upholstery, facing various officials, particularly Mr. Hashimoto, Mr. Fujita, and Ms. Yuushi, who are in charge of international relations and international education. Mr. Fujita made a speech in Japanese, Principal Mr. Inaba made a speech, in Japanese and then I made a much shorter speech in Japanese. Then we sang the Osaka City song, displayed the banner, and shouted "Yamato (one of the old names for Japan) tanoshii," which means, "We are enjoying Japan," or "Japan is fun." The city hall officials sang along with us and laughed and clapped when we were finished. Each student then received a medallion from the officials. One of the Osaka City H.S. teachers accompanying us filmed this ceremony, along with our visit to Osaka Castle and our lunch at Dotombori. Mr. Tanaka then allowed Mr. Leventhal to download it into his laptop.