Summer festivals

ENTRY

2017.05.30

Hello everyone,

Are you making the most of the nice weather this week? It’s a good time to get outside before the rainy season begins. I should be careful and wear sun cream before going outside. My nose is getting a little red! I can’t believe it’s almost June already. During the brightest month of the year, the sun sets at about 7P.M. here in Fuji. In Ireland it doesn’t set until 9:30P.M. during the Summer solstice! It feels like the middle of the day outside but it can be quite late. It’s a strange feeling when it’s bright for so long, but it makes a welcome change from the winter darkness.

The beginning of summer means that towns and cities all over Japan are preparing for “matsuri”, or festivals. In Fuji we have a big festival, the Yoshiwara Gion, coming soon. It’s a fun day out watching people pull floats around the town. Hopefully the rainy season holds off until then. Many of our high school students are preparing for their school festivals this weekend. Some of them are working hard on projects to display at their school. There will be plenty of other festivals throughout the summer, and some great firework displays to see. Enjoy the festival season.

In the meantime we are well underway with preparing the speeches for our students. It’s great to learn more about our students and see what they are interested in through their speeches. I’m looking forward to hearing the students perform them.

Finally, good luck to all of our students who are taking the Eiken test this weekend!

Alan

こんにちは、みなさん

今週はいいお天気ですね。梅雨が始まる前に外へ出かけるのにいい時期です。わたしは外に出る前に日焼け止めを塗る必要がありますが。鼻の先が日焼けでちょっと赤くなっているのです。もうすぐ六月だというのに信じられません。一年で昼の時間が一番長くなる月は、富士では日の入りが午後七時くらいです。アイルランドでは夏至のころは午後９時半くらいまで日が沈みません！外は昼日中に見えますが、実際はかなり遅い時間です。それだけ日が長くなると、何か変な感じがします。でも、冬の暗さから抜け出す嬉しい季節の変化でもあります。

夏の始まりは日本のあちこちでお祭りの準備をしていることを意味します。富士では大きなお祭り、吉原祇園祭りがまもなくです。山車を引っ張る人たちが街中を練り歩くのを見るのがとても楽しい日です。梅雨入りの前にお祭りができるといいですね。HARIOに通う高校生たちは、この週末、それぞれの学校での文化祭があります。学校で飾りつけの準備に大忙しの生徒もいます。夏のあいだ、他にもいろいろなお祭りや花火大会があることでしょう。お祭りシーズンです、楽しみましょう。