We Came 5th!!! ５位になった！！！

G'day everyone,

皆さん、こんにちは

How was everyone's summer? I have tried to update this so many times in the last few months but I always have other work to do (this week is no exception).

皆の夏はどうだった？最近何回もこのブログを更新がしようとしたんだけど、いつも他の仕事があって（今週も例外ではない！）なかなか出来ず。。。

My summer started off with the Kanoya International Exchange Association's (KIEA) biggest event for the year - The Kanoya Summer Festival. This year's dance was a mix of New Zealand and Japanese traditional dance that was choreographed by Ms. Kakiuchi and myself.

私の夏は鹿屋市国際交流協会の年間の一番大きなイベント「かのや夏祭りの総踊り」で始まった。今年のダンスは僕と垣内さんが作った日本とニュージーランドの踊りのコラボレーションだった。

It took us almost a month just to come up with the dance and we had 4 practise sessions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su-pBBo2Mnk) before the actual event (because a lot of the poi moves were difficult for beginners). On the day though, everyone performed the dance perefectly and as a result our team was awarded 5th place out of the 40 or so teams that participated.

そのダンスを作るには一ヶ月ぐらいかかった。後、ポイの技が結構難しかったので、本番の前にも皆で練習（　http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su-pBBo2Mnk　）を４回行ってた。しかし当日、皆は約２時間ぐらい完璧に踊れてた。そして、そのおかげで今年の４０チームのうちに鹿屋国際交流協会は５位に選ばれた！！！

After the summer festival was finished I went to Amami Ooshima for the first time with my motorbike and a tent and travelled around for about a week. Amami is such a beautiful place and I was really impressed with the 'island culture' that they have there, it so different from mainland Japan. I wish I could have stayed there for longer but I had to come back to Kanoya for work.

夏祭りが終わってから、約一週間ぐらい私の愛車（バイク）とテントと一緒に奄美大島に行って来た。奄美はとても綺麗な所で、本島と違った「島の文化」に感動した。もっと長くいたかったけど、鹿屋には仕事が沢山余ってて。。。（涙）

Which reminds me, did you all come to the Kanoya Asian Festival that was organised by the Kanoya International Exchange Association on the 11th of October? In was on the same day as the Osumi Lakeside Festival and was held during the day.

そういえば、皆さんは鹿屋国際交流協会が主催した「かのやアジアンフェスティバル」に来たの？大隅湖レークサイドと同じく１０月１１日だったよ～

There was a concert, games from around asia, food (BBQ chiken from the Phillipines, Chinese food and Thai curry) as well as a short chinese language lesson/ mini concert using chinese instruments. It was a really awesome day and people from all over the prefecture (I met some people there from Kagoshima city and Satsuma Sendai) came to enjoy the asian culture that Kanoya has to offer.

コンサートもあり、アジアのゲームもあり、食事もあり（フィリピン料理、中華料理、タイ料理）、そして民族館の中で中国語講座とミニコンサートもあった。とても素敵な一日だったんで、県内のあちこちから（鹿児島市と薩摩川内からも客さんも来てた）沢山の人が鹿屋の在日アジア人の文化に触れることが出来た。

There won't be any events this November (because I will be busy going with my Cross- Cultural Lecture at Rina City as well as my Mid Year Conference in Tokyo) but make sure you get in quick for the Christmas event in December because it is always very popular!

今年の１１月にイベントがないんだけど（東京での中間研修とリナシティでの異文化理解講座で忙しいから）１２月のクリスマスイベント「お菓子の家作り」の応募が毎年殺到するから、早く申し込んでね

I am now an official fan! 本格的なファンになった！

G'day everyone,How have you all been? Sorry I haven't written in a while but, as usual, I have been busy.
How many of you came to the Jambo! African Festival last month? Apprently there was over 430 people who turned up on the day...WOW! 430 people means we got to raise a lot of money for the street children in Africa and Ms. Matushita's organiztion, so a big thank you to all of those who bought a ticket or who came along on the day.

皆さんこんにちは、
元気にしてたの？最近このブログを全然書いてないけど、相変わらず忙しいよ～
この前の「ジャンボ！アフリカンフェスタ」に来た人いるかな？当日はなんと４３０人くらいの参加者がいたみたいなので、松下のＮＰＯ、そしてアフリカのストリートチルドレンのために沢山寄付金を集めることが出来た。参加者、またはチケットを買った人本当にありがとうございました。

I was working on the day so I didn't get time to see the movie itself, but I did get to see the Djembe group perform downstairs and they were very impressive with their speedy drumming and unique dancing. A few of
my friends came and talked to me after Sakaki Mango's first performance with big smiles on ther faces and said, "Nathan, you have got to see Mango's concert, you are going to love it!"

当日僕は仕事だったので、映画を見る暇はなかったが、下でジャンベグループの演奏を見たよー。彼らのユニークな踊りともリズムの早いドラム叩きがとても印象的だった。マンゴさんの演奏のあとに、何人の友達が大きいな笑顔で「ネイサン、彼のライブを見た方が良いよ、絶対好きだと思うよ」って言ってた。

I still had some work to do so I made sure that it was all finished by the time his 2nd performance began.When he came out on stage everyone went silent because he had such presence. It wasn't like any concert I had ever been to before- he talked (in his local Kagoshiman Dialect), he told jokes (in his Kagoshiman Dialect), he played a variety of instruments and he got everyone in the crowd involved...it was AWESOME!

仕事は未だ沢山あったが、マンゴさんの２番目のライブが始まる前にそれを出来るだけ済ました。マンゴさんがステージに出た途端に、彼の存在感が大きかったせいか、観客の皆は一気に沈黙した。今まであんなライブを見たことないっ！彼の地元の鹿児島弁で話もあり、ジョークもあり、いろんな楽器があり、しかも観客が参加できるような歌と授業もあって、本当に最高だった。

After the event was over, we all went out to dinner and I had a better chance to actually have a chat with him. He was a very down to earth sort of person and it was interesting to hear about his time in Africa as a Japanese person. Before we left the restuarant he signed the CD that I bought at the concert...Mango Sakaki, I am a now an official fan of yours! Thank you!

当日のイベントが終わったら、スタッフと協力者の皆でご飯を食べに行ってきた。そしてその時マンゴさんと普通に話することが出来た。凄く話しやすい人で、日本人としてアフリカでの話はとても面白かった。レストランを出る前に、ライブで買ったＣＤをサインしてもらった…マンゴさん、本格的なファンになったど～！あいがとぉ

African event this Saturday! 今度の土曜日のアフリカンイベント

G'day Everyone,
Long time, no see. Work has been busy since Golden Week so I haven't had much time to update this blog.

皆さん、こんにちは、久しぶりだね。ゴールデンウイークが終わってから、仕事が結構忙しかったので、なかなかこのブログをアップする時間なかったな↓

Are you all coming to the African event this Saturday? I don't really know that much about African culture but I am really looking forward to seeing the movie 'Chokora!' and hearing Ms. Matsushita talk about her experiences in Africa. I am also really looking forward to Sakaki Mango's live performance because I have heard he is quite popular throughout the rest of Japan (I wonder why he isn't so popular in Kagoshima? After all he was born here).

今週のイベント「ジャンボ！アフリカンフェスタ」に皆来られるの？僕はアフリカの文化そんなに詳しくないけど、「チョコラ！」とい映画と松下さんがケニアで経験した事についての話を楽しみにしている。サカキ・マンゴーさんも他の県では結構人気あるので（なんで鹿児島出身なのに、鹿児島では人気ないんだろう？）、 彼のライブもとても楽しみにしてる。

Anyways I still have a lot of work to do so I will get back to it now...If you end up coming to the event on Saturday, make sure you come and say hello to me : )

じゃー、仕事が沢山余ってるから、そろそろそちらの方に戻らないと…土曜日のイベントに来たら、僕に「Ｈｅｌｌｏ」って言ってきてねー：）

The curry event was a success! カレーのイベントは大成功だった！

Last Sunday the Kanoya International Exchange Association held its first cooking salon for the new year. This time the theme was "Curries From Around the World" and togther we made 5 different curries from 5 different countries. Over 60 people were present on the day (including volunteer staff and teachers etc.) and foreign residents from countries such as Canada, New Zealand and America also came along to join in on the fun.

先週の日曜日に、鹿屋国際交流協会の新年度の初のクッキングサロンが行われた。今回のテーマは「世界のカレー」で、５ヶ国のカレーを皆で作ってみた。参加者（ボランティアスタッフや講師を含めて）は６０人を超え、そしてアメリカやカナダやニュージーランドからの在日外国人も楽しく参加してくれた。

All of the curries, as well as the chai and chapatti, were delicious so I am sure that a lot of the participants will be trying to cook curry in their own homes over the next few weeks. I think it was the best cooking salon I have attended since I have been here in Kanoya although I may be a little biased because I LOVE curry (especially when it's vegetarian).

全てのカレー（チャイもチャパーティも）はとても美味しかったので、皆はきっと自分の家でも今カレーを作ることに挑戦してるのだろう。僕はカレー（特にベジテリアン用のカレー）が大好きなので、少し偏見を持っているかも知れないけど、鹿屋に来てから一番よかったクッキングサロンだと思う。

Saturday afternoon 土曜日の夕方

This is one the reasons why I love living in Oosumi!

大隅に住むことが好きな理由の一つ！

My first post! 初の書き込み!

G'day Everyone,

No this is not a late April fool's joke, I have actually started to write a blog. I'm not sure how often I will update it but it should be a good way of keeping track of all the million things I do here in Kanoya.

皆さん、こんにちは、
いや、少し遅れてるエイプリルフールズじゃなくて、僕は本当にブログを書き始めたよ。いつも書き込みできるかどうかちょっと分からないけど、とりあえず私の鹿屋での様々な活動の綴りになれたらと思う。

4/4/09 (アメリカ式と違って、オーストラリアでは日・月・年で書くよ）
On Saturday afternoon I went to Yanedan (an artist collective/ eco village on the outskirts of Kanoya) with some other members of the Kanoya International Exchange Association (KIEA) to discuss the upcoming cooking event that we are running called, "Curries from around the world". Seiichi-kun, a photographer who lives at Yanedan, came out to meet us in the gallery and then took us out the back to his house which also serves as an organic cafe.

土曜日の昼間から、今度のイベント「世界のクッキングサロン：世界のカレー編」の打ち合わせのために、鹿屋国際交流協会（ＫＩＥＡ）のボランティアスタッフの何人かと一緒に「やねだん」へ行ってきた。やねだんに住んでる写真家河野さんがギャラリーまで来て、挨拶してくれて、その後彼が経営してる店（本人の家）「あうんカフェ」に連れて行ってくれた。

Seiichi-kun has lived in/ travelled to over 30 different countries and has kindly volunteered to teach the people of Kanoya how to cook curries from 5 different locations (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, England and Hiati) around the globe.

河野さんは今まで３０ヶ国を旅したことがあるそうで、今度は世界のクッキングサロンの講師として、鹿屋の市民に５ヶ国(インド、バングラデシュ、ネパール、イギリス、ハイチ)を教えてくれる。
　
We got to taste test 3 of the 5 curries that are going to be available on the day and the only word that I can use to decribe them is "YUM". I haven't had curry this good in a long while so if I were you I would hurry up and register to be a participant at this event (only 9 spots left peoples!).

この日、その５つのカレーの中から３つのカレーを試食することが出来て、その味は言葉で表しにくいけど、とりあえず「うまいっ」！久々にあんな美味しいカレーを食べたわ…なので今度のイベントの申し込みは早めに（後９人ぐらいよー）！