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
