一番好きな季節は？

*太字の単語やフレーズは、今週のボキャブラリーです。この記事の最後に詳しい説明を載せています。

Happy first day of spring—日本の祝祭日.

Growing up in the northern part of America's midwest, I am used to much different weather than what I find in southeast Mie Prefecture. The seasons in my home state of Minnesota are very distinct and each one is particularly beautiful. Summer days are long, hot and humid. Autumn is cool and the trees are filled with fall colors—reds, yellows, oranges all mixed with the dark green of the evergreen trees. Winter is unbelievably cold and on most days, everything seems gray and lifeless. But as depressing and cold as every winter usually is, everything comes alive again in Spring. Now in Minnesota, the snow is melting and the frozen lakes and rivers are becoming liquid again. The plants and flowers and wildlife are awakening and the temperatures have become bearable again. And with the start of professional baseball in the next few weeks, spring is officially here and the winter blues are over! I also love spring in Japan and if you ask me this week, I will tell you why...

The question this week is: What is your favorite season and why?

I will look forward to hearing your answers and questions this week when we speak.

Be well,

Keith//

This week’s vocabularies:

grow up
成長する（大人になる）
use to (used to)
慣れる
season
季節
distinct
はっきりと違う
particularly
特別に
humid
湿気のある
evergreen tree
常緑樹
gray and lifeless
暗く、活気がない
depressing
気がめいる
come alive
生き生きとする.
melt
溶ける
liquid
溶けた状態（液体）
wildlife
野生生物
awaken
目覚める
bearable
がまんできる
officially
本格的に
winter blues
ウィンターブルー／冬季うつ病（冬であることが気を滅入らせる）

長寿の秘訣は？

After I talked to students last week about their birthdays, I was a little surprised to hear that almost everyone said they didn’t enjoy their birthdays and of course, they were not very happy about getting older. However, we can't stop our birthdays from coming, so what is the best way to deal with getting older?

So this week’s question is:
What are some things you can do to live a longer, healthier and happier life?

I have read many news stories and websites that focus on ways to help people live longer. Of course many health experts disagree on what is the best solution for everyone, so I have listed some of the most common advice from different doctors, hospitals, dietitians and research centers.

When we speak this week, let’s discuss if you agree with some of the things on the list and some of the other ways you can think of to live happier and healthier lives. Here is the list:

Reduce the amount of food you eat everyday.

Change your diet. For example:

The Mediterranean diet.
A diet that with a lot of oils, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and fish. Also, eat a moderate amount of dairy products and a low amount of meat.

Switch to a Paleolithic diet:
A diet like that is like what cavemen ate, for example, non-fatty meat, fish, vegetables, fruit and nuts. And try to avoid cereals, dairy products, salt or processed foods.

A vegetarian diet
There are three kinds of vegetarian diets, semi-vegetarians (plants, dairy products, eggs and fish), lacto-ovo vegetarians (plant food, dairy products and eggs) and vegans (plant food only).

Get enough sleep!
Many experts agree that at least 8 hours of sleep every night is best.

Be more positive because a positive attitude reduces your stress levels.

Don’t smoke

Wear sunblock

Socialize.
Make new friends or get together with your friends as much as you can

Drink red wine and or eat red grapes

Go to church
Over 1,000 research studies say that people usually go to church, synagogue or mosque live about 7 years longer than people who don’t.

Eat what many health experts call, SUPER FOODS:
Almonds
Apples
Blueberries
Broccoli
Red beans
Salmon
Spinach
Sweet potatoes
Vegetable juice
Wheat germ

Meditate and or do Yoga

Exercise regularly

What else can you add to the list? I will look forward to talking about long life when we speak this week.

Be well and happy.

Keith//

This week’s vocabularies:

deal with
（その事実）とどうつき合うか

health experts
健康に関する専門家（エキスパート）

disagree
反対意見を持つ

advice
アドバイス

dietitians
栄養士

research center
研究所

reduce
減らす

diet
食事

moderate

極点でなく、緩やかな

dairy products
乳製品

paleolithic
旧石器

caveman
（石器時代の）穴居人

processed foods
加工食品

experts
（ある分野の） 専門家

positive attitude
ポジティブな考え方

stress levels
ストレス度

sunblock
日焼け止め(sunscreen).

church
教会

synagogue
ユダヤ教の礼拝堂.

mosque
モスク, イスラム教寺院.

wheat germ
麦芽

meditate
瞑想する

regularly
定期的に, 規則正しく

誕生日にまつわる質問

*太字の単語やフレーズは、今週のボキャブラリーです。この記事の最後に詳しい説明を載せています。

My birthday was a few weeks ago and around that time, someone asked me how it felt to become 41 years old. I said it didn’t feel any different than when I became 40 years old. And for that matter, it didn’t feel any different than when I was 39 or 38 or 37 years old.

I DON'T care about my age, I ONLY care whether I am happy or not. I am indifferent about birthday cakes, birthday cards, birthday presents and the “birthday song” (Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...). I don’t have a negative feeling about these things and I know they are important to many people, they just aren’t very important to me. How about you?

So this week’s questions are:
Is your birthday a happy or unhappy occasion?
What do you usually do on your birthday?
What do you like about your birthday?
What do you dislike about your birthday?
When you were younger, what did you do for your birthday?
In Japan, what do people usually do for their birthdays?
What is a typical gift for kids on their birthdays?
What was the best birthday gift you ever got?

Have a good week and I will look forward to hearing from you.

Keith//

This week’s vocabularies:

around that time...
その辺の時期に

for that matter
その件については、

indifferent
無関心な、どっちでも構わない

occasion
時、機会

typical
典型的な、代表的な