英語例会が開催されます。参加希望者は下記までメールをください。
auaec906@wombat.zaq.ne.jp

ども、デモらです。

最近、電車で袴姿の女性をよく見かけます。
卒業式のシーズンですね。

私は高校卒業の時の打ち上げで、人生で初めて酔いつぶれて
しまいました。今となってはいい想い出。。とは言えないのが
悲しいところです(笑)

今回のトピックには含まれていませんが、例会ではまず、卒業式の
想い出について語ってもいいかもしれません。


※※皆さんにお願い※※

最近、集合時間が遅くなりがちです。7時集合なので、
時間厳守でお願いします。


☆★☆　今回初めて参加される方へ　☆★☆

集合場所については、まずこちらを御覧ください。

http://www.h-sanbangai.com/floor/b1f_s.html

上記地図の18番の店舗（三井住友銀行）と、
「←阪急百貨店」という文字の間のスペースに、
今週土曜日の夜7時にお越しください。阪急梅田駅
ビッグマン正面の階段・エスカレーターを1フロア
降りると、地図上「阪急電車のりば」と記されたところに
出ます。

集合後、会場の喫茶店に移動する予定です。

万が一、集合場所がお分かりにならない場合は、私の
携帯090−8829−6516までお電話もらえますか？

できれば、以下のトピックを印刷してお持ちください。

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆



**********今週のトピック**********


My darling is a foreigner　　By Tony Laszlo

An illustrated book entitled "My Darling is a Foreigner" has recently hit
the bookstores. The author is manga artist Oguri Saori. The "darling" on the
cover has deep-set eyes and a big, bushy beard, and otherwise bears a rather
striking resemblance to ... yours truly.

It happens, you see, that Ms. Oguri is my significant other half. She
decided to use her talents - and our relationship - to explore the theme of
mixed couples.

The topic certainly is a timely one. As ethnic diversity within households
is on the rise throughout the country, people in Japan are increasingly able
to relate to the experiences of mixed couples.

For example, one in about 10 registered marriages in Tokyo is
"international," as I noted in this column some months ago. At least two
recent parliamentarians have had foreign spouses. And abroad, many Japanese
have forged families together with a non-Japanese partner.

It seems that nearly everyone these days has at least a friend or relative
whose "darling" is a foreigner.

One part of Saori's book delves into our culinary preferences. I find inari
zushi, something of a favorite for Saori, to be a bit too sweet. I also
prefer to have oodles of tomatoes when having Italian cuisine. And I have
been known to gripe when I come upon yet another Japanese grocery store that
has shelves full of vanilla and green-tea ice cream but no chocolate ice
cream.

Of course, the point here is not so much our particular differences in
taste, but that mixed couples are likely to have such differences perhaps to
a larger degree than people who grew up in the same environment.

The two of us also contrast in the way we react to certain forms of
entertainment. I tend to get wrapped up in a horror movie to the extent that
I will - and do - jump out of my chair at the drop of a pin. If the director
of a science-fiction film shows me a person flying to Jupiter and back in
three minutes, I tend to believe it is happening - for the duration of the
film, of course.

Saori, on the other hand, prefers not to engage in the "suspension of
disbelief" quite as much as I do. Something similar happens when we are
watching comedy, as well. I'm usually prepared to laugh from the start, and
I tend to end up laughing more than she does. You could call me
unsophisticated, I guess.

There are certain pitfalls to be avoided for both the person creating this
sort of book and for those reading it.

First, neither author nor reader should judge these differing sets of traits
and values as "correct" or "incorrect." Rather, the various predilections
and quirks should be noted and the differences appreciated (if not
celebrated).

Similarly, one must not conclude that the traits of either partner are
representative of a given group of people or of a given country. They might
be, but then again, they might not be.

At the end of the day, the trick is to maintain one's own individual set of
values while respecting and adjusting to that of the other. At least, this
is the formula that is working for me.

Q1:Why do you think the number of international mariages is increasing
in Tokyo?
なぜ東京で国際結婚が増えていると思いますか？

Q2:Are you for or against the tendency?
その傾向に賛成ですか？反対ですか？

Q3:Do you want to get foreigners for your boyfriend or girlfriend?
あなたは外国人の恋人が欲しいですか？

Q4:Can you imagine you could get married to him or her?
その恋人と結婚することを想像できますか？

Q5:What is the most important for marriage?
結婚に一番大切なものは何でしょう？