少人数制で楽しく身につく英会話教室・英会話スクールなら「アミックインターナショナル」

With the warmer weather beginning and spring vacation just finished many of us are either blessing or condemning becoming sun-kissed. Growing up in the UK, a sunny day is something to be celebrated, with short sleeves and shorts, ice-creams and sea sides… and the inevitable red patches of sunburn. Due to the lack of sunlight in the UK, Brits are recommended to have 15 minutes in the sun without using sun-screen, this is because the body generates an essential vitamin through direct contact with sunlight: Vitamin D. This coupled with the notion of “a healthy glow” it has become very popular for us to tan, completely opposite to the traditional “English Rose” portrayed in classical British literature with pure white skin and dark hair.
One of my biggest culture shocks when I first moved to Thailand, was the amount of “whitening” products that were available, certainly comparable to the amount of “tanning” products that are available in the UK. When I moved to Japan, I was expecting to see a similar variety of these “whitening” products and although I have seen some, there are less than I expected. There is a greater selection of sun protection products however and this seems, to me, to be a more natural and healthier option. Although it is not unusual to see a sun parasol in Thailand, they are much more common place in Japan. This with the UV protection clothing and higher SPF sun-screen, it is certainly easier to maintain a whiter skin shade.
Do you think it’s better to tan or not and what are your reasons?

The first Monday of May is a bank holiday in the United Kingdom. It is called May Day in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is known as the Early May Bank Holiday in Scotland. It probably originated as a Roman festival honoring the beginning of the summer season (in the northern hemisphere). In more recent times, it has been as a day to campaign for and celebrate workers’ rights.

I feel very blessed to have spent another wonderful Golden Week with good friends and family. We spent ten days in Phuket relaxing, catching up with friends, island-hopping, and eating authentic Thai food. There are too many highlights for me to mention, but one of them would have to be visiting the islands of Phang Nga and Phi Phi. I have visited these islands over a dozen times and they continue to captivate me. Nature truly has a magical way of healing and rejuvenating your mind and body. The picture below is one of my favorite spots in Phi Phi.
I hope you all had a splendid Golden Week.

Some people believe that the day of the week you were born can say a lot about who you are. Fortune-telling by days of birth is different in many parts of the world with astrology being the most popular.
One that I can vaguely recall is a nursery rhyme. I can’t remember which version of the rhyme I learnt so this is the traditional rhyme I found online.

Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonnie and blithe and good and gay.

It may ring true for some people, but I don’t take it too seriously. Just enjoy it for its lightheartedness.

There is a saying that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, a great many people do not eat it though! During my late teens and early twenties, I did not eat breakfast very often. I found that I had little time in the mornings and was too rushed going to school and later to work. Most of the time that I was at university I would eat breakfast, it becoming one of the only times that all of my flatmates were in the same place. We would enjoy catching up with each other as each of us ate different things. On special occasions we would indulge in a large cooked breakfast, a fruit salad and coffee.
I rarely have such a big breakfast these days! I adapt my regular breakfast to the country that I am living in. In the UK I would often eat porridge, in Thailand I would eat egg and rice and in Japan I usually have Miso soup. It really is delicious!
What do you eat for breakfast?