ギャツビー以外全員悪人ほぼアウトレイジ

I completed another book this month which is The Great Gatsby. As it is a famous classic novel across the world, some of you might have read it before. The reason why I chose it this time is because recently I have been engrossed with the idea of Adult upgrading which refers to educational programs designed to help adults improve their academic skills, complete high school diplomas, or upgrade their qualifications for further education or employment opportunities. These programs often include courses in subjects such as mathematics, science, language arts, and social studies. I found it interesting because I feel like I am gradually getting used to communicating in English but topics are finite since I am working full-time, using the same types of language. Outside of work we just have casual conversations as well as do movie night every Sunday, which are all good. But I feel like I definitely have lower English skills than Junior high school students in Canada. Then I started thinking of taking some school program called Adult upgrading to be more like a decent level of 32 years old person in Canada, not international students. 

Now getting back to the episode, The Great Gatsby is commonly included in the curriculum of many high schools in the United States and Canada. It is often studied in English literature classes due to its rich themes, historical context, and literary significance. The novel provides students with a deep exploration of the American Dream, social class, and the moral decay of the 1920s, making it a valuable educational resource. 

By the way so far it seems like I can hear a lot of compliments about myself such as You are such a diligent woman, keep working hard. I admire you. Do not go far from me, don’t take me wrong. I am certainly not that type of person. The reality is, I clearly remember I was going to read this book in Japanese version, back in my University days because I was in the International Literature major, there was an assignment to read this book and share your thoughts. but I was too lazy and I hated reading books at that moment, I literally cheated on the assignment. You know how? at my age, there was no AI cheating option available, so I googled a summary of the book and made up my thoughts with my talent of imagination as if I have read it. I discussed it with Prof. like an actress and successfully passed the assignment. That was a tremendous shame now developed by another version of me. After reading this book, I am like now I am fully ready to discuss my sincere thoughts with you professor. It has been 12 years late though.

If I were in the university and was requested to share my thoughts today, I would say, that Gatsby is a super admirable person, his life started in poverty, then he worked hard and caught the American dream. The outcome is miserable and the feeling towards Daisy is foolish to me but that is admittedly the beauty of life! On the other hand, I can see so many people's personalities in the story that I hate such as Daisy, Tom, and Jordan. On top of that, I dislike Nick the most who is a storyteller and the best friend of Gatsby. What I dislike about him is he was irresponsible because he has been a bystander but kept showing confidence and strong emotions after his death, that is insane to me, making excuses from start to end. I am like "Hey Nick, stop observing someone else and focus on your life. Even if you are getting along with Gatsby, it is not your life." 

Anyway, I was kind of glad after I uploaded on social media I have done this book, some ex-classmate messaged me I liked this book, too. I felt like I am in the loop of the world outside Japan afterall. besides, it was the first book in my life to read a classic novel in English, and it was surprisingly fun. I will keep looking at any classic novel in Canadian high school material and share my thoughts with you.

公共のスペースで録音して誰かと目あって気まずい

Too hot. I am melting out here. According to preliminary data from Environment and Climate Change Canada, Sunday was the hottest July 7 on record in 22 communities across B.C. amid a heat wave that prompted weather warnings in much of the province.

The warmest record-breaking temperature for that day was recorded in Lytton, where it hit 39.9 C. Speaking of Metro Vancouver, Monday's high of 33 could feel more like 37 according to CTV News. Fortunately, unlike Japan, Vancouver is not humid but dry, making people less uncomfortable even if the temperature exceeds 30. 

The problem is, no one originally expected to exceed 30 in Vancouver. what I mean is that most apartments or condos don't have air conditioners. In fact, we are on the 11th floor with no air conditioner, with only one fan. Even if you open the window, no wind comes in. You must feel cooler when you are under a shady tree. Yesterday, we tried our best to make our cooling haven by bringing our only fan to the bathroom, setting up a chair inside the bathtub, and filling cold water to my ankle. We have a culture called Ashi-yu which means foot hot spring, The exact opposite of this like Ashi-mizu foot cool oasis if it does sound to make sense to you. Surprisingly, that was fun and worked very well to make my body cool down, one thing that needs to be mentioned is, that also makes it harder to get out of the bathroom. You cannot sleep in the bathroom with the foot water. that was the hardest part of last night.

I remember last Summer I talked about how summer looks like in Vancouver, enjoying the sun at the beach and a little fireworks,  camping, or various nature programs for most families. However, because there is no long holiday such as Obon in Japan, we work as usual. So I sort of miss Japanese Summer with family gathering opportunities, some summer-specific cuisines and festivals.

This year I have something exciting to watch, which is the Canadian Football League (CFL).

The regular season typically kicks off last month, June 9, and usually ends in early November. I watched it only once 2 years ago but at the time I had no interest and no knowledge of football and the main purpose of going to the stadium was to grab beers. now of course grabbing beer should be my main reason to visit but with a better understanding of sports itself. 

So I will take you guys to the world of CFL today. The CFL was officially formed in 1958, The league consists of nine teams divided into two divisions:

East Division: Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Toronto Argonauts, Montreal Alouettes, and Ottawa Redblacks.

West Division: BC Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Elks, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Now you notice, that BC Lions is supposed to be home in BC and you know what? BC Lions' Training Centre is located close to our house! I could sometimes watch players practicing last year. 

There are several differences between NFL American Football and the Canadian version. No.1, The CFL field is larger than an NFL field, measuring 150 yards in length (including 20-yard end zones) and 65 yards in width.

No.2 Players: Each team has 12 players on the field, one more than American football.

No.3, Downs: Teams have three downs to advance the ball 10 yards, compared to four downs in American football.

Due to these differences, generally speaking, the CFL relatively tends to end up faster pace and higher scoring than the NFL. Which makes it a little easier for beginners to get into and get excited to watch the game.

For me, other than the simple rules of CFL, less expensive tickets around $30 per game and convenient access to the stadium located downtown make it easier to get into the world of CFL. 

Did you happen to be interested in CFL? 

I will put this as my summer activity in Vancouver going forward and hope I will see many people with the same hobby here. Let me know any summer activity or hobby you are into.

最高ブルワリーの条件プレゼン

Finally, I found the best brewery ever in my life last weekend. it is named Tapworks Brewing Company in Gibsons, 4 hour's trip from Vancouver and it was our last destination of the 2 days on a short trip to the Sunshine Coast last weekend.

As you might know, I am a huge fan of beer specifically made in BC. It is because Beer in BC has tons of variety and I can feel tremendous excitement, pride, and energy in each brewery. By the way, 85 to 90% of beer consumed in Canada is manufactured in Canada. In 2023, there were 1,352 licensed breweries in Canada, which is numerous compared to 805 businesses in Japan. I assume the revenue of each brewery has also a huge difference between Canada and Japan as I feel the beer industry here in Canada is gigantic.

What I like about breweries in Canada is each offering unique and diverse beers. This explosion of craft breweries has not only increased the variety of beers available but also fostered a sense of community and pride in local brewing traditions.

Looking back to Tapworks Brewing Company in Gibsons which I mentioned as the best in my life, I wanna talk about 3 points of what made it so special to me.

No1. Variety is key. Frankly speaking, there are 3 types of beer people... Lager, ale, or anything that depends on mood like me.

Although we can see some breweries that focus on one specific type, if I could find magnificent beer of both types, I would be as happy as I can be. of course, if you take someone, a variety would help you out to find out the best for anyone.

Second, the establishment is a part of savor.

Breweries in Canada tend to have spacious, high ceilings, and a sense of openness which is one of the reasons why I love brewery here. I believe people who love beer not only the taste of beer but also the atmosphere because the establishment helps you understand their philosophy and beliefs, to say the least.

Lastly, being designed for Summer is great. I know this is really personal but I gotta say, beer is for summer! If a brewery is designed for summer in any formula such as an event, any special menu, or the availability of a Patio which is most important for me, that would be the most amazing, beautiful, marvelous, and astonishing thing in this world.

Tapworks had everything. Beautiful variety from clear lager to interesting IPA, philosophy of establishment, feel summer in patio with a breathtaking view. I was totally fullfilled with the taste as well as the beautiful pride of that brewery. I can't wait to visit there again in the summer. Hope you can feel some of the components of breweries in Canada, I wanna see you somewhere of them in the future.

アラニスモリセットってどなたですか？

Canada Day is coming. Canada celebrates its birthday every year on 1 July, there should be a lot of fireworks, barbecues, concerts and big community parties on the day. Although I will be working on the day for the Japanese company remotely, today I will get to know about Canada as a potencial future resident.

Recently I have been into world history somehow, I watched a video about how America was born and civil war. which was interesting, and then I tried to watch the video about how Canada was born but somehow unfortunately it was kind of boring and felt sleepy to me. knowing Canada with fun facts should be exciting.

According to Love Exploring, https://www.loveexploring.com/gallerylist/160831/30-things-you-never-knew-about-the-history-of-canada

There are 30 things you never knew about the history of Canada, I will pick up 5 out of 30 which were most interesting to me. 

No.1 The Vikings visited Canada before other Europeans.

Well before European settlers 'discovered' Canada in the 15th century, Vikings sailed to Newfoundland about 1,000 years ago. Historical evidence suggests that they didn’t stay for long, but the Vikings did set up a camp at L’Anse Aux Meadows as a temporary base for their North American explorations. That means there might be nothing they were interested in? they might be that's boring to violent. no people they could meet? I can feel that. but that's lucky but funny.  

No.2 Most Canadians have settled near the border

Although Canada has a population of just over 38 million people, 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the U.S. border.

You'd be surprised how much of Canada is barely habitable. Check out this map of the Canadian Shield. Why do 90% of Canadians live very close to the U.S. border? Basically because most of Canada is very far north (it claims all the land to the North Pole), and only the southern regions are inhabitable.

Unless you are a super adventure minded person or inconvinient nature lover, you probabury only enjoy tiny area of Canada. including myself.

No.3 Basketball was invented by a Canadian

Hockey may be Canada’s most popular game, and the country may only have one NBA team (the Toronto Raptors), but it seems like basketball was invented by a Canadian. In 1891, Ontarian James Naismith was working at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts when he came up with the game to keep students active in the icy winter months, when they had to be indoors. The players originally threw the balls into peach baskets.

that is supposed to be an origin of basketball. This is kind of unfortunate because usually the original country should be excel at that sports but this case is exeptional.

No.4 The California roll was invented in Canada

While some dispute the origin story of the California sushi roll, the most commonly accepted story is that it was invented in the 1970s in Vancouver by a Japanese chef named Hidekazu Tojo. Tojo noticed his Canadian guests didn’t like rolls wrapped in seaweed and tried rolling his sushi inside-out, filling it with avocado and cooked crab in place of raw fish. Both Tojo and the roll became stars. Now California roll is the mainstream of Sushi, which is kind of annoying for Japanese people because they invite us Sushi party then we end up eating California roll. 

No.5 Canada has official policies that helped build its entertainment industry

This is something I have never heard. 

If it seems like Canada produces a lot of musical, acting, and literary talent, that’s because the country has worked hard to make sure its citizens enjoy homegrown material. Canadian content ('CanCon') regulations mean that radio and television stations must broadcast a certain amount of Canada-made media. Since it was implemented in the 1970s, the Canadian music industry in particular has flourished, giving a lift to artists like Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Alanis Morissette and many more.

イルカとシャチの違いわからん