Favorite Places around San Francisco

我が家はサンフランシスコ市内からゴールデンブリッジを超えた向こう側にある。

車でこの橋を渡るたびに感動する。

My house is beyond the Golden Gate Bridge from San Fransisco City. 

Whenever I drive across the bridge,  I am overwhelmed by it.

The Golden Gate Bridge

市内にある夕日が楽しめるレストラン。

This restaurant is perfect for viewing the sunset.

Cliff House

レストランの中からも夕日がきれいに見えた。

We enjoyed the view inside the restaurant while we ate dinner there, too.

自分が撮った写真のお気に入りの一枚。

左に見えるのがアルカトラス島、右に見えるのがサンフランシスコの街並み。

This picture is one of my favorite ones I took at Sausalito.

You can see Alcatraz Island on your left and the skyline of San Francisco on your right.

Alcatraz Island and the Bay Bridge

一人の芸術家（？）がこのように石を積み上げていた。

An artist piled stones like this.

男の子が真剣に石の積み方を教わっていた。可愛い！
 A boy concentrated on learning how to pile stones. He was very cute!

The town of  Sausalito

My back yard in San Francisco

２月から5月くらいまでここはとても寒かった。

ロサンゼルスは暑いらしいが、サンフランシスコは夏でも日差しは強くても

朝晩や風が吹いた日は冷え込んだりする。

It was cold from February through May here. Los Angeles has hot summers, but it is not so hot in San Francisco, although the sunlight is strong. I even feel cool when the wind blows or in the morning and the night.

７月、８月になって日差しは更に強くなり、庭に鳥が集まり始めた。

バッファローはアメリカ東海岸、ここは西海岸。

東と西と両方のバードウオッチングを楽しめるのも嬉しいし、

同じ名前の鳥でも顔や形が少し違うのが面白い。

The weather became good for birds in July and August. I'm very happy to enjoy bird watching in my back yard every day now. Since Buffalo is on the east coast and San Francisco is on the west coast, I'm glad to enjoy bird watching in two different areas. It is also interesting to learn that the birds' faces and shapes are a little different from Buffalo's birds in spite of having the same names.

Chickadee　（チカディ）

多分、まだ赤ちゃん

Maybe it is a baby chickadee

Woodpecker (キツツキ)

鮮やかな赤い頭がとても印象的

He has very impressive bright red head.

Varied Thrush (ムナオビツグミ）

初めて見た!

I saw this bird here for the first time.  I was so happy!

Blue Jay (ブルージェイ)

大きく、強くて他の鳥を追い払ってしまう

He is big and strong and he frightens other birds

 Hummingbird (ハミングバード)

角度によって首が赤く見える

この子も見かけによらず独占欲が強い
これはハミングバードの特徴らしい

Depending on the angle, his neck looks red. He seems to be very territorial, although he looks cute. I learned that this is a hummingbird characteristic.

 Deer (鹿）

見つめ合ってしまった・・優しそうな表情

We looked at each other; it seems very kind.

Hare (野ウサギ）

子鹿かと思う位大きくて耳が長かった

I thought it was as big as a baby deer when I saw it for the first time. Its ears are very long!

Precious experiences

近くにあるESLに通ったのもサンフランシスコでの良い思い出になった。

キャンパスには歴史のある建物もあり緑も多くてとてもきれいだった。

授業は正直きつかったが、若い人に混ざり英語を英語で学んだり、色々な国の人と出会えて貴重な体験となった。

I went to ESL classes that were designed for students preparing to go to college in the US. My time in these classes became a nice memory of San Francisco for me. The campus has historical buildings and a lot of greenery. It is hard for me to study in the classes but meeting new people, studying English in  a class taught entirely in English, spending time with young people, meeting people from other countries and going to this historic university were all very precious experiences. 

10 days in Japan

サンフランシスコに来てから、本当に久しぶりのブログ更新・・。
先月、震災後初めて日本に帰国した。
日本は湿気が多いので本当に暑かったが
節電のためにクーラーを使わず扇風機だったり、
設定温度を高めにしている所が多かった。
頑張っている日本を誇りにおもう。私ももうすぐ帰国なので見習わなくては・・


It has been so long since I published a new post! I went back to Japan for about 10 days last month. It was the first time I had visited Japan since the large earthquake in March. I'm proud of the Japanese because they are tough and hang in there; they use fans instead of air-conditioners and they stopped the escalators or elevators in some places to save the electricity.  I will also try to do that because I will go back to Japan in September.

池の鯉（Koi in a pond)

娘や両親の生活も落ち着いてきたのを実感できてホッとした。
I was relieved to learn my children and my parents have become less anxious from the earthquake.

意外に片付いていた娘のキッチン

My daughter's kitchen; it looks organized.

父はどうしても自分が作ると言って、母と私のために朝食を用意してくれた。
父は朝食作りは自分の担当と決めているので有り難く甘えることにした。二人が元気でいてくれることに感謝。

My dad insisted on making breakfast for my mother and me. He made a firm decision to make breakfast. I accepted his generosity. I am really thankful that my parents are fine and living independently.

８０歳の父が用意してくれた朝食

The breakfast that my 80-year old dad made for my mom and me