Only 11000 yen

さて、私はこちらで虫歯になって歯医者に行って神経を抜いて４０万ほど払ったわけですが、日本で保険の申請をすると、支払った額の７割が国民健康保険で返ってくるとのこと。さっそく、前回帰ったときに、２０００ドル分の申請をしました。で、帰ってきた金額がなんと11000円。日本で治療したら16500円くらいなので、その７割が11000円だそう。え・・・そんな。アメリカの歯医者はほんと高い。アメリカで歯医者に行ってはいけませんね。

Well, I do remember I paid $4,000 for a dentist, because I had a nerve extracted when I got a cavity. I came to know if I applied for a national insurance, 70% of my bill would be returned. Then, when I returned to Tokyo temporary, I applied for the national insurance about $2,000. BUT, ONLY $110 was returned to me... If I have a nerve extracted in Japan, it costs \16,500, and the 70% of it is \11,000... Oh, my god! The dentist treatment is really expensive in the US, so I swear I never go to a dentist in the US again!

Rio’s

リオデジャネイロで行ったシュラスコのおいしいレストランがなんとＮＹにもあるということで行ってきました。１人前５０ドル。カイピリーニャはなんと目の前でライムなんかを潰して作ってくれます。リオと比べると、お店の規模が小さいのと、リオほどにぎわっていなかったのもあったけど、なんだか懐かしい感じがしました。少しずつ、って言ってるんだけど、結構大きく切られちゃって、すごいいっぱいの肉を食べた気が・・・。あたしってば、ここんところ、ほんと肉づくし・・・。

I heard that there was a restaurant in NY, which was a branch of the restaurant we went in Rio and whose Brazilian BBQ was so tasty. Therefore, we went there. It cost $50 per person. I was very happy because they made Caipirinha just in front of me by using fresh lime. Compared with that in Rio, the restaurant was smaller, and not
so crowded than that in Rio. But the restaurant brought me back some memories. Although I requested the staff to serve me a little, they gave me a large cut of every meat. So I ate too much again... Anyway, recently, I have eaten a lot of meat almost every day!!!

The Empire State Building

やっぱりＮＹに来たら、一度は登らないとということで、エンパイアステートビルに登ってきました。８６階の展望台は、外に出ることができます。１８ドル。なんとその上にも行くことができて、１０２階の展望台は室内のみで、追加で１５ドル。さらに、エンパイアステートビルディングの前には、特急で展望台まで行けるチケットが売ってて、５０ドル近くしてました。時間を金で買うのね・・・。展望台に上ったのは、７時半ごろ。ちょうど夕焼けが見られてとても美しかったです。で、１０２階の展望台に上る頃には日がすっかり落ちて夜景まで見られました。大満足かな。

When one goes to NY, everybody should go up the Empire State Building once. So did I..The 86th floor observatory, we can go outside. It costs $18. We can go up further to the upper floor, the 102th floor observatory, we cannot go outside and the additional fee is $15. The special ticket which made us go to the observatory very quickly were sold in front of the Empire State Building and it cost $50. We can buy time by money... We went to the observatory around 7:30pm, so we could see the sunset, and it was very very beautiful. And when we went to the 102th floor observatory, the sun went down and we could see a night view. I was very satisfied with that.

Sightseeing in NYC

今までは、ＮＹに来て、ほぼ買い物しかしていなかったので、今回は買い物なしの、完全観光旅行。到着してからアートギャラリーを１０か所ほど回りました。ＮＹにはいっぱいギャラリーがあるのですね・・・。って言っても私、アートの才能がないので、どの作品がよいかなどはわかりませんけど（笑）。それからGrand zeroにも行きました。まだ新しいビルの工事中です。ここであの大惨劇が起きたのか？と思うほど、何事もなかったように淡々とビル工事が進んでいる感じです。震災後に初めて神戸に行ったときと同じく、なんとも言えない気分でした。写真は、Grand zeroの完成図。

So far, when I came to NY, all I had done is shopping. So, this time, I will do sightseeing, not shopping. After arriving at NY, I went to about 10 art galleries. I did not know there were so many art galleries in NY. However, I have no talent for art, so I do not know which art is best. I went to Grand zero. New building was still under construction. I cannot believe the tragedy really occurred here, and men were working as if nothing had happened. I was deeply concerned with this scene as well as when I went to Kobe first after 1995 Kobe earthquake.

Last trip??

土日に、最後にＮＹＣに行ってこようと、ＮＹに来て、そしてなぜかブログを書いています、でも更新してない・・（最近、超さぼってました・・・）。友達とご飯のはずだったんだけど、友達から連絡が入らず、ホテルで一人お腹を空かせながらブログを書いてます（笑）。夜１１時から、他の友達と会う予定なので、それまで我慢。アメリカ生活には慣れたけど、なんとなく、一人で出かけて飲んで食べる勇気がでません。早く友達来ないかな・・・。

I planned to go to NY from Friday thru Sunday. Now I am in NY and I am writing my blog (but not updating). (I have not updated my blog recently...) Despite the promise to to have dinner with my friends, there is no call for me. So I am waiting for their call and writing my blog with my starving... I have a plan to see another friend at 11:00 pm, so I cannot eat by 11:00pm. I do never have the courage to go out for dinner alone. I hope my friend would come and see me soon.

Kotobuki

ＤＣ生活も残り１週間余りとなり、日本人トレイニーの人達と少人数でしっぽり、ということで飲みました。Kotobukiという日本食レストランに行きました。この辺では、まあおいしいというレストランです。ブリかまや、イカの塩辛や、刺身やお寿司や、いろいろ食べました。が、なんと言っても日本酒です。この日は、ジャニスにご飯を奢る会だったわけですが、彼女の大好きな久保田の万寿、720ｍ、なんと１本125ドル。。。日本で買うと、１升７０００円くらいみたいですねぇ・・・４倍以上します。運悪く（運よく）万寿が１本しかなかったので、２本目からは残念ながら他のお酒に。ジャニスはじゃんじゃん飲むので（笑）。結構高かったけれど、でもおいしかったからよし、です。

I have only about one week left before I leave DC, so we had a cozy get together with some Japanese trainees. We went to Kotobuki which was a Japanese restaurant. The level (price and taste) is so so around Ballston. we ate a broiled head of Buri with salt, Shiokara of calamari, Sashimi and Sushi and so on. But the main purpose was Nihonshu. We were going to pay for Janice, and she loves manju of Kubota. One bottle of manju (720 ml) costs S125. If we buy this in Japan, we can buy $70 per one shou (one shou is 1800ml). In DC, it costs four times as in Japan! Unfortunately for Janice, and fortunately for us, the restaurant only had one manju, after drinking one mangu, we drank other sake. Because Janice was really strong for alcohol, it was expensive but it was very fun.

RAY’S THE STEAKS

ＤＣで、安くておいしいステーキのお店として、超人気のRoy’s stakeに行ってきました。ということで、また肉です（笑）。もちろん、フィレ肉を頼んだけれど、トリフソースってので頼みました。フィレ肉の上に結構でかいフォアグラが乗っていて、30-40ドルくらいかな。前菜で、クラムチャウダー、ほたてのソテー、サーモンなんかを食べましたけど、これがおいしい。ＤＣではおいしいシーフードをなかなか食べられませんが、ここのシーフードはイケます。で、フィレ肉もおいしかったけど、　　のが味は上かもしれません。でもフォアグラ乗ってたからな、また食べたいな・・。４人でワイン２本も飲んで、いっぱい頼みましたけど、１人８０ドルくらいでした。日本より食事は安いと思います。

We went to Roy’s Steak which was the best tasty steak restaurant in DC and very famous restaurant. Well, I ate meat again ^^. Of course, I ordered fillet steak but this time it was a fillet with truffle sauce. The steak was served with a big foie gras and it cost $30-S40. And we ate clam chowder, saute of escallops, and salmon as appetizer, they were soooooo delicious. The seafood in this restaurant was really good.
Although the fillet was very delicious, meat of the Capital Grille might be more delicious than Roy’s steak. However, I like foie gras very much, so I do want to eat it again. We, four persons, drank two bottles of wine, and ate many dishes, but it cost about $80 a person. Restaurants in DC are cheaper than those in Tokyo.

The capital grille

アメリカに来て、ちゃんとステーキを食べてないな・・・と言ったら、それはダメだー、ステーキを食べないとダメだー、という話になって、ステーキを食べに行きました。ステーキは、１人前42-45ドル。ＤＣ界隈では、中高級くらいかな・・・。ワイン少しとサイドオーダを入れて75ドルくらいだったかと。私が一番好きなのは、フィレ肉なので、フィレ肉を食べましたけど、おいしかったです。アメリカのお肉も結構おいしいかも。
As I told some of my friends that I have never eaten a steak dinner, they said it was too bad, and you should eat American steak. Then we went to have a steak dinner. The price is $42-S45 per one steak; it was a little expensive in DC. Since we ordered a bottle of wine and side dishes, we paid about $75 per person. My most favorite is fillet steak, so I ate it. It was very tasty. I thought American beef was good!

Home party

Ｊａｙがご招待してくれたので、何人かの日本人トレイニーとＪａｙのお家に遊びに行ってきました。想像通り、とてもとても大きなりっぱな家でした。中に入ると、またこれが別荘のモデルルームに来たみたいでした。おうちの中を案内してもらいましたけれど、２階は、子どもたちのお部屋、寝室などがありました。お風呂ひとつが、６畳くらいの大きさです。１階は、どこまで続くかと思われる超広いリビングダイニングです。で、地下は、卓球台とかでっかいテレビとかが置いてあって、完全にアミューズメントプレイスでした。物置小屋だと言っていた１室に私、本気で住みたいと思いました。犬が２匹いて、すごくすごく可愛かったです。とても賢くおとなしい犬でした。庭には、電気の檻が張ってあるそうで、犬たちは広い広いお庭を駆け回っていました。Ｊａｙの奥さんのケティは、とってもかわいらしい人で、Ｊａｙとの馴れ初めなんかを教えてくれました。そして、とってもお料理が上手。すっごく美味しかったです。ところで、優菜ちゃんはこんなに大きくなりました！

As Mr. J invited us to his house, we, several Japanese trainees went to Mr. J’s house. As I had imagined, it was a huge house. When I went inside of his house, it was like a model rooms of a resort villa. He and his wife showed us all rooms, and there were children rooms and bed room. For example, his bath room is as the same size as the same size as a Japanese six-mat room. The first floor was sooooo big living dining room. And a basement room was very large amusement place... There was one room in the basement, and he said this was a lumber room, but I did want to stay there. There was an electrical fence which was not visible, so dogs run around the very large garden. Mr. J’s wife is Mrs. K, and she is really nice cute lady. She told me about first meeting with Mr. J. She is also a very good cook, so the dinner was really delicious.

Kenwood

ＤＣからＪａｙのお家にいくまでの間にケンウッドという桜の名所があるというので行ってきました。行ってみたらびっくり、ＤＣのポトマックより美しい感じ。で、ポトマックよりは、混雑していませんでした。住宅街に突然桜並木が登場する感じで、近所の人達にはとてもよい場所と思います。その後、更にもう１か所、花見に行きましたけど、そちらは、とても空いていてよかったですけれど、名前を忘れました・・・。

There was a major cherry blossom-viewing spot on the way from DC to J’s house, so we went there. When we arrived there, we were surprised. The cherry blossoms were much more beautiful than those along the Potomac. Further, it was not so crowded as Potomac. There were some avenues lined with a lot of cherry blossoms in a residential area. I think it is a special area for neighbors who live around there, because they can see and enjoy cherry blossoms without going to other places. After that, I visited another area, and it was very nice place because there was few people. But, unfortunately, I cannot remember its name...

Cherry blossoms

さて、桜の季節です。ＤＣの最も桜がきれいでにぎわっている場所は、ワシントンモニュメントの周りですかね・・すごい人です。土曜日に車で少し周りを見ましたら、結構キレイでした。でも、車では行かれないので、日曜日に電車で行きました。若干行くのが遅かったので、葉桜が始まってしまってましたけど。日本でも桜のまっ盛り（ブログを更新するころには終わっちゃってるかな・・）だと思いますけど。ＤＣでは、外でお酒を飲むことが禁止されているとかで、日本人のように、ござを広げて、お弁当を食べつつ、日本酒を飲む、みたいな風景はなしです。みんなのんびり歩きながら桜を観賞している感じ。こっちの方がまっとうな気がします（笑）。

It is the cherry blossoms season. The place where everybody goes to see cherry blossom
is around the Washington Monument. There are so many people there. When I went and saw around there on last Saturday by car, it was quite beautiful. However, this time, we could not go there because of the so crowded people, I went there by train. It was a little late for enjoying cherry blossom, so some cherry blossoms had fallen and fresh green leaves were growing. It was a top season of cherry blossoms in Japan (But the season might pass away when I would update my blog...) As drinking alcohol open-air is banned in DC, there is no scene that many people spread a mat
and drink "Sake" with "Obento" like in Japan. Everybody walks slowly and enjoys seeing cherry blossoms. I feel it is more natural than Japan.

Chocolate truffles

大量のチョコレートトリフを作りました。なんと使ったチョコは2キロ以上。大きな籠に３ばい分（笑）。お世話になって皆様に感謝のチョコをくばります。ブラックのチョコレートは、カカオマスの割合が高いのを使用すれば、甘さを控えることができるのだけど、ホワイトチョコはできず・・・なので、ホワイトチョコは超甘くなってしまいました。ブランデーとかチョコレートのリキュールとかもどばどば入れたかったのだけど、お酒を飲めない人にもあげるので、そこそこにしました。甘さ控え目のチョコレートはアメリカ人に受け付けられるのか？？と思っていましたけど、マギンさんの事務所に持って行ってら、ジョセフからメールが来て、mikaのハンドメイドだったら、レシピを教えてくれないかと、聞かれました！ということは、受け入れられたのかな・・・。レシピといっても、チョコに生クーリムを入れて溶かして、粗熱が取れたらお酒を入れて、冷凍庫で固まらせて、コーティングしておしまい、分量は各適当、って感じなんですけど・・・（笑）。

I cooked a lot of chocolate truffles. I used more than four pounds chocolate. The truffles are three baskets   As Jay invited me to his house, I am going to bring the truffles. And other truffles are as a token of gratitude for they working with me. Further, other truffles are for some of Japanese trainees, because they were taking care of me very much. Although I can cook black chocolate that is not too sweet, if I use dark chocolate which has high content rate of cacao, but I cannot cook white chocolate that is not too sweet. So, white chocolate truffles were so sweet…Actually, I wanted to put a lot of brandy and chocolate liquor, some people who I was going to give my handmade chocolate cannot drink alcohol, so, I put some, not a lot. I wonder if American people do not like the chocolate which is not so sweet. However, after bringing chocolate truffles to McGinn Office, Joseph sent me e-mail and asked that if the chocolate truffles were Mika’s handmade, could you tell me the recipe, because a few people asked him to ask me a recipe. It means American people like not so sweet chocolate. Actually, I don’t have an accurate recipe…I just melt some chocolate with heavy cream, remove from the heat, put some brandy and/or chocolate liquor, put it in a freezer, and make bowls, and courting with chocolate. Then, amount of chocolate, heavy cream and brandy are indeterminate…

Work?? or walk??

さて、私の発音の良さはどのくらいかというと、スターバックスでコーヒー下さいと言って通じない程、なんですけれど（笑）、work（働く）とwalk（歩く）がちゃんと発音できてません。ちなみに、スターバックスでコーヒー以外に私が何を注文すると思ってるのかしら、と自分の発音の悪さには落ち込まずに、相手のせいにしてます。で、workなんですけど、前にJayにＤＣに来て何が一番楽しい？と聞かれて、（法律事務所で）働いていること！って答えるわけですが、へ～、どの辺を？などという答えが返ってくるわけです。で、よくよく話すと、私歩くのが好き、って聞こえちゃってるわけです。で、昨日も、今日何してたの？って聞かれたので、家で働いてた、って答えたら、なんで？どうやって？などと聞かれて、いや仕事が終わらないから、などと答えていたわけですけど、なんか話がかみ合わないと思ったら、これまた、家で歩いていた、と聞こえちゃってたわけですねぇ。自分でも相当ヤバイと思いますけど。。。て言ってる場合ではなくて、発音直さねば・・・。

Let me explain my English pronunciation level. When I order, saying “Coffee please!” in Starbucks, they usually ask me “What do you want, ma'am?”, this is my level…I also cannot pronounce "work" and "walk" properly.. FYI, when a person in Starbucks cannot understand me, I always don’t get depressed about my pronunciation. Because I think “What should I do except ordering coffee in Starbucks?”, and “You should understand me!”
Regarding “work”, Jay asked me what was the most enjoyable thing in DC, before, then I answered “I love working (in the law firm)!”. Then he asked me again, “where do you walk? Around Sughrue??”. I thought it was strange question, so I realized he mishear my “work” for “walk”…That means I said to him “I love walking”.
Yesterday, my friend asked me “what did you do today?”, then I answered “I was working at my apartment.”, then my friend said “How did you walk here? Why?”. Then I answered “Because I didn’t finish my work yet.”. After a little while, I realized he misheard my “working” for “walking”… That means I said to my friend “I was walking at home.” I think it is too bad. I should correct my pronunciation…

DC tour

さて、ＤＣに来て１０か月くらいになりますけど、私、今だにＤＣ観光をまともにしていません。スミソニアンも１つしか見に行っていません。それはいけない、ということで、今日ＤＣ観光に行ってきました。ご想像通り、渡辺さんが連れて行ってくれました。今日は、カイトフェスティバルとかで、モールでは、大量の凧が上がっていました。小雨の中・・・。ワシントンモニュメントに登りたかったのですけど、朝７時半に行かないと整理券がゲットできないらしく、ちょっと難しいです。ネットでも予約できますが、６月まで一杯です。ホワイトハウスの中も観覧できるみたいですが、知り合いは、２ヶ月以上前に申込してまだ待っている状態みたいです。ということで、私は入れません・・。でもいろいろ見れて楽しかったです。National Cathedraは、ステンドガラスがとってもきれいでした。

I have been here in DC for ten months, but I have not done a sightseeing in DC yet. I visited the Smithsonian museums just once. As I thought it was no good, I went to do sightseeing in DC on Saturday. As you can easily image, Watanabe-san took my friend and me there for a sightseeing in DC. Today was the Kite Festival, so there were so many kites in the sky around the Mall. Unfortunately it was misting. I wanted to go up to the top of the Washington monument, but we couldn’t see the views from the top of the Wasington monument. This is because we could not get tickets due to our failure in getting there by 7:30 am. A ticket can be got thru an internet, but all the tickets are already booked by June! And we can also see an inside of the White House, but one of my friends is waiting for more than two months. So, I could not enter the White House.
However I did very enjoy doing sightseeing in DC today. Especially, the stained glasses in National Cathedra were very beautiful.

Fan

アメリカのアパートには、換気扇がない！って思ってとても不便していました。が、最近は慣れてしまって、お料理の香り満載の中でお料理してました。で、ちょっと肉とかトーストを焼いて焦げると、火災報知機がピーピーと、ものすごい音で鳴っていました。ちなみに、火災報知機は、最初超びびってアパートに言いに行ったら、ほっとけばよい、と言われました・・・（笑）。で、換気扇ですが、ちゃんと付いてました。なんと電子レンジに換気扇のボタンが付いてるんです。そんなのわかんない、、、で、結構強力。パワーも切り替えられて、電気とかもついていて、こっちの備付の電子レンジは多機能？です。

Apartments in the US were inconvenient, I thought, because there were no fans. However, recently I have got used to it, so I usually cook in the environment where there is a lot of smell of cooking food. So, if meat gets burned a little, or a toast burns brown, a fire alarm in my apartment rings with very loud noise. FYI, when the fire alarm rang first time, I was very surprised and went downstairs and asked what I should do. A super said I should let it be...
BTW, there is a fan in my apartment! There is a button of a fan on a microwave. It is difficult to find.... The fan is powerful and I can control a power level. There is also a light to light heaters. A microwave in the US has multiple functions.