Notes:
the Met Office　気象庁;
all-time 空前の;
abnormally 異常に;
degrees Celsius 摂氏温度;
chills: 冷気
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In December 2009, the Met Office in the United Kingdom announced that the global average temperature could reach an all-time high in 2010, but have you been watching the weather around the world? Japan is cold. In fact, it’s snowing in many places of Japan today. The UK is getting unusually large amounts of snow, and the United States is really cold. For example, the first week of this year, some places in the US had temperatures of minus 32 degrees Celsius and wind chills of -47! That doesn’t really seem like the start of a year that will have high temperatures. On the other hand, Tada-sensei told me that the temperatures in Australia have been abnormally hot, like 47 degrees Celsius. So, maybe this year will be hot after all. (by Prof. Carmella Lieske)
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Whenever I get the chance, I love to see festivals. Japan is full of great festivals and I would strongly recommend seeing some of them such as the Snow Festival in Sapporo, the Nebuta Festival in Aomori, the Gion Festival in Kyoto or the Yosakoi Festival in Kochi. All are really unique and interesting. But there is one festival I would really like to see overseas which is the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is usually held in February or March which is the perfect time for students to go, but for people who work like me it is difficult to take time off. But maybe this year I will be brave enough to ask my boss for a long holiday in February.(by Prof. Wendy Tada)
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