（日本語は後半にあります）
【English】
For the first time in a while, I will be participating in BeerSaturday. It has been very cold in Tokyo for the past few days. The lowest temperature is 0 degrees Celsius or 1 degree Celsius.... It's windy and piercingly cold, and as someone who hates the cold, it's unbearable for me.
So this time, I bought a can of cherry-colored beer, hoping that spring will come soon!
This is a special spring season package of Asahi Super Dry. I was looking at the beer section in the supermarket when this can caught my eye. So, as usual, I decided to buy it, judging by the package.
When I put this in my cart, I was expecting the contents to be a bit cherry blossom colored or have a cherry blossom scent. However, the only thing that was spring was the can 🤣 That is, the contents are just regular Asahi Super Dry. But that's okay. Just the fact that the beer cans are spring-like makes me somewhat excited.
It has been less than two weeks since my elder son took his entrance exam and about 10 days since I found out the results of his pass/fail, but I seem to have lost my mind. I don't feel motivated to do many things and I can't do things quickly anymore. It's not that I'm so discouraged by the result of not passing the exam (I think), but I just don't seem to have the energy to do many things.
Well, when I think about it, since February of my elder son's second year of elementary school, that is, four years ago, I have sent him to juku (cram school), had him take various mock exams, and finally had to leave the first juku I sent him to because he was not a good match with the school, but I had some difficulties negotiating with the juku. In addition, I had some battles with my son. Looking back, it was a tough four years.
So, may I linger for a while and have a beer?😅
In the evening, I made curry for my sons' dinner and realized that it was already past 6 pm. Following the rule of “12-hour fasting,” which I started recently, I decided to leave at least 12 hours between dinner and breakfast the next day. Even if I wanted to eat, curry and rice would have been a little too heavy, so I decided to enjoy a glass of Asahi Super Dry with a snack of Camembert cheese and nuts.
Asahi Super Dry is one of Japan's most popular beers and was launched in 1987. Its greatest feature is its “dry” and refreshing taste, and it is so popular that it is sold everywhere you go. The alcohol content was 5%, and the beer was light and easy to drink. It went well with cheese and almonds.
Looking at this beer can, I kind of feel like having a hanami (cherry blossom viewing). The last time we did hanami was the year my elder son graduated from daycare (6 years ago), when we got together with friends of moms and dads from the same daycare. The following year, COVID-19 broke out, and after that, we became busy with each other's children's examinations, so it drifted away. Next month, I have plans to go out with some of my mom friends from back then, so I think I'll ask them☺
My elder son had not yet returned from juku, so I made a toast with my second son (he had a Mitsuya cider). My elder son has become quite sociable during his six years of elementary school. Strictly speaking, he tended to have trouble with interpersonal relationships until about the fourth grade, but from the fifth grade he suddenly became more confident. At juku, he expanded his network to include elementary school students from other schools and even junior high school students, and for some reason he actively participated in the district's radio exercises and helped out at summer festivals, so he became well-known among the adults in the town. I don't have this ability😅so I'm not sure if he goes to juku to study or to see his friends today... but that's OK.
On the other hand, my second son is the type who says, “I don't need friends,” so I am a little worried about him... I don't know how he will change over the next six years, and I will watch him grow slowly.
As I looked at this spring-colored package, I thought to myself that they will finally be a junior high school student and an elementary school student, respectively, starting this April.
In addition, I remembered that we also have two graduation and entrance ceremonies each! I don't want to buy formal wear that I rarely have a chance to wear just for those occasions, and if I do, I don't want to wear the same outfit four times. What should I do? I have to think of something to wear to cover up the situation.
【Japanese】
久しぶりにBeerSaturdayに参加します。東京はここ数日、とても寒い日が続いています。最低気温は0℃とか、1℃とか…。しかも風も強いし、刺すように冷たいし、寒いのが苦手な私にとっては耐えられない季節です。
そこで今回は、早く春が来ることを願いつつ、桜色の缶ビールを買ってみました！
アサヒスーパードライの春季限定スペシャルパッケージです。スーパーでビールのコーナーを眺めていたところ、ひときわ目をひいた缶がこれでした。それでいつもの通り、パッケージ買いをしてしまったのです。
この時は、中身もちょっと桜色だったり、桜の香りがついたりしているのかなーなんて勝手に思っていたのですが、春なのは缶だけでした🤣つまり、中身は通常のアサヒスーパードライ、ということです。でもいいんです。ビールの缶が春っぽくなるだけでも、何となくウキウキしています。
長男の受験が終わって2週間弱、合否結果が分かって10日ほどになりますが、どうも気が抜けてしまってダメです。不合格という結果にそれほど落胆しているわけではない（と思う）のですが、どうも色々なことに気合が入らないというか。ただよくよく考えたら、長男が小2の2月頃、つまり4年前から塾へ行かせたり、いろんな模試を受けさせたり、最初に通わせた塾とは肌が合わず結局辞めることになったのですが、その交渉にやや苦労したり、長男本人とのバトルもあったり・・・ 思い返せばそれなりに大変な4年間でした。
ということでしばらくの間、ビールを飲んでダラダラしてもよいでしょうか😅
子どもたちの晩御飯にカレーを作り、気がついたら18時を過ぎていました。最近始めた「12時間断食」のルールに則って、晩御飯から翌日の朝食までの間は最低12時間あけることにしています。食べるにしてもカレーライスだとちょっと重すぎたので、カマンベールチーズとナッツをつまみつつ、アサヒスーパードライを楽しむことにしました。
アサヒスーパードライは、日本を代表するビールのひとつで、1987年に発売されました。最大の特徴は「辛口」のすっきりとした味わいで、そこへ行っても売っているほど人気です。アルコール度数は5％、さらっとして飲みやすいビールでした。チーズとアーモンドにも合いました。
そういえば「お花見」とかもう何年もしていませんが、この缶を眺めているとまたやりたくなってきます。お花見は長男が保育園を卒園した年（6年前）、同じ保育園のママ友・パパ友と集まってやったのが最後です。また来年もぜひ！なんて話していたのが、翌年にはコロナ勃発、その後も互いに受験で忙しくなり、流れてしまったのでした。来月、当時からのママ友さんたちと遊びに行く予定があるので、声を掛けてみようかなと思ってます。
長男はまだ塾から戻らなかったため次男と乾杯しました（次男は三ツ矢サイダー）。長男はこの6年間で、かなり社交的になりました。厳密には、4年生くらいまでは対人関係でメソメソしがちだったのが、5年生のころから急に自信満々になりました。塾では他校の小学生や、中学生にまで人脈を広げ、地区のラジオ体操や夏祭りの手伝いなどにも何故か積極的に参加していたため、町内の大人たちにも名を知られるようになりました。私にはない能力です😅なので今日も、塾へは勉強しに行っているのか友達に会いに行っているのか、やや不明な部分はありますが… まあヨシとしましょう。
一歩で次男は、「友達なんて要りませんよ」というタイプなのでやや不安ではありますが… 今後の6年間でどう変わるか分からないし、ゆっくり成長を眺めることにします。
いよいよ4月から二人とも、それぞれ中学生、小学生なんだよなと、この春色のパッケージを眺めながら思いました。
ついでに思い出したのですが、卒業式と入学式も2回ずつあります！滅多に着る機会のないセットアップとかそのためだけに買いたくないし、買ったとして4回も同じもの着たくない。。どうしよう？何とかごまかしの効く服装を考えなければと思います。。