読んで下さっている方へ
May 1, 2018
I had a lesson in the morning for some adult students. I have in total eight adult students. They are just lovely. I love them. One year has passed since they started studying at my place. Back then I didn’t ask them to introduce themselves because I don’t like to tell about myself to strangers. Only their names and occupations were known by me. And then little by little they confirmed their personality and now they are connected by a feeling of fellowship. Each woman has their own story! Once we opened our hearts to each other, it was easy to share the stories. As you know life has its ups and downs. They are strong beautiful and have a sense of humor because they have got over theirs. 負けるが勝ち,makerugakachi,that is a Japanese proverb whose original meaning is to let your opponent win in the race or argument then even though you have lost you will benefit later. It teaches us that me-first attitude does not always give us the greatest benefit. I see. It could be true but while I was watching my students today, I came up with another phrase, 笑うが勝ち,waraugakachi.That means laughter puffs your sorrow away. As long as you can laugh, you won’t be defeated by anything. Even bad luck seems insignificant. So we laughed together a lot as usual.
午前中、大人のクラスが有った。私の英語塾に全部で8人の大人の方が通って来てくれている。皆さんとても素敵な方達で、私は皆さんの事が大好きだ。大人のクラスが出来てから約一年が経った。あまり知らない人に自分の事をあれこれ言うのが好きではない私は、それぞれの方のお名前と職業だけをお伝えし、お互いの自己紹介は抜きにして一年前にクラスをスタートさせた。少しずつお互いの距離を縮めていった皆さん、気心も知れて、今クラスは結束している！
（もちろん男の人もだが）女の人ってそれぞれの事情を抱えて生きているって思う。そんな中、一旦心と心が繋がれば、自分の事を語れるようになれるのは自然な流れ。ご存知の通り、人生は山あり谷あり、谷底あり！そんなこんなを乗り越えて来た人（生徒さんたち）は、強くて、美しくて、面白い！
我先にガツガツする事が得になるって事は無いって、教えてくれる「負けるが勝ち」って諺があるが、今日、皆さんを見ていて、違う言葉が頭に浮かんで来た。「笑うが勝ち」悲しみも辛さも笑って吹き飛ばせ。笑っているうちは大丈夫。かなり大変な事も小さく見えるからって、私は思う。
で、今日もいつも通りゲラゲラ、ゲラゲラ。笑顔いっぱいのレッスンだった