Dreams Come True～☆!!!

Ahba 先生との英会話が８月で丸２年になった。２年も続いて嬉しい気持ちと、２年たったけど、英語は少しも上達した気がしないと話したことが、 Abha 先生も気になったようで、２回のうち１回は記事を読んでディスカッションしようという内容に変わった。 Abha 先生を責めてるつもりで言ったんじゃないのに、私の英語力のなさを嘆いただけなのに、指導者としては責任を感じたのかしら。

ともかく、今日は次の英文を提示された。

日本での離婚式のビジネスの話です。

One in four marriages in Japan now ends in divorce, yet it's still considered a cultural taboo. Increasingly popular ceremonies help some Japanese cope with the country's changing social norms, according to divorce ceremony planner Hiroki Terai.

Michiko's soon-to-be ex-husband, Taka, says the idea was surprising to him. He had never heard of a divorce ceremony when Michiko brought it up.

But when he looked at the brochures on-line -- which explained that the divorce ceremony was like a wedding ceremony, with a different outcome -- he decided some sort of formal closure to their marriage might provide him with emotional closure as well.

Wearing her summer yukata, Michiko meets Taka outside a temple in Tokyo.

"It marks the end of this phase of our lives," says Taka, clad in a simple business suit.
It begins with the couple stepping into separate rickshaws. It's a quiet and solemn walk through the streets.

Walking behind the couple are friends, brought as witnesses.

"I like that you have a lot of time to contemplate this," says Michiko's friend, Isao Yokoyama. "Isn't it better this way than to just split up?"

The rickshaw ride ends at a purposely shabby storefront, marked with the words "Refresh" and "Divorce" outside.

"Thank you very much for coming," says ceremony planner Terai. In a short speech, he explains how Taka and Michiko have grown apart since their marriage in 2002. It is time to say farewell, Terai says.

Then holding a heavy hammer painted green like a frog, Michiko and Taka smash Michiko's diamond and platinum wedding ring. The strong ring doesn't crack, despite the direct hit.

The couple hits the ring six times until finally it is bent beyond repair, and the diamonds have cracked off the ring.

"I feel free," Michiko says, relaxed and smiling for the first time this day. "After I smashed the ring, I feel free."

The feeling's mutual, Taka says. "I feel better than before we did this," he says. "It's over."

This is not just one couple's eccentric move to cope with their divorce. Terai claims his business is booming. He's received thousands of calls and has ceremonies booked for weeks in Japan and Korea.

"There's no mistaking that divorce is a sad process," Terai says. "But I believe that by declaring your new start in life in front of your friends, relatives and family, you draw a clear line. It helps emotionally."

A short reception follows Michiko and Taka's ceremony. Symbolizing their now separate lives, they sit back to back at separate tables. Their party favors are chopsticks, because they are two sticks that are easily pulled apart.

At the end of the day, Taka and Michiko say their thanks to their friends and their farewells to each other.

With a polite bow, they walk off their separate ways.

４人に１組が離婚に至るなんて、ほんとですかね？

結婚式ならず、離婚するのに、家族や友人を呼んでその前で金づちを持って指輪を割るなんて読んでて思わず笑ってしまった。

離婚式について、どう思うって聞かれて、「面白いけど、どんな顔して式に出席していいのかわからない」と言うのをそう表現していいかわからなく、悩んでしまった。

初めてみる言葉も多くて、読みながら英辞郎で単語の意味を調べながら、 Abha 先生から解説してもらいながら読んで、７０％くらいの理解だろうか。

いろんな文を読んで語彙を増やしていくことが必要だと Abha 先生はおっしゃる。すぐに身に着くものではないけど、本もドラマもニュース記事も、いろんなものに触れていけばいいかもしれない。そんなわけで、楽しみながらがんばります～☆