『せかいのもちよりまつり』 子供のためのオーディオブック
英語で読める “The International Potluck Festival” の絵本
The International Potluck Festival
Page 1
Aili was a girl who was born in Chicago. Her mother’s name was Yuna, and she was from Korea. Aili’s father was born in Germany, and his name was Klaus. At school, Aili was popular and cool. At the beginning of 5th grade, when Aili was 9 years old, Yuna said to her, “Next year, we’re moving to New York City.” Aili was excited to move to another big city, but she was sad that she had to leave her friends in Chicago. She was also nervous because she had to make new friends in New York. When Aili said this to her father, Klaus smiled, and he said, “Just be yourself, and you will make a lot of good friends.”
Page 2
That last year in Chicago went by very fast, and before Aili knew it, she was getting ready to graduate from elementary school. Next year, she was not only going to start middle school, she was also going to be living in New York City! During the summer, Aili spent a lot of time helping her parents get ready to move. At the beginning of August, the time finally came for Aili and her family to move. The weekend before she moved, Aili’s friends threw a going away party for her. Aili got lots of cards and small gifts from her friends. Linda, her best friend, said, “Remember to write letters to me, and send me lots of pictures!”
Page 3
When Aili and her parents moved to New York, there was still more than one month before school would start. And everyone was busy moving their things into the new apartment, and unpacking all of the boxes. So, Aili had trouble making new friends. Yuna and Klaus knew that Aili was bored. And she was homesick for Chicago, too. They tried to spend time with her whenever they could. But they were very busy because of moving and working, so they did not have much free time. One day, Klaus came home, and he was smiling. He was carrying a pamphlet. He said, “I found this at the restaurant when I was eating lunch. There’s an International Potluck Festival in two weeks.” He showed the pamphlet to Yuna and Aili, and they were very excited. The youth center was near their apartment building, so it would be a good chance for Aili to meet children her age in the neighborhood.
Page 4
The weekend before the International Potluck Festival, Yuna asked Aili what food she wanted to make. Aili said, “I’ll just buy some fried chicken from the supermarket deli.” Yuna was a little surprised. She said, “Fried chicken isn’t really an international food. I don’t think it’s a German food, and I know it isn’t Korean. Don’t you want to do something to show your German or Korean background?” Aili said, “Don’t worry about it, Mom. If it looks like I tried too hard to get ready, then the kids won’t think I’m cool. Cool kids never try too hard.” Yuna smiled, and she said, “Well, I guess that you know what’s best. We’ll get a box of supermarket chicken next weekend.”
Page 5
On the morning of the International Potluck Festival, Klaus gave some money to Aili. He said, “Here’s the money to pay for entering the festival, and for the fried chicken. I hope the children at the party like it.” Aili said, “Thanks, Dad. I bet the chicken will be great. Everyone likes fried chicken!” A few hours later, Aili was still at home. Yuna saw Aili in the kitchen. She said, “The festival started an hour ago. Aren’t you going to go?” Aili said, “Oh, I’m going soon. I just didn’t want to arrive too early. Cool kids are never early.”
Page 6
About 20 minutes later, Aili finally was ready to go to the International Potluck Festival. She was wearing a cool pair of jeans, and a cool T-shirt. Klaus asked her, “Don’t you want to wear your hanbok? You look really pretty in it.” He was talking about Aili’s traditional Korean dress. Aili laughed. She said, “It’s pretty, but it’s not very cool. I want to fit in with the popular kids. If I dress up too much, the other kids won’t think that I’m cool.” Then, Aili got her backpack, said goodbye to her mother and father, and she went to the supermarket to buy two boxes of fried chicken.
Page 7
After buying the chicken, Aili went to the youth center where the International Potluck Festival was being held. When she went into the hallway, she was surprised to see how colorful everything was. There were signs in lots of languages. She could read the ones in English, Korean, and German. They all said “Welcome!” When she learned that all of the signs said the same thing, she became curious to know what languages the other signs were written in. She started to get excited, but she said to herself, “Don’t look like you’re very interested. Cool kids don’t get too excited.” As she walked around, she saw more signs and posters. They all looked handmade, and they were really interesting. She began to wish that she had made a poster herself. She thought, “Sometimes I think it’s too bad that cool kids don’t work too hard because making the posters must have been fun!”
Page 8
Aili walked through the hallway and into the youth center’s gym, where the International Potluck Festival was being held. She was surprised to see all of the tables and booths that were there. A lot of kids worked really hard to make the festival great, and most of kids were dressed in traditional clothes. And on the tables and at the booths, there were lots of foods to try and fun activities to do. Everything looked so great that Aili did not know where to begin.
Page 9
Aili went to the nearest booth to her. She asked the boy in the booth, “What country is this?” The boy smiled, and he pointed at the sign. He said, “My country’s name is written here.” Aili said, “I can’t read that.” Then, the boy said, “So, you have to guess!” He stood up, and he said, “Look. I’m wearing a kufi cap and a thwab.” Then, he pointed at the girl who was standing next to him. The girl said, “I’m wearing a khimar.” Aili still did not know, but she guessed, “Saudi Arabia?” The boy said, “Close! My country is west of Saudi Arabia.” Next, the girl said, “This is falafel. It’s a kind of wrapped sandwich with fried chickpeas inside.” Aili’s next guess was Jordan, but the boy said, “No. We’re not from Jordan. Let me give you a big hint.” The boy showed Aili a picture of a pyramid, and Aili clapped excitedly and said, “Egypt! You’re from Egypt!” The girl said, “That’s right. So, now you can have some pita bread. Dip it in the hummus. It’s made with chickpeas, olive oil and lemon juice.” Aili tried the hummus, and it was delicious!
Page 10
Aili knew the name of the next place she visited; a sign saying “Mexico” was hanging in front of a table. Standing behind this table were three kids, two girls and a boy. They all said “Hola!” as Aili walked to the table. Aili said to the girls, “Your dresses are beautiful!” Both girls smiled, and they said, “Thank you!” The taller girl said, “These dresses are called China poblana. This style became popular in Mexico over 200 years ago.” The other girl pointed at the boy. She said, “He’s wearing a serape around his shoulders, and a sombrero on his head.” Aili said, “I thought serapes were always really colorful.” The three Mexican children laughed. Then, the tall girl leaned closer to Aili, and she whispered, “Don’t tell anyone, but we just sell those to tourists.” After that, the boy held out a tray of food. He said, “Here. Try some real Mexican tacos.” Aili thought that they did not look like tacos. The shells were soft, and the meat was small pieces of steak, not ground up hamburger. And it was not covered with lettuce, shredded cheese, and sour cream. But when she bit into it, she really enjoyed the wonderful flavor!
Page 11
Next, Aili went to another booth. The sign for the booth was just a white board with a big red dot painted in the middle. Of course, Aili knew that that was the “rising sun” image that represents Japan. She already knew how to say “hello” in Japanese, so she walked up to the boy at the booth, and she said, “Ohayo!” The boy smiled, and he said, “Konichiwa!” Then, he whispered, “‘Ohayo’ kind of means ‘Good morning.’ It’s after noon now, so we should say ‘konichiwa.’” Aili was embarrassed, but she laughed with the boy. Aili looked at the boy’s clothes, and she asked, “What is that called?” The boy said, “It’s a hakama. Men wear these for formal occasions, and boys and girls wear them for certain Japanese martial arts.” Then, the boy said, “My sisters are walking around now. Oh! There they are, across the room. My older sister is wearing a kimono, and my younger sister is wearing a yukata. A yukata is a more casual style of kimono. They’re really comfortable in the summertime.” Then, the boy asked, “Do you want to try some Japanese udon?” Aili said, “Sure!” The boy handed her a small bowl with a thin, hot soup. The soup had thick, white noodles in it. It was really good. The boy said, “You should come back later. My older sister is cooking okonomiyaki today. It’s kind of like a pizza, with meat, vegetables, and thin noodles in it.” Aili thought that sounded good, so she promised to return to the Japan booth later.
