What do you think of when you hear “African food”? Actually, there are many kinds of African food because there are many different countries with their own dishes. I knew that people in north Africa ate couscous, a kind of tiny pasta, but I didn’t know much about local cooking before I went to Uganda five years ago. Last Sunday, I went to a charity event to help a school in Uganda, and they served Ugandan food. They couldn’t eat “matoke,” which is the national staple dish of Uganda, because they couldn’t get a special kind of non-sweet green banana. We had chapati, pilaf, and “ugali” instead. “Ugali” is made of corn flour which is boiled. It is white and heavy, and it went well with the curry and cooked beans.

People in many countries around the world take showers rather than baths, but most Japanese take a bath regularly. In a Japanese bath, you get into the bathtub and cover your whole body in hot water. People stay in the bath until their bodies feel nice and warm. According to some Japanese researchers, taking a hot bath this way is good for your health. Here are three of their reasons. First, a hot bath makes you feel better because your backaches and stiff shoulders don’t hurt so much. Second, when you are in the bath, you don’t feel your weight. Your body floats in the water, and this helps to relax your muscles. Finally, a hot bath before you go to bed is good because you can fall sleep more easily.

Recently I noticed a new kind of work/study space here in Nagoya. It is called “self cafe” in Japanese. It is like a coffee shop, but no one works there. You buy a drink from a machine, and you can stay there as long as the place is open. They have Wi-Fi, and there are tables and chairs where you can sit and work or study. You can use the outlets to plug in your computer or recharge your mobile phone. I haven’t gone into the one in my neighborhood yet, but my granddaughter has. She said that it is a better place to study than a coffee shop because it is quiet. It seems to be popular. I walked by last night at 8 pm, and it was full.

On February 29, Ohtani Shohei announced on Instagram that he is married. Who is his wife? He hasn’t told anyone her name. He has only said that she is an ordinary Japanese woman. Isn’t it amazing that he can keep this a secret? He is one of the most famous baseball players in the world, and he is in the news every day. I’m sure that news reporters are doing their best to find out who his wife is, but Ohtani is very good at keeping a secret. Most people are happy for Ohtani. He has gotten messages of congratulations from other baseball players and from Kuriyama, Samurai Japan’s manager last year. However, some of his female fans have left comments on SNS like “My life is over!” They are unhappy because they can no longer dream of marrying him.