（日本語は後半にあります）
【English】
The other day, my younger son had his daycare graduation ceremony. Although he can continue attending until March 31, receiving the graduation certificate from the principal made me realize that he is truly graduating.
His grandfather—my father—also attended the ceremony. For some reason, my father had also attended my elder son’s graduation ceremony. Perhaps he liked that daycare so much that he decided to join this time as well. He planned to come to Tokyo the day before the ceremony, so we decided to have a family dinner at his favorite sushi restaurant.
We planned to meet at the nearest station to the sushi restaurant at 5 PM, but my impatient father arrived an hour early. We felt somewhat rushed because of him, so we left home earlier than planned by taxi and met up with him. In the end, the restaurant let us in a little earlier than our reservation 😅. Since it was drizzling and quite cold, we were relieved to get inside.
For our first drink, we toasted with Asahi Super Dry. Asahi Super Dry is one of Japan’s most famous beers, known for its crisp and refreshing taste, as its name suggests.
It has 5% alcohol content and is made from malt, hops, rice, corn, and starch. It is a representative brand that sparked the "dry beer" trend in Japan. Since it is commonly served in restaurants, I find myself drinking it quite often. I believe I have posted about it several times for BeerSaturday. A well-marbled sashimi pairs perfectly with Super Dry.
That being said, I never imagined in my teens or twenties that I would one day be drinking with my father, along with my husband and children. My father is quite a unique character—he's the kind of person with whom you just can’t have a normal conversation 🤣. He always seems to say things in a way that rubs people the wrong way, and our conversations never quite align. My mother is constantly frustrated with him. During my middle and high school years, I avoided talking to him as much as possible.
However, after I got married, my relationship with my father improved significantly, thanks to my husband stepping in as a sort of "translator" between us. It made me realize how relationships between parents and children change over time.
【Japanese】
先日、次男の卒園式がありました。保育園には3月31日まで通うことができますが、園長先生から保育証書をもらって、一旦区切りがついた感じです。
卒園式には、じいじ…つまり私の父も参加しました。どういうわけか父は長男の時にも卒園式に参加し、保育園を気に入ったのか、次男の式にも参加すると言いだしました。父は卒園式の前日に東京に来ることになり、お気に入りの寿司屋でみんなで夕食をとることになりました。
寿司屋の最寄り駅に17時集合の予定でしたが、せっかちな父はその一時間前に到着。私たちも何となく急かされるような気分で早めにタクシーで家を出て、父と合流しました。結局、寿司屋には予約よりも少し早く入れてもらいました😅
一杯目はアサヒスーパードライで乾杯しました。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あり、その名の通りキレのある味わいが特徴です。アルコールは5％、原料は麦芽、ホップ、米、コーン、スターチです。日本のビール市場に「辛口ブーム」を巻き起こした代表的なブランドです。飲食店で提供されていることが多いので、私もたびたび飲むようになりました。脂ののったお刺身と、スーパードライはよく合いますね。
それにしても、夫や子どもも交えて父とお酒を飲むようになるとは、10代、20代の頃には思ってもみませんでした。というのも、父はかなり特徴的な人間で、なんというか普通の会話が成り立たない相手だからです🤣とにかく人の感情を逆撫でするような物言いばかりするし（それで母はしょっちゅうキレています）、話が噛み合わないし…。特に中学、高校のころは父と話すことは極力避けていました。
私が結婚して、父との会話の間に夫が入ってくれるようになってから、私と父の関係はだいぶ改善されたと思います。夫が通訳、みたいな感じでしょうか。時と共に親子の関係も変化するものだなと思ったのでした。