Today’s guest is Billeigh. She’s from Melbourne, Australia and she’s currently living here in Niseko. She has a few jobs and one of them is working as a massage therapist at a place called Niseko Massage.
We interviewed her in the room she works in. It’s such a nice little room and it smells so good. I wish we could somehow capture the smell on camera. We could have talked for hours because she has so many interesting stories to tell.
I started out by asking her: How long have you been in Japan?
I came here in March and I stayed for about six weeks. I stayed here in Niseko doing massage and then I went down to Kyoto for a week and to Tokyo for a week. And then I went home for two months. And then I returned to work here over the summer and the summer was really beautiful. And then I went on another holiday to Cuba and I have just returned two weeks ago, to work the winter season.
Kia Ora, in Stick News today a 26-year-old Kiwi spammer has been fined 100 thousand dollars.
Last year spamming became illegal in New Zealand. The first person has just been charged under the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007.The New Zealand Herald reported Lance Atkinson admitted the spamming charges and was sentenced to pay $100,000 and costs of $7666.The other two members of the spam gang have denied the charges. The Internal Affairs' anti-spam compliance unit said the three men were part of a network which sent more than two million spam messages to New Zealand computers last year.The convicted spammer still faces charges in the United States.
And that was Stick News for Monday the 22nd of December. Kia Ora.
Sarah What kind of massage do you do? どのようなマッサージをするんですか?
Billeigh I do mostly shiatsu. Ah, I’ve been working with shiatsu for about five years now. But I started off just working with natural intuitive massage and I’ve also done Thai massage and Tibetan massage. So I blend all types of massage in together. ほとんどが指圧です。 指圧をはじめて5年ほど経ちますが、初期は直感的なマッサージとタイ式マッサージ、チベット式マッサージでした。 今はそれらを混ぜ合わせたマッサージをしています。
Sarah What is shiatsu? 『指圧』とは何ですか?
Billeigh Shiatsu is Japanese massage. It’s finger pressure. So we use pressure points, we use the thumbs, we use the elbows, ah, all fingers, forearms. Some people even use their feet. But it’s normally performed on the ground, on the floor, on a futon. But in this studio, we work on a bed and that works well, as well. I mix it with oil massage. Normally shiatsu should just be strictly with clothes on and you work over top of the clothes, but … most, most clients that come here, they want a full body oil massage. So I blend all different types of massage, different styles of massage. 『指圧』は日本式のマッサージです。 指で圧力を加えます。 ツボを親指や肘、前腕、全ての指を使って圧します。 人によっては足を使ったりもします。 通常は地面や床、布団の上で施術します。 ここのスタジオではベッドを使っていますが、これもまた良いです。 オイル・マッサージも併せて施します。 指圧は厳密に言えば服の上から施術しますが、ここに見えるほとんどのお客さまは全身オイルマッサージを希望されます。 私はそれぞれの方に違うタイプのマッサージを施します。
Sarah How long have you been doing massage? マッサージ歴は?
Billeigh Well, in 1997, I went to Israel and I had my wallet stolen and I had no money. So I went for a walk along the beach. And I thought, “These people might need a beach massage”. So I went up to somebody and I said, “I’m offering massage, would you like a back, shoulder, head, neck massage here on the beach?”. And he said, “Yes”. And then more people who were at the beach saw that I was giving a massage. And they said, “How much? Can I be next?”. And they were very excited. So I started massaging like that. And I made a lot of money in the first week. That continued to pay for my travel. I then went to Jordan and Egypt. And then I met another girl who then paid for my flight to go back with her to England. And then I continued to do it in England and went to Edinburgh and just worked on the street, in festivals. Just put my sleeping bag and a sarong out and, and people would come and we would do it for donation. And it just feels like a natural thing for me. My hands, I looked down at my hands about, maybe six or seven years ago, and thought, “What am I going to do with my life?”. And it was there, I have … this natural talent. 1997年にイスラエルへ行ったとき、私は財布を盗まれてしまい無一文になりました。 ビーチ沿いを歩いているとき、ふと「この人たちマッサージを受けたくないだろうか?」と思いました。 そして一人に近づいて行き「ここで背中、肩、頭、首のマッサージを受けられますか?」と訊くと、その人は「はい、お願いします。」と。 その後、私が施すマッサージを見に人が集まってきて、「いくらですか? 次、お願いできますか?」と言ってきました。 私はとてもうれしくなりました。 これが私のマッサージの始まりです。 私は初めの一週間で、旅を続けられるだけの大金を稼ぎました。 そして私はジョーダンとエジプトを旅しました。 そこである女性と知り合い、その女性はイングランドまでの飛行機代を提供してくれました。 イングランドとエディンバラでも私はフェスティバルの路上でマッサージを続けました。 寝袋の上にサロンを敷いて、その上でマッサージを施して寄付で賄いました。 これは私にとってとても自然でした。 6年から7年前、私のこの手を眺めながら「これから私の人生はどうなっていくんだろう?」と考えたりしました。 この力は天からの授かり物です。
Sarah What brought you to Niseko? Do you snowboard? 何があなたをニセコに引き寄せたんですか? スノーボードはしますか?
Billeigh I do snowboard, yeah, but, ah, the main reason why I came here was because I was in India and I wanted to go to Pakistan and there were problems with … political problems. So … and I felt not to go there any more. I looked in my passport and I had a lady’s card, who … her a business card, and I had massaged her about three years previous. And I emailed her, I knew she was working here in Hokkaido, in Niseko. And she said, “Yes, there’s work here, come.” So I booked an aeroplane … flight from India. And I arrived here and started working straight away. I met my boss and he welcomed me into the village. And I love it here. I’d heard so much about Hokkaido and heard that it was just one of the most beautiful places in the world so I’m really, really grateful to be here. はい、スノーボードはしますが、ニセコに来た主な理由は私がインドとパキスタンにいたときにあった政治的な問題です。 もう二度とあそこへは行きたくありませんでした。 自分のパスポートを見ると3年前にマッサージを施した女性の名刺があったので、彼女にメールしました。 彼女が北海道ニセコにいるのは知っていました。 彼女は「ここにあなたの仕事があるから来なさい。」と言ってくれたので飛行機を予約してインドを離れました。 ここに到着してすぐ仕事を始めました。 ボスと会って彼は私をこのヴィレッジに歓迎してくれました。 私はニセコが大好きです。 北海道は世界で最も美しい場所の一つだと聞きます。 私はここにいれて本当にうれしいです。
Sarah How did you learn Spanish? スペイン語はどのように学びましたか?
Billeigh In the year 2000, I really desperately wanted to go to South America. And you can’t go to South America without learning Spanish so I went to a language school and I studied about eight lessons only – just basic Spanish. And then I went there and I just had to learn it by speaking. So when I speak Spanish, people who want to understand me, will understand me. But people who I don’t need to speak with, they won’t understand me, and that’s OK, because I don’t need to speak with them. But it’s, it’s great, it’s really nice, speaking Spanish, I really enjoy speaking another language. 2000年に私は無性に南米へ行きたくなりました。 スペイン語なしで南米は無理なので、スペイン語学校へ行って8レッスンだけ受けて基本だけを学びました。 そして実際に行ってしゃべりながら学びました。 私がスペイン語を話すとき、人たちは私を理解するよう努めて理解してくれました。 しゃべりたくない人からは理解されませんでしたが、それは仕方のなかった事です。 私もその人と話す必要がありませんでしたから。 けどスペイン語を話すのはとても楽しかったです。 他言語を話すのは本当に楽しいです。
サラのメモ: Today's guest is Billeigh. She's a massage therapist who works at Niseko Massage. http://www.nisekomassage.com/
Have you ever had a shiatsu massage? I've never had a massage in Niseko, but when I was in Tokyo I had a shiatsu massage at an onsen once ... it was so good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiatsu