My students and English

Now I'm waiting for two students. It is going to be the last lesson this year.
They are high school girls. They have taken my lessons since they were elmentary school students. So they seem for me to be my kids.

They will go to college in this area, and probably their major won't be English. But anyway they continue taking my lessons. Why? One reason is of course to keep good score at school. and another reason is to enjoy English.

We seldom have chance to communicate foreigners using Enlish here.
And they don't like reading not only English books but also Japanese books.

For them using English here itself seems to be fun.

For more than 10 years I have taught English to kids, for most of them the goal is to keep good score at school and to go to good leveled high school or college.
So lower grade students say "English is fun".
but when they grow up they tend to stick to good score. (Or they are sticked to good score.)

But the students I'm waiting for now, say "English is fun".
I'm really happy to hear that.
And their words recall me "English is fun".

As I told you, I organize a meeint "reading English books to kids" once every two months.
The next meeting is in January.
They are going to act a small English skit there.
I'm really happy.
the skit acted by young high school students must get the meeting more fun!

My knee hurts.

A few weeks ago I dislocated my knee. Though it recovered, my rught knee has hurts. So I am wearing supporter on the knee.

The ohter day my huband bougnt me kind of stickers. The sign says "these stickers chase away your pain to the space!". I think it must be a trick. But he said they were sold at his favorite place for golf practice. (Now he is into golf).

Though I didn't want to do that, but I didn't ignore his kindness either, and his back has hurt also. So we are putting these dummy? stickers.

Until now it doesn't work well for me.

Shining YOUKAN

Can you see the top of YOUKAN is shining?

The top is a little bit hard because of suger and salt skin.

These are HISHIYA's SHIO-YOUKAN. Usually Youkan is really sweet. But this Youkan is a little bit salty. So it is called SHIO(salt)-Youkan.

My yonger daughter doesn't like Japanese sweets very much. But she loves some. One is FUKUSAYA's KASUTEA, and another one is this Youkan.

As I told you, this shop deals with only this kind of YOUKAN. And on holidays or weekends, usualy they are sold out in the morning.

school trip

Now at most public high schools it is the season for the last school trip for the second grade students. Recently in this area going to OKINAWA is populer; to get the knowlege directly about the World War 2nd, and at some schools, they organize to let their students stay at American army camp family's houses. One of my students stayed with an American family. She said "I could talk with them somehow, and the family prasied me". I was glad to hear that.
And she also said "I know "yes or no" is really important".

Japanese people are said to tend to get everything vague, Probably it is right. So she said "sometimes it is hard to decide my will"

anyway she had a good experience. this week another student is in OKINAWA. I'm looking forward to hearing her comments.

Well, her suvenior is the famous "CHINSUKOU" kind of cookies. Chinsukou is one of my favorite cookies. But in this season we have some kinds of cookies (Wallkers Christams shortbread, chocochip cookies etc.) I hope next suvenior will be BENIIMO(kind of sweet potatoes) chips instead of Chinsukou.

NIKKO

Have you ever been to NIKKO in Japan? In NIKKO there is TOUSHOUGU that is registered as the world heritage. This weekend we(my husband, my youger daugher and I) went to NIKKO, but not visited TOUSHOUGU.

As I told you, this fall she was accepted by a college. And now she is given to assignments. One is solving one math book. And another one is report about 5 buildings with the skeching. So we went NIKKO to take some pictures.

The right photo is our favorite and really famous Japanese sweets 'YOUKAN' shop. They deal with only one kind of YOUKAN. Usually in the morning all YOUKANs are sold out.

We drove up IROHA-hill, and went to OKUNIKKO. There is a lake. On the day though it was cold, it was really clear day.

Near the lake that is called CYUZENJIKO, there is a villa that used to belong Itariaembassy. Now it isn't used, it remains as a memorial house. The house is built by marquetry way. It is the left photo.

Thanks of her assigments we had a good drive!

It's cold.

This morning it was really cold. When I got up at 5:30, and went to the kicthen. The sensor of temperature of heater showed "0". It meant the temperture got below freezing.
(Though I oftne told you, most of Japanese houses, we don't have central heating system.)
I turned on the heater, and started usual morning chores.

I usually wake up my husband at 8. At the time, the temperature of his room was 10 degrees.
In thisis April my daughter is going to leave home.
Though this winter I have got up earler, next winter I'm not sure if I get up at the time I should wake up my husband.

Now it's about ten o'clock. And the temperture without turing on the heater is 13 dgrees.

Anyway we are in the hard winter.
I'm going to the library, today.

homemade things

There are lots of farms in this prefecture. some of my friends are farmers wives. I think they are really powerful.

As I told you, a friend started to sell their homemade YUZUKOSYOU.

This year I also got some.

She said "This year we could make only green type. When we plant the first seedlings of green peppers, we had hail, so most of them couldn't grow. So, we got enough ripe red green peppers".

I konw how hard the making process is hard. Though once I tried to help, I gave up instantly.-- though I'm a city girl.

And the other day I got strawberry dumplings. For strawberry farmers, it is the best season now. Actaully the pack of strawberries of this prefectuer is the most in Japan. the sign says "a fresh strawberry picked up early morning". These dumplihgs are made our local straberries and rice powder.

And I also got rhubarb jam. Rhubarb itself is not still so famous in Japan, but I know among her lovers rhubarb is really famous. So a farmer in this prefecture started to grow rhubarb and sell the homemade jam.

Country wives are really powerful!!!

And I'm happy to have such powerfull freinds.

Do you know the word of presbyopia glasses?

A few days ago I wrote about my new glasses. And I got a question. What are prebyopia glasses?

I'm nearsighted, so I need wearing glasses, MEGANE in Japanese.
And usualy most Japanese people need wearing "ROGANKYO", when they are gettin old and it is difficult to read small letters. Though they are kind of glasses, we call then "ROGANKYO", and my dictinoary says "prbyopia glasses".

These days bifocal glasses mainly used. So on the day I went to buy bifocal glasses. But the clerk suggested "there are five kinds of lenses, you should think when you use the new one most?
if you often drive you should chose bifocal glasses, but you often read books and use PC you should chose the glasses that are for PC and reading books.
So I decided using to glasses according to the situation.

Do you know the word of prebyopia glasses?

Finally the last month of this year has come.

December has come. This weekend, it was very warm as the weather report expected. So I cleaned most of windows and lamps ( not all) in my house. I finished my winter house cleaning.

Though it is not perfect, but I'm satisfied with having done. Here and there we see dirt left on the window. Though it is funny, everybody said "Oh, you cleaned the windows!". The dirt proves that I have done the house cleaning.

Anyway Decemer, it has 31 days like other months, but I feel I'm busy.

This week, I have to attend two meetings, and weekend my family will go to NIKKO to take some pictuers for my daughters. Next weekend I have to attned a concert. And the next weekend es Christmas. I'm going to held a party for my students.

And as soon as Christams is finished, my mother will come to stay with us to spend new year's eve. We are going to go to SENDAI.