What's this?

I bought it on the web. Can you guess what this is. Yes, it's a kind of cap, and it's a kind of bandanna. It's called a bandanna cap. It is a cap, so you don't need tie it up. and when you wear it, you look wearing a bandanna.

Why did I buy it??

Just a caprice, just a fun.

Just I wanted to cheer up me when I did house chores in the house. And the result is ---

It has been cold for these days, so I don't do house chores , I'll say more concretely, I don't clean up the rooms hard.

Toastmasters

Do you remember that I'm a member of Toastmasters club ?, though I attend to the meeting sometimes. Yesterday I attended to it. Probably three months passed since I attended to it. Usually I do something with women, or kids. This meeting is organized by mostly men. Yesterday 14 members were there, 6 businessmen, 2 ALT men (assistant language teachers, one is from England, one is from America) , and 4 office ladies, and one housewife, me.

A man brought his new gadget ... can you guess what it was. Yes it was "iPad". The scene was the same when a boy show his new NINTENTOU, or PLAYSTATION to their friends.
Additionally, he is like my younger brother, so I asked him "do you get a permission from you wife?" He said with grinning, "a person saying such a thing is only you".
Additionally again, iPad doesn't sell in Japan, he bought it in America during his business trip.

The themes of table topics were
1. Even now What would you do if you were involved in a situation with sudden flight ban and waiting for a space of plane home?
A man made a short speech. According to him, what he would need are magazines, beer, and sightseeing(if he comes there as a traveler).

2.How would you promote our Japanese pavilion of Shanghai Expo?
A man said "We displayed **** cars, ****PC".
According to the newspaper, the other day it ad a rehearsal, but unfortunately Japanese pavilions didn't catch many people. On the other hand at a Motor show in Beijing, the display of Japanese cars caught people.

3. What are you going to do this Golden week, if you have some good dating plans, please tell me. (The person who made these topics is single)
Another single man made a short speech, and he recommend him to a new multiplexed movie theater.

About the travel chaos, one of my friend was involved, and her travel to Denmark was canceled. So now she is enjoying her one week vacation at home. And if I were there, what I would thing at first is medicine.

About Shanghai Expo, no one surrounded me talk about it.

And the Golden week's dating course??? I don't have any idea.

Anyway I enjoyed the meeting.

Today's book

This year? this half of the year ? until summer? or his spring? --- any until "someday", I try to read all unprocessed books that I have to read and I want to read.

Yesterday I wrote about the book of "Bill Gates the road ahead". This book is , I think, it's really American. Compared the book -- How to be an Alien.

Do you know the book? (I hope, Tim can hear me.) Though some parts were difficult to understand including jokes, this book gave me enough image about Englishmen and Englishwomen. And this book reminded me of Sherlock Holmes ( I got his image from books I read in my childhood in Japanese)

And on some parts the image of Englishmen is smiler to stubborn but gentle Japanese men who were born before ,during or since World War.

Now it cleared up. Though it is a little bit cold, it is nice afternoon, isn't it?

I feel itchy.

Today, it is raining and cold. Now I'm sitting in front of "my own" heater. Well, it is just a heater for a room, but my husband call it "Mieko's own heater".
I was relieved to have had the gardener trimmed the garden yesterday.

As you know, I'm in the house now. If it weren't raining I would go walking while listening to some English proglams. (Someone say " what an offensive woman.", or someone say " why don't you wear the rain coat?")

In the morning, I practiced English words, listened to some podcasts, and read some English reference for high school students who comes tonight, and read some easy English books.

One of the books I read was "Bill Gates, The Road Ahead". These days when I'm available, I'm at the computer. And I think "it's not good ". The one side of me twitter that you should return to the analog world. The other side of me also twitter that you should keep up with the current world.

Anyway Bill gates, he is one of geniuses, and he is really working hard, making efforts.

Well, Well, now I feel itchy. Yesterday I "help"ed the gardener with weeding. ( I don't know what he thought). Probably at that time I seemed to be bitten with leaves of grasses. My back of neck and shoulders itchy.

Almost the chocolate cake is done, it is an unusual thing that there is no sweets at home. So I baked chocolate cake for "myself".

Today it was like an early summer.

Though I'm wearing a "thin" sweater, today it was really warm, like an early summer.
The students who came in the afternoon were wearing T-shirts. And the gardener who had trimmed the trees in my house since yesterday, was wearing "thin" overalls that were different from yesterday's overalls.
I hope the weather will get normal spring weather, but according to the weather forecast, it will get cold again this weekend.

Do you remember how was the weather last summer or last winter??
I remembered the last winter was really really cold than the year before last year. (or we can say the winter the year before the last year wasn't so cold than usual years)
I had forgot the weather in the last summer. But I remembered it was really humid than usual. Because I bought a new dehumidifier in my classroom.
Why I' m writing about the weather, is --- the gardener said "Why this year there are lots of worms on the trees".

Anyway he omitted lots of small worms, but probably in the rainy season, hidden worms are going to come out. So he is going to come to spray expellant in the rainy season. It will be the first time since we came here.

More than ten years have passed since I knew the gardener. At that time he was in the thirty's, and he posted his brochures into each post. Coincidentally I talked with him when he was posting, and I was asked to trim our trees at really low price, and he comes to my house once a year at the same price. Now he incorporates his business, he has some employees, and he constantly undertakes some public works.

Well, Well, students in the next lesson comes. Talk to you later.

Probably I can get e-mails

Good morning.
These days we can't get private e-mails well. Probably now we can.
If someone sent us e-mails, for these days, please send them again.

Well, the weather in "Japan" is terrible. On last Friday we had snowy rain, or snow. Actually when we got up Saturday morning, the roofs and gardens were lightly coated with snow.
But yesterday, and the day before yesterday, they were warm, actaully it was spring.

Today, it is sunny and seems to be warm. Tomorrow??? I don't know.
Anyway this week has started.

The list that I have to do is ...

Ask to deliver kerosene
Ask to order our favorite coffee beans
make lots for my classes
make a monthly newsletter for my students' parents
make a small test for my students

go "walking" to a groceries store nearby and a bank that is a little bit far
---- on my schedule, I'm going to go walking, but -- I may go there by car.

For a while, I am at this PC.

Cherry blossoms and a special bacteria??

This morning Yuki and I went to see cherry blossoms near the mound, for me it's a mountain, though.

This weekend it will be the best days to see cherry blossoms in Utsunomiya. According to the weather reports, it will rain tomorrow. I hope its forecast would be wrong (as usual).

Since we came here, we always go to see cherry blossoms in spring. On the first few years we used to come here with our friends and have party. And until two years ago we came here with our family. And from last year, two of us come.

Anyway I'm glad to see these cherry blossoms here again in this spring.

Well, I read and listen to an interested news on the BBC cite. Probably this news is not announced widely in Japan. Do you know that Japanese people have a special bacteria in our guts, which are called Bacteroides plebeius.

According to the BBC World News for Children site,

" Scientists claim that Japanese people have a natural advantage when it comes to eating sushi. That's because bacteria in their guts have learned to copy what bacteria in the sea does - and that's to break down seaweed. In the bite-size pieces of rice, fish, vegetables and egg, seaweed is wrapped around the food to keep it together. "

What I can say is just "Really?".

Pollen doesn't circulate so much this year????

For me today it is not so "warm" , it is April though. But everyboday say it seems to be cold this April. I don't know , but it is the reason why this year I don't suffer a bad pollen allergy fortunately or unfortunately.

So blooming of cherry brossomes could cerebrate entrance ceremonies of schools. This weekend it will be the best to appreciate cherry brossomes in Utsunimoya."If" it isn't rain, and it isn't cold (for me) , we will go to see cherry brossomes near the small mound.

In my garden , which it is in a shaded area, some flowers finaly started to open, narcissuses, muscaris,etc.

But tulips that I planted from the bulbs, .... OH, I'm sorry, I dropped big boxes on them, so they were broken.

April has started

Every morning on the news we hear that "Today cherry blossoms started to bloom in ****". Unfortunately here in Utsunomiya they don't yet. Probably this weekend.
Anyway April has started. Today it is raining and very cold like winter.

Our elder daughter started to work at the art school where she graduated this March. She works there 4 days in a week, from 9 to 6 or 8. Though she is hired as a part time worker, the work is the same as the full time work. The big difference is an insurance system. It can't be helped.
And May she is going to go to another art school as a student once a week.

Younger daughter became a third grade student in a women's university. On the other hand she worked a part time jog at an architectural firm two days in a week.

My husband works as usual. Now in Japan we are in a big economic recession, so fortunately or unfortunately he can (has to) come back at around 10, not at midnight.

Me, --- the number of students decreased a little bit, but my schedule is not changed. In the morning twice a week I do volunteer to read English picture books at nursery schools. And about 4 o'clock, my lessons start every day. And every night from 8 to 10 junior high school students or high school students come. I don't have many students, and the room is not big. So my classes are like tutorial classes.
And probably once a month I go to a child's center and a public library to read English picture books. Additionally I go to KARAKU to play the piano once a month.

Yesterday Yuki and I went to TOKYO to listen to a KARAOKE recital. My mother-in-law sang there. She is now 84 years old, but she doesn't seem old at the place ----- many many many--- elder people in wonderful dress for the recital was enjoying there. And many family came to "see" them like us. The recital was supported by Suginami award as a project, so it was a kind of public concert. The theme of the project is making a bright ( lively?) society (for elder people).

These days our government seems to focus on children service more than elder people's. And everybody knows that it is necessary to bolster at nursing service to weakened elder people. On the other hand it is really important to get places for fine elder people to do something in public. So this project is really good, I think.

I'm happy to see that everybody enjoys their life, they are grumbling sometimes though.
And the person who is grumbling the most is ---me. What should I do?????