Wednesday's topic

Today 's refreshment was "PECO-chan" roll cake. PECO-chan is a character of a famous cake shop "FUJIYA". Though young kids don't know the character, in our generation every one knows.
So my adult students seemed to be very surprised at it, and be happy.



Today's title of the text book is "high school memories".
1.Have you kept in touch with any of your high school teachers?
2.What are the three most important qualities in a teacher?

We hold a reunion once a year. Unfortunately I don't participate constantly because it is held in TOKYO. And my third year homeroom teacher always join in, though she is now over 80.
She was strict and at that time she seemed to be a little bit temperamental. But when I think about it now, she was not temperamental, "we" students were temperamental because of the period of adolescence. Now she is a playful elderly woman though she likes to preach us even now.

To be a "good" teacher, probably they need to be impatient, to be fair, and to be goal-oriented. Our life is indecisive, so, we don't set a goal. But we need to a small or big goal to proceed to somewhere. So showing such a goal to students are necessary as a teacher.

car pool

Yesterday I read an article about car pool. "Car pool benefits everyone, as each person saves in gasoline, parking costs, and vehicle maintenance, and also the burden and stress of driving is not placed on a single person." Partly it is true.
In Japan car pool is not familiar. But after the disaster for two weeks, Yuki had carpooled with his colleague who lives nearby. Because suddenly we fell into shortage in gasoline and Yuki's workplace was so damaged that they fell into shortage in parking lots.
So carpool benefited saved in gasoline, parking lots.

And ---

The article reminded us of the days of car pool (Now he goes to work on his own by his car.)
Because of car pool, it got difficult to drop by convenience store (to buy his stuff) or supermarket(to help me with house chores). So it saved our money (a little).
Because of car pool, Yuki came home at regular time. (Now the time he comes back is not regular, it depends on his working schedule on the day.) So I scheduled making dinner, and served them which were still hot. Concerning car pool, some parts are good and some parts are not good. Of course everything has both sides.
I know it's not a good expression, after the disaster we had slow days.　(I know even now many people in TOHOKU have to be evacuated, and some of them have not enough balanced foods yet.)

Well, yesterday we went a new coffee-beans shop, and bought homemade roasting coffee beans. At Karaku (where I play the piano once a month) the master roasted coffee beans by himself. We like his taste.And this shop's taste was not bad. When we drink enough coffee with good smell in the morning, we feel comfortable and thanks to start the day without trouble. Monday and this week has started. Have a nice day.

strawberry jam

Once a year Imake lots of strawberry jam. And today I did it.
Yesterday Ms.E　came to my house with a big box of strawberry. Some people of the readers of this blog might remember her. She is a farmer and her group succeeded to produce their home-made YUZU-KOSYOU.



I "washed" them (Jan, I did it carefully) took off the hulls, cut them into half, and put them into a pot. Add some sugar and SAKE. And at last I put some lemon juice.
So today's my lunch was pancake with strawberry sauce and fresh strawberries.

While simmering the strawberries, I weeded the garden.


These greens are not weed, they are called MITSUBA, edible leaves.

Well, it is almost the time to prepare dinner. Yuki came back from golf with lots of fresh vegetables (He dropped by a local farmer's shop on his way home.)
The menu is grilled SHITAKE-mushroom and smoked mackerel. ( I have a small smoker which can be used inside.)

Our Sunday is almost finished. It was a good day.

Wednesday's topic

The refreshment was chocolate cake.

On Wednesday we talked about foreign foods.
1.If you went to study for a year in a foreign country, what food would you miss the most from your country?
2. What was your favorite menu item at your high school or college cafeteria?
3. Imagine you are in charge of the cafeteria menu, for a large university. You want to offer some international dishes. Think of three dishes you might serve.

1. I would miss grilled fish, not Sashimi, tempura. I think BBQ fish and grilled fish are different from Japanese styled grilled fish. You might ask me what difference there is. --- It's difficult to explain it. sorry.
2. I would take my lunch to school. But Yuki, he would love "ketchup spaghetti". (We went to the same university). Of course the real name was not "ketchup spaghetti". It was served as meat sauce spaghetti. But it had no meat, no vegetables. So we called it "ketchup spaghetti".
3.I want to offer Tom yum goongo,calzones, and grilled chicken with BBQ sauce and dry rub.

Monday has started with a strong wind

According to the weather cast, Typhoon changed into tropical cyclone (I know this English word this time.) But it still has a strong wind and rain, sometimes thunder growls. Anyway Monday has started.

Yesterday I attended a Toast Master club meeting. Yesterday's sudden topics were that
1. Now it is in rainy season. Do you like it? Let us know tips to enjoy rainy season.
2. This summer it is said we might have rolling blackouts because of electric shortage. And many companies try to escape it. What do your work place try to do?
3. Because of this sad disaster, many events are canceled and we started restrained ourselves to call off events. Now summer is just around the corner. In summer usually we have lots of annual summer events. What do you thing of them?

I made a short speech about No.3 in English. But this time I try to make my speech about all of them.

1 Unfortunately I don't like rainy season. Rain makes my daily-work slow. But from some reasons partly I like rainy season. Because of rain I don't need weeding (though it become a more tough job lately). I don't need to air FUTON (though Futon is felt tobe a little bit wet.) I don't need to wash my car. So skipping such chores gives us free time to do something. We can stay home to read books, listen to music, watch videos, or waxing the floor. And I don't like go out in rainy days, so I cook something with the leftover in the fridge. So it is a good time to clean the fridge.

2 My lesson schedule doesn't change. But Yuki's working days will be changed. He will go to work from Saturday to Wednesday. It means Thursdays and Fridays are his holidays instead of Saturdays and Sundays from July to September. (All car companies & factories do that.) So we (Japanese people) share electricity.

3. I think if we can held events physically, we should do that. Especially summer events are important. And even in the Tsunami-devastate areas if they can held summer events (though the scale may be smaller) , they should to that. Not only financial reasons. Many people are looking for the events, and they'll go back their hometown. So in local area such events are really important. Firework displays, BON-dancing party, summer festival, such events make our nostalgia strong, and the connection among the people in the area strong.

I made dry-rub

The other day a Thai lady came to my house and had lunch together. In the morning I was a little bit busy, so I had to have thought about something "unusual"(for Japanese) and "easy" to cook on the night before.
"Dry rub" and "grilled chicken".


These days the drawer in my kitchen is getting full of herb and spice. So I tried to make "dry rub". It was easier than I thought. And I rub it on the chicken.




I baked it on the day when she came.


Perfect!!







This time I used commercial BBQ sauce; the meat guy BBQ sauce. Do you know it?
For Yuki and me it was an overseas taste, though for her it seemed to be only a good taste. Some people may recommend to make BBQ sauce on my own. I know it's a good idea, but --- I can't be bothered. I'd like to have other kinds of commercial BBQ sauce. What commercial sauce do you recommend, though I don't know whether I can get the one in Japan.

poetry reading

You might know this actor.
This old poem is really really really famous. It is introduced on most of Japanese textbooks in elementary school or junior high school. Nobody can't know this poet Miyazawa Kenji in Japan. (Does it make sense? Everybody knows him in Japan.)


and poetry reading in English

Wendnesday topic

The refreshment was the cream puff and Godiva's cookie Yuki bought at an airport. To tell the truth I don't like Godiva's chocolate because it is a little bit strong for me, but I "love" the cookies.

The topic was "Home cooking".
Are the foods that you order at restaurants but never make at home? What's the most difficult dish you know how to make?

For me it was "(Japanese style" steak". Cooking stake is the most difficult dish I know how to make. Getting good meat is difficult, and if I got expensive meat at a department store, it is difficult to cook it at proper temperature. So when we want to have stake, we go to a restaurant.

How often does your family sit down to dinner together?
When both of my daughters were here Yuki used to have dinner at his office. And even on weekends he used to go to work. Thanks of this recession, he comes back to have dinner at home. On the other hand since my daughter grew up I've started night lessons from 8 PM. Now there are two members in this house, but unfortunately we have different time to have dinner each other. (It means each of us has dinner on my own.) So we have dinner together twice or three times a week.

And our common curiosity is trying new foods. I like to try new recipes. My friends tell me, or I search something new on the net. These days it is easier to find recipes than in the past.
If you cook, do you like to try new recipes? Where do you find them?

In one hour, an adult will come. I have to update this blog quickly.
For these two days I couldn't update it because of some problems of this blogger site. It made me irritated. Now I can do it, and I'm really happy.

Last night a girl of my neighbor came with these small cream puffs. Did you remember her? She quited a company this spring and goes to a confectionery school. It's not sure she will be able to be a pastry chef. But she said "I don't want to regret not to go to a confectionery school." Somebody says "She needs to be independent so she's childish and optimistic."

(She lives with her father, her mother passed away when she was in an elementary school.)On the other hand some body says "To do anything what you want, if you are allowed."I agree with both of opinions,though today I won't mention about my daughters.

Anyway today's refreshment for my adult lessons is this sweet & Godiva's cookie.

a calm Sunday

Last evening Yuki came back from his one-week business trip to the U.S.A. And According to him, to get him out of the jet-lag, as soon as he got up he went to play golf.

Today it is not so hot, not so humid, a calm Sunday. I cleaned all rooms and weeded the garden.


Probably the garden is the best condition now in a year. Until now I am "able" to control it. In summer I can't do that because lots of weeds will start to grow,it is too hot for me to do something outside.
Now MITUSBA (three-leaf grass, or trefoil) are grown well naturally. They are edible. So I often pick up and cook them as well as parsley.


Yuki bought souvenirs for his colleagues at a GODIVA shop in an airport. Usually he buys something at a local market, but he seemed not to have a time to do it. So he bought a bulk of Godiva sweets. And he got this as a free gift.
Can you guess what's inside?

Here it is!

1000 smiles -- a video

We love paper cranes. When we wish something, we often hold paper cranes. A project was done to encourage people in TOHOKU. People who wanted to participate in this project holed and sent a photo with their paper cranes. And the project team put together the photos and made this video.

Wedensday's topic

Yesterday's refreshment was oatmeal bread.

And the topic of the lesson in the morning was "allergy".
Does anyone you know have an allergy?
What is he or she allergic to?
Do you thing allergies are more common today than in the past?

As I told you, my daughters used to be allergic to something. Unfortunately we didn't find out "to what", not eggs, not flours.
But they naturally avoided taking junk foods. And my younger daughter M doesn't eat most of fresh fruits like apples, strawberries, pears, kiwifruits, and so on. According to her when she has them, she feels her tongue itchy. I've read an article, it says that such fruits have a special acid.

Now I learned a new word "vegan". I didn't know that it meant vegetarian.
Do you know anyone who is vegetarian? Could you live as a vegan for a year-- eating no animal products, including eggs, cheese, and milk?
I don't know any "strict" vegetarians though some of friends including me like to pretend to be vegetarian. It means we try to avoid taking oil.
And I can't live as a vegan for a year, but probably I can do for a half of the year.

How about you?

P.S Jan thanks , we enjoyed this video.

Monday has started

Now it's almost 6:30 PM. I did most of chores of Monday. On Mondays I have no lessons at night, so since now my free time starts.

When I get up, I cleaned the room and had breakfast.
I checked e-mails, and --- started to prepare for this week's lessons.



It usually takes the longest time to prepare a kindergarten student lesson. Today I made some paper color pencils and books with holding paper.
The second longest preparation was for the lesson of high school students. I read stories and studied exercise books for myself.



When I finished the preparation for all of them it was 1 p.m. I cooked YAKISOBA and had it. After that I went to a dentist, and went to a women's clinic --- I have to go both of them regularly.
On the way home I dropped by a gym to workout.

Now I'm home.

What will I cook for me??? Just I'll microwave something for my dinner. (Today I don't need to make something for dinner for Yuki)
And -- now I remember one thing. I have to write a report.

Anyway the first day of this week has started.

Wednesday's topic

First I show my waffle which was served to my adults students. The jam is "red cherry jam". The taste is thick. I didn't get clotted cream, so I served it with sour cream.

Yesterday's topic was "junk food".
Can you come up with a definition for junk food?
My definition for junk food is that
It has poor, little or no nutritional value. And once we start to eat it, we can't stop eating it much at all once. It might be difficult to distinguish whether it is junk food or not when we have it a little. In this case you should think of your lunch box. If you put it as a side dish, it is not junk food, and if you don't want to put it, it must be junk food.



Well, now flowers are blooming. The clematis, the azaleas of the garden came this spring again. I'm really glad to see them again.










The rhubarbs and strawberries are growing up. Before long we will be enjoy them with my waffles.

To tell the truth ----

This morning I could talk with Jan by Skype. I know she likes positive people, or not only she, everybody must like positive people. And you don't like hearing someone talking proudly.

But, sorry Jan, and readers of this blog, I dare to have done it, and dare to do it, again.

As you know I'm wondering our daughter's futures. Though T(my elder daughter) works full time as an assistant at an art college, she is not a regular worker (her contact term is one year , so she is very unstable, fortunately this year it was renewed again.) M (my younger daughter) is struggling to seek a job next spring, it is an unexpected circumstance.

Of course you might say " Yuki and I gave enough education to them so they are not your problems". Partly it is true.
But I have wanted them to get high-ranked jobs smoothly ---- it sounds selfish, like a having much proud, or show-off.

Of course they are still in their early 20s, it's too early to reach a conclusion. But if they got stable job, I would be also stable in my mind --with much proud. Things are not going well.

On the other hand, it is a good chance to watch myself, and throw away my stingy proud. T seems enjoying her job and her artistic activities, though she often meets something difficult.
M is experiencing the real world by her self, it will make her strong.

I believe they will carve their life by themselves. (on the other hand, after I wrote this blog, I'm worried about their futures, because I'm a mother.)

This blog "sometimes" works, doesn't it?

Last night I got a call from M (my younger daughter), and she said, of course, "Happy mother's day!".

I; Thanks for your calling, but T (her sister) said "you were busy today".
M; Not so busy. I thought I asked T to send Harrods gift to you writing both of our name, so it was enough for this day. BUT, I read your English blog. I didn't know the contents accurately, but I knew "I have to call you"----- if I didn't call, you would be anger at me.

I; You read my English blog???? What's the matter? Thank you for your reading, and thank you for your concern. Don't mind. You are already 20, so you have to act without thinking whether something makes me angry or not. If you had room to breath, you should think and act what makes me and other people happy.
M; HAI-HAI (it means OK, OK, why you are so noisy, strict and didactic).

My mother's day will be finished when Harrods gift reaches me , probably it comes in this morning.

P.S

It came.

Mother's day

On my daughter's honor --- they never forgot "mother's day".
In the afternoon T(my elder daughter) called me.
---------
I'm in GINZA, now I sent HARRODS tea & jam. M(my younger daughter) is too busy to come here, but "we" sent them to you. Happy Mother's day!
--------
In Japan we have a HARRODS outlet in GINZA. Probably it is only one direct-managed shop in Japan. Since Yuki bought HARRODS breakfast tea at an airport in the UK, it's been my favorite.

But it's a little bit expensive. So I'm very happy to get it as a present to me.
I'm looking forward to their arriving.

In the morning Yuki and I went downtown. Two (small) events were held. If we were in Tokyo every weekend we could meet some kinds of events in downtown. (In Tokyo they have lots of downtowns.) Here in Utsunomiya, not so many.

One event was GRURI-ICHI, small local food and grocery shops opened their stalls. My favorite bagel shop was one of them. though in 40 minutes later it opened, all bagels were sold out. Anyway I'm glad that such small local shops (usually their owners are young) are challenging to cheer up this small city.

Another event was a cocktail festival. Local pubs and clubs opened their stalls. And local musicians played music. The jazz club where Yuki played the piano or guitar once a month opened a stall.

The downtown itself, unfortunately, was not so crowded, so it was easy to park the car. BUT these festivals were so crowded. Many people are living there including us, so I want this town to be more active.

Well, we bought INCA-KOLA, made in Peru. --- The color was "yellow". But this "KOLA" was produced by coca- cola company.

Happy Mother's Day!

the day before "Mother's day"

I had only two classes before "Mother's day", it was yesterday. The students were one elementary school student, and three junior high school students. I told them to list some words showing their thanks to her mother .

It seemed to be natural for the elementary school student who was 10 years old, she checked her dictionary, and my picture books.

The words were kind, nice, smart, funny, comfy, strong, gentle, great.

For Junior high school students who were in the first grade, it seemed to be difficult to find "suitable words" to their mother.

Anyway they listed up including some true or negative words, and some flattering words.

kind, gentle, nice, funny, charming, cute, thin, beautiful, noisy, strict, serious, talkative, smart, tired, stingy.

What do you think of them?

This morning I talked about these words with Yuki, and I asked him whether he could list more than 15 positive words about me. He said "yes", though I doubted his answer. Anyway I stopped pursing because I couldn't do that about Yuki.

What we agree with was "our" culture doesn't get used to bring up each other.

Consecutive holidays with foods

First Yuki and I went to TOKYO by car. On the way to TOKYO we dropped by a service aria in TOCHIGI to buy some local products of TOCHIGI as souvenirs. There we found a talked-about (between Yuki and me) sauce. The company of this sauce was introduced on the newspaper just a few days ago. It is a small company with 7 members, but they try to introduce their sauce in TOCHIGI instead of BULL-**** sauce. They use our local water, our local vegetables to make this sauce. Yuki and I bought one for ourselves.


In TOKYO my mother, our daughters and we had lunch at a TEMPURA restaurant. And we picked up Yuki's mother and went back here.


On the second day we drove with Yuki's mother. We played golf in a short course ground, and went to a hot spring, and of course we dropped by a souvenir center. Yuki's mother bought some souvenirs for her friends. There we found "it". This is kind of gut in salt. Its taste likes anchovy paste, the fish is "AYU" which lives in clear rivers. So it is more fishy than anchovy paste.



On the third day Yuki went to golf. His mother and I stayed home in the morning, and in the afternoon she went back to TOKYO.

On the fourth day, Yuki and I went to a Soba restaurant which is a little bit far from here. On the way home we dropped by a small art festival. There we found these things. Do you know them?
They are eatable "winter cherries".
The inside is ---- definitely it' s a winter cheery. This has another name --strawberry. In Europe it seems to be common, but here in Japan it is being common these days.











Well, at the art event I found this pencil holder. Probably you don't know this type of pencil, it is used to play golf to note the score. Yuki and I laughed at this pencil. Such pencil can be change into an art-pencil.







Today, it is the last day of consecutive holidays. I'm at home and organizing the house including PC. YUKI are playing golf.
Our holidays is almost finished with foods. --- probably today we'll go out for dinner.

my new gadget

Here is my new gadget, yes, it's a waffle maker.
Though I often bake pancake, I'm a little bit tied of it. So I bought it. It might be more healthy than pancakes, if I put less butter in the dough. Because it isn't necessary to put oil into the waffle maker before baking it.

Now one week consecutive holidays has started. The day before yesterday the gardener finished trimming the garden, so yesterday morning I went to a nursery center and bought some herb seedlings. And of course I did gardening. (From the evening I had usual lessons.)

Today in the morning we went to buy sweets for my mother and my brother's family, because tomorrow we will go to TOKYO to see my daughters and them. In the evening we 'll come back here with Yuki's mother. She is going to stay with us for three days.

The last day of this holiday will be my "free time", and an usual holiday.

For Yuki these holidays are a kind of vacation, but for my daughters they are only three days-off. So they don't come back here. And our younger daughter M seems to busy to do job hunting. Unfortunately she hasn't get a job after her graduation yet.(She is going to graduate this March)
This year the success rate of jug hunting for new graduates is said to be about 60%. I hope she will be counted to this rate. If she will not----- now I try not to think of it.
These days I often think what does raising kids mean. In the period of my mother probably marriage should have been a goal of growing up kids. So in this mean my mother and Yuki's mother must be successful mothers. Now the goal may be earning enough money constantly and getting enough insurance by them self, it means to become a steady office worker.
In this mean we may be unsuccessful parents. Anyway we are watching for them, and it gives some stress. I'm not used to watching for them patiently.

Wednesday's topics

Have you ever hosted a homestay student?
Yes I have had some homestay students who were junior high school students, high school students, and college students. Though college students seem to be kind of adults, other students are "kids" in my view. Kids are all the same, probably in the world. Usually they are energetic, and sometimes they are noisy. Usually they are positive, sometimes they are selfish. I like to be involved with them, it makes my life exciting and sometimes tired in good meanings.

If you visited a foreign country for two weeks, would you rather do a homestay or stay at a hotel? I prefer doing a homestay. The most interesting thing for me is "usual" life, not tourist attractions.

What's the most unusual thing you've ever eaten? --- Have you ever heard of SHIMOTSUKARE? It is Tochigi's peculiar food in winter. Many local people make it in winter at home. I tried various SHIMOTUSKARE, because it is said the taste is different with each house. but I'm afraid that all of them were not so food for me until now.


I bought this book recently. It is interesting. 30 families in a different country are introduced and most of things in their houses are shown outside.
We can guess what life they are doing --- it is interesting.

This CM encouraged me.

Because of this sad disaster, I forgot that "SHINKANSEN was opened in KYUSYU(the southern of Japan). Probably KANSAI people (living in west and southern of Japan) saw this CM, but here in east and northern of Japan we don't see this CM yet.

In this CM about 10000 people appeared as extras. And now I know more people passed away from this disaster. So I hope that such a wonderful CM will appear when TOHOKU recovers.

Today's topics at a Toast Master's meeting

I attended April Toast Master's meeting.
Today's topics in English section were like that.
1. After the earthquake, we are facing to reducing electricity. Well, what is the best buy and what is the worst buy of electrical appliances?

2. It is said that our electricity consumption is supposed to surpass the supply. What should I do to reduce our electricity consumption?

3. If you have to select one thing, which do you chose --- to build a nuclear power plant to maintain current our electricity consumption, or to be strict against using electricity?

Fortunately, or unfortunately I didn't give speeches about these three topics. (This time my role was an evaluator.)
Now I try to say something about these topics.
1. The best buy is----not recently, but my home bakery made my cooking world wider. The worst buy is---, though it's not an electricity appliance, my cell phone. I don't like having a cell phone. But after the earthquake, I accept the efficiency, so I'm adjusting to a cell phone, especially writing an e-mail with thump.
2. Every summer Yuki claim that he wants an air condition in his room. But I'm afraid that I can't accept his claim this year, either. Because we should reduce our electricity consumption, so must not increase it. He has a big electrical fan in his room.
3. It's a really difficult choice. Until now, anyway we have to reduce our electricity consumption, and in a decade I hope some Eco power plants like wind power plants are built. But if I had to select either of one, I dare to choose to be strict against using electricity as much as we can.

Thai noodle

Yesterday I went to a house of my new friend who is Thai. We meet once a month at a meeting room because we have to book a room for our each monthly meeting. So we were acquaintances. The other day we happened to meet at a supermarket nearby, it meant she lived in the neighbor. So I invited her to come by on the way from shopping. She came to have a tea.

And yesterday I went to her house. She was waiting for me preparing some Thai meals.

Before I went to house I had already told her that I didn't get used to hot flavor. So she prepared mild taste Thai food. And beside of them she prepared typical "hot" Thai curry soup for Yuki.

I took back the pot of curry to home. She recommended to put some bean sprouts. So I went to a supermarket, and bought noodle and bean sprouts.

And she also recommended to put Thai pickles of Chinese cabbage. So she gave me the can.

Ta-da! I made it. Actually it was "hot", but it wasn't hot than my expectation. It was hot and flavor taste. Of course Yuki was really satisfied with this hot taste.

Next month she came again to have my lunch together. What shall I cook for her? Japanese typical lunch??? Probably I make something to use Jan's spices

Wedensday's topic

The topic of yesterday's lesson for adults was"Getting well".
Q1 Do you get a flu shot each year? Do you take your children to get flu shots? Do you think it's a great idea? Why or why not?

Last year I didn't get a flu shot. To tell the truth usually I don't get a flu shot. Because in season of flu shots (around November) I often catch colds, so I always miss the chance. On the other hand I would take my daughters to get flu shots, because I didn't want them not to be absent from school especially examination days. And my mother who is 76 years old gets a flu shot every year. She says "It's a good idea. It avoid getting the flu, and if I got the flu, the symptom would not be so bad."

Q2 When you catch a cold, how long does it usually last.

Once I catch a cold, usually it lasts a week though I seldom come down with a fever.
If I came down with a fever, I could cancel all of schedule. When I have a cold, I spend days as usual while I feel bad, and I often take a nap.

Q3 Which do you get more often, head colds or chest colds?

I get head colds with a slight headache, and runny nose.
On the other hand, if my husband catches a cold, it is usually a chest cold.
So we have two different kinds of cold medicine in our home medicine box.

How about you?

earth day

Do you know what day April 22 is? I didn't know that though I know this year's Easter is April 24.
In the morning I attended my "English picture book workshop " group meeting. Every member came with a English picture book.
And Ms.K showed us "Curious George plant a tree". It's usual. Curious George series is translated in Japanese, and it has many fans in Japan, so even if the English story is too long, probably kids can listen to it. In the book "green day" is foundered. And she connected the day with April 22.

It is "earth day".
Actually in the last page of the book, there is a list we can do easily to save the earth. For example, "when you write something on the paper, use not only front side and also back side."

What can you do to save the earth????
Anyway I recycle plastic bags, newspaper, and so on, but it's not my will, it's "a law" in Japan.

"Earth day", I know this word today. I had a good day in the morning.

Monday

Just now I read the title "Tornado rips through North Carolina" in CNN students news. I hope my blog reader isn't affected anything. This morning I cooked egg salad (the right meal) and other two meals.I seasoned the egg salad with Butter Milk Ranch dressing powder that Jan made. It really suited to my egg salad. Have you ever tried it? Monday is usually the day of preparation for lessons. In the morning I did it. After the lunch, I did my household accounts of last week, and went workout. After that I practiced the piano. And I had supper. And I 'am studying ' English, so I'm updating this blog. Every morning I see and read some articles about this disaster, and know that still now many people are evacuating and can't spend usual life. On the other hand I make coffee every morning and feel peaceful. I have to know it is a luxury thing. So I have to spend days with polite, fair and positive mind.

The coffee of this week is Starbucks coffee beans. To tell the truth I don't like Starbucks coffee at the shop, because it's too strong for me. But I like the beans, and I make it light with paper drip.

Cherry blossoms

This early morning we went to see cherry blossoms on the hill nearby.

Going there is annual thing for us. We are glad to see them this year. When we came home, we had Natto & rice for breakfast.

Yesterday I went to KARAKU to play the piano. The master and I were surprised to know that it was about one month ago when I came there. For a month what a big change we had! They seemed to have a big damage. (Many tableware fell down and broke.) But now it's OK. There were four groups who were chatting. And When I started to play the piano, they were listening to me. Even though we had a little bit big earthquake while I was playing the piano, we had a good time through music. The master said "we don't need to seek a major economic power, we focus our inside to be rich ". Partly I agree with him. But if I were enough young, I would want Japan to be a major economic power again. The better economic works, the more energetic our life will become.

Swiss Chard

Today's green salad is "Swiss chard" salad. Have you ever eaten it? For us it was the first time. The taste is like -- rural spinach. It sees to easy to plant it. I found one reason to look around garden centers nearby. Some people might be afraid of radiation. But Yuki and I don't mind. According to an economic writer, this earthquake is "the third defeat in war". The first one is "Satsuei war" in 1863. After this war we had MEIJI-ICSHIN that opened Japan to the world. The second one is "TAIHEIYOU war" in 1945. After this war we became an modern nation. So he said it is a chance to make Japan more improved. I don't know the two wars. And the third war he calls is not actual "war". If we dare to say, it is a war of human vs energy. This time, I really know it, we have no natural fuel in Japan. Where do we go? What can I do? Should I do anything not only to enjoy my life?What should I do through teaching English to kids?

earthquakes

Today I'm at home, and have no lessons.
Just I said "Whew".
In the evening we had a hailstorm with thunder for a while and after that we had a big earthquake and some little earthquakes. Now it's almost seven o'clock.Even now we have some little earthquakes. It is said they are all aftershocks after the TOHOKU earthquake.
I turned on the radio. In Tohoku area they are blacked out again. Fortunately this area isn't blacked out. And there is only I in this house, so I'm not worried about my students. If some students were here with me----.
Just new terms started. (In Japan April is the first month of our school and fiscal year.)

Tomorrow I'll be at a children center at the same time. Will students come there? Probably they will come, because this area isn't any damaged like the other day. And everybody want to do usual life as much as we can.
But --- to tell the truth I'm a little bit scared of these days earthquakes.


On the other hand, --- today I went to a clinic to take herbal medicine. There is woman in the clinic. And she knew she is a pregnant. She evacuated from FUKUSHINA to this area, because her address is near the nuclear plant. She looks happy and worried. Anyway she's going back to her mother's house for a while. For her it might be difficult to get back her usual life. She has to face a new life.

Well, rains seemed to have gone, but it is getting cold. Yesterday even in this area cherry blossoms suddenly bloomed because it was warm day. And probably because of this coldness, the cherry blossoms will stop blooming. It means Yuki and I will be able to see beautiful cherry blossoms before their finishing on this weekend--- though just a new week has started.

NG phrases VS OK phrases

Yuki showed me an interesting article, There are some NG phrases and OK phrases in English on business. Are they true???

NG; What isyour problem?
OK; What is this isseu?
"Problem" has a negative nuance, and the NG phrase sounds like "Do you have any complaint?"

NG; I will tell you my opinion on this issue.
OK; I will share with you my opinion on this issue.
The NG phrase sounds high-handed.

NG; What did you think of the presentation?
OK; Could you give us some feedback on the presentation?
The NG phrase is too vague. You can't convey your will that you want to get other's opinions.

NG; This is nice.
OK; Great, Fantastic, Excellent, This is outstanding.
"Nice" is too usual word, so somebody might think that "not so great "

NG; You had better finish the brief by Wednesday.
OK; It would be great if you could finish the brief by Wednesday.
The NG phrase sounds overpowered.

NG; Please reply to this e-mail until Monday morning.
OK; It would be great if you could give us a reply until Monday morning.
When you use this word "please" on business , it tends to be insulting.

NG; We will do our best to sell 10000 units. This way is favorite way for Japanese, But usually on business nobody interests our will, they focus the result.
OK; We aim to sell 10000 units.

Could you give me some feedback on this article?

Did I become senile?

Though it is a silly story ------ Yesterday when I tried to use my camera, it said "this is almost out of juice". So I "actually" took new batteries out of the drawer, opened a package(there were four batteries in one package), and changed the old batteries into the new batteries. I tried to use my camera again. As soon as I took two photos, the same sign appeared. "Did I mistake anything? Did I put the same batteries instead of the new one?" So I took out of the batteries and put the rest of the batteries in the new package. It was true that I put new batteries, because there was only wrap in the table. But as soon as I took two photos, the same sign appeared. This time I gave up. Anyway I could some photos. And at night I told this thing to YUKI. I also said "probably my camera would had little life, it would get older". He agreed with me saying "the camera with battery cells is obsolete." And he immediately sat at the PC table to search a new camera with a digital single-lens reflex. He loves such gadget though he seldom use a camera. But it's too expensive --- for me. And I want a simple camera. On the other hand when Yuki use a camera, it is the time that he takes works of our elder daughter. So he has wanted a digital single-lens reflex camera.

Anyway he researched. And today came.

I changed battery into other new ones in another new package. And it worked without any sign.

This is the photo of today's breakfast.

Did I become senile? Or was the package defective?

And will Yuki buy a new camera????

P.S Today's bread is TOFU bread. I used TOFU instead of water.

spring

Yesterday I gardened "a little", and I found my spring. This year we will able to eat rhubarb pie. And Mitsbua (a kind of Japanese herb) has also sprouted their young leaves. You might be afraid of radiation, but we are not afraid of it. Here at least it is 150km far from the nuclear power plant. And in the afternoon, Yuki drove me to a home gallery, it means that a woman opens her house as a gallery once a month. It was about an hour drive. Here FUJIWARA-IKUZOU exhibition was held. He is a pottery-wall artist whose base is in MASHIKO. Fortunately the artist Mr.Fujiwara was there, so we could listen to him about the process of his doing crafts. Now he is interested in recycle glass more than pottery, so he makes something from used fluorescent lights, and other kinds of glass products. Of course talking with him was fun, but for me I was interested the home gallery Ms.Keiko opened. She used to be an owner of an Ontarian restaurant and after her retirement she started to open her house sometimes as a gallery. Her house is remote, and not so new house. But it is organized, cleaned and chic. I wish I could open my house as an English picture books gallery with some illustrators or translators.

Sunday

Sweets party

Last night four junior high school students (two of them are first grade students in this spring) came to take my lessons. Before the lesson we had a party to congratulate two of them on their new high school, and the others on their new grade to become the second grade.

And two high school students brought their homemade sweets --- cooking sweets from an English book was homework.

They made cream puff, banana cake, chocolate cookies, and I made oatmeal cookies and carrots cake.

They goes to a different high school, but it has no problem. All of them are teen ages, it means they never run out of conversation topics. In Japanese we say "laugh at the drop of chopsticks"

Today's our breakfast was leftover carrot cake.