Thursday 31 July 2008

The Big Picture


What do you think Ken does after the end of the story?

I think he didn't work for a few years, but some years after he begun to take some photos of nature or something. He opened his photo studio, because he had to make a money for their life, but he never wanted to take a photo of celebrities for getting big money. They enjoyed quiet life for long time in the country.

Hajime

Wednesday 30 July 2008

Flying lessons at Luna

Yes, it's true!

There's virtually no limit to the things you can learn at Luna. One of our classes has been learning about hibernation habits in northern Canada; another has been working on the Axe Effect. Yet another class has been working on predicting the weather, and Tana's toddlers have been patiently watching their sunflowers reach for the sky.

Now we are branching out into wildlife rescue! Jim found this tiny baby Swallow looking a bit stunned, on the concrete floor where we park our bikes. Obviously it'd "gone for it" and made its first attempt to fly. Unsuccessfully, by the looks of it. Distance travelled looked about 10 feet, all vertical! If we left it there, it would have been a cat-snack very quickly. Instead, we tried to return it to its nest - there were two to choose from. No way was the one on the left the right one - the little thing refused to go near it! Hopped into door number two with a happy 'cheep cheep' and poked its beak out to say thank you.

Another happy ending (beginning, really!) at Luna wildlife park!

The most beautiful building in Nogi is ...

The most beautiful building in my hometown is "Shimoren". It was a factory of brick.
It is in Nogi-town, in edge of Tochigi Pref.


It was designed by the "Shimotsuke Brickyard"
company and built in 1889; it made bricks for 82years.

There are 16 kilns in a circle (actually, in a 16 polygon), 100m around. It has 31m
chimney. Unfortunately, now there is no owner of this factory, its outside is bad.

Inside of this factory, it is dangerous! Roof of it is going to fall down; because there is no owner, administration can't aid fixing this building.

You can't see the view from this building, it's dangerous. If you can see the view from this building's chimney, you'll see only grassland, I think.

You can't go in the building, I think.

You can get more information about this building here.


Tuesday 29 July 2008

Logan's Choice

I enjoyed the Logan's choice. This story is more interesting than another stories for me.

Logan is a very smart and cool woman. Grant is very good partner for her. They help and support each other well and investigate the murder case skillfully. Logan's let the murder be caught in a trap and the murder can't get away at all by her choice.

I think Logan's Choice is a good title. I make up another title "Money terminate heart". Alex lost his life and wife' love instead of money. Money lose Ross's mind. Ross lose his mind like Alex too. I understand they want more than money they have , because I hope too if it is possible.

I am very happy when I get on very well with my family or enjoy my taste. I don't need much money. I think that much money cannot make us happy, but warm heart can do it.

Posted for Shin

Monday 28 July 2008

Three Tomorrows

I read "Three Tomorrows".  I felt it was very fun and strange.

Which of the three stories did you like best and why?

I like first story "Spam" because I know the feeling Joe's family. I hated spam and I hope spam's going to stop too. Then I felt very interesting "virus played a trick many people". They bought something, they spent lots money. Very afraid.

I hope not trick by virus.

Noriko

The most beautiful building - in Sheffield

The most beautiful building in Sheffield is The Fat Cat. It is an odd-shaped brick pub in a run down part of the city. It is walking distance from the city centre, but you can catch a bus there & back. (I asked my students to write about their hometowns - this is my contribution!)

The real attraction of the pub is the quality and variety of wonderful beers it serves. It always has `guest` beers, the most popular being Real Ales. The regulars are a knowledgeable crowd, and are a real cross-section of society. I used to go there with my climbing mates, as well as high school friends once we`d gone to uni. The food is great, and it is next to the Kelham Island Industrial Museum - well worth a visit too.

Jim

Sunday 27 July 2008

Postcard from Amsterdam, Holland.

Hello!!

I having a great time in Netherlands. Unfortunately weather is not so good, but it doesn't matter for us. Today we went to Zaance Schans that famous for windmills. It was huger than I expected!! And very beautiful. I took a lot of photo. Tomorrow, we are going to tour museums and move to Den Haag.

See you in NHK class again.

Miyako in Amsterdam

Saturday 26 July 2008

The most beautiful building in Tsuruoka ...


I think the most beautiful building in my hometown is Taiho-kan. It is in the centre of Tsuruoka city in Yamagata prefecture.

It was built in 1915 to celebrate the Emperor-Taisho ascended to the throne.

It is the baroque architecture. It was made from white wall and red roof.

Taiho-kan used to be a library from 1951 to 1985. After that, it has been used for a museum exhibiting a material of literary people who lived in Tsuruoka like Shuhei Fujisawa. You might have seen movies from his novel, "Bushi no ichibu" or "Semi shigure" for instance.

You can see a view of Tsuruoka Park from second floor of Taiho-kan. There was Tsuruoka castle in the Edo period but it has been using for a parknow. Taiho-kan was built in a part of there, beside a moat.

It is free to go in. It is opened from 9:00 to 16:30.

If you are interested in this building, try to access the following URL.You can get more information about it, but it is only Japanese.

Describing a building in my hometown

The most beautiful building in my hometown are the shrine "Suwataisya". They are "Honmiya", "Maemiya", "Akimiya" and "Harumiya". "Honmiya" and "Maemiya" are in Suwa city. "Akimiya" and "Harumiya" are in Shimosuwa town. I describe about "Harumiya". "Harumiya" was built by Nagazaemon Shibamiya in 1780. It was near the river "Togawa". It is the smallest building in other 3 of "Suwataisya". It is a wooden building. The sculpture is wonderful and famous.

We don't usually get in the building. We can get in it when we do special event which for example, "Shichigosan", wedding and so on. There is no view, because the building is enclosed by a lot of tall trees. Therefore, it is very cool because of shade in summer. "Harumiya" is near my house, I usually walk to there with my children.

It is free to see the building. For pictures and more information see here. (Japanese Only) http://www.shimosuwa.com/siseki/harumiya/index.htm
http://park14.wakwak.com/~systemheart/suwataisya/simosya.html

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Wednesday 23 July 2008

We are LIVE - at last!!!

I am extremely embarrassed to admit that it took us something near six years to get Luna`s beautiful website actually online. The delays are all YOUR fault, because I was too busy to do it properly!

I met our designers in 2001 in Sydney. My cousin`s husband`s cousin. They have been very patient and heard every excuse under the sun; we have asked various people to translate and re-translate the content - so I do need to thank Yukari, Rico, Eri, Chiaki, as well as the traditional Luna bow to Yuki (for proof-reading this time) for making me sound acceptable in Nihongo.

When I had the idea, websites were still relatively new, and I had no idea what we were really going to be - Luna was a puppy. This year we celebrate ten years of Luna...so much has changed, but the dream is all there still. Be the best school we can be; be the best school for our students; be the best school for our teachers. I think those are fairly honourable goals.

Please give us your feedback - http://www.lunalanguageschool.com

Bon Bon - starting place


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Monday 21 July 2008

Nothing but the Truth


Hu is a teenage student at an international school in the exciting city of Bangkok. She has a problem with one of the teachers and does not know what to do. An adventure in a national park, acting in a musical, and the help of friends make Hu realise that she must tell nothing but the truth.

I thought this book was boring when I was reading in the beginning. But it became interesting from the halfway, especially after chapter 9.

Q4. Word search: There are 13 words about the show here. How many can you find?

I found 13 words as the right side. But I’m not sure if the “LAP” Is correct answer. Please correct me if you find the mistakes.


Saturday 19 July 2008

My favourite photo - Shin

One of my favorite photos is of a beautiful mountain.

I took the photo in the autumn of 2005 when we were climbing the mountain.

It is Yakedake mountain in Kamikochi.
I was deeply impressed with the great beautiful view. I thought that nature was really great.

There were some long iron ladders in the mountain trail. I was afraid of them but I was excited and happy.
We were so tired because we walked for about 7 hours.
I had an onsen-bath near Kamikochi and I relaxed.

I keep this photo in my PC.This photo make me to want to climb the mountain again.

Posted for Shin

Thursday 17 July 2008

Translations of poems

Are you interested in poetry? Do you have a passion for Japanese culture? If so, then this is a post you should keep your eye on! or join! Comments/interpretations/a translation of your favourite poem is always welcome.
Today's contribution is made by Minemura who has translated three Haiku poems taken from NHK's radio program 'The Best 3'. Every week poems are sent in by listeners and the best three are chosen by the announcer. Each week people write on a different topic which is typically Japanese.
Today's poems are about roses.
Here they are. Enjoy!

Poem 1)
Bara Ikete, Bara seiunno, Nakani iru
I am arranging roses. The flowers are so beautiful. I feel as if I were in a rose nebula up in the sky!

Poem 2)
Orudo rouz, Kabeni Hawasete, Itsumorusu
I visit the house whose walls are covered with beautiful roses. But the owner of the house is never there.

Poem 3)
Janjobi, Iwazuni Aruku, Barashinku
There are a lot of beautiful roses in the garden. I saw a crimson rose near us as we walked in the garden, but I walked past without saying "It's my birthday today!"

Thanks Mine, I can't wait for the next installment!

Wednesday 16 July 2008



After reading
1. At the end of the story, John says he had kept the bag ‘Sothat I never
forget how easy it is to lose the things you love’.Do you keep any objects to
remind you of someone orsomething?

When I hear the Symphony No.9 (Beethoven), I recall tedious waiting time.
There was an event to which all the student of our school sang the Symphony No.9when I was in the second grade of high-school on the 100th anniversary.
A professional soloist was called. At the first time, I saw the singer.

The Symphony No.9 have four movements. However, only the fourth movement have a chorus.

Therefore, we(chorus) should stand by during the three movements on stage.
It was too long, too tedious, and too hot.

As a result, when I hear the Symphony No.9, I recall tedious waiting time.

Tuesday 15 July 2008

The House by the Sea.

Q4. Imagine five years have passed. What do you think is happening in Carl and Linda's lives now?

Five years later, Carl and Linda are living in the same town, but they are not living together.

After Carl and Linda broke up, Mary saw her walking a beach with Bill. Since she didn't know the fact that Carl met Linda after she left the house at the night, she kindly phoned him and told she saw her at the beach. He retired from his job at that time. Therefore, he could go to Mary's pub as soon as he hung up. Then he explained what happened between them. He looked very sad and became weak. She recommended staying at the pub more few days.

He's been still living at the pub when five years have passed. He is keeping the pub with Mary.
Linda and Bill have been married for three years and they've lived at the house by the sea.
Carl and Linda sometimes meet on the road but they don't talk each other...

Monday 14 July 2008

Within High Fences



I didn't understand when i saw book's title "Within High Fence".After i read book, I understood the story was difficalt love like a within hight fence. It's a hart into a woman.


A heroine is nancy, She was throwing all things, big house, a lot of money, expencive things, and her ritch boyfriend.


She had changed her feeling by tall man. George.


She never take things, money and rich man. She takes true love.
Was it good nancy?

I think Tom is stupid and sneakey, but George is courageous and kindly.

Sunday 13 July 2008

Jojo's Story

Jojo is a boy of 10 years old. One day the village where he lived was involved in a civil war. All his family and villagers were murdered, and only he survived. He who was discovered by the UN soldiers and a journalist moved to children's house.
The peaceful days passed immediately.
He decide heavy things while a gun and smoke approached with the children's house day by day.

He had some doubts.
* Why do you make a wall?
* Why do you fight?
* Why doesn't the U.N. protect us?
* Why are the U.N. going to help the enemy side?
This book was heavy contents, but I was made to think by this book.

The beast


Good night.
I'm now studying English. I finished my homework.
I will see football game tomorrow.
No.2
Yes, people believed the stories in the past.
Yes, I think that people take the stories seriously even today.
No.6
I think that the idea is really true.
Yoichi

Wednesday 9 July 2008

Eye of the Storm

After Reading Question:What is the worst weather you have seen?

It was long long rain in 2006 July.Big mud flow destroyed many house and a few (7 or 8) people died in Okaya city. That time I lived in Shimosuwa town which is in the next in Okaya City. My house was near the river To-gawa. This 2 pictures which I took are the river To-gawa. The river seemed to overflow at any moment.

A lot of trunk road stopped. Therefore, the company became one day rest. Next day, I went to work from Shimosuwa to Matsumoto. But highway closed at 11:00 am. There was an instruction to people who lived in Suwa, "go back home". Of course, me too.

I left work at 12:00. Every cars concentrated on Route20 (shiojiri-toge). The traffic jam occurred. I got home about 4:30 pm. It would arrive in 30 minutes if the usual.

It was the worst weather I have seen.

Monday 7 July 2008

Jojo's story

Jojo was a unhappy boy who was ten years old. One day everyone were killed without only him in his village. He lost his family that loved him deeply by the miserable accident.

He couldn't understand everything and was full of sadness in his small
heart. A journalist and UN soldiers helped him and took him to children house. He was happy with many friends and kindly staff in there.

I hoped that he live peaceful life without war weapon but he had the gun. He
wanted to revenge himself on his family's death.

Posted for Shin

Saturday 5 July 2008

Postcard from - Devon

Dear All (at NHK),

I've been busy travelling in a rented car, catching up with old friends from Matsumoto. I visited Malvern, with its springs and 900 year old Priory. I drove over Dartmoor, seeing tiny ponies and foals, as well as the famous prison. Today I saw Stonehenge for the first time (awesome, peaceful, powerful) & just arrived in Cambridge. Cricket in front of the hotel - still light at 9.30pm - and footy on the TV!! Miss me??

Friday 4 July 2008

Postcard from - Cambridge

Dear All at Epson,

"Mathematical Bridge" - I'm sure all you engineers love that?! I've been working with other exam people from Argentina, Czech R.,UK, France, Thailand & Switzerland in Cambridge, with Indian IT. Exciting new stuff for your exams :) Cambridge is extremely historical & fascinating, very pretty & photogenic. Hope you all worked hard for Tana & that you didn't miss me? Do you still want me to come back??! Jim

Thursday 3 July 2008

Business trip - UK

Usually it is my students who take off on business trips and holidays overseas while I have to go to work...not so last week. Thank you Tana for teaching a lot of my classes & to Yuki for holding the fort. I hope none of you missed me too much?!

I have not been to England for eight years, so I had to catch up with some of my old friends very quickly, and meet their children and discover new parts of the country where they now live. I had to rent a car to get to Malvern & Dartmoor, before charging across the country to Cambridge for "work".

There's a lot more traffic than I remember, and speed cameras/police cameras literally everywhere - which I seriously dislike. I noticed being able to hear birds singing - lots of different species, late into England's lovely & relaxing late summer evenings...it doesn't really get dark until 10pm.


I have found a couple of nice old pubs, refreshed my memory with Old Peculier, Pedigree, and a number of other bitters. I have eaten delicious mutton shank, Turkish kebabs, baltis and curries; I still haven't found a good chippy (south England not the best place to look). I have seen lots of beautiful countryside, churches & colleges (Cambridge), as well as Stonehenge. Odd being a tourist in my own country!


Oh yes - work?! I came here to work on the next generation website for Cambridge ESOL exams - you know, the exams you should all be thinking about taking? Remember, Luna is the best school in Japan and the busiest Centre? Well, the aim was to give my input with other users from around the world about how we want future software platforms to work, what sort of functionality & look we need/want to avoid. This was very useful indeed, as our bosses and the IT people were there listening and adjusting, learning and commenting. Actually an exciting process.


A week away from my classes & family is a long time (and expensive/inconvenient - re-arranging your classes and trying to catch up on a week's email!). I also caught a cold - the weather was great in England, so I think it was the recycled air on BA. Terminal 5, incidentally - my bag didn't get lost!

Please check out flickr for lots more photos.

Three Tomorrows

Q7.Imaging you were able to have a 'helper'. What would you want him/her to do?


I would like to have a helper same as me. I ask him to do my job. When there are not much job, I don't work. But if he is busy, I help him. I guess there are too much job, so I almost work with him. We think we have to ask another helper.

Hajime

Tales of the Supernatural

After reading 6. Which story was your favourite? Why?

My favourite story in this book is The Yew Trees. Unfortunately, Zoe was dead, however it eventually came to an end happily. And it says in the story, I think, that we have to build a society that can coexist with nature.

5. Look at the picture in each story. What part of the story does the picture show?

Irish Rose - an apple
"She made up her mind and took a piece of fruit, a large round green apple that was heavier than it looked."

Haw Par Villa - a snake
"Johnnie's father had a black tattoo on the skin of his left arm. It was a picture of a snake."

Banshee - a glass of wine and sunset
"They drank their wine without saying a word and watched as the sun went down into the still, dark waters of San Francisco Bay."

The Yew Trees - Dryads of old Yew tree
"The man was not young and he had a long brown beard and thick eyebrows. The eyes themselves were a rich brown and there were many lines in the skin around them."

Tea - a sward and a cup of Japanese tea
"Everybody was drinking Japanese tea. The sound of a small bell filled the room. Chris was going to speak and stood at the head of the room by a table where his samurai sword and knife rested."

A Bed for Ambrose - a smoking gun
"He remembered the smoke from the man's gun and the blood and the pain in his chest."

We Will Wait, Too - a fountain pen between two people
"So, writers, let us live! Go on writing. Your readers are waiting. We will wait, too."

Tuesday 1 July 2008

Help!

After reading: Q1 Who do you like most? Teresa or Frank? Why?

I like Teresa, because Teresa love Frank and she can understand him. She is a supple mind.

This story first, she was angry with Frank. He is a writer, but he never finish his books. He sometims sleeps all morning, sometims watches television all afternoon. So she think his life is bad to him. She hope he get a new job, but she changed after listened his dream story and his mind. She well understand of hin and support him.

I like Teresa. She is a bright wife.

Noriko

My favourite photo

One of my favourite photos is of a group portrait of the baseball team to which I belong.

I took the photo in the autumn of 2007 in Shiojiri.

We are company baseball teams that joined a company in 2006. We did the contest between three groups on the day.

I belonged to team A. The team A won the championship by 2 - 0. All the games were excited with one point difference.

I keep this photo on the putt on the desk. This photograph is published on the top page on the website of the team. We have the final tournament of the Epson cup at the end of this week. We want to win the championship.