Things I like: dogs

 I have 4 dogs. Eren, Rona, Marusu and Rohan, they are toy poodles of 3 generations. The oldest is Eren.

16 years ago, my daughter and I met her in a pet shop in Aoyama. She was very cute and just 45 days old. We fell in love at first glance. 

At that time my daughter went to the high school in Tokyo. She lived alone. Perhaps she felt lonely. She was eager to buy this pretty dog. 

Eren saved her. They were necessary for each other. Time has passed and my daughter is a mother of two children and Eren is also a grandmother. 

She lost her eyesight and can not hear. She was a very clever dog but now she has dementia. From daybreak to midnight, we have to look after her. But she is the existence that is more important than the past. We are very happy with this dear great dog. 

The picture was taken from: https://www.mediastorehouse.com/ardea-wildlife-pets-environment/new-images-august/black-poodle-grey-poodles-dogs-outdoors-15299394.html

By Olga

Things I like: reading

 When I was 9 or 10, I had a chance to read a book. It was powerful to get into the world in the story. I loved the story because it was so exciting and interesting. There are some animals, humans, and some creatures between animals and humans. 

Picture was taken from: https://world.edu/how-to-make-reading-fun-and-part-of-life-beyond-the-school-room/

A few years later, I studied children's literature, especially in England. They have a lot of classical literature. For example, Peter Pan, Peter Rabbit, Mary Poppins, Dr. Dolittle, Alice in Wonderland, and of course The Chronicles of Narnia. They are so interesting and attractive. 

By Naoko Hiramatsu

Ellis Island - "I've been there"

Ellis Island

I read “Ellis Island: Rosalia’s Story", which is about an immigrant’s journey from Italy to the U.S.A. in 1910.

A small island near New York City in the U.S.A., Ellis Island was where more than 12 million immigrants arrived between 1892 to 1954, for their health and immigration checks, before traveling into the city.

I have visited New York City several times, first in 1991 and most recently in 2019. When I got close to the area of Ellis Island, it seemed like a very little island, so I could not believe that such a lot of people arrived and stayed for several hours there. People must have been very worried and excited when they arrived there after their long journeys.

Liberty Island is close to Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty, on Liberty Island, is one of the most famous things in the world. It has been standing in Liberty Island since 1886. I think the immigrants must have been encouraged by the symbol of liberty. Today it still stands magnificently. Every time I see it I get very excited.

The Statue of Liberty: Teruki, Liberty Island,1991

Teruki

Things I like: My cat

the picture was taken from www.hisgo.com

I thought I like dogs better than cats. But my thought changed recently. A stray cat came to my house from my friend two years ago. 

I named him Brownie. His face was not so handsome and I didn't know his real age. His movements were also slow. He didn't show his teeth and didn't scratch me with his nails. 

Now he is my family member. When I worked in the dining room, he sleeps like a bowl on the table. I can stroke Brownie kindly. It's a comfortable time. 

So I found that I like both dogs and cats. 

By Hiroko Miyazawa

Things I like: Golf

One of my hobbies is golf. I started to play golf when I was over 50 years old and I found I liked it very much. 

It was a surprise to me. I didn't think I would like sports when I was a child. My old friends will be surprised if they knew I enjoy golf now. 

I like golf because both young and old can play together in nature. So, sometimes when my family gets together, we play gold while chatting the whole day long. It is a great joy. 

I also enjoy watching golf TV programs. Hideki Matsuyama is the best gold player in Japan. He won the Masters Golf Tournament this year and on the same day, my second grandchild was born!

Now I am looking forward to playing golf with him in the future!

By Yasumi Imai

Best eateries in Azumino - a local's Top 10

1. Auberge la vie tranquille Azumino 

“Marvelous French dishes with great views of Azumino. The first and only Auberge in Azumino”

“You can enjoy fancy French food”

2. Okina (Japanese Soba)

“You can enjoy some very good soba in the restaurant with a wonderful view of Azumino and Japanese Alps “

“It’s really popular and kind of a famous soba restaurant”

“In the restaurant, most of time, full of people”

3.Teatime Garni

“It’s a cozy cafe in the woods”

“My favorite place in this cafe is the terrace seat” 

“The morning plate: omelette and mushroom sauce and garlic rice or muffin, baked vegetables and fresh salad, is lovely!!”

4. Nishiya besso (accommodation and restaurant, shop)

“Amazing old house!!”

“You can enjoy the very traditional Japanese course dishes. They are beautiful and tasty. The rooms are really interesting old style “

“You can also enjoy hot spring. There’s a outside bath, which is fantastic “

5. Soup Curry Hanjiro

“Original soup style curry. Tasty and volume with meat and lots of vegetables”

“Really popular one. Most of the time, there is a queue in front of the restaurant “

6. Suehiro

“A Japanese style barbecue cooked in front of the customers. Traditional Japanese food, yakitori ( barbecue chicken) and karaage ( fried chicken) , cold or fried tofu…everything is good!!”

“Very old restaurant relaxed atmosphere”

7. Stagione 

“Nice Italian restaurant. They cook excellent food with their own vegetables from their garden. Especially antipasto plate in amazing!! “

“Nice, charming interior and a good view of the garden and mountains.

8. Cafe Olika

“It has just opened in this early summer. A kind of stylish cafe. You can enjoy some lunch plate. “

“ There’s a charming garden”

“On the weekend, sometimes it’s full of people. There’s parking “

9. Gappidou Seipan

“Excellent home made campagne bread and some hard bread. They are really tasty”

“The shop is in wood. It’s really nice place “

10. Azumino milk 

“There are some interesting products and food made by their fresh milk. Pudding, Ice cream, drinks. Fresh taste is unforgettable”

The Raven Crow - local rock band on the up!

Struggling to find a new rock band to follow? 

Look no further than one of our local high schools in Matsumoto, where Instagram influencer & school president Masato fronts The Raven Crow. He writes the lyrics, whips up the crowd and leads from the front...and headlined Agata-no-Mori High School's 74th summer festival with aplomb last week. Pretty tough 18 months to try to break through on the music scene, with very limited numbers at live gigs (if even open) & last year's school event binned. 

Startled teacher last autumn: "Why did you fall asleep in your Cambridge B1:Preliminary exam?" 

Unapologetic student: "I was practicing with my band all night"

Love the lad's chops, especially with his English lyrics and tight production of their debut track on Youtube (link above). 

• Please check out The Raven Crow on Youtube (like/subscribe/share - hit all the buttons!)
• Find them on Instagram & ditto all the buttons

No English grammar was hurt in the writing of this song!

The Habsburg Family

 "Bella gerant alii, tu felix Asutria nube."

- Leave the war to others, and thou, blessed Austria, marry!-

The Habsburgs family reigned for many years as rulers of the nations of Europe. They expanded their territories through marriage.  Austria, Spain, Napoli. Their territories were so huge. 

However, it's also true that the repeated marriage policy has led to a lot of inbreeding. As a result, there were many weak children, premature deaths, and even more deformities. One of the most famous is the Habsburg mandible (jaw). Also (or perhaps as a result of this), they were a prolific family. 

Maria Teresia, who was the queen from 1740 to 1780, had 15 children. Among her children, the most famous one is Marie Antoinette. She was the victim of the French Revolution, and also the victim of the marriage policy of Habsburg.

At first her older sister of 3 years (Maria Carolina) was the candidate, but their oldest sister, who was planned to be married to the king of Naples, died suddenly just before the marriage. So Maria Carolina was suddenly married to the king of Naples, then Marie Antoinette, therefore, became a candidate for a political marriage to France. After that, as you know, French Revolution started. 

World War I ended on 11th November 1918, Austria was defeated, Karl I the last emperor abdicated, ending the reign of the Habsburg. But their descendants are still alive.

                                -Leave the war to others, and thou, blessed Austria, marry!-

Their marriage sometimes changed history, and their lives have been changed by their marriages.

Written by Anna

Flipping good work - young learners on Zoom

Two of my students moved away in the spring, but wanted to keep learning together as they've been with Luna/in the same class since they were knee-high. They have adapted to taking classes online really well, because they have confidence in each other, trust me (a bit!) and realise that 'mistakes' are just part & parcel of the learning process...but once upon a time a hair-trigger for tears & red faces. Now, giggles galore and superb collaborative English adventure.

Having adopted/upgraded to online presentation tools for textbooks, & digital copies of graded readers (kids still need physical books in their hands...reading is a tactile sport!) for our teachers to exploit, we've been re-skilling at Luna Towers on the job.

Last night, only one student could join me at the last minute...we've just started a new text book and I didn't want to leave her buddy behind or have to retrace our steps next week. We've just finished a set of readers and the new order is literally in the post. My game plan crashed & burned.

Sherlock Holmes:
The Dying Detective

Imagine MY delight when she bounced off her chair squeeling when I showed her the front covers of the new readers "I love Sherlock Holmes!" ... Let's run with that enthusiasm :)

Ceeding control of my keyboard & mouse, we worked together to build a Quizlet set from the glossary of 'harder' or less familiar words in the story. How? 

I have a fair idea her vocabulary 'store' so:

• challenged her to spell 'known' or previously studied words (memory or a quick book dive) & then checking herself, by choosing an image (auto search is accurate enough) to suit. I liked this approach as her selections were different to mine!
• familiar words I typed and she told me what she thought it meant (some L1 here), then image search to confirm understanding
• obviously unknown & unique words to this story eg contagion or microbe, I added the word & found a suitable image & then checked for understanding ('corona?')

And there you go. Student generated content. Fully engaged both of us, and will be a great help to her buddy next week. Next mission with this set will be to make a copy, and have them both agree on a Japanese translation for the vocabulary. This will be a dictionaries open exercise if necessary, and another way we can flip our online classroom; after that game time in Quizlet and whatever else I can think of eg  wordwall or oodlu

The Quizlet set "Sherlock Holmes - The Dying Detective" OUP Dominoes "Quick Starter" graded reader produced by 'lunateacher' in our "Graded Reader - Young Learners" class. Feel free to join (it's free!) students and teachers!