An interview with the lodger - Notting Hill after reading

Question : Hello Spike , you are one of the friends of William, right?

Spike : Yes, I am one of the most important friends of William and Anna.

Question : When did you notice about their love?

Spike: It was at the first sight of Anna, was in William’s house.

Question: What did you think about her at the moment?

Spike: I thought “Wow!!” I met her first in the bathroom. I couldn’t believe the woman was Anna Scott!!

Question: What was your impression of Anna?

Spike: She is nice and friendly then I have thought... and she is kind of candid person. 

Question: What do you think about William?

Spike: He is a sort of sensitive person....stubborn and serious, sometimes nervous but very lovely guy actually. It seemed he had been living in a beautiful and sad dream since he has met Anna. 

Question: Are there anything you want to say?

Spike: Anna and William’s story is a great love story, must be more beautiful than films!! I hope that it becomes a movie and I want to play the role of “Spike”!! And if it possible I would like to be a lodger of their house!!

Interviewer - Teruki M

Christmas in Japan

In class this week, my junior high school class was reading about Christmas for teens in the UK, in their Mary Glasgow magazine "Crown". We decided to compare our own answers, and this is what we found.

Do you like Christmas?

• Yuta: No, because Santa Claus doesn't come to my house. Maybe I'm a bad boy?
• Karen: No, because I don't get any Christmas presents.
• Jim: No, because I don't like working until the very last minute and not having time to buy nice presents or prepare my home.

Did you get what you wanted last Christmas?

• Yuta: No, I didn't. I wanted a Fender guitar.
• Karen: No, I didn't. I wanted money.
• Jim: No, I didn't. I got socks instead of books about cricket in Afghanistan & the West Indies.

What did you do last Christmas Day?

• Yuta: I went to school, as usual. My teacher gave me some chocolate.
• Karen: I went to school.
• Jim: I skyped my brother's family in Australia & talked to my mum. After that, I started cooking with a glass of wine.

What did you eat last Christmas?

• Yuta: I ate fried chicken (my mum cooked it) at home, with my parents. I didn't have Christmas pudding because I did not know what it is. I'd like to try it this year.
• Karen: I ate chicken & Christmas cake at home with my family.
• Jim: We ate a traditional Christmas dinner that I cooked - roast turkey & vegetables, gravy, as well as other things my wife's family brought (pizza, salad, cake...) and of course we drank champagne & wine. I ate too much!

How about this year?

• Yuta: I want a new basketball, to play with my friends at school - no holiday.
• Karen: I want a polaroid camera. School is off for Christmas this year. I don't know why!
• Jim: I don't want socks. I want a gadget to turn my old analog stereo amplifier & speakers into bluetooth receivers. I hope my children do not get toy guns/swords/anything noisy!

Only one of us has a tree in the house (we have a big one outside the school)!

We'd like to know about how you celebrate Christmas.

 If you don't, what do you do instead?

After reading "Gone" - an interview with silent Timmy

[Reporter]  I am here to interview 10 years old Timmy.
Do you remember that you were in trouble which was taken from supermarket?
[Timmy]  Of course! No!  But I heard it from Dad and Mum and I know that Jenna rescued me.
And I saw a blue hat which my grandmother made for me and I put in that trouble once.
[R]  Only once?
[T]  Yes, Mum housed it not to remember that trouble.
[R]  Did you hear that another boy was in the trouble as well as you?
[T]  Yes, I know Ryan well.  We live close to each other and we are friends.
He is prone to illness a little, so when I met him, we played game in Ryan's house and sometimes played football in garden of his house.
[R]  What are you doing after school or at the weekends when you doesn't meet Ryan?
[T]  I am taking with Jenna my dog Pocket,  Buster, and Bounce to the park and play them with ball.
Jenna likes to walking very fast with dogs, so sometimes I am doing running with Dad and Pocket.
[R]  What do you want to be when you grow?
[T]  I want to be dog trainer.
[R]  Thank you for taking your time for my interview.
[T]  Thank you.

Reporter - Ritsuko

Dracula - Interview with a Vampire (after reading)

Question 1

Which blood do you like man’s or woman’s ? And which do you like older or younger ?

: I like man’s blood because woman’s blood is weak for me.
And I like both old and young healthy man’s not too old or too young.

Question 2
How do you choose the person who you will drink his/her blood ?
: I choose by good looking and good smell. If he/she has plenty of muscle, his/her blood is very good.

Question 3
How much blood do you need a day ?
: I don’t need blood to live every day.
I need the blood once or twice a month.

Question 4
Do you eat any food without blood ?
: No, I don’t .I need only blood .

Question 5
How many vampires live in near here ?
: I think many vampires live in near here.
So if someone died and people doesn’t know why he/she was ill, he/she killed by vampire.

Question 6
If you can live under the daylight, what would you like to do?
: If I can live under the daylight, I would like to swim in the sea.

Posted for Yuri

Our next Governor - Jim interviews Takeshi Matsumoto

Our school blog is not the place for a political debate, nor a place for politicians to get up on their soapboxes. However, I think it is very important that we in the international community get involved as much as we can with events and issues locally. Unfortunately, we are not able to vote.That is something that really annoys me personally, having lived here for 20 years or so and been a good boy most of the time...I certainly pay my taxes and sometimes even clean up the neighbourhood at 6am on a Sunday morning.

Anyway, main point here is that I was able to have an hour of Takeshi Matsumoto's time last week. He is standing in the forthcoming election to become the next Governor of Nagano prefecture. He has a good chance of winning, too. He won't admit that but there is a buzz around his campaign and from people who have a 'nose' for these things. I thought it would be a fairly unique opportunity to hear what the man has to say in a non-political environment (we met at Luna over a cup of tea) about his background and his ideas for the future, should he be elected.

Please read a synopsis of the interview and my own opinions at our Podbean site, which hosts our podcasts. You will also be able to listen to the whole interview - unedited and unscripted - or download it if you prefer. It is very important to realise that Mr. Matsumoto was very able to manage this discussion in English, which is impressive itself. Please have a listen to the interview and leave "comments" either below here, or at Podbean. Why not subscribe to the podcast, so you won't miss future exciting installments? Feel free to contact Takeshi Matsumoto yourself with your reactions.

New Luna Project - our own podcast

Excellent news folks - we have started to produce our very own podcast, with original content & ideas from our students. The first podcast features an interview with Tana, about her home country (South Africa) and her feelings about Japan after two and a half years. She was interviewed by Toshiya (11), who had done his homework (see his earlier posting here) and had a long list of questions! Think you'll agree he did a really good job, and we got to learn a lot about Tana's beautiful homeland.

Please support this new venture - you can find the podcast in the right hand margin. I know it's a bit 'small', but you can subscribe right there, or go to the site hosting it (podbean.com) and 'follow' us there too.

New editions will be highlighted here as they come out and on Jim's Twitter feed ("oyajimbo"). Please be a bit patient, as Jim is famously rather an analogue kind of guy (easily baffled by new technology)!

Look forward to reading your comments & maybe joining us in the pod for a chat!

Jim