Hana's perfect summer picnic

The place for my picnic...

 It is Sky Park.
I can ride a bicycle and go walking.

 My friends for my picnic.
They like tag and dodgeball.

Their names are Hinano, Fuka, Mei.

It's sandwiches and rice ball

The food for my picnic

It's a sunny day

 

Notting Hill - what are friends for?

Firstly, I think the kindest friend is Max. He organised Honey's birthday party and some dinner
parties for William to introduce him to some ladies, although his cooking was not so good. He also took Bella to the press conference, when she almost gave up joining them.

Secondly, the funniest one is Spike. He has his own style, which is usually quite odd for others; wearing goggles and a scuba diving suit, or T-shirts with silly words on them. He enjoys his life in his own funny way.

Then, I like Honey the best. She is honest and cheerful, and tries to help her brother William. When she saw Anna for the first time, she was very excited, which is quite natural and very understandable. If I saw a famous actress, I would be very excited but I wouldn't act like Honey to show my excitement, so I'd probably just stare at the famous star and be unable to say a word.

Mostly, William's friends are all important to him. They are always there for him, whether he is up or down. They have their own interests and their own lives with their different jobs, but when any of them needs help, they always lend a hand.

Anna would be very happy and comfortable to join them with William, they will come and help her, and she will help them as well. That's what friends are for.

Posted for Sayuri O.

My Dream Holiday

I would like to go to Australia. I can go with plane. I want to go to Wollongong in Australia. I can see my cousins. My cousins names are Joe, Louie, Fred and Charlie. I can play football with my best friends.

I want to make snacks with my aunt. Australia is very fun place. Do you want to go to Australia?


Posted for Eleanor.

Describing a photo

This is my best friend Hirono. She lives in Matsumoto. She loves music and dancing to jazz. She goes to dance classes on Tuesdays after school. In this photo, she's eating an ice cream. She's very happy because she loves sweets.










This is my friend Shibata. He lives in Matsumoto. He loves playing video games and basketball. he belongs to the same basketball team as me. In this photo, he's sleeping on the bus.

Posted for Karen & Yuta

Bon Bon 2014 – Let me see your Union Jacks

Ready to start

This year was my first ever experience of the Matsumoto Bon Bon, I don’t even know how to begin describing this immensely monumental occasion. The streets were jam packed with different companies, groups, organizations, schools, clubs, and anything else you could think of, in their various unique uniforms, happis or kimonos. Everywhere was hustling and bustling in preparation for the 3 hour dance marathon, the crowd was buzzing.

Home-made fans

We had a great turnout, with many of our students taking part including their parents and family as well as friends, both new and old. This year we got to show off our own custom fans to use for the Bon Bon, which our students worked very hard to make themselves. We were armed with our very own Union Jack design fans as we paraded the streets of Matsumoto, chanting and dancing, fuelled by the atmosphere of the occasion with the “veterans” of Luna leading the march.

Having never participated in the Bon Bon before, I thought it best to

In full swing

prepare myself and learn the Matsumoto Bon Bon dance. So I took it upon myself to search the dance on YouTube in order to familiarize myself with the steps to avoid cluelessly flailing my arms around when the fun begins. However when 6 o’clock rolled around and the dancing began, it became apparent that I had learnt the wrong dance! D’oh!  For the opening few minutes I was in a complete state of panic, I had no idea where my arms where going or where they were meant to be going. I found myself in the exact circumstance I was trying to avoid. What made the situation worse was the fact that the students were looking to me so they knew what they were supposed to be doing. I tried my best to stay calm and observe the participants around me, attempting to compose myself and fit in with the dancers around me. The initial few minutes were nerve-racking to say the least. Nevertheless, I soon became accustomed to the Bon Bon dance, and as the evening continued I enjoyed myself more and more. It was fantastic fun rallying up our group, I was very fortunate not to lose my voice from all the chanting.

Finishing troopers

A huge thanks goes out to everybody who took part, even those who joined us briefly or part way through, and a huge congratulations to those that made it to the end. An extra thanks to Kento’s granddad, who helped distribute drinks for our young dancers so they could remain refreshed and energized. Also a special mention must go to: Naomi, who without any obligations helped us set up, get organized and lead from the very beginning, Jim, for making sure everyone was safe and enjoying themselves, and more importantly made sure there was never an empty beer cup in sight, and Yukari who was the star of the show as she was responsible for all the behind the scene jobs of organizing such a successful event. I hope even more of you will be able to join us next year, I guarantee it will be another cracker!

Now, who has a spare pair of legs I can borrow for next year?

Best friends

Dear Jim

Shota is my best friend. He is 11years old. He lives with his mother,father and his little brother. He is really kind to his brother and plays with him a lot. He is very clever so he mostly gets 100points at tests.

He is very reliable and generous. He is hardworking almost any time. His room is very tidy so he is organized and always ready for class. He is mostly quiet but always says his opinion at math class.

He likes playing soccer a lot. He is the captain in his soccer team because he is so good at soccer. He is also very fast at running so he is a hero at Sports Day. He also likes baseball. He said that he used to play it when he was in Tokyo. Sometimes we play baseball together and he is really good at it.

There is nothing negative about him except he is sometimes bossy.

From Toshiya

My best friend.

My best friend is Mai (since elementary school). We’re really different. Mai has got dark hair, but I have light hair – I dyed it. I am active but Mai is a little graceful. We’ve both got dark brown eyes. Mai is a bit taller than me.

We’ve got the same interests. We both like playing tennis. Mai plays tennis very well, but I don’t play tennis so well. We really enjoy it. Also, we both like playing the piano. We started playing the piano at the elementary school. She plays better than me. She plays in concerts.

Mai is good-looking. We both have a boyfriend. We sometimes have a good time hanging out together. We like shopping and love talking. We don’t like studying but a year ago studied hard in the library.

Ayako

Airport time

Jim sensei twisting my internet arm to contribute to a bolg...glog...grog..oh yeah! a blog. First time blogger (really) long time friend of Jim. Missing Matsumoto as it was the very best place to live in Japan. Lucky to have had a chance to visit last October and do the onsen tour with your blogger host. Many baths and many beers later...on the train back to Tokyo and a long flight home.

Inside yet another airport today (Tampa, Florida) and trying out blogging for the first time. Will contribute photo if I ever join the 21st century and buy a digital camera. Actually got a new cell phone with camera, but haven't tried the darn thing yet. Don't camera phones steal your soul when they take your picture?

Florida is a beautiful place if you've never been and even if you have. Trying to find a job and move down here. If any of you have Florida contacts, please let me know. If you are Chicago-bound, let me know that too. Time to catch my flight!