Asahikawa American English Conversation School
for July 2005
NOTE: The OBJECTIVE of this BLOG is to help my students with their study of English.
AND
For all of you, out there, around the world to;
SEE HOKKAIDO
2005 July 31 July Sunday.
Hot and humid again with an overcast sky. I did some work around the classroom and practiced the bass guitar some more. At about 18:00, the singer of the band came by my place to pick me up so we could go out to the ophthalmologist's house which is rather far out in the countryside past the Asahiyama zoo. We got there about 30 minutes later, the other band members were already there and waiting for us. This house is rather large by Japanese standards. I felt like I was in the USA or Canada. Hokkaido country living is nice. We set up in the living room and practiced for about 2 hours. Then we took a break and ate some pizza that the Dr.'s wife had driven into town to get for us. The house is too far away, and outside of the pizza delivery zone. After we ate some food, we practiced each of the 5 songs one more time. It was already 22:30 so we decided to call it a night. The singer drove me back to my place and got my amp and bass guitar out of the car and said "See ya on Saturday for our next practice." I climbed the stairs to the 2nd floor where my classroom is and put down my stuff. It was about 23:00 and time for a cold beer. Lights out at 25:00.
2005 July 30 Saturday.
Another hot and humid day. More practice on the bass guitar at home by myself and then at 20:00 with the rest of the members of the band. One of the band members is a dentist, another one is an ophthalmologist, another one is a restaurant owner etc. They play music as a hobby, just like me, but they are all much better guitar players than I am. In fact, they are of professional quality. The music business is a tough world to make a living in so it's good that we all have our daytime jobs. Anyway the band practice was more of a free-for-all jam session but it was a lot of fun. After jamming for about 3 hours, we went over to the outdoor eating area at 3 Jodori 15 Chome to Mongol Chop モンゴル・チョップ and ate BBQ and drank beer until about 2:00 a.m. Of course, we came back home by taxi. Tomorrow at 18:00 we will have a real practice session at the ophthalmologist's house. Lights out at 3:00 a.m.
2005 July 29 Friday.
Happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo, you look like a monkey, and you act like one too. Oh my goodness! What a surprise! Yes, it's my birthday today. When other people have birthdays and I wish them a happy birthday, the older people say "I don't want to get older." I say, "What would you rather do?" (die younger???). Another birth anniversary means you're a survivor. On to the next round. My wife and I didn't do anything special today because we were both too tired to go out on the town even though there was to be the Yomiuri Big Fireworks Display 花火大会, from 19:45 until 20:45. We could see some of it from our classroom window. I needed to practice the base guitar so I will be ready to play in the band called SOUL MAN on Sunday August 7 at 12:00 on an outdoor stage in Asahikawa at 3 Jodori 15 Chome. Not much else to talk about today. Lights out a 24:00.
2005 July 28 Thursday.
Today is our last day in Shiretoko. The sky is overcast with light rain off and on but it is very windy. After checking out of the Shiretoko Dai Ichi Hotel, it was back on the road for Asahikawa. After reaching Abashiri, I took a different route than when I came this way on July 25. I got onto route 76 and went to Cape Notoro 能取岬 It was very windy. So windy in fact that it was a bit scary to get close to the cliffs and look down at the big waves breaking on the rocks below. A sign said that you can see seals on the rocks down below, but I didn't see any today. After taking some photos, it was back on the road. This time I took route 238 and stopped by the サンゴ草群落 which is a colorful marshland, the biggest of its kind in Japan. Next it was on to Lake Saroma サロマ湖 and the Wakka Natural Flower Garden ワッカ原生花園. This place was much more interesting than the other Natural Flower Garden we stopped at on July 25. After that, it was on to Yuubetsu 湧別. After Yuubetsu, I had intended to take route 242 and visit the 北限のリンゴ園, but some how I got on 244 instead and so I missed it. Then it was on into Engaru 遠軽、Toyosato 豊里、Setotse 瀬戸瀬、Maruseppu 丸瀬布、Shirataki 白滝、and finally the Kitami Mountain Pass 北見峠. Back on Route 39, it was a straight shot from Kamikawa 上川 back to Asahikawa 旭川. We finally got home at about 18:30. Total driving distance today was 320 kilometers. I'm pooped. Time for some cold beers and to put my feet up and relax. Lights out at 22:00.
2005 July 27 Wednesday.
As predicted by the TV weather report, the typhoon was getting closer and it was raining a bit when I woke up at 5:00. My wife and her mother were still sleeping so I decided to spend a few hours at the spa on the first floor. I showered and shaved and then enjoyed the hot tubs, the sauna and the cold tub. I finished up at about 6:00 so I sat in the hotel lobby near the front desk and read a book about e-learning that I had brought with me for just such an occasion. At about 7:30, my wife and her mother came down to the first floor lobby and we all went to eat breakfast together. During the 90 minutes that I was reading in the hotel lobby, a hotel staff member announced over the PA system that ‘All cruise ships for today have been cancelled because of the approaching typhoon.’ Whew! It’s a damn good thing we went yesterday. I feel sorry for all of the other people, many of who have come from all over Japan as well as other foreign countries to see what we saw yesterday. All I can tell them is to look at the photo gallery on this website. Sorry. For sure, the weather was overcast and rainy, but it was not a continuous rain and from time to time, there was a clear blue spot in the sky. Today’s plan was to drive across the Shiretoko Mountain Pass 知床峠 and see the town of Rausu 羅臼 and drive along route 87 until it comes to a dead end 行き止まり at Aidomari 相泊. As we crossed the mountain pass from Utoro into Rausu, the wind and the rain got stronger and stronger. Not surprising because the typhoon was coming up the Pacific Ocean side of Japan. We stopped at the 道の駅羅臼 Michi no Eki in Rausu and looked at the various things on sale there. They also had 4 TV screens playing the weather news, some NHK footage of the natural wonders of Shiretoko, as well as a live traffic camera of the highway right outside the front door. There really isn't much to see in Rausu and the weather was crap so I only took a few photos today. We got back to our hotel room at about 15:00. We still have a lot of time before dinner at 19:00 so I used the time to write this blog for the last 3 days, and my wife and her mother watched some type of drama on the TV. When I first came to live in Japan (Asahikawa) 15 years ago, I watched a lot of TV because at that time it was a very good way for me to improve my Japanese Language skills. But now, since I can easily understand what they are saying on the TV and the radio, I seldom watch or listen to it. Sometimes there are really good documentaries on various subjects and I enjoy watching those programs, but most of the stuff on TV is just silly crap. In fact, it's a big waste of time. And time is all we have in this life. How you choose to spend your time determines what your life is. Take some time to think about it.
2005 July 26 Tuesday.
We got up at about 6:00 and ate breakfast at 7:30. Breakfast was buffet style and they had both Japanese and Western style foods in an all-you-can-eat situation. I usually have rice balls おにぎり for breakfast when I am driving to the university or to the nursing schools, so I seldom have a chance to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast like I used to do when I lived in the USA. So, today, I piled my plates high with bacon and eggs and ate way too much. I also drank black coffee and lots of high fat milk. It was so delicious. In Japan, I drink a lot more tea than coffee, but today with the western style breakfast, strong black coffee was just the ticket. We came back to our room to brush our teeth, and then left for the docks were the sightseeing boat leaves from. We got there a little bit after 9:00 so we had about an hour to wait for the 10:00 departure. Today was hot and sunny, with a few clouds in the sky. A perfect day to take a cruise. The boat called the Aurora 2, arrived and we all boarded. The boat has a capacity of 400 people and it was full or almost full. We left port right on time at 10:00 and began the 4 hour sail along the entire coastline up to the cape, and then back down again on the same side of the peninsula. I took about 150 digital photos along the way. The best ones will be in the photo gallery. As I said before, it was hot and sunny. So much so that I got a nice sunburn on my face. I was wearing long sleeves and long pants with sandals and no socks, so I wouldn’t get burned too much. At times, the wind was cool and at times it was warm. I sweated a lot being in the sun for at least half of the cruise. When the boat got back to port at 13:45, everyone disembarked and dispersed. Since it was still early in the day, we decided to use the remaining daylight hours to go see the 5 lakes of Shiretoko 知床五湖, and the hot spring water fall called Kamui Wakka カムイワッカの滝. We drove up to the 5 lakes of Shiretoko and had to pay 420 yen to park the van. When we started our walk, we learned that 3 of the 5 lakes were off limits because the bears were using the area. As a result, we could only walk around lakes 1 and 2. Also, Kamui Wakka can only be reached by a special bus nowadays. I wanted to go there, but the bus schedule and my schedule didn’t match very well so I abstained. After that, we drove back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. I was really hot and sticky from all of the sweat that I had shed during the long day, so I took a cold bath and shower in the hotel room. Ahhh,… That feels better. Today, we started dinner at 18:30. Again, I ate way too much and felt very sleepy as a result. I went back to our room and lay down on the tatami while watching some silly TV shows. I am always amazed at how trivial, silly and popular these TV shows are. A lot of people watch this crap every day. I wonder what is going on in their minds, if anything at all. I must have fallen asleep at about 24:00.
2005 July 25 Monday.
Today,
me, my wife and her mother are leaving on a 4 day trip
to the Shiretoko Peninsula.
知床半島. I
haven’t been to this area in about 14 years. I have been wanting to go back
again for a long time. If I was going by myself, I would sleep in my van and
make simple meals, but my wife and her mother don’t like to camp out so we will
be staying at the
Shiretoko Dai Ichi Hotel for 3 nights. I know I will be eating way
too much for breakfast and dinner every day. We left Asahikawa
at 9:30 and started our journey. Route 39 which starts in Asahikawa, goes all
the way to Abashiri so it’s easy to stay on the right road and not get lost.
Our first rest stop after Asahikawa was
Sounkyo Spa
層雲峡温泉. There are two famous waterfalls there.
They are Ryusei no Taki 流星の滝
and Ginga no Taki
銀河の滝. I was
able to get some good photos of them despite the overcast sky. After that rest
stop, we continued our road trip stopping at
Lake Taisetsu
大雪湖 which was created by
Taisetsu Dam
大雪ダム. I didn’t take any photos because of the gray
and cloudy sky. In years past, I have camped overnight on the banks of Lake Taisetsu. There is no official campground there, but you can find fire wood and
pitch a tent and have a really nice time. The view of the night sky is
incredible because there are no other lights anywhere near the area to brighten
the sky. However, watch out for bears! The next rest stop we made was at
Onneyu Onsen Michi no Eki.
温根湯温泉道の駅. This is a very nice roadside rest
station. There are a lot of shops and interesting flower gardens, parks and
some other attractions. One of the shops had a big sign that said ‘Raw Milk.
All you can drink.’ 生牛乳、飲み放題.
I was a little bit hungry and somewhat curious as to how it would taste, so I
plunked down my 300 yen and drank about 5 glasses of the non-pasteurized milk.
It was really good. I asked the lady behind the counter if this milk was taken
from the cow and then just cooled down before drinking and she replied that it
was pasteurized at a very low temperature. Well, so much for the raw milk.
Back on the road again, we next stopped in
Kitami
北見 to have lunch at a place near the train station
called Marujin まるじん.
I had lunch at this same place once before on June 17 of this year when I came
to Kitami for the annual meeting of the
北海道文化財保護協会. After lunch, it was back on the road
again. We arrived in Abashiri
網走 and changed to highway 244. Along the way on route
244 is a place called Natural Wildflower Garden
原生花園. We stopped to take a look, but there wasn’t
much to see. We drove on and arrived in Shari
2005 July 24 Sunday.
Another overcast but very hot and humid day. Today was a 'clean up the classroom and get out my summer clothes' kind of day. Yes, that's right. I haven't yet put my winter clothes away and put my summer clothes on hangers so that I can get to them easily. I fixed that situation just today. Anyway, summer in Hokkaido is very short and I can only use my summer clothes for about 3 months or so. I'm talking about very thin short sleeved shirts, short pants and sandals with no socks. Remember, this place is covered in snow for about five months of the year every year. It's easy to forget that on days like today. After the big clean up and wardrobe change, I was sweating like a pig so I took a long shower followed by a nice long soak in a tub of cold water. I must be a polar bear at heart. After that it was dinner time and then some more practice on on the base guitar. Lights out at 23:00.
2005 July 23 Saturday.
Today is the start of my summer vacation. My classroom is closed except for private lessons. In fact, I had a private lesson today from 11:00 until 12:00. After that lesson was finished, I sat down and edited the photos I took last night at the Kamikawa Shrine Festival 上川神社祭. I changed the order of the photos so that the people who I told about my website had their pictures at the beginning of the slide show. After I finished that and uploaded the new photo gallery to this website, I decided to practice the bass guitar for the first time in about 6 months. I closed all of the windows, turned on the cooler and practiced for about 2 hours at a very low volume. Just to get back into the swing of things, I played along with the Santana Abraxas album. Talk about a blast from the past. After that was finished, I went for a walk in the evening cool. It was really hot during the afternoon. Too hot to go for a bicycle ride. At least for me. After the walk, it was more reading about e-learning. Lights out at 24:00.
2005 July 22 Friday.
No classes again this morning, so I looked at the photos I took last night at the Festival. The first thing I noticed is that I didn't have enough photos of people wearing the many styles and patterns of Summer Kimono 浴衣. I really like the traditional Japanese clothing. I think it is the most beautiful in the world. That is my honest opinion. During the summer festivals, many people, both men and women wear Yukata. The colors and patterns are exquisite. I enjoy seeing them every year. I decided that after my last class was finished at 20:00, me and my wife would go back downtown to the festival again, and this time I would concentrate on taking as many photos of the Yukata as I could. I even asked some people if I could take their photos and they all said yes. Not only the front of the Yukata is gorgeous, but the back side is as well. There is a belt called an obi 帯 which has a bow in the back and this greatly adds to the beauty of the Yukata. After I was finished taking photos, we went to a BBQ place in the festival area called Mongol Chop モンゴル・チョップ. It is a mutton BBQ and is really good. The wife of the owner and my wife, have been friends since they were in elementary school together. The owner is a really cool guy who also likes to play music in a band. Sometimes they have live concerts at there main restaurant on Dobutsuen Doori. They play mostly blues type music. Last night, he told me that the band had lost their bass player, and he wondered if I would be able to play bass guitar for the band. I said, "Yes, I will." I'm looking forward to our first practice session. We sat around the BBQ place with the staff members until about 2:00 a.m., eating the leftover food and drinking the kegs of ice cold beer. It was a really good time. Finally, we walked home under a full moon and with a cool breeze. This was the best Kamikawa Shrine Festival that I have ever been to. You can see the photos that I took during the two nights by clicking here. Lights out at 03:00.
2005 July 21 Thursday.
No classes this morning, so I got busy with other work. After eating lunch I had classes from 15:00 until 19:00. Then my wife and I went down to 3 Jodori where the Kamikawa Shrine Festival 上川神社祭 was being held. The weather was very warm, but there was a light drizzle of rain on and off again. It was not a problem. I took a lot of photos with my digital camera, drank a lot of fresh, non-pasteurized Japanese rice wine called Otokoyama Sasaori 男山笹おり。This delicious stuff is available only in Hokkaido. Sorry to everybody else. My wife drank some beer and we ate a lot of food. The whole area was very crowded. It's at times like this when you wonder were all of the people come from, because on most evenings, the downtown area of Asahikawa is rather quite and sparsely peopled. The festivals are always an exception. We took a taxi home at about 23:00. Lights out at 24:00.
2005 July 20 Wednesday.
My teaching day started off at 8:50 at the Kosei Nursing School (JA北海道厚生連旭川厚生看護専門学校). Today we used page two of my original textbook, Useful English for Overseas Travel 海外旅行で使える米会話。Page 2 has two conversations. One is about buying some sunglasses, asking for a discount, and getting one. The second conversation on the same page is about looking for a small leather backpack, asking for a discount, not being able to get one, and then asking about another store in the same area that might have the same thing. Today we only practiced the first conversation on page two. Just like last week, only 4 or 5 of the 39 students were able to memorize the dialogue and say their lines without looking at the text. And guess what, they were the same students that were able to do the same thing last week! I guess that says a lot about which students are interested in learning conversational English, and which are not. It's no problem with me. Everyone has their own priorities. Besides, the students at nursing schools have many subjects that they must master in order to graduate. English is a very small part of their studies. I just want the students who like learning conversational English to enjoy and benefit from my classes. The rest of the students can sleep or study some other subject during my class if they want to. I am not offended by their lack of participation. Anyway, after that class was finished at 10:20, I drove back to my classroom and got ready for my next class at 15:00. After all of my classes were finished at 20:00, I discovered some photos of Lake Mashu 摩周湖 that I took in August of 2002. I decided to make a new photo gallery with them and that's what I did until about 23:00. You can see the photo gallery by clicking here. Lake Mashu is a truly beautiful crater lake, and the photos don't really convey the full impact of the place. If you have never been there before, I highly recommend that you go there and experience the place for yourself. The weather today was partly cloudy but very warm. Lights out at 25:00.
2005 July 19 Tuesday.
No classes during the morning today so I spent my time cleaning up my classroom which included using the vacuum cleaner and a wet mop. It was hot and partly cloudy for most of the day, but it started raining at about 15:30. It rained on and off for most of the rest of the afternoon. Cleaning up my classroom made me sweat like a pig, and I smelled like one too, so I took a nice long shower and then soaked in a cold tub of water to cool down before I changed into my fresh, clean clothes. During the time I was cleaning my classroom, I drank about one liter of iced coffee that I had made just this morning. Maybe that's why I was dripping wet with perspiration all the while. Nothing like caffeine to get your motor running. After I got out of the shower, I sat down for a few minutes to eat some food that my wife had made last night. My first lesson of the day was at 15:00 with a nice gentleman who is a retired high school English teacher. He often asks me "Why don't you correct my mistakes when I speak English?" My reply is always the same, "You never make mistakes when you speak English." And it's true, he doesn't. Of course, he speaks English with a Japanese accent, but it is never a problem because his spoken English is very easy to understand. Grammatically, his sentence structure is perfect. This is truly amazing when considering the fact that he has never lived for a long time in an English speaking country. I guess he studied a lot when he was in college, and while he was actively teaching. My hat is off to you Mr. T! After his lesson was finished at 16:00, I had 2 hours of free time, so I used it to correct the end of semester examinations that I conducted at Asahikawa University on July 12. This is the part of my work that I like the least. Paper work. At my own classroom, I don't have much of it, but at my outside jobs, I have some. It has to be done, so I do it. Isn't there some better way to evaluate a students progress? Such as sitting down, one to one, and trying to have an impromptu and completely spontaneous conversation in English? Yes, that would be ideal, but it's not for everybody. Again, starting at 18:00, I had lessons that lasted until 20:00. After that was finished, I still had some more work to do on grading the tests that I gave at AU on July 12. When that paper work was finished, I was finally able to sit down and do something creative. I made a new photo gallery of the photos that I took of Mt. Yohtei, (Ezo Fuji) on July 27 of 2004. You can view the photo gallery by clicking here. Mt. Yohtei is the most conical mountain in Hokkaido. Although it is not the highest mountain on this island, it is one of the most beautiful. See the photos for yourself. After I finished this new photo gallery, I ate dinner and went to bed at about 23:00. I have to get up early tomorrow and go teach a class at the Kosei Nursing School that starts at 8:50. Stay tuned. More coming later.
2005 July 18 Monday.
Today is a National Holiday in Japan called Umi no Hi 海の日. I don't know what the official title of it in English is, but I call it Marine Day. It was a nice hot and sunny day, even though there was a short thunder storm in the early morning. As you may know if you read this blog from time to time, I usually have a class at the 神楽公民館英会話を楽しむ会 every Monday at 13:30. However, today being a holiday, instead of having the class in the classroom, one of the members of the circle invited us all to come over to her house and have a BBQ party in the garden. You can see the photos of the event by clicking here. The party started at 13:00 and ended at about 15:30. About 12 people attended including a boy from Asahikawa's Sister City of Bloomington-Normal Illinois. He has been living in Asahikawa for about 11 months and attending a Japanese High School. Tomorrow he will fly back to the USA and start college in August. Unfortunately he will miss the Asahikawa Summer Festival again, as he did last year when he first came to Asahikawa at the end of August. After the very enjoyable BBQ party was finished, my wife and I drove back to our classroom, and then went for a short walk over to Crystal Park, which was just recently completed behind the Crystal Hall here in Kagura. It is a very nice place for children to play and for adults to relax in. It even has a small water fountain that the kids can play in and cool off. You can see the photos that I took of the park by clicking here. After that was finished at about 17:30, my wife and I came back to our classroom, drank some beer and did various chores around the house. After that, it was time for dinner. Lights out at 24:00.
2005 July 17 Sunday.
An overcast but hot and humid day. I spent the entire morning gluing the laminated signs onto the magnet sheet. At about 15:00, I used up all of the magnet sheet so I went for a drive around the city and then ended up at the Pulp Town shopping center where Viva House has magnet sheet for sale on a big roll. I bought another 1 meter length and came back home to do some more work. That's how exciting my day was. Lights out at 23:00.
2005 July 16 Saturday.
I had a private lesson at 11:00 with the man who called my classroom last night at about 21:00. He works at a very old and famous Japanese Inn called Tokiya 旅館時屋. This place has been in business for over 100 years, so this man must be the 4th or 5th generation owner. He also told me that his wife had lived in Australia for 4 years so of course she can speak English very well, but when she is not at the inn, he would sometimes have trouble communicating with his foreign guests. That is why he came to my classroom for English conversation lessons. I asked him how he found out about my classroom and he said that he had done an internet search and found my website. After looking through my website he gave me a call. What he said to me really reinforced my belief that every company or small business that doesn't already have a website, should make one a soon as possible. If not, you will be missing a lot of chances to get new customers. After that lesson was finished at 12:00, I went to work making the signs that I will put on my van using magnet sheets that will promote this website and my classroom. The process to make these sign boards is as follows: First I design and printout the signs using a personal computer. Then, I need to laminate the signs so that they will be water proof. Next I must glue them to the cut-to-size magnet sheets using bond. After the bond has dried, I need to clean up any dried bond that may be over hanging the edges of the magnet sheet. Then I will be able to use them any time I wish to. I spent the rest of the day printing and laminating the sign boards. I will glue them to the magnet sheets tomorrow. Lights out at 26:00.
2005 July 15 Friday.
Another hot and sunny day. My first class was at 9:00 at the Hokkaido Prefecture Nursing Academy of Asahikawa 北海道立旭川高等看護学院. Today we did the first conversation on page 2 of my original textbook American English for all Occasions 日常表現. Today's conversation was short and simple. It goes something like this: Well anyway, it was nice to meet you today. It was nice to meet you too. I have to get going now because I have an appointment, but I'd like to meet you again sometime. Can I have your telephone number? etc. etc. About half of the students were able to memorize the lines and do the conversation without looking at the printed text. After that class was over at 10:30, I came back to my classroom, took out the garbage and went across the street to Steak Victoria to eat lunch. The lunchtime menu is not expensive. You can have a steak with rice or bread, an all you can eat salad and soup bar and an all you can drink hot and/or cold beverage for about $10. I like to have lunch there from time to time. After lunch, I came back to my classroom and got ready for my next class, a private lesson with two delightful ladies from 13:30 until 14:30. Then it was straight classes from 15:00 until 20:00. At about 21:00, I got a phone call from a man who had seen this website and wanted to take a private lesson tomorrow morning at 11:00. I said OK see you tomorrow. I think he works in the hotel industry and needs English for his job. I am looking forward to meeting this new student. After that, I spent the rest of the evening drinking beer and laminating the business cards that I made to promote this website. Lights out at 23:30.
2005 July 14 Thursday.
It's back to hot and sunny. I didn't have any lessons until 15:00 today, so I spent the morning reading about e-learning. After eating lunch, it was time to get ready for lessons from 15:00 until 20:00. When the last class of the day was finished, I spent the rest of the evening laminating business cards that promote this website. Lights out at 23:00.
2005 July 13 Wednesday.
My first class of the day was at the Kosei Nursing School (JA北海道厚生連旭川厚生看護専門学校) starting at 8:50. Today I brought page one of another one of my original textbooks called Useful English for Overseas Travel 海外旅行で使える米会話。 The first page is about shopping and has 3 conversation dialogues on it. After I explained the meaning of all three dialogues, I asked the students to perform part B of the second conversation. I called on each and every student to come up to the front of the class and do the dialogue with me. Out of the 40 students, only 4 were able to do it without looking at the printed page. When that was finished, there were still about 20 minutes of class time left so, I had every student come up to the front of the class again and do part B of the first conversation on the page. This time every student was able to memorize it because there are only 2 lines. The conversation goes like this. A: Welcome to my store. How may I help you today? B: I'm just looking. Thanks anyway. A: Please take your time. If you need any help, just let me know. B: Thank you, I will. Pretty simple, don't you think? After class was finished at 10:20, I drove back to my classroom to eat lunch and get ready for classes from 15:00 until 20:00. A new girl came for her first lesson during the 16:00 class. She seems to be a fast learner. I think she will do well at my school. The lady who comes for the 19:00 class every Wednesday told me that she went to 2 funeral wakes in just one week. That is rather depressing. After all classes were finished, I took a walk in the warm evening air and looked at the beautiful stars in the sky. Then it was time for a cold bath and more reading about how to use e-learning software. Lights out at 24:00.
2005 July 12 Tuesday.
Today was the day for my first semester final examinations at Asahikawa University. We have been using the internet all semester long to teach the students English and today I was in charge of testing them for listening comprehension. I used the dialogues of the 3 most recent lessons that we had done in class. However, since this was a listening comprehension class, I did not allow the use of the computers because the students can also see the text of the conversations. Therefore, I read the dialogues out loud about 5 times each while the students looked at the questions on their test papers and circled the best answer for each question about the dialogues. In each class, about 4 or 5 students came between 10 and 20 minutes late, so I had to reread the dialogues again and again for their benefit. I think most teachers would have told them to leave and take a makeup exam but this would just create more work for the nice people in the university office, so I let them come in and take the test. But still, a university student should be responsible enough to get to class on time. Especially for an examination. After that was all finished at 12:10, I drove back to my classroom and got ready for classes from 15:00 until 20:00. After that, it was time to do some more reading about e-learning and how to make my own educational website. Lights out at 24:00.
2005 July 11 Monday.
Another cool, cloudy and slightly rainy day. My teaching day stated at 10:00 with the English Friendship Class at Kurinoki Kindergarten くりの木幼稚園で英語ふれあい. Today we learned 7 different kinds of weather and we did the alphabet song over and over again. After that was finished at 11:00, I came back to my classroom to eat brunch and get ready for my next class at the 神楽公民館英会話を楽しむ会. This will be the last class until August 22 because next week is a national holiday, Marine Day 海の日 and starting the next Monday after that is my long summer vacation. When that class was finished at 14:30, I came back to my classroom for classes from 15:00 until 20:00. Again today, there were some new students who came to look at my classroom. After all my classes were finished today, I was completely exhausted so I laid down and slept for about 90 minutes. Then I got up and went for a walk in the warm evening air. Lights out at 01:30.
2005 July 10 Sunday.
Cool and rainy all day. Not much fun to be outside so I spent the entire day inside. I needed the time to make the final exam for the first semester at Asahikawa University. After that was finished, I went to the Seikyo supermarket and bought some green bell peppers and frozen shrimp so I could make a huge batch of shrimp fried rice. I used brown rice 玄米 to make it and it tasted really good. After that, it was time for a long awaited shower, cold tub and some more research on the internet. Tomorrow morning I have to go to Kurinoki Kindergarten for the English Friendship Class くりの木幼稚園で英語ふれあい. After that, I need to take my exam papers to AU so that they can make copies for all of the students before Tuesday morning's tests. Lights out at 24:00.
2005 July 9 Saturday.
A bit warmer today but not hot. I had two private lessons today. One at 11:00 with a high school girl who comes here about once a month, and another one at 15:00 with a family who lives in Kamifurano 上富良野. They had looked at this website and wanted to come and take a trial lesson. Saturday at 15:00 was the only time they could get here so I said OK. They told me that they had lived in the USA for 3 years in town not far from New York City. The father was a teacher at the Japanese School there and his two children also went to the same school. Now that they have come back to Hokkaido, they want to make sure their children don't forget the English that they had learned while they were living in the USA. After that lesson was over at 16:00, my wife and I went for a drive to Takasu 鷹栖 and Wassamu 和寒. It was nice and relaxing to drive along the narrow roads in the green countryside. We came back home at about 18:30 and drank some beer and talked for a while. Then it was dinner time. Lights out at 24:00
2005 July 8 Friday.
Cool, cloudy and rainy again today. My first class of the day was a private lesson with the two delightful ladies who come every week at this time. They told me that they will be going to Lake Kusharo 屈斜路湖 next weekend and will be staying in a log cabin there. It sounds like fun. I was surprised to hear that they also have to pay an extra 3000 yen for each of the two dogs that they will take with them! I said "3000 yen??? Do the dogs get their own bed and outdoor hot tub?" They laughed and said "No. We think it is a bit expensive too." Yeah, I guess so. When that lesson was finished, it was straight classes from 15:00 until 20:00. At 20:00, I had a private lesson with a college student who will be taking the Eiken 英検準２級 Examination on Sunday. He wanted me to check is pronunciation and drill him to make it better. I worked with him for about 70 minutes. I think he will do OK on Sunday's test. After that, I was too tired to any real work so I just sat around and surfed the web until about 1:30 a.m. Tomorrow, I have two private lessons also.
2005 July 7 Thursday.
Again, cool, cloudy and somewhat rainy. I didn't have to teach any classes until 15:00 today, but I still had plenty of work to do so, I got up early and got to it. I'm still busy learning how to set up an e-learning website, and it will take some time. My first lesson of the day started at 15:00 and the last one ended at 20:00. After that, I was busy laminating the new business cards that I have been printing out for the past several weeks. One for my classroom (I finally got the colors right) and one for this website. While I was doing this laminating job, I was listening the a U2 song titled "In the name of love" that I accidentally ran into on a website. I have heard the song before, but I haven't heard it for a long time so, it sounded really good. I must have listened to it for over an hour. I really love music. In fact, during my youth and also during the 5 years I was in the US Coast Guard, my main interest in life, besides girls, was music. Namely, playing the guitar. Listening to this song by U2 tonight, brought back memories of how I used to spend anywhere from 2 to 8 hours per day playing the guitar, every day. Nowadays, I am so busy with trying to master the internet, and other educational activities, I don't have much time for music. In a way it's a shame, but in a way, it's a good thing. When I think of the countless hours that I spent strumming away on the guitar, I realize that it brought a momentary satisfaction but, almost nothing in the way of long term tangible benefits. I mean, if you are not making music for a living, it is just a hobby. And a hobby that produces no income. Sometimes I wish that I had become a professional guitar player, and sometimes I'm glad that I didn't. I mean, what if you don't feel like playing the guitar today but you have to appear on stage, live, in a concert? You have to do it anyway. And you have to do it with a smile on your face while not making any mistakes. I wonder what my life would have been like if I had become a professional musician? Nobody will ever know.
2005 July 6 Wednesday.
Another cool and cloudy day. My teaching day started off at 8:50 at the Kosei Nursing School (JA北海道厚生連旭川厚生看護専門学校). Today we practiced the conversation on page 3 of my original textbook American English for All Occasions 日常表現. This page is another telephone conversation, this time about an invitation to go to Sapporo and see a music concert together. I asked the students to take part B. Only one of the students was able to completely memorize the text. I had given the students the print last week. After that was finished at 10:20, I drove back to my classroom and did some more work on planning how to make my big sign board. My next set of lessons were from 15:00 until 20:00. At 16:00, a family with 3 young girls came to visit my classroom again. They had originally come to visit once before in November of last year and were going to start lessons, but unfortunately the mother had a small traffic accident and was unable to drive for a while. They will start their lessons next week. Thank you Mrs. I! After my last lesson was finished at 20:00, I noticed that I only had 1 pamphlet left so I had to get to work and print out some more. It's no good if someone comes to your business and you have no printed information to give them. Finally, I ate dinner and watched the news on TV. Lights out at 24:00.
2005 July 5 Tuesday.
Cooler and cloudy today. Looks like it might rain in the late afternoon or evening. My teaching day started out at 9:00 at Asahikawa University. Next week is the end of semester exam. Again today, using mostly the internet e-learning program the students listened to a conversation between two co-workers. After that, we all practiced pronunciation of the same conversation. Finally, the students were given a survey about this new internet learning system and what they thought of it. After that was finished at 12:10, I drove back to my classroom, ate lunch and got ready for classes from 15:00 until 20:00. When that was all finished, I spent some time reading about how to use Macromedia Captivate. Got really sleepy a few hours later and went to bed at 22:00 without eating dinner. I'll get up early tomorrow and eat it then.
2005 July 4 Monday.
Happy 229th Birthday USA! That's right, it's Independence Day in the USA. A national holiday with BBQ parties, softball games, fireworks displays and who knows what else. Here in Hokkaido, it's just another Monday morning. My teaching day started off at 10:00 with the English Friendship Class 英語ふれあい at Mebae Kindergarten めばえ幼稚園. Today we danced the Hokey Pokey and learned the names of of external body parts. Dancing in that hot room made me sweat like a pig. When that was all finished a 11:20, I drove back to my classroom, ate brunch and got ready for my next class at the 神楽公民館英会話を楽しむ会. When I got to the Kagura Kominkan, two of the ladies were downstairs in the office. They told me that the husband of one of the members had suddenly died on July 1 of a heart attack. I was shocked to hear the news. We conducted the class a usual with people talking about various things. When that was finished at 14:30, I went back to my classroom and checked the morning paper's obituary section. Sure enough, there was the name of the woman's husband. He was only 52 years old. The funeral wake was scheduled for 18:00 today at the Bellco Kaikan here in Kagura. I couldn't cancel my classes so I sent my wife over to attend on my behalf. In Japan, it is customary to take a gift of money, between 50 and 100 dollars, and give it to the people at the reception desk where you write down your name before you go into the meeting hall. Almost every funeral in Japan is Buddhist style with lots of burning incense and long Buddhist sutras being recited by a Buddhist priest. The ceremony for the funeral and funeral wake each usually last for between 60 and 90 minutes. After the ceremony for today is finished, the bereaved widow and her close friends and family members will remain in the hall all night long eating and drinking. They may get a little bit of sleep. Then tomorrow morning, another service will be held for the funeral. Again the other people who are not immediate family members will come and participate. After that ceremony is finished, the family members will accompany the body to the crematorium. After the body is cremated, family members will use chopsticks to place the remaining bones and ashes into an urn. The urn will be put into a fancy brocaded bag and then taken home with the family. The urn will remain in home for a few weeks or months and then will be taken to a cemetery, where it will be placed inside the family gravesite along will the urns of all of the other family members who have gone on before. Everybody who attends the funeral wears black. The ladies often wear pearl necklaces. It is a very solemn occasion. After all of my classes were finished at 20:00, I sat down to read more about e-learning. Today at about 18:30, the postman brought the box containing the other 3 books that I had recently ordered from amazon.com. Now I have enough study material to really get a good understanding of web-based education. All I need to do now is read and understand it. Lights out at 24:00.
2005 July 3 Sunday.
Another hot summer's
day. It feels good to be able to walk around in shorts and sandals.
I got up early and went right to work on making the magnetic sign boards for my
van. First I had to rearrange the resize some advertising print that I
already had made. Then I needed to print it out in full color. After
that, I had to cut it, laminate it, cut it again and laminate it again.
After cutting it to size one last time, it was time to glue it to the flexible
magnetic poly boards using bond. In all, I made 2 different sing boards
and 3 copies of each for a total of 6. The whole process took about 4
hours. You can see above what they look like. After one set of
boards was dry enough to use I took them with me and went to the nearest
self-service car wash to clean up my car and attach the sign boards.
Looking good! Next, it was grocery shopping for tonight's seafood
BBQ! The BBQ started at about 18:00 and lasted until 22:00. With a
full stomach and a feeling of satisfaction from a project that didn't fail I
went to bed at about 24:00.
2005 July 2 Saturday.
A hot and sunny summer's day. No lessons to teach, but plenty of work to do. At about 10:00 the doorbell rang so I went to answer the door. It was the friendly postman with a box from amazon.com. It was two of the five books that I had recently ordered about web-based training and how to use Macromedia Captivate. I sat down immediately and started reading them. Very interesting stuff. I was surprised to learn how much money companies spend every year training their staff and employees. Training seems to be a field that will always be necessary in some form or another. Especially now with the internet so wide spread, training programs can be designed and put together in one location, and then be made available to any place on the earth. What a great time to be in the education business. After a couple hours of reading, it was time for lunch and then out and about to do some shopping. Lately I have been thinking about how to make a large professional looking sign to put on the fence of my balcony. Yes, I have been running this classroom for 9 years, and I don't even have a real signboard! Just some big letters in the windows along with some flashing lights. Hey man! Signs are expensive. But this year, I think I've almost got it figured out how to make a nice looking illuminated sign. It will take some time and some trial and error, but I think I'll be able to put it together during summer vacation. Another thing I have wanted to do was to put my classroom name and logo mark on my van. Making stickers for the windows in not very practical so I need to get some of those flexible magnetic poly sheets and use them some how. Today at Yamaki in Nagayama, I found the magnetic poly sheets I had been looking for. Tomorrow I will make the signboards.
2005 July 1 Friday.
I got up early and went right to work on the translation of the menu for Pub Restaurant Ohfune. I managed to get about 3 more pages finished, so now I am about half way done. I hope to finish this job by the end of next week. My first lesson of the day was at 13:30 with two delightful ladies. One of them said that she went to the Miura Garden 三浦庭園 which is near the Asahiyama Zoo. She even showed me two photos that she had taken with her digital camera and printed out from her computer. She did a nice job on it. These ladies have been coming to my classroom for about two years now and they are really making progress. They have used bits and pieces of the various textbooks that I have written. Finally, they said; "We have enough material for now. Let's use what we have and do review practice every time." I said "OK ladies! Your wish is my command." So today, we reviewed the first 3 pages of my original textbook American English for Overseas Trips 海外旅行で使える米会話. I could see that they had done their homework because they could say all of the lines without looking at the textbook. The 50 minute lesson was over before we knew it. See ya next week. Same time, same place. The next lesson started at 15:00 and the last one ended at 20:00. After that, it was back to work on the menu translation as mentioned above, as well as research on the internet and dinner time. Lights out at 24:00.
Welcome 教室の住所 営業時間 システム オリジナル教材兼学習レベル スノーマン先生 旭川
北海道 写真館 エッセイ 台本の英訳 和英翻訳 BLOG links
Copyright © Snowman Bei Kaiwa 1996-2006