旭川英会話　Snowman Japan ブログ北海道　旭川市　英会話　スクール WEB LOG Snowman Japan Hokkaido Asahikawa BLOG　Life in Hokkaido Photos

www.snowmanjapan.net

for July 2007

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

2007 July 31 Tuesday.

I woke up at 4:00 a.m., and went outside to make some hot tea, and write this blog for yesterday. It was a cool and refreshing morning, a bit overcast. After having a nice breakfast at 8:00, we were back on the road by 9:00. I even had time to take another outdoor hot tub from 7:30 until 7:50. There is nothing like sitting in a tub of hot water while being surrounded by a forest. Our first destination for today was Lake Mashu 摩周湖. I have been here several times before, and every time I have come, including today, it has been crystal clear, with no fog in the air. See photo above/left. Lake Mashu is famous for being difficult to see because of the frequent foggy weather. In fact, I know several people who have lived in Hokkaido all of their lives, and have never been able to see Lake Mashu, because of the fog. I guess I have been very lucky. After gazing at the beautiful lake and the surrounding scenery for over an hour, we continued on to Kushiro 釧路市 and ate lunch there, before driving on to the Kushiro Wetlands National Park 釧路湿原国立公園. We took a 2.5 kilometer hike through a bug infested forest which has vast panoramic views of a huge flat marshland, the biggest in Japan. It reminded of a scene of the vast savannahs of Africa. I have never seen this view of Hokkaido before. After that, we continued on to our final destination of Lake Akan Onsen 阿寒湖温泉. We checked in at the Tsuruga Hotel and took a rest before having a gorgeous buffet style dinner in the huge second floor dinning room. They have every kind of food imaginable and all of it is top quality stuff. I ate so much, I was literally stuffed to the gills. After dinner, the ladies went to the roof top bathing area, and I walked outside and into the town to look around in the many gift shops which have mostly Ainu handicrafts. Some real and some not so real. I talked to some of the real Ainu craftsmen and bought two headbands and a shoulder bag made by the very people with whom I talked. There were even a couple of small bond fires burning in the plaza and the wood smoke smelled wonderful. After wandering around for about 2 hours, I went back to the hotel to take my turn at the roof top spa. They have saunas and every kind of bath that you can image here. You can even look and the lake and the night sky while laying in a huge pool of hot water. Why more cultures don't have this custom of communal bathing, is a mystery to me.

2007 July 30 Monday.

On the road again! Ikuko, I and her mother are off on our annual summer road trip around Hokkaido. This year the theme is "The Lakes of Eastern Hokkaido". We were supposed to pick her mother up at about 9:00, but I was two hours late because,.... Well, yesterday was my birthday party you see and I,... had way to much fun, and drank a bit more booze than I should have. After an extra 2 hours of sleep, we finally got on the road and arrived at her mothers home just before 11:00. Sorry mom! We still have plenty of time to do what we are planning to do today. I started driving out of Asahikawa along Route 39 heading east towards Kitami 北見. The weather was absolutely beautiful with mostly clear skies and fluffy white clouds floating lazily in the sky. The light and colors up here in Hokkaido are something that must be seen first hand to be believed. Incredibly bright and vibrant. Along the way, we stopped in Kamikawa Town 上川町 to eat some Noodle Soup ラーメン for lunch, and to visit Ikuko's grandmother on her mother's side of the family. I haven't seen this woman for about 10 years, but she still remembered my name! All the more amazing when you consider the fact that she is 94 years old. It must be that good Japanese food and country living that keeps her so bright and happy. After visiting for a while, and seeing some photographs of her newly born great-grandchildren, we were back on the road again, heading east. Along the way, we stopped here and there, to stretch our legs and enjoy the warm sunshine and cool breeze. One of the places we walked around at was a place called OnNeYu Onsen Roadside Rest Station おんねゆ温泉道の駅. 　We had passed through this very same location two years ago when we all went to the Shiretoko Penninsula World Heritage Site 知床半島世界遺産. One thing I remembered from that trip was the very creamy and delicious un-pasteurized fresh milk that you can drink here. For 120 yen a glass, or 300 yen for all you can drink, I choose the 300 yen course and drank down 4 glasses of the heavenly stuff. It tasted sooooo good. However, about 5 minutes later, I had the most urgent need to use the toilet which was right next door. Thank good it was there. We got back onto the road heading for Kitami, but my bowel related emergency hadn't been fully divested. I had to stop 3 more times along the way, at various convenience stores, to flush out my impatient colon. You see, I almost never drink milk these days, so the sudden tidal wave of fresh white stuff was a big surprise to my GI tract. After passing through Kitami and Bihoro Town 美幌町, we drove up the mountain towards Bihoro Pass 美幌峠. Suddenly it got dark and misty and very mysterious. There was a thick and eerie fog in the air that was really spooky. At the top of the mountain pass there is a Roadside Rest Station with a vantage point from which you can see a panoramic view of Lake Kussharo 屈斜路湖. Not today. In fact we couldn't see it at all until we began our decent down the other side of the mountain. When we saw it, it was magnificent. Tonight we will be staying at what the Japanese call "a pension" ペンション. In American English, we might call it "a bed and breakfast, which includes dinner." Many of these types of "pensions" are owned and operated by semi-retired couples who have worked most of their lives in a big city, before giving up the rat race, and coming to Hokkaido to really see what life is all about. The place we stayed at tonight is called ペンション・クッシャレラ and is located very close to the アイヌ民俗資料館 on the shores of Lake Kussharo. For details about this very nice place, visit their website by clicking here. We arrived at 18:00, just in time for dinner, which was excellent. The man and his wife who run this place, live here too, in a very new building that was completed in 2003. The man is also a very accomplished photographer who is very good at taking photos of wild animals. Some of the photos are absolutely amazing. After dinner and after sitting in the outdoor 100% natural hot spring tub for about an hour, I went back to the dinning room area to drink an ice cold beer. As I was doing so, I asked the photographer; "You didn't use a digital camera to take these photos, did you?" He replied; "No, I did use a digital camera with a tele-zoom lens, and continuous shutter capabilities." I was amazed to see photos of a flying squirrel caught in mid-flight, and other such hard to capture images decorating the walls of the dinning room, and even our own bedroom for the night. A wonderful place to stay, if you like the quiet family atmosphere.

2007 July 29 Sunday.

Happy Birthday to Me! Yeah, it's that time of year again. Time for a birth anniversary. The 51st birth anniversary in my case. The photo you can see above/left is of the birthday card that my Cat Crazy sister, who lives in Seattle, sent to me this year. The preprinted message on the inside of this card says; "No animals were harmed in the making of this birthday card. One cat, however was made to feel like a complete idiot." When I was a little kid living in Spokane Washington, I had a tabby cat that looked rather similar to this one. I distinctly remember putting a red and white Santa Hat on it, and taking a photograph, similar to this one. Where that photo is today, I have no idea. I wonder if that cat too, felt like a complete idiot. I certainly don't. My birth anniversary falls on a Sunday this year. The same day of the week when I first popped out into this crazy world at about 18:00 hours. Who would have thought at that moment that I would be living out the rest of my life in Hokkaido Japan. No complaints and no regrets. Hokkaido has it ALL.

2007 July 28 Saturday.

Today at about 15:00, I drove over to the Hokkaido Forest Products Research Institute 北海道立林産実験場 for their 16th annual Open House and Grand Fair. The only reason I knew about this event in the first place, is because one of my students works there as a researcher. There were many exhibitions to look at and several wood craft classes to participate in. I spent about one hour slowly walking around and seeing what there was to see. One of the things that caught my attention was the wooden musical instrument that you can see in the photo above/left. The way it works, is that you put a small round wooden ball on top of the first wooden board in the upper right hand corner, and let it roll down the 4 ramps until it gets to the bottom right corner, and stops. When I tried this for the first time today, I broke out laughing because the song it played was Frogs Chorus かえるの合唱, the very first song that I learned how to play on my little one dollar plastic flute, about one month ago. (see my July 2 blog for details) In front of that, you can see two xylophones. The one on the right is your normal musical instrument. The one on the left has eight boards of the exact same length, each one made from a different type of wood. This allows the user to hear the difference in the quality of sound, produced by each type of wood. Most interesting. One of the things that I learned today, is that I don't know very much about wood, at all. I need to do more research into that. For example, being able to positively identify all of the different types of trees that grow here in Hokkaido. Something like that, is just basic knowledge for living here. As I got back into my van for the drive home, it started to rain again. Apparently, I timed that one just right too.

2007 July 27 Friday.

The last day of classes before the start of my summer vacation. In reality, I only had one class at 15:00 with one elementary school girl. Everybody else cancelled today, because they had already started their summer vacations since yesterday. I don't blame them one bit. I would have done the same thing, myself. With so much free time on my hands, I sat around playing the Alto Recorder until about 19:00. Then, Ikuko and I walked over to the Riverline Park near the new 新橋 in order to watch a big fireworks display put on by the Yomiuri Newspaper Company and other sponsors. It was a very good display and there were a lot of people gathered there to watch it. In other words, my long summer vacation started off with a big bang. To see an auto-playing photo slideshow of this same event from last year, click here. Just as a side note, the weather forecast for today predicted rain starting at about 18:00. For some lucky reason, the rain didn't start falling until about 21:30, just a few minutes after Ikuko and I arrived back home, after walking back from the Riverline Park. And when it started falling, it came down big time. Talk about raining cats and dogs 土砂降り雨!!! How is that for good luck? Or, is it the power of the INTENTIONS of many many people who made this happen? You tell me. One thing that I do KNOW FOR CERTAIN, is that Thoughts are Things. It's so simple, it's beautiful, isn't it.

2007 July 26 Thursday.

Today I received a very pleasant surprise. One of my former students called me up on the telephone, and wanted to come over to my classroom and talk with me. I told him my last lesson would be finished at 20:00, so please come by at about that time. He did, and to my pleasant surprise, he can now speak English very fluently after spending only two months in Vancouver Canada! He just graduated from Asahikawa University this April, and then went to a language school in Vancouver B.C. for about 8 weeks, then returned to Hokkaido. Before he left for Canada, he came to my classroom about 12 times in order to get prepared for a world in which he would be required to speak English every day. Before he left, his speaking ability was minimal, but when I saw him again today, it was vastly improved. He even went to one of those Big Name Eikaiwa Schools in Sapporo for about one month, but he decided that he liked my classroom much better, so he came back for more lessons, starting again today. It makes me feel really good, when I can see a big improvement in any of my students' abilities in spoken English. It makes me feel really good when a student tells me that my little ol' classroom is the best. That is why I am here. To help other people while helping myself, all at the same time. That is a win/win situation. Everybody involved is happy. That is true happiness. That's the way it was meant to be. From the beginning and forever.

2007 July 25 Wednesday.

Another photo from 2006 July 24. This of course, is the Canal Plaza in Otaru City. One of the most famous and/or well known scenes in Hokkaido. I was lucky enough last year, to get fine weather, the light from which made this peaceful digital photograph possible. What a beautiful memory, and also another beautiful meeting in the future. I will go back to this exact same place, again and again and again. Why not? It is a very familiar home away from home. I love Otaru. I love Hokkaido. I love the here and now. I LOVE LIFE. 今を生きる。

2007 July 24 Tuesday.

My first gig of the day started off at 10:40 at Asahikawa University. Today, together with Professor Sugawa, we administered the Final Examination for the Spring Semester. It was a paper test, which I wrote myself, that had 40 questions, plus one bonus problem, all questions are based on the 6W1H Interrogatives 疑問詞. Sort of like a questionnaire アンケート.　　I kept it simple and basic, because there are many and various levels of English Proficiency among the students in our class. The photo that you can see in today's blog, was taken exactly one year ago, on this very date in 2006. Does anyone recognize this scene? HINT. It is just south of Mashike Town along the coastline on the Sea of Japan. It is a place called Oofuyu Misaki 雄冬岬. A really nice place to get a panoramic view of the world around you. Notice the steel and concrete stairway to heaven, in the right/lower corner of today's photo. Thank you to the people who built and paid for this modern convenience, because this makes it possible for old, fat, farts, such as myself, to literally climb up a small mountain, and take a look around. I really appreciate this opportunity to fall in love again, with Mother Nature. Ain't it beautiful? The HERE and NOW, I mean.

2007 July 23 Monday.

Heading into the final week of classes, before the start of my 3 week summer vacation on July 28. At this time last year, I was already on the road, heading south towards Otaru 小樽市. Along the way, we stopped in at Mashike　増毛町, to buy some fresh cherries and other fruits. The photo above/left shows what we bought. On the left are the dark "American" Cherries. My grandfather George Delaney and I used to pick this exact same type of cherries together, in the orchards near Clarkston Washington and Lewiston Idaho. They were so delicious, that I must have eaten about 5 pounds of them in one day. The same day I got a bad case of diarrhea, because I ate soooooooo many cherries at one time. I was about 14 years old at that time. Now I am much older, and a bit wiser. On the right side of the photograph, you can see the typical "Japanese" Cherry which is a much brighter tint of red, and slightly more sour, than the BING CHERRIES on the left. I like both types, and make it a point to go to Mashike every year during the summer to buy some of the best fresh fruits I have ever eaten, anywhere. The summer in Hokkaido might be short, but it is very intense. Pedal to the metal, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Into summer vacation, I mean. Drive slowly because there is a lot to look at along the way. It's the journey, not the destination that we can always enjoy in the present moment. It is always NOW.

2007 July 22 Sunday.

		Another hot and sunny day with temps reaching 30 degrees C., and noticeable humidity in the air. Asahikawa has relatively low humidity when compared to the rest of Hokkaido, and most certainly the rest of Japan, but for those of us who live here all year 'round, it is becoming slightly uncomfortable, as we near the bend, and head into August. At about 15:30, I left my classroom and walked through Crystal Park on my way towards the Chubetsu River bank. I then crossed over the old Kagura Bridge and got onto 19 Chome and walked down to 3 Jodori. This is were the main activities of the 上川神社祭 are taking place on this, the last day of the festival.
Along the way, I ran into friends who run a restaurant called Mongol Chop. As with every year, they had a stall at the festival, so I stopped in to say "Hello!". As it turned out, that is as far as I got today. As soon as I got there, one of the musicians handed me a guitar and said; "Hey Norman, play us a song!" So I obliged them by playing DREAMLAND by Gordon Lightfoot. After that, I pulled out my Alto Recorder, and played along quietly with the other guitarists and singers that were in attendance. Before I knew it, it was dark and I decided to walk back home in the warm evening air. There are a lot of really good musicians in Asahikawa. In fact, many people say that this city is the music capital of Hokkaido. I couldn't agree more.

2007 July 21 Saturday.

Today is the main Festival Day for the annual 上川神社祭. I've been there many times before. Two years ago I made an auto-playing photo slideshow of the event which you can see by clicking here. Instead, I'm going to take a long walk along the rivers, were there are very few other people. It's a cloudy night, so it might be a bit spooky, not being able to see the ground in front you, so well. But first, I must play Amazing Grace on the big Alto Recorder at the Candle Cathedral before my departure. I will be playing that, and a lot of other stuff along the Chubetsu River bank again tonight. It's easy to escape the big city, when you live in Asahikawa.

2007 July 20 Friday.

Oh My Gawd! What have they done to my Private Hokkaido!?!?

The good news is, this is only temporary. This too shall pass.

2007 July 19 Thursday.

A walk through the forest. In Japanese we call it 森林浴 Forest Bathing. In other words, total immersion in the element, be it water or air. What's the difference anyway? If you can swim, you can fly. It's all about vibrations, it's all about light. Find your own path and walk it right.

2007 July 18 Wednesday.

This morning starting at 8:50, I had my last class for this school year at the Kosei Nursing School. As usual, when the last lesson is finished for any class by any teacher, the students all gather around a piano on the first floor lobby, and sing a song for the teacher. A nice touch to the end of the course, that no other school I have ever taught at, does for its teachers. Some places just have more class than others. The photo you can see above/left was taken on Monday July 16 in the 外国樹種見本林 which is about 2 kilometers from where I live. Think about that for a minute. I live in a city, right along National Highway 237 which connects Asahikawa with Biei and Furano, yet there is this forest within easy walking distance from my classroom. Is it any wonder that I like this city so much?

2007 July 17 Tuesday.

No morning classes today, so I can do what I want to do. Let's see,... There are so many options, especially because today again, is a warm and sunny day. By the way, the photo you can see above/left, is one that I took on Monday, July 16,... Just before I left for the beach. I only got one shot off before the clever little critter jumped up and, FLEW AWAY. Yeah, grasshoppers can fly. Humanoids can't. Unless,....... When my wife saw this photo, she said; きもーーい!!!（気持ち悪い） Say What?!?!? Take a closer look. What I see is a little biological transmitter/receiver unit, that can jump up high and even fly in the sky. Can a humanoid do that, IF they are completely naked? You tell me. The body of this little grasshopper is composed of more than 50% water. H2O. That is why it is alive in the first place, and also why it has the ability to send and receive information, via electromagnetic pulsing. Say What? Yeah, everything is vibrations man, we all learned that at WOODSTOCK. No, much further in the past than that. Good Vibes, Bad Vibes. They are everywhere and anywhere, and at ALL TIMES. In other words, NOW. How long do you think this little grasshopper can maintain its water capacity and functionality? Until just before or shortly after the FIRST SNOW falls. That is a very short lifespan of less than one year. Do you think life is precious? Just ask the grasshoppers of summer. They know the answer for CERTAIN. That's why they lay sooooooo many eggs, for the SOLE PURPOSE which is to, keep the CYCLE going. It never ends for them. Unless,...... MOTHER EARTH goes tits up, due to THE FOLLY OF MAN. It could happen. Make your move NOW.

2007 July 16 Monday.

Umi No Hi 海の日. I'm off to the beach. Ikuko and her friend Yumiko are off to Sapporo on the 13:00 JR Train, to see Chage and Aska LIVE in CONCERT for the umpteenth time. I think I've seen enough of that HoopLa. I need to put my bare feet into a sandy beach near some moving water to make my day A OK. Let's see, where is the closest beach from here???? Oh, Yeah! That place where I went on a Vision Quest about 29 days ago. I grabbed my big brown Alto Recorder and walked very slowly over to the exact same location. It was a very nice 2 kilometer trek through the 外国樹種見本林 which was bathed in a beautiful afternoon light at about 16:00. I walked down to my private beach, took off my shirt, and kicked off my sandals. Oh! What a feeling. Sand between your toes, I mean. Why,.... with my cheap sunglasses in a shade of orange, my big chunky turquoise necklace and my gladiator sized silver bracelets from Bali, I was off into another world. After standing and pacing back and forth for about 90 minutes, I spread out my big black shirt, sat down and took a load off of my feet. All the while playing various songs on the big bad tube. Even the crows were friendly today. One thing that I noticed for the first time today, was how well the Bali Silver works as a sky and sun reflective mirror. By looking directly into each bracelet, I could see the entire shape of the sun, without hurting my eyes. The blue sky and white clouds were also clearly visible. COOL! I can now observe the daytime sky, while looking down into a soft silver mirror and playing the flute, all at the same time. What will they think of next?

2007 July 15 Sunday.

Time to give my big veranda a big cleaning. I spent about 5 hours, taking my sweet time playing around with the hose and enjoying the beautiful hot and sunny day. Even though the sun was hot, the breeze was cool enough with low humidity. Very refreshing indeed. Not only did I do my usual cleaning of the deck, but I also took down the many illumination decorations that I had attached to the street-side wall. This building is getting a total face lift, and I needed to take down my stuff and get it out of the way of the construction crew. I did so much cutting of ropes, strings and plastic lock-ties, that I got a big bleeding blister on the inside of the middle finger of my right hand, from using snippets to cut everything. In a way, it felt good. I even put up my little one dollar Hi no Maru　日の丸 National Flag, because tomorrow is a National Holiday known as Marine Day 海の日. Now that everything is sparkling clean, ship shape, and all squared away, I'm going to do some sun bathing by laying in my big green canvas hammock, while gazing upon the big blue sky above. No mosquitoes around here, today.

2007 July 14 Saturday.

It's time to go on another プチ Vision Quest. This time with Alto Recorder in hand. I spent about 4 hours on an isolated stone covered beach along the Chubetsu River and played WIND WALKER in the style of a Native American Flute, over and over again. During that time, I watched the Hawks Circle in the sky, and a father crow showing his baby crow how to fly. This was a most interesting experience to observe, and I was only able to observe it because I had deliberately taken the time to do so. The parent crow would fly besides the baby crow for a long while, then suddenly fly quickly up above it for a short while, and then just as quickly dive below and under the baby crow, testing its endurance and stability. After about 4 minutes of this, the baby crow got tired and headed back on over towards the stand of trees, where its nest is located. It even seemed to have some trouble in finding it's own nest. The parent crow didn't help at all, but instead, just continued to fly freely and powerfully through the beautiful sky. I just stood there watching in wonder, and playing my big plastic flute along with all the sounds of nature surrounding me. Time well spent. I didn't even bother to count the stones along my path. What's the point? Look up and then inside before you look down.

2007 July 13 Friday.

The construction and preparations for a full face lift to this building continues. As you can see from the photo above/left, they have now put up scaffolding around the entire building up to the second floor. The chief of the construction project was nice enough to come to my classroom and offer to move my SKY PERFECT TV dish antenna onto the outside of the scaffolding, so that I could continue to get a clear signal during the approximately 3 months that this complete outer walls remake operation will require. It is going to be a long, hot, noisy and stinky summer vacation this year. I need to hit the road, and get out of town as much as possible.

2007 July 12 Thursday.

Since the beginning of June, I have been offering group lessons in the morning hours on Thursdays and Saturdays at my classroom. So far, I only have one student out of a possible seating for 20 students. This student comes on Thursday mornings at 10:00. Today, our lesson together was very noisy. As you can see from the photo above/left, a construction crew was busy installing some kind of junction box cum cell phone antenna support structure, on the side of the building. The area of the outside wall where they were busy drilling and pounding hammers for about 3 hours, is directly outside of the whiteboard and lesson table area of my little classroom. You can imagine the noise me and my student had to work around during today's lesson. I mean it was directly behind the white board!!! Come to think of it, it's a good thing they did this during the morning hours, because I have a lot more students coming to my classroom during the afternoon and evening hours. I am thankful for their consideration of this fact. In fact, they probably didn't even know that I have a lesson on Thursday mornings, because it is not written on any of my signs that are posted in this building. Things could have been worse. Much worse.

2007 July 11 Wednesday.

Today is Seven Eleven Day. Or, at least it should be. They should be giving discounts on everything in the store for this one day only. Novel idea? Not for me, but then again, I have no connection to the Mega Corporation that now owns the franchise rights to this very first of all convenience stores. Originally, the stores were open from 7:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night. That is why they called it 7 - Eleven. At that time, it was a new idea because they opened earlier and closed later than any other grocery store, anywhere. Nowadays, they are open 24/7/365. I can clearly remember the very first 7-11 in my home town of Spokane Washington. It was located about 2 miles from my house, along a small highway that ran along through the countryside and just above the Hangman Valley. I used to ride my bicycle, a Schwinn Sting Ray Cherry Picker, down to the store almost every day to buy a Slurpee during the hot summer months. Not only did they have a new flavor every week, but they also had colorful badges that advertised the new flavors, which you could receive along with your Slurpee. Needless to say, I had a rather large collection of these buttons. The photo you can see above/left is of a bicycle that is almost exactly the same as my bicycle was in my elementary school days, except my bike was red. Notice the cool stick shift on the upper cross brace of the frame. I was so proud of my cycling machine and I took very good care of it. With its great big banana seat and the high U-shaped handle bars, I could easily jump my bike off of curbs and ramps, and pop wheelies at will. Thinking back now, it is amazing that I never seriously injured myself in the process. I even rode it on dirt motocross trails when there were no motorcycles around. Yeah, those were the good old days. The days of our lives.

2007 July 10 Tuesday.

A big day for Major League Baseball and ICHIRO. As you may already know, the 78th annual MLB All Stars Game was held in San Francisco today. Not only did ICHIRO make baseball history by hitting the very first Inside the Park Home Run ever during an All Stars Game, he was also voted as the MVP Most Valuable Player of the game. I have been watching ICHIRO closely ever since he started playing for the Seattle Mariners in 2001. I have always been impressed by his excellent all-around abilities as a professional baseball player. He can do it all. Run, hit, throw and catch. I call him. MR. BASEBALL. Take a look at the photo above/left. It shows ICHIRO taking a low and outside pitch, and turning it into a base hit. Creating something out of nothing. That's the true meaning of alchemy. In my opinion, he is the best all-around baseball player, anywhere, ever. If he doesn't get into the American Baseball Hall of Fame in the near future, I will be extremely surprised. A few years ago, I read an article about ICHIRO in the Hokkaido Newspaper. It said that ICHIRO goes to the baseball stadium 3 hours before game time, just to stretch and warm up before the game starts. Three hours before!!! How is that for dedication? What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? Just ask ICHIRO. He knows the answer for sure. To find out more about this amazingly dedicated person, click on the blue ICHIRO link above.

2007 July 9 Monday.

A busy day full of classes starting at 10:00 at the くりの木幼稚園. My next class started at 13:00 at the 神楽公民館で英会話を楽しむ会. Today, one of the ladies whom I haven't seen for about one month, came back to class again. She explained how she had spent one week in the hospital, for the purpose of having surgery to remove some varicose veins in her legs. I asked her how much money she had to pay out of her pocket when she left the hospital. She replied; "About 80,000 yen. However the National Health Insurance and her own private health insurance, reimbursed her for a total of 100,000 yen." In other words, she gained 20,000 yen by staying at the hospital for one week!!! I then told her briefly about the situation of Charles Hamel and Family in Houston Texas and she just stared at me in disbelief. Another person made the comment that they would never want to live in the USA. No big mystery as to why. The lady who stayed in the hospital for one week, also told us that she shared a bed room with 5 other people, all of them cancer patients. She told us about how bad their suffering is because of the many chemicals and drugs that the doctors give them in an attempt to kill the cancer cells. She had a lot of free time during her one week stay at the hospital, so she gave the other 5 patients in her room, 30 minute to one hour long massages, everyday. Of course, it made the cancer patients feel much better. When this lady first joined our class about one year ago, I immediately recognized that she was a very intelligent and highly evolved spiritual being. Today, her story confirmed that for me once again. She also mentioned that she gives her husband a long massage every day, and that she can do this for one or even two hours without getting tired. She truly does have HEALING HANDS. I am very impressed by her.

2007 July 8 Sunday.

Another beautiful warm and sunny day in Hokkaido. I never get tired of it. At 15:00 this afternoon, Ikuko and I took a taxi on over to the 旭川市民文化会館 to see the Ballet Recital of the 内山玲子バレエ・スタジオ　because the mother of one of my students had given us two tickets. Her daughter also goes to the UchiYama ReiKo Ballet Studio for learning Ballet Dancing. The recital was held in the Big Hall of the facility, and every seat was full. Actually, 2 of my students, and one of my former students appeared on the stage during the nearly 3 hour performance. One of my former students I haven't seen in about 3 years, ever since she started junior high school. When I heard her name announced for appearing in the next number, I anxiously awaited the curtain raising so that I could see her again. She appeared on stage with about 14 other dancers in the same set, but try as hard as I could, I was not able to positively identify her among the other members of the group. Even if I had brought my binoculars with me, I may not have been able to identify her either way. Children grow very fast between the ages of 12 and 16, so she looked very different from how I remembered her in the past. When the entire recital was finished at just before 18:00, Ikuko and I walked through the Pedestrian Mall known as 買物公園 along the center axis of this city, and on back to our classroom. Along the way, we stopped at the Yamaha Musical Instruments Store on 4条通り. I wanted to see what type of Alto Recorders they had in stock. We walked around in the store and saw some beautiful wooden alto recorders in a display case. I asked one of the store clerks, how much they cost and he replied; "The light brown one costs 40,000 yen, and the dark brown one costs 80,000 yen." I said; "Do you have any alto recorders made of plastic?" He replied; "Yes, we do, but they don't sound as good as the wooden ones." I said; "Yeah, I know, but I am just a beginner so a plastic one will do just fine." He led me to another part of the store, and showed me what they had in plastic. I chose the alto recorder that you can see in the photo above/left. The price tag on the gray canvas bag that held the 3 detachable parts of the big alto recorder said 2,750 yen, but when I took it to the cash register, the pretty young lady only charged me 2,100 yen. Why she gave me a discount, I have no idea, but I said; "Thank You!!!" and exited the store with my new music maker. As you can see from the photo, it is considerably larger than the 100 yen plastic flutes that I have been playing every day, for the previous 2 months. It took me about 60 minutes of trying, before I could make any nice sounds with the lowest notes. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the alto recorder can make nearly the same sounds as the Native American Flute. I need to practice it little by little every day, so I can really enjoy some deep meditative vibrations, that I can produce myself. Practice makes perfect.

2007 July 7 Saturday.

Today is TANABATA.

七夕 777

Make no mistake about it.

There is MAGIC in the air.

Take a look for yourself by clicking here.

2007 July 6 Friday.

The beautiful young lady whom you can see in the photo above/left, will be going for a two week Intensive English Language Study and Home Stay Program in Canada, starting at the end of this month. She will also be graduating from the university in March of next year. Her current goal in life is to become a cabin attendant for some major International Airlines company, in the not too distant future. What do you think? Does she have any chance of making her dream come true? I know she does, but IF and only IF she can become a FLUENT ENGLISH SPEAKER in the meantime. THAT is the key to her future success, at this moment in time. I am here to help in anyway that I can. By the way, the gold medal which you can see dangling from her neck, is for a recent All Hokkaido University Volleyball Tournament, which was held just recently. Her university won first prize as you can plainly see. See you again next Monday, Miss S!!! We have about 5 more English Conversation Practice Sessions remaining, before you take your very first trip outside of Japan. You will see a whole new world, that will both amaze and confuse you, at first. You need this experience to put you on the right path towards your future. A future that only you can decide for yourself. I can only guide you along the way, IF and only IF you want me to. This lovely young lady has been a top ranked volleyball player, ever since she was a junior high school student. This means that she already knows personal discipline, and how to set and achieve, certain goals. Very important knowledge for dealing with the REAL WORLD. I KNOW she will do just fine.

2007 July 5 Thursday.

My first class of the day started off at 10:00, here in my own classroom, with the mother of one of my younger students. Her husband is a doctor at the National Medical College here in Asahikawa, and the three of them have just come back to Japan this April, after spending nearly 4 years in Vancouver Canada. Naturally, the whole family can speak English very well. This family is not from Hokkaido, they are from Honshu, so when they found out that they would be coming to Asahikawa for the next 3 or 4 years, they got onto the internet to see what kind of English Conversation Schools there are in this city. They found a link to this website on the top page of their search engine, and promptly came by to take a look. Shortly thereafter, they enrolled for weekly lessons. Her young son who just turned 7 years old, can speak English better than Japanese, and is having some difficultly learning how to read and write the Japanese language. The most complicated written language in the world today. He his making rapid progress however, and should be in full swing by this time next year. After that class was finished at 11:00, Ikuko and I drove over to her mother's house for a short visit, and then we went on over to the AEON Shopping Center to take a look around. Then, it was back to our classroom for straight lessons from 15:00 until 20:00. The photograph you can see above/left, is of the 4 lovely elementary school girls who come to my classroom every week at this time. They are quick learners and a pleasure to teach. Today, one of the girls was gazing at a photograph of a young boy, so I said to her in English; "Who is that?" She replied in Japanese; "Take a closer look. I think you know this boy." I took a closer look and sure enough, I did recognize the boy. He used to come to my classroom, and he also attends the same elementary school as these 4 young ladies. One of the other girls said; "She is in love with this boy." How sweet it is! Puppy Love. First Love. Oh! What a feeling! It is moments like this, that keep me young at heart. Grow Old?!?!? Body yes, Mind no. Life is what is happening now. Everyday is today.

2007 July 4 Wednesday.

		Today is a National Holiday in the USA known as Independence Day. In the public school system, we are taught that in 1776, on July 4, the United States of America declared its independence from Great Britain, and thus became a new nation. That is the official story anyway. Nowadays, it is mostly seen as a day off from work with an opportunity to have a softball game, a BBQ party or just about any other type of leisure activity, ending with a big fireworks display 花火大会 in the late evening.
I have many fond childhood memories of riding my bicycle around to the many fireworks stands in Spokane Washington, to see what was new and on sale each year. The small scale fireworks 線香花火 that I bought were a lot of fun to play with. It was a magical evening with beautiful lights and sulfur smells. Over here in Japan, it is just another work day. Wishing everyone who lives in the USA a very safe and enjoyable holiday, on this day, our nation's birthday.

2007 July 3 Tuesday.

Getting hotter, up close to 30 C with some rain in the late afternoon. Felt good and smelled good too. Country living, within a big city. I enjoyed driving out to AU starting from about 10:00. Great driving weather, just wish I had time to drive farther today. Don't. After finishing that class at about 12:10, I drove back to my classroom, stopping at two recycle shops along the way. I was looking for a used 尺八 but I couldn't find one today. I'll try again tomorrow. Other than that,....... Oh yeah! SiCKO The new film by Michael Moore. What a Gwaud Awful coincidence this new film release has with the situation of Charles Hamel and Family in Houston Texas. Can you see the big picture now? I thought I had already seen the worst in this ridiculous situation, but when I visited CharlesHamel dot COM, again today, I learned that the price of passing a kidney stone, had just gone up again!!! Say What??? Speak Truth 2 Bullshit. Bullshit dries up and sinks back into the hole from which it came, in the face of TRUTH. Phuckin' Xit!!! Slither back into the slime pit from which you have come. Get a real life you heartless bean counter EGO maniacs. Even if your bio-vehicle lives to become 100 years old, your light in the sky, has only grown dimmer. One step forward, Two steps back. Wake the phuck up, before you step back twice again. Old bean counters never die, they just fade into BLACK. A BLACK HOLE from which no LIGHT of any kind can be seen. Have a nice eternity, ya stupid phucks.

2007 July 2 Monday.

My first gig of the day started off at 10:00 at the めばえ幼稚園で英語ふれあい. Today, instead of brining my guitar as usual, I brought 3 colorful plastic flutes, along with a wide selection of laminated flash cards. I have never tried playing the flute in front of a group of people before, so I figured the best way to start was to do it in front of a group of kids, with other teachers present. I took the 3 flutes out of my bag of tricks and asked everyone; "What is this?" The teachers said; " It is a flute!" Then I held them up one by one and said; "This is a blue flute. This is a ??? PINK! flute. This is a ??? YELLOW! flute." Then I asked the other Japanese teachers, "Which flute do you want?" After the 3 of us had our flutes in hand, I said let's play かえるの合唱! And we did. We played it about 3 or 4 times, switching the starting player every round. It worked out great! Next time let's sing it in English!!!

2007 July 1 Sunday.

The first day of July. A clear and sunny day with a cool breeze. Perfect for a walk or a drive. Riding a bicycle would also be enjoyable. The photo on the above/left was taken at about 22:30 today, from my large balcony. It doesn't look the same as what I could see with my naked eyes, but you get the idea. It will be only one more moon until the start of my long summer vacation. A time of year I look forward to because I have enough time to travel far and wide around this island. Believe you me, there is plenty to see and do here, especially during the season of no snow. We must enjoy it while it lasts. In my blog of yesterday, I mentioned the Japanese Shakuhachi Flute. Today, I found a very good example of the beautiful music that can be produced on this traditional bamboo flute. Click here to enjoy it for yourself. Truly inspiring.