Snowman Japan WEB LOG

www.snowmanjapan.net

Asahikawa American English Conversation School

Snowman Japan Web Log

for June 2006

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

2006 June 30 Friday.

Another partly cloudy, partly sunny day with no significant rainfall. My teaching day started out at 9:00 with a 90 minute class at the Hokkaido Prefecture Nursing School of Asahikawa 北海道立旭川高等看護学院. This will be my last class at this school until August 25. They will have practical training 実習 during the first half of July, and then summer vacation until the latter part of mid-August. See you again in two months! Today's lesson was not a lecture by me, nor a memorize the dialogue and perform a skit with me in front of the class, type of lesson. It was another one of those student-centered Word Association exercises that I have prepared many pages of printed textbooks for use in just such an occasion. Today's word association theme was "fill in the 4th word." I divided the 16 students who were in attendance, into 2 groups of 6 people, and one group of 4 people. The print was arranged as follows: Ask Student A: red, yellow, green, ____. Student A says: ________. Student A says a word that they associate with the previous 3 words. There are a total of 6 groups of 5 questions each. This type of exercise is a bit more thought provoking, than the other ones I have used so far this year at this school. In fact, none of the 3 groups of students were able to finish the entire 6 groups of questions. Please feel free to try it at home, by yourself, if you have the inclination and/or the time. When that class was finished at 10:30, I walked back to my classroom via the Midori ga Oka Shopping center, and Kagura Oka Park. The sun was shining hot and bright, and I took my sweet time to stroll along the asphalt walking trail, back to My Place. Part of this same route, I walked last night, after I sang a few songs with Crazy Man. Last night, it was cooler than it was today. During the late morning. Much cooler. But anyway, both walks were extremely enjoyable, and each in their very own, and very special way. It is a wonderful season in Asahikawa right now but, in about 20 days or so, it will become much hotter than it is right now. Much hotter. It's time to prepare our summer wardrobes.

2006 June 29 Thursday.

Not much rain but very cloudy. My first class of the day started at 15:00 with 4 elementary school girls. Two of them have been coming to my classroom for a long time, and two of them just started last week. How can I teach a class with such a big difference in experience with English? I have many ways. All of them top secret. My last class of the day was finished at 19:00 so, I went for a walk over to the 100 yen shop that is across the street on Route 237 from the Tsuruha Drug store. As I was walking in that direction, I began to notice that someone was walking close behind me. I didn't think much about it until I stopped to bend over and pick a leaf from an oregano plant that was growing along the side of the road. As I stood up to smell the leaf's fragrance, a big goofy-looking Japanese man with a black umbrella was looking at me and saying in a very loud voice "I am a mental patient! I am a mental patient. Do you understand?" I said "Yes, I understand. Do you go to the Naoe Clinic?" He didn't seem to understand my question and starting laughing very loudly. Then he said "Mark David Chapman murdered John Lennon. Mark David Chapman murdered John Lennon." then he started laughing loudly again while walking just a few feet in front of me on my left side. At this point, I was beginning to wonder if this crazy guy was going to try and attack me or something. Fortunately for him, he did not. Then he started singing some songs like, Let it Be and Imagine. So, I started singing along with him. Why not? Finally, when we got to the intersection just before the 100 yen store, he turned right and crossed the street going over to the other side. What a weirdo. I hope he doesn't try to harm anyone.

2006 June 28 Wednesday.

Overcast and looking very rain-ish. My first class started at 8:50 at the Kosei Nursing School ＪＡ厚生連旭川看護専門学校. Today, there was no spider web on the door of the front entrance so, I passed through smoothly. For today's lesson, I did a skit with each and every student. The skit was about asking for a Guide Map written in Japanese, in a city of an English speaking country. I had given them the short written script last week and asked them to memorize part A: for today's lesson. Most of them did, and they were able to simulate the conversation. One girl had on a green T-shirt that had a picture of Mickey Mouse, wearing sunglasses, standing sideways and flipping-the-bird. The big white letters above the drawing were FUCK YOU. I asked the girl if she knew what was written on her T-shirt and she said "Yes, fuck you." I loved it!!! So, I spent the next 20 seconds or so, imitating an angry New Yorker saying 'fuck you' every other word out of his mouth. The students got a big laugh out of it too. I wonder where she bought that T-shirt? I would certainly never buy one for myself, but it does make a very definite statement about the wearer's attitude. I have have felt the same way from time to time in various situations, but seldom use the F word nowadays. After that lively class was finished at 10:20, I drove back to my classroom to eat lunch and get ready for my next set of classes at 15:00 until 20:00. At today's 15:00 lesson, I gave the little boy who is in his second year of elementary school and comes every week at this time, an evaluation test, without him knowing about it. This little guy has made much progress in his studies, and memorized many words and phrases. Today, I used all of those words and phrases in random orders to test his listening comprehension and his speaking ability, using real information. He did quite well, but he had a bit of trouble distinguishing when to use answers such as "Yes, I do." and "Yes, it is." It will all come together naturally in time, but for now he is doing the best he can. After all lessons were finished at 20:00, I sat around doing some more reading instead of much writing today.

2006 June 27 Tuesday.

It started out as another sunny and partly cloudy day, but by early evening it was raining again. My first class started at 10:40 at Asahikawa University. Some of the students in my class, are the same students who were playing in various amateur bands on stage at the 北辰会 where I took a lot of photos last Saturday. I made a self-playing slideshow of the event and I wanted to show it to the students who were in the photos, but the slideshow would not play on the personal computers that are in the computer room of the university. It didn't take me long to realize that the Flash Player plug-in which is required to view the slideshow, needed to be updated from version 4 to version 8. When I tried to download the new player, I discovered that I couldn't. Because all of these computers are hooked up to the internet through a central Local Area Network for the entire university, I assumed that downloads of new software had somehow been blocked. I went to the computer center office to ask about it, and I found out that I was right. I guess the students will have to look at the slideshow using their own PCs at home. After that class was finished at 12:20, I went back to professor Sugawa's office as I usually do. While I was there, an instructor named Mr. Saito, whom I have never met before, came by the office. I was pleased to discover that he has lived in the USA for several years and can speak English very well. His specialty is society and education with an emphasis on cross cultural communication. I enjoyed talking with him and I hope I will have another opportunity to do so again in the very near future. At about 13:00, I drove back to my classroom to eat lunch and get ready for straight classes from 15:00 until 20:00. During the late afternoon, it started raining off and on, and by about 21:00 there was a big downpour with thunder and lightning. I enjoy thunder and lightning and have seen some very long and very powerful lighting storms during the 16 years that I have lived here in Hokkaido. Today's storm was rather short but very enchanting none the less.

2006 June 26 Monday.

A bit more cloudy than yesterday, but still very warm and sunny. My first class of the day started off at 13:00 at the 神楽公民館で英語を楽しむ会. Today, there was a prospective new student in the class who came to observe and listen. She also introduced herself and explained a bit about herself and her family. It turns out that she and her family had lived in the USA for about 2 years while her husband was studying medical procedures at various high-level universities. Therefore, her level of English was very high and she could speak quite well despite the fact that the 2 year stay in the USA had occurred more than 10 years ago. At that time, her two children were only 4 and 6 years old, so they learned English naturally by attending day-care and elementary school respectively. I have some students at my classroom who have been in the same situation in the past, and they all speak English quite well. Other people talked about various things including one man who talked about a misunderstanding between countries (Japan and Great Britain during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877) that was caused by a mistranslation of the written correspondence between the two sides. One word in particular, 黙殺, was the main point of the misunderstanding. I am not quite sure how I would translate that word into English, but the two Kanji that compose it mean "silent" and "kill". Doesn't sound very friendly, does it. After that class was finished at 14:30, I came back to my classroom for straight classes from 15:00 until 20:00. Then, it was time to go for another walk under the clear and star filled sky. Another beautiful day.

2006 June 25 Sunday.

The perfect summer day. Not a cloud in the sky, hot sunshine and a cool breeze. Being outdoors today is where it's at. At about 16:00, my wife and I went for a long walk along the Biei and Chubetsu Rivers. I say a long walk, because it must have been close to 20 kilometers and more that three hours of fun in the sun. And I do mean fun. Of course I had my camera with me and was able to get some beautiful photos of the abundant nature that surrounds this city. I will be making a slideshow of them in the very near future. We walked through Kagura Oka Park where many people were having BBQ parties. It was a perfect day for that too. We continued walking until we got to the TaiSho Bridge 大正橋, and then walked across that until we got to the cycling road on the other side of the Chubetsu River. At that point in time, the setting sun was shining directly in our faces so we pulled our floppy hats down around our eyes and walked directly into the western sky. The photo on the left was taken from the New Kagura Bridge 新神楽橋 just after sunset. You can see the wonderful glow in the evening sky. Finally, we got back to our home at about 19:45 and decided to have our own little BBQ party on the big balcony. Instead of using charcoal and those smelly starter sticks, we used a small gas table and a steel hot plate. It was a very pleasant way to eat dinner. Something you can only enjoy for a few months in this part of Japan. That's why we need to enjoy every moment that we have like this.

2006 June 24 Saturday.

The weather today was quite nice. No falling rain like yesterday. A good day to take photos at the Asahikawa University Hoku Shin Sai 北辰祭. So, that's what I did. I arrived at the campus just before 15:30, and parked my van along the street a few blocks down from the site of the festival. There were many cars and many people of all ages at the event. I saw students that I have in my class this year, and also students that I have had in my classes from previous years. It was nice to see their smiling faces again. At about 16:00, the student amateur bands started playing their music. I too have played in bands many times, most recently being last year in July and August, so I know how much fun it is to play on stage. I also know how much time it takes to practice for that one brief moment in the spotlight. It takes a lot of effort, but it is well worth it. In total there were about 6 or 7 bands who played today. Many of the the same members played in different bands and everyone had a very good time. So did I. I took a lot of photos and made an auto-playing slide show out of them which you can see by clicking here. Just as the last band was cranking up their sounds at about 18:10, I slowly walked back to my van and drove home in the evening light. After I got home, I immediately took a look at the photos I had just taken and started to edit them for size, brightness and contrast so that they will download fast and look good on the internet. By the way, if anybody whose photo I have taken and put on this website doesn't want their photo to be on the internet, please let me know and I will remove your photo. I don't want to leak any private information or cause any problems with this website. This website is intended to be a pleasant experience for everyone who visits it. Pure and simple.

2006 June 23 Friday.

The rainy weather keeps on keeping on. Is there no end in sight? The vegetable farmers would certainly like to know, and, as soon as possible. It even made the headlines in this morning's Hokkaido Newspaper. "Vegetable Harvest 1 week (or more) later than usual." Yeah, that figures. Nothing can grow without the sunshine 天照大神. Check the Japanese National flag for details. Another concern I have about this week's weather is for, the students at Asahikawa University this weekend. They are having their annual North Dragon Festival 北辰祭 tomorrow and the next day. Meaning this Saturday and Sunday. I wanna go again after a pause of about 6 years. If I can go, I wanna take lots of photos and make another cool slideshow on this website. Wadda ya say? Good idea??? Yeah, why not. Will it be Saturday or Sunday, I still don't know. What I do know is that it will be determined by the sunshine. More sunshine means more good photographs. PHOTOGRAPHS means Light Graphics. Literally pictures made with light. No sun, no light. No light, no photography. No photo genesis, no life. Oh, my GOD.... it really is that simple. See ya again tomorrow.

2006 June 22 Thursday.

Another very overcast and at times, violently rainy day. At about 14:00, It rained so hard that water forced its way through my window screen and onto the classroom floor. This heavy downpour lasted for only about 5 minutes, but anybody outside without an umbrella would have been drenched. I was watching it all happen from indoors. First class of the day was at 15:00, the last class ended at 20:00. Even at that time, the sky was still dark and heavy with all that moisture in the air. I put on my GORTEX floppy hat, and went outside for a walk along the Biei/Chubetsu Rivers trail. My main objective tonight was to get a good recording of the sound of the flowing river, so that I could attach it to a slideshow that I made of the sunset on Sunday June 18. On that day, I had forgotten to bring my IC recorder with me, so tonight I returned to the very same place with my IC recorder in hand and ready for business. I stood by the riverside holding the recorder towards the river for about 6 minutes while a variety of mist and light rain surrounded me on all sides. After assuming that I had enough data to make a decent background sound track on my 4 minute slideshow, I continued walking along the riverside trail towards Kagura Oka Park. Before I reached the park however, I turned right and headed back home to check the success of my audio recording. To my disappointment, it turned out rather poorly. Certainly not good enough to put on the internet. I have have to try again some day soon. Maybe this weekend.

2006 June 21 Wednesday.

Today is the Summer Solstice 夏至. It is one of my favorite days of the year. Unfortunately, today was also overcast and rainy in Asahikawa, so I couldn't enjoy either the sunrise, or the sunset. I hope it clears up soon. My first class started at 8:50 at the Kosei Nursing School ＪＡ厚生連旭川看護専門学校. The main entrance to this school has three separate doors. A big round rotating door in the middle, and two regular hinged swinging doors on either side of that. Today, I decided to enter the school building using the regular hinged swinging door on the far left side. As I was opening the door and starting to enter the building, I felt something sticky and flossy, clinging to my hair. "What in the ......?" I said out loud. It turns out that I had walked head first, right into a spider's web. After a short pause, I backed up, tried to brush the spider's web out of my hair, and then entered the building through the round revolving door. I now had a funny story to tell the students at the beginning of today's lesson. So, I did. Using the blackboard to illustrate the situation, I explained what happened just a few minutes ago, using only English. Many of the students could understand what I was talking about and they got a good laugh from listening to my true story. Real information in real time. That's called meaningful communication. Today, I divided the 38 students plus me, into 6 groups of 6 people each, and one group of 3 people. I put myself into the group of three people. We used one of my original textbooks called Q&A, meaning question and answer. All questions are made using the 6W1H interrogatives 疑問詞. The students take turns asking each other the questions, and then writing down the answers that they hear. Everybody seems to enjoy this exercise. In fact, they often learn something new about their fellow students during the process. After that class was finished at 10:20, I drove back to my classroom to eat lunch and get ready for straight classes from 15:00 until 20:00. When all classes were finished for the day, I did some more reading about website development for eLearning applications. I can see a big market for this kind of distance learning, if it is done well and done right. I intend to do my best to create a truly engaging and interesting eLearning website for my students. Stay tuned.

2006 June 20 Tuesday.

My first class of the day started at Asahikawa University at 10:40. Every week, before and after this class, I go to the office of assistant professor Sugawa to talk about our students, and other things as well. He always has a lot of students in his office. This is a good thing for both the teacher and the students. Today, a couple of older ladies came into his office. One of them is a professor of Child Development at the Women's Junior College. She and her friend are learning German from professor Sugawa. I talked to them briefly before the start of my class. After my class was finished at 12:20, I again went back to professor Sugawa's office. This time, a first year student was there making instant ramen. We talked about the upcoming University Festival 北辰祭 which will be held on June 24 and 25 at the campus. I have been to this festival once before about 6 years ago, and I enjoyed it very much. I think I will go again this year. I hope the weather is nice. After that was all finished at about 12:30, I went shopping at the Western Supermarket in Nagayama Powers and then drove back to my classroom to get ready for straight classes from 15:00 until 20:00. At 15:00, Mr. T., the retired high school English teacher came for coffee and conversation. He drinks coffee, I drink tea. He was very disappointed with the Japanese soccer team's performance at the World Cup Soccer event in Germany. As it turns out, they have one more chance on Friday when they meet Brazil for a big match. I hope they can win that game and stay alive in the playoffs. We shall see.

2006 June 19 Monday.

Warm and cloudy again today with no significant rainfall. My first class of the day started at 13:00 with the 神楽公民館で英会話を楽しむ会. Today, one of the ladies told use about her 4 nights 5 days trip to Singapore. I listened with much interest because I have never been to Singapore before. She and her husband went to JTB and bought a package tour, so JTB took care of everything for them. This sounds like a good way to take a quick and comfortable tour of a country with which one is unfamiliar. One of the things that she mentioned was that there were many cars, few motorcycles and no bicycles on the streets of Singapore. Also, the roads were very wide and easy to drive. She also described a jungle safari in which the human observers were driven around inside the animal park while riding in an open air car, with wild animals all around them, and no fences! No fences??? Yikes!! That would be a thrilling adventure. Apparently the animals are very well feed and have no desire to make a meal out of the tourists. As far as a big city-state in concerned, Singapore sounds like a rather nice place to live. Two other members of this Kagura group have also been to Singapore in the past. One of the ladies had been there 3 times before. Other people talked about various things until the class was finished at 14:30. Then, I came back to my classroom for straight classes from 15:00 until 20:00. When all classes were finished for the day, I got back to work on designing e-Learning applications for the internet. I am making some progress, but I still have a lot to learn. I won't be getting bored any time soon.

2006 June 18 Sunday.

A very nice warm day, partly sunny and partly cloudy. Because Asahikawa in located in the Kamikawa Basin　上川盆地　surrounded by big mountains on all sides, it has many beautiful and interesting cloud formations on days such as today. Because there was almost no wind today, the clouds in the sky didn't move very fast. They keep their interesting shapes for a long time while changing slowly. I viewed this as the perfect opportunity to go out take photos of the sunset from an isolated spot along the river. So, I walked along the edge of the Biei River up to where it meets the Chubetsu River at a point that I call the Kagura Delta. About 200 meters down from the delta on the Chubetsu River sandbank, I found a perfect place to set up my camera and tripod 三脚 for the photo session. My objective today was to take a series of about 50 photographs that I could use to make a slideshow for this website. A slideshow that would simulate the timely progression of the lights and colors occurring during the sunset. A type of time-lapsed photography technique. In order to do this successfully, I had to be sure that the camera did not move at all, during the filming process. The intended effect of the slideshow is to keep all of the background scenery in exactly the same place, while showing the movement of the light and clouds in a steady manner. I have tried to do this before on many occasions, but it never turned out right. If the camera moves at all during the process, even a very little bit, the whole slideshow is ruined because the ground also appears to be moving along with the sunset. Very unnatural. After about one hour of using the tripod and the shutter timer function on my camera, I had taken about 50 photos. How did they turn out? They turned out wonderfully. I now have a slideshow of a sunset that I am proud to show on the internet. I had also intended to use my little IC digital audio recorder to record the sounds of the running river, and then use them as BGM for my slideshow, but I forgot to bring the IC recorder with me. I will have to return to that same location again in the very near future to record the sounds of nature from that spot. Therefore, I will not publish the slideshow until that time. Stay tuned. More coming soon.

2006 June 17 Saturday.

Still windy and overcast. Not a very good day to go out and take photos, so I spent some time adding audio files to this website. While there is a lot to read on this website, there are very few voice recordings to go along with those same readings. Some of you might enjoy being able to hear a reading 朗読 of the printed text in an essay, for example. As of today, one essay has a voice recording attached. It is the rather long essay entitled HALLOWEEN which I wrote in October of last year. You can see the text and hear the audio by clicking here. Also, I made a voice recording of the text that appears on the HOKKAIDO page of this website. You can check it out by clicking here. I will be adding more and more audio files to this website from now on. All of the audio files have user controls so that you can fast-forward, rewind, play-again or just turn off the sound altogether. Your choice.

2006 June 16 Friday.

Another windy day, but not at all cold. My first class was at the Hokkaido Prefecture Nursing School of Asahikawa 北海道立旭川高等看護学院 starting at 9:00. Today we practiced a short skit about buying a fitted hat. To see the text and listen to the conversation, click here. After that class was finished at 10:30, I took my time and walked back to my classroom via Kagura Oka Park. It was a very nice walk indeed, with many sights and sounds of nature to please my soul. After that, I ate lunch and had straight classes from 13:30 until 20:00. When all classes were finished, I sat down to do some reading about the mystery of time. This is a big book that I bought from the National Geographic Society about 8 years ago. Lots of beautiful photographs and many interesting articles. I spent several more hours reading it. There is a big difference between these two questions. What time is it? AND What is time? Lights out at 24:00.

2006 June 15 Thursday.

A very windy day today. But also very warm and pleasant. I had no classes during the morning so I used my free time to do some reading while sitting outdoors on my big balcony. It was a wonderful feeling to have the time to read about whatever it is that I wanted to read about, while sitting in the warm breeze. Today, I read more about designing and producing internet based e-Learning applications. In my case, I am making e-Learning software for people who are non-native speakers of English, so that they can learn everything from very basic English vocabulary and phrases, mostly aimed at young children, and also, on up to and including very high level English lessons for adults of all ages. Since I changed all of my photo galleries from web components into FLASH MOVIES (***.swf files), I have freed up a lot of hard disc space on my web server, allowing me to add many free e-Learning programs at will. I will be doing this from time to time in the very near future. Please check back again for more details.

2006 June 14 Wednesday.

First class of the day was at the Kosei Nursing School ＪＡ厚生連旭川看護専門学校 which started at 8:50. Today's lesson was a rehearsal of a dialogue about shopping for sunglasses and asking for a discount on the price. I called each and every one of the 38 students up in front of the class, and enacted a pre-scripted conversation as the owner of the store where the shopping took place. I gave the students this printed dialogue last week and told them then, what I was going to be doing today. Some of them were prepared for it, and some of them were not. As usual. The ones who were prepared had a wonderful time of it, asking for bigger and bigger discounts, while trying on some of the 7 pairs of sunglasses that I had brought with me as props. The individual personalities of each student comes out while they are enacting skits. It was another interesting class today. After that was finished at about 10:20, I drove back to my classroom to eat lunch and get ready for straight lessons from 15:00 until 20:00. Today for the first time, I tried a "guess what the phrase is" game which is modeled after the very popular American TV show called WHEEL OF FORTUNE. I had previously made my own wheel with the appropriate markings, so I pulled it out today and used it for the first time. It was a big hit. In fact the elementary school students who come every Wednesday at 17:00 had so much fun that they forgot what time it was. All of the phrases that I used in the game, are common phrases that they have already memorized from the textbooks that I have made for them. However, today they were not allowed to look at the textbooks. They had to spin the wheel, collect points, buy vowels for 100 points, and guess at non-vowel letters if they had less than 100 points accumulated. This style of lesson is valuable for making the students think in terms of PHONICS and remember which phrase it is that I have used for that round in the game. I will be using this method again in the future.

2006 June 13 Tuesday.

My teaching day started off at 10:40 with a class at Asahikawa University. When I arrived at the campus at about 10:20, I immediately noticed that the lawns were being mowed. If you have pollen allergies like I do, you know what a mess that can make of your nose and eyes. Fortunately, I didn't sneeze all that much because I drank 甜茶 again this morning. What a difference that makes. Before and after class, I had time to talk with assistant professor Sugawa who specializes in linguistics and comparative cultures. He is also helping me to learn some basic words and phrases in the Russian and Spanish languages. When I got back to my classroom at about 13:30, I had enough time before the start of my 15:00 lesson, to go take photos of flowers at Crystal Park, and also in the big parking lot of the Taisetsu Arena where they will be holding the annual Flower Festival 花フェスター which will officially start tomorrow. I got some nice photos which you can see as a self-playing slide show by clicking here. When my last lesson of the day was finished at 20:00, I spent more time looking through the thousands of digital photos that I have taken since the year 2000. I will continue to add new slideshows to this website as I find more good photos from the past. Stay tuned.

2006 June 12 Monday.

My teaching day started out at 10:00 at the new Chestnut Tree Kindergarten くりの木幼稚園 in Nagayama. Even with the national trend of less children every year in Japan, this kindergarten is full. In fact, they have a waiting list of children who wish to come to this kindergarten. They must be doing something right. Today for the first time, I held my class outdoors because the students where already gathered there. With all of the outside noises, I don't think that the children could hear my voice very well, but they all had a good time none the less. After that was finished at about 11:30, I drove back to my classroom to eat lunch and get ready for my next class at the 神楽公民館英会話を楽しむ会 which starts at 13:00. Most of the people showed up today, and we had many lively discussions on a variety of topics. When that was all finished at 14:30, I walked back to my classroom for straight classes from 15:00 until 20:00. After that, I got back to work converting all of my photo galleries into automatic self-playing slideshows with viewer controls. Previously, all photo galleries were web components that had the small thumbnail photos that the viewer must click in order to see each and every bigger photo. What a hassle! For both me and the viewer. Finally, I figured out how to make it a lot cleaner and easier for the viewer, as well as the producer, me, to make and view hundreds of photos. If you haven't taken a look at the Photo Gallery Main Menu in a while, please do so now. I think you will like the new look and feel of the presentations. I am also adding new photo galleries that I have taken in the past but never before posted on the internet. Lights out at 25:00.

2006 June 11 Sunday.

Not raining today, but cool and overcast. A good day to go take photos of lilacs and other flowers, but instead I chose to watch a series of TV shows on The History Channel and other Sky Perfect TV stations about the history of the Roman Empire. A fascinating history indeed. Finally at about 19:30, the wife and I went out for a long walk in the evening air. After about 2 hours of walking, we ended up in Kamui at a place called とりよし which is a yakitori restaurant. We had a very nice meal to celebrate our 10th anniversary as Snowman's American English Family Classroom 家庭教室スノーマン米会話. After we ate and drank enough, we walked back to our classroom and did various things. Lights out at 24:00.

2006 June 10 Saturday.

Raining all morning and afternoon until early evening. Then it stopped raining and the clouds started moving. The streets dried up too. I was even able to see the moon setting behind the Tomisawa Hills about about 1:45 am (Sunday). I was hoping to take some photos of lilacs and other flowers today, but the rain kept me indoors. So, I got out my Fender Jazz Bass and played along to some of the CDs I own. I played some popular songs from the 1980s-1990s. Stuff that is really easy to play right off the bat and get into the groove. After all, the purpose for playing the bass today was just to have fun. I listen to my own bass playing through headphones, and listen to the CD music from the speakers. It works just fine for a practice session that only I can hear. All and all, I played along to the pre-recorded music for about 4 hours. Something I haven't done for a few months. It was a pleasant way to pass some of the day.

2006 June 9 Friday.

My first class of the day started at 9:00 at the 北海道立旭川高等看護学院. When I got to to school office at about 8:40, Saito Sensei who teaches about the Natural Environment of Hokkaido was sitting there drinking tea. I haven't seen him since the graduation party on March 3. As I was talking with him, I discovered that he was holding his class today down by the riverside in Kagura Oka Park from 9:00 until 12:00, so I asked him if I could drop by and participate in the class. He said OK so I went there at about 11:00. He explained many things about the plants and animals that live in the park and it was a real eye-opener for me. I enjoy being out in nature as much as possible but, I know virtually nothing about it. I wish I had the time to take all of his classes. The photo on the left was taken right at the very end of his class for today. After that, I went back to my classroom and had straight classes from 13:30 until 20:00. By the way, today marks the 10th anniversary of the beginning of my classroom. Ten years ago on Sunday, June 9, my wife and I held a Grand Opening Party at our classroom. About 50 people came and the party lasted until about 17:00. Then on Tuesday June 11, we started classes for the very first time. Of course before the actual opening of the school, there were about 3 years of planning to get ready for the big day, but now it is just a big part of our daily lives. During the past ten years, I have written many new textbooks and made many other types of learning materials, as well as improving my teaching abilities a great deal. Learning by Doing. It is certainly the most interesting "job" that I have ever had. More than a job, it is a life's work. And that makes life worth living.

2006 June 8 Thursday.

Lots to write about today, but no time to write it. SORRY.

2006 June 7 Wednesday.

Lots to write about today, but no time to write it. SORRY.

2006 June 6 Tuesday.

Lots to write about today, but no time to write it. SORRY.

2006 June 5 Monday.

Another warm and sunny day, just after the most recent warm and sunny day, which was yesterday. Sunday was a sunny day. Monday was too. Until the evening, when it became overcast and cloudy. But not cold or windy. A good evening for a walk. But first, I had a gig at 10:00 at the めばえ幼稚園 in Kamui. The first kindergarten gig of this school year. An enjoyable job, a relaxing job. 英語で遊びましょうよ! After about an hour on stage, and three groups of kids ranging from 3 to 5 years old, I sat down in the office with the 園長先生 for a casual conversation using informal Japanese. One of the topics we discussed today, was the soon to be required teaching of English in all Japanese elementary schools. This is a very hot topic nation-wide, and full of uncertainties. I myself, knowing that the 園長先生's daughter has just returned from a one year working/hoilday experience in Australia, and is now teaching English at a junior high school in Furano, I was well prepared to discuss this issue in a friendly and light-hearted manner with him. I expressed my opinion that introducing Spoken English during the 5th or 6th year of elementary school is a good thing, BUT ONLY IF; it is taught by native Japanese speakers, who have lived in an English speaking country for about one year, or more. That would be ideal. It would also be useful to have immediate access to a native speaker of English for consulting purposes. After all, when it comes to learning a foreign language, talking directly to a person who is a native speaker of that target language, is the ideal situation. There are many AETs Assistant English Teachers currently working all over Japan, but the percentage of those non-Japanese AETs who are truly competent and professional in their jobs is dismally low. This is also a hot topic of conversation in Japan today. Therefore, what to do? Maybe it is better to, hire more non-Japanese AETs? (not a good idea). OR, maybe it is BEST to send more native speakers of Japanese to English speaking countries for a least one year or more, in order to become well accustomed to Spoken English. By the way, I was born and raised in Spokane, Washington USA. My second language is Japanese.

2006 June 4 Sunday.

I spent last night at the base of Mt. Tokachi, after taking a cosmic hot tub under the big bright stars floating in the big black ABOVE. A memory that will come back to please me in my dreams. What a wonderful day. Today, yesterday, tomorrow and forever. However, with the break of dawn at about 03:33, or so, my eyes were forced open and my sleep was terminated. A good thing too, because I have an appointment at 11:00 to meet some of my former students and their friends at a BBQ Party to be held in Kagura Oka Park today. Sunday, June 4th. After using the nearby toilet, I was back on the road during the cool morning calm. What a drive. No wind and no rain. A clear sky and tunes on the CD player. What a way to fly. I was not alone at these beautiful camping spots here in Hokkaido. There were many other common folk who had the good sense to take a mini-vacation by parking for one night at a free 100% natural hot spring outdoor bath (FukiAge Onsen) that is well worth the 50 km drive from Asahikawa. Anyway, I got back to Asahikawa in plenty of time to take a short nap, get my ass up, dress up for the party at hand, bring plenty of money, and enjoy a perfect spring afternoon in Asahikawa. What a beautiful day it was. To see an auto slideshow movie of today's events, click here. I arrived at the party a bit late because I took my sweet time, walking along the riverside cycling road, taking photos as I please and felling more than 40 years younger. It was beautiful. It was life. Happening now and all around me and inside me too. With a digital camera to record the moment, I made the best use of my time to remember every moment of existence. As much as possible. Thank you for the wonderful party every oNe. I really, really, really HOPE too see you all again in the near future. Ya gotta LOVE HOKKAIDO.

2006 June 3 Saturday.

What beautiful warm and sunny day. Recently, I haven't been writing my blog because I was busy learning how to improve the photo gallery section of this website. I have been converting all of the photo galleries into auto-loading, self playing slide shows, which have a basic control panel in the bottom left corner. This lets the viewer relax and watch a series of photographs as a movie. No need to click on a small thumbnail photograph in order to see the big picture. I think you will like the new functionality of it as well. Anyway, spending so much time sitting in a chair and doing this website revision work, made me want to get into my NOAH YY and hit the road for a nice drive and a totally relaxing hot spring bath at FukiAge Onsen. It was a very spur-of-the-moment decision made at about 15:00 today. By 16:30, I was on the road an headed for Biei. Taking the back roads as I always do, was a refreshing break from looking at a computer monitor. When I arrived in central Biei, I made a stop at the local grocery store to buy food and drink. Not pre-processed food, but raw fish and raw beef. Along with the best beer and rice wine available. I had decided to spend the night at the foot of Mt. Tokachi, and drive back to Asahikawa in the early morning. Why not? I have everything I need for an overnight vacation packed up right inside my van. Ready to go, anytime. It's a little thing I call freedom of choice. Unfortunately, my lovely wife could not come with me because she had other arrangements for the evening and the next morning. 仕事だから仕方がない。 As you can see in the photo, above-left, I arrived at Mt. Tokachi with plenty of time to take photos of the sunset, and after that cook dinner. While this evening's sunset was beautiful, it was not awe inspiring at all. I took a lot of photos, but after watching them in an auto-playing slide show, I was left with a big question mark in my head. This was not bad, but I have seen better, Much better. After I finished my dinner of scallop-eggs soup and beef sliced a la slop, I packed up my folding dinner table, cooking utensils and other essential camping accessories, and drove the 5 km downhill to the 100% natural, 100% free hot spring known as Fuki Age. With a cloudless sky tonight, I could clearly see all of the brightest stars and planets as if I were there, and they were here. It was that close. Beautiful. Wonderful. The way it was meant to be. From the beginning.