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Asahikawa American English Conversation School

Snowman Japan Web Log

for November 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 November 30 Friday thru December 2 Sunday.

A whole bunch of stuff to write about these days, but no time to write about it. 　そうSORRY

2007 November 29 Thursday.

Another BIG DUMP OF SNOW on Asahikawa. See the photo above/left for details.

2007 November 28 Wednesday.

A whole bunch of stuff to write about today, but no time to write about it. 　そうSORRY

2007 November 27 Tuesday.

Snow, snow, EVERYWHERE!!! Big deep drifts of PURE CRYSTAL POWDER SNOW. And it's just getting started. Another reason to LOVE Hokkaido. The most interesting island, I have ever had the privilege to exist upon, within the confines of this MOTHER EARTH. Seventy percent WATER. Some of IT frozen. Global Warming? Global Cooling? GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE is the bottom line. IT is a natural cycle. IT is not our fault. Stay warm, and take a hot bath, 42 degrees C, or less, at least once or twice a day, every day. Body Warming, is an essential part of every day life during the winter in Hokkaido. WATER has many forms. SNOW is only one of them. WATER H2O 2 + 8 = 10 Binary or Decimal, it is ALL the SAME. IT all adds up. Isn't IT obvious?!?!?!?

2007 November 26 Monday.

It is time to start thinking about making a new design for the YEAR OF THE RAT. 2008. New Year Cards are a big deal over here in Japan, and I always insist upon making my own graphic designs. With the help of FREEHAND and FIREWORKS MX, I gave it my first shot tonight and you can see the result of my modest efforts, above/left. I still have about one month to play around with the software, and create many more visualized concepts of what a rat should look like for the purposes of a New Year's Greeting Card. Back to the Drawing Room.

2007 November 25 Sunday.

After spending most of yesterday evening looking over pamphlets of various DVD recorders, we narrowed down our choices to about two or three. We have a lot of VHS video tapes, that we would like to transfer onto DVDs, so we needed a deck that had the VHS playback capability. Also in the year 2011, all TV broadcasting in Japan, will become DIGITAL. ANALOG TV broadcasting will be halted. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the DVD recorder has the digital channel tuner hardware, built inside the unit. This we also found in most models. Since this purchase will be made by Ikuko, I let her decide which one to buy, after showing her the advantages and disadvantages of each and every model under her consideration. She finally decided on the MITSUBISHI DVR-DV735. Considering the amount of money she was willing to pay for a DVD recorder, it was most likely the best choice of what this store had to offer. So, she whipped out the plastic, and bought it. Buy Now, Pay Later. I have a slightly different approach to consumer finance. Anyway, when we got back home with her proud purchase, I was tasked with getting it out of the box, cable connected and in working order. I did so within about one hour while taking my sweet time, and drinking bitter beer. The more I played around with the equipment, the more I liked it. The on screen menus are especially easy to read and use. Another thing I discovered, is that my lovely wife thing has increased our number of SkyPerfect TV channels from 34 to 68!!! Right ON! There are many new channels that I can enjoy watching, mostly stuff about foreign travel logs, with lots of good food and drink. I can do the same thing right here in Hokkaido, but it was nice to spend a day with a Belgian Family ベルギー via satellite television broadcast. One thing I learned from the Japanese narration, is that Belgium is a crossroads area, between Western Europe and Eastern Europe. I had never really thought about it that much before. In a similar example, Turkey トルコ is well known as the crossroads area between Europe and Asia. Even I know this much. But watching today's one hour documentary about Belgium, really woke me up to another layer of history and reality. Most interesting. Cheers!

2007 November 24 Saturday.

This week on Wednesday, it snowed big time here in Asahikawa. By today, much of it has already melted away on the main roads. My wife has decided to by herself a DVD Recorder, so I took her on over to the nearest big home electronics store, to take a look at what was available. We looked around for a while, and then took about 5 or 6 big color pamphlets back home with us, so we could compare makers and models in a reasonable environment. I myself am not all that interested in having a DVD recorder for television shows, but I do sometimes want to watch a documentary that is being broadcast during a time frame when I am not able to watch it. So, I too will benefit if the wife thing decides on a certain product, and pulls out her credit card to pay for it. We shall see what happens tomorrow. By the way, during my use of the internet for learning more about Hokkaido in preparation for yesterday's exam, I stumbled upon and EXCELLENT website that has many beautiful photos of almost every place in Hokkaido. It is called Rambling on My Hokkaido and you too can see it by clicking here. Not only are the photographs stunningly beautiful, but they are also arranged in several ways that make it easy to find a photo of a particular type or location. I sent the webmaster an email and told him how much I liked his photos and how helpful his website was for me during my study of Hokkaido. I even put his link on my website without asking him first. A few days later, I got an email from him that said he had put a link to Snowman Japan on his website. Indeed he had. He also lives here in Asahikawa, and is 40 something years old. That's all I know about him, but his photos are excellent. Click on the photo above/left, to see them for yourself.

2007 November 23 Friday.

Today is a National Holiday in Japan known as Labor Thanksgiving Day 勤労感謝の日. It is also the day for taking the Master of Hokkaido Tourism Examination 北海道観光マスター検定. I first became aware of this test during August of this year, when I saw a poster about it at the 道の駅あさひかわ. I bought the study guide, and attended a seminar about taking the exam, as well as doing a lot of study on my own with the study guide and using the internet. I felt that I was well prepared for the exam. When I arrived at the testing site at just before 14:00, most of the 50 some people who were also taking the exam were already there. An explanation about the rules for taking the test started at exactly 14:00, and then the test itself began at about 14:08. There were 50 multiple choice questions some of which I knew the answers to right away, and many more of which I had to take some time to think about. Some of the test takers had already finished the test in less than 30 minutes. I wonder if it was their second year attempt, and they were much better prepared than last year. It took me about 80 minutes to finish the exam, and I felt that I had done a pretty good job on it. My initial feeling as I walked out the door for the long walk back to my place, was that I may have gotten a passing score. But after I arrived back at my classroom and was checking my answers to the questions, using the guide book and the internet, I suddenly began to have that sinking feeling. I only checked 13 of the 50 questions, but already I had missed 6 of the 13 questions. Doesn't look good for the SnowmanJapan chances of getting a certificate of competence in Hokkaido Tourism this year. I will try again next year, and learn much more about this beautiful island upon which I live. There is a whole lot more to explore than even I knew about. I'm looking forward to the next season of no snow, so I can get back on the road and visit more places. But for now, it's time to get back into the research mode and learn ALL of the important facts about this place. I'm rather sure that I'm not the only one to screw up on this year's exam, so for those of you who tried like me, and came up a bit short, see ya all again next year.

2007 November 19 Monday thru November 22 Thursday.

A whole bunch of stuff to write about these days, but no time to write it. 　そうSORRY

2007 November 18 Sunday.

Another very busy week. In addition to my usual schedule of classes until about 21:40, I had a total of 4 lessons during the morning hours of Wednesday and Friday, at the Asahi Elementary School 旭川市立朝日小学校. This is the 3rd year in a row, that they have invited me out to the school, to put on a performance which will help the kids learn some English, and meet with somebody from a foreign country. Finally on Saturday and Sunday, I had enough free time to continue reading my copy of the 北海道観光マスター検定の手引き書. I have read the entire book from cover to cover one time, and this weekend I am going to read it all again. This should give me a fighting chance to pass the exam that will be held next Friday, November 23, starting at 14:00. While I am reading this book, I am also searching the internet to get more detailed information about and images of Hokkaido. One of the things that really caught my attention today, is the large number of abandoned railroad lines, and their associated bridges and other old facilities. I have seen a very few of these places for myself, but there are so many other places, that I have not yet been to. Above/left, is a photo of an old concrete arch bridge along the eastern shoreline of Lake Nukabira 糠平湖. Click here to see the website from which I borrowed this beautiful photograph. I think I am going to make this area, and others like it, one of my priorities for a driving expedition during the coming year of 2008. I want to learn more about the history of railroads and bridge building in Hokkaido. Every stone has a story to tell.

2007 November 12 Monday thru November 17 Saturday.

A whole bunch of stuff to write about these days, but no time to write it. 　そうSORRY

2007 November 11 Sunday.

Wow! What a busy week that was. Classes every day mostly until about 21:40. Recently, a lot of new students have joined my classroom, and every lesson time slot has some number of people in it. I am very happy about this, because I love my work, and I always learn something new from my students, every day. Finally, on Saturday November 10, at 14:30 when my last lesson of the week was finished, I had enough time to sit down and continue reading my copy of the 北海道観光マスター検定の手引き書. I have only read about half of this book up to now, so yesterday and today, I promised MYSELF that I would read the entire remainder of it. I also need to re-read the entire book one more time, from cover to cover, if I am to have any chance at all of passing the exam. No problem, I want to learn everything there is to know about Hokkaido. The only question is, can I make the best use of my remaining 12 days, and commit it all to long term memory. 我輩はパソコンである。 The more I read this book, the more I realize that I know very little about Hokkaido, even though I have lived here for 17 years, and have driven to almost every region on this island. When I come across some information that I didn't know about before, I will do a search on the internet to see some more photographs of it and to read more detailed information about it. One of the things I discovered today, was this photograph taken from the top of アポイ岳 in 様似町 in the Hidaka 日高 area. Please click on the photo to visit the website from which I borrowed today's blog photo. The narrow trail along the top of the peaks, is where people can go trekking, while enjoying a stunning birds eye view of the Pacific Ocean below. This of course is during the season of no snow. Another thing I discovered about the history of Hokkaido, is that since the beginning of the Meiji Era 明治時代 the mining, railroads, road building and most other modern mineral extraction, metal working and various construction technologies, were taught to the local people by many American experts in those fields. This was another subject upon which I spent a considerable about of extra time, reading about on the internet. One of the more interesting academic papers which I found in the form of a PDF file, is about the beginnings of the Coal Mining Industry in Hokkaido starting around 1868 during the transition from the Taisho Era into the Meiji Era. That is when the inland regions 内陸地方 of this island began to become more easily accessible, to more and more people. As I was reading this academic paper, I thought to myself how good the roads are nowadays, and how easy it is to drive around the entirety of this beautiful dragon head island. Come and visit sometime! You can stay, if you like.

2007 November 6 Tuesday thru November 10 Saturday.

A whole bunch of stuff to write about these days, but no time to write it. 　そうSORRY

2007 November 5 Monday.

I was supposed to go to くりの木幼稚園 this morning at 10:00, but when I woke up at about 7:00, I had a massive headache, so I called the headmaster and cancelled my lesson. After taking some aspirin, I went back to bed for about one hour, and then got up again to continue reading the Master of Hokkaido Tourism Handbook, in preparation for the examination on November 23. My first real gig of the day started at 13:00 at the new 神楽公民館で英会話を楽しむ会. There were two new members in attendance today, so after everybody in the CIRCLE had about 5 or 10 minutes to say what they wanted to say, I began a one hour presentation, about GLOBAL WARMING, with the ANY TIME is OK for Questions & Answers. I gave each student an A4 sized piece of paper, with a mini-essay printed on both sides. You can read it too, by clicking here. The contents of the mini essay are essentially the same as my blog for 2007 October 12, with a few modifications. I also brought with me, about 40 pages of other data which supports my point of view that HUMAN BEINGS ARE NOT THE MAIN CAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING. It is caused by CYCLES of the SUN and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Al Gore in his American Academy Award-winning documentary film about GLOBAL WARMING entitled; An Inconvenient Truth, claims that CO2 is the most abundant green house gas, and that humans beings are mostly responsible for this increased amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, and THEREFORE humans are responsible for global warming. NONSENSE. The most abundant greenhouse gas by far, is WATER VAPOR 水の蒸気. If the EARTH had no green house gases at all, it would be a frozen ball of SOLID rock and ice. Greenhouse gases are necessary to retain the heat of the SUN, EVEN AFTER SUNSET, so that WATER can remain in its liquid form, and therefore ANIMATE LIFE. Back to Basics, 1 2 3. Because water vapor composes massive 97% of ALL greenhouse gasses, HOW CAN CO2 be the MAIN CAUSE of global warming if it only comprises 0.82% of all greenhouse gases??? Considering the impact of humans on the total amount of greenhouse gases, output into the EARTH's atmosphere, with water vapor included, it is less than 6% , of total greenhouse gases. That's all. Scientific fact. If you have about 50 minutes, of free time, PLEASE watch and listen to the scientists themselves, explain how they study the discipline of GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, by clicking here. Climate Change, happens constantly. Humans CANNOT significantly affect it. We either LEARN to LIVE with IT, or we die, from OUR lack of knowledge and/or preparation for IT. It's NOT wise to try and FOOL mother nature. It Can't Be Done.