2006 November 27 Monday.
After spending 3 days, doing many different things, but not doing any writing, I am back into the blog-o-sphere again. One of the many things that Ikuko and I did on Saturday and Sunday, was to drive around town and look for a suitable Xmas tree for our classroom. I have been looking around for several years now, and have never been able to find one that looks good enough for a reasonable price. My main complaint in the past was that the lower priced trees all looked so scrawny, and without many green pine needles. Finally, this year, we found a suitable artificial tree-looking creation at one of the many HOMAC stores, in Asahikawa. It is 180 cm tall and fits perfectly into the corner of our little classroom. I have many types and colors of lights that I have purchased throughout the years, so I used most of them to decorate our new tree. I spent most all of last night getting the tree display into its basic starting position, as you can see from the photo on the left. As for the big snowflake-shaped illumination, hanging from the window next to the tree, I bought it just yesterday for less than 4,000 yen at おもちゃのヨシダ. They have a very wide selection of Xmas decorations and accessories, so Ikuko and I go there every year in November, to take a look at what they have in stock. The snowflake pattern light that I bought yesterday, is the best one of it's kind that I have ever seen in this city, so far. About 3 years ago, I tried to make one just like it by myself. However, after twisting around for several hours on the wire in an attempt to make the frame, I ended up with something that looked more like the 3D model of a simple atom, and less like a single 2D snowflake. I simply don't have the tools I need, to bend wire like that. I had the will and the desire to make it by myself. I even had the crystal clear visualization in my head of what I wanted it to look like. The problem is, I didn't have the right tools to make it manifest into "hard" reality so, all of my efforts ended up becoming something completely different than what I had envisioned, in the firt place. Something that did not look at all, like a snowflake. I needed some expert advice, and it came to me in the form of a ready-made solution for my desire, made by somebody else, and at a very reasonable price. SOLD. You have made what I wanted to make, and at a very affordable price. It really is quite amazing. The shapes and designs that have become recently by using only wire frames and tube lighting. If I had the tools that these companies do, I too could easily imagine myself creating and making a huge variety of decorative illumination displays. I think it would be a lot of fun. But as for this RIDE AROUND, I am but an ENGLISH teacher, living in Hokkaido. The Alaska (but much nicer) of Japan. If I had to make a choice to live here, or live anywhere else, I would choose to live here, every time. Assuming that I have 100% total freedom of choice, in making my decision. Anyway, my first gig of today started off at about 10:45 at the 朝日小学校. I am not a regular guest teacher here, and today was only my 3rd time to make a presentation to the staff and students. Today, it was a class of 6th graders. The teacher and the students had prepared their own presentation, about using less toilet paper, and conserving the trees in the forest. Before the class started, I saw the many sheets of paper that the teacher and the students had prepared for today's lesson. It was obvious to me that they had spent a lot of time on this. However, the presentations of the 4 student groups within that one class, were very mechanical. Almost robot-like. All of the students were very tense and overly concerned about making mistakes. That soon changed after their presentation had ended, and mine had begun. Being a native speaker of American English, it is easy for me to rattle off a stream of words using gestures and intonations to convey meaning, even when the student's English vocabulary may be lacking in some areas. However, it is not just because I have been speaking English since the day I was born. It is also an accumulation of more that 16 years of experience, being in front of students everyday, and learning "language instruction techniques" in real time. Beyond a doubt, that makes the biggest difference. Also, I use the guitar and my singing voice, which I have been developing over and even longer period of time, almost 50 years. In essence, I have learned how to capture the student's attention from the very first nano-second when I start EACH and EVERY class, and hold their attention, until the end. Basic Theater 101. The students are having such a good time during the "LESSON" that when the class time is finished, they cry out for more. Hey guys, sorry. I have a lot more to give, but that will have to wait for another day. See you again, next time. Teaching languages has always been my favorite subject, because there is sooooooooooo much you can talk about. I mean,... think about it for a moment. Language is used to teach every other subject at school, from Social Studies to Science and everything else in between. Even at a college or a university, no matter what special area of study or research you are involved in, a language, any language, is everybody's tool of communication, together with, and all among, each other. Complex language systems and the ability of humans to see outside of themselves and talk about bigger concepts, and to make tools, is what makes us, homo sapiens, so special and unique here on this planet Earth. Wouldn't it be nice if people could stop talking nonsense most of the time, and get down to a discussion of REAL UNIVERSAL CONCEPTS? We need less distractions, and more mutual attractions. This could put an end to WAR as we know it. We all have so much more in common than we have as differences. Let's shut down the outside noise, and look at the voice within. Therein lies the answer to WORLD PEACE. Love yourself and love everybody else as well. If you love yourself, loving other people will come naturally, automatically, without any detailed analysis of each and every person and/or situation. Go with the flow. Be true to yourself first. Everything else will follow naturally. It is just like the flow of WATER, isn't it. It is so simple, it's beautiful. It's H2O. It's 1, 2, 3, It's A, B, C,.... It's A thru Z. It's the Alpha and the Omega. It's endless. It's you and me. Forever. An unbroken CIRCLE. The circle of LIFE.
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