Christmas

Christmas party

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,
I have been a pretty good boy this year, and so I hope you will visit our house on Christmas Eve.

This year for Christmas, I want a DVD-RW for my computer. I can use it a lot, and it's not so expensive.

I'd also like some new winter pajamas so I'll be nice and toasty warm on the cold winter nights.

The last thing I'd like is a couple of 2GB memory cards for my digital camera. That way I can take many many pictures of my family's Christmas fun!

I hope you and Mrs. Santa have a Merry Christmas too! Please say hello to the elves for me!

Sincerely, Brad
PS. I'll leave some cookies and milk for you on the table on Christmas Eve!

Challenge your IQ!

I got this from a kendo forum. Enjoy. It is very very frustrating.

There are a few rules which you need to know in case you can't read Chinese...
1. Everyone needs to cross the river
2. Only 2 people on the raft at any one time
3. The Father cannot stay with the Daughters without the Mother's presence
4. The Mother cannot stay with the Sons without the Father's presence
5. The Criminal (striped Black & White Top) cannot stay with a family member without the policeman there
6. Only Father, Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft.

http://tinyurl.com/5jl20

Click on the person to put them on the raft.
To move the raft, click on the pole on the opposite side of the river.
To start, click on the big blue circle on the right hand side of the entry screen.

I wrote the answers in the "comments" section of this post.
Good luck!

Iaido Rules!

Hey everyone. I just thought I'd give a little news about recent events for myself.
As you know, I practice iaido 居合道 here in Japan. I really enjoy this martial art, and hope to teach someday when I get back to the US.
Two weeks ago I competed in the All Shizuoka Iaido tournament in Shizuoka City. There were 150 people who competed from 1-kyu to 5-dan. I competed in the 3-dan group and got 3rd place overall. The top 4 people in my group were all from the Numazu dojo. We also got 1st and 3rd in the 2-dan group, and 1st in the 5-dan group. Pretty well overall I'd say!
So, now I have a small trophy at home that says 3rd place. Cool.
Also, last weekend, I went again to the same dojo in Shizuoka. It's located at gokokujinja near the mountain. It was pretty darn hot inside, but I took and passed my 4-dan test. Yeah! We had to do 5 katas that the judges chose, and also to write a small written test about the concepts of iaido. I wrote my essay in English, but it was good enough. So, I passed!

Are you interested in hearing different people's accents from both native English and non-native English speakers?

The first one http://alt-usage-english.org/audio_archive.shtml is a good example of diferences in native English speakers` accents.

The second one is an interesting one - differences in English accents of non-native speakers http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php

Both of these links can also be found on the side menu of this blog under "Other Interesting Places."

A good book - Looking forward to the Movie!

I recently listened to the 6th book in the Harry Potter Series, The Half-Blood Prince. I have to say that I think it is probably the best book in the series so far.  

Ever since the 3rd installment, "The Prisoner of Azkaban," the movies have started to become a little darker. The first death of a student occurs in book 4, Voldemort returns in book 5, and the story continues to get darker in "Prince."

The kids are growing up (they're now in their 6th year at Hogwarts) or about 17 years old, and are starting to experience some of the things that all teenagers have to deal with.

Harry suspects that Snape and Malfoy are up to something no good and is trying very hard to catch them at it. Harry's two companions continue to help him, and Headmaster Dumbledore starts giving Harry private lessons which give us more insight into the life of Tom Riddle and how he became Lord Voldemort.

There's a surprise ending that I won't tell you about because I don't want to ruin it for you, but you WILL be surprised!

I've read the book once, and this time I decided to listen to the book on audio. Jim Dale, an Englishman, reads the story quite well. He changes each person's voice and makes it very entertaining to listen to. I suggest that you listen to the audio version if you have already read the book yourself. It's a great way to hear the story!

I am really looking forward to the new book 7 and of course to seeing "The Order of the Phoenix" movie when it comes out.

Back to work

Well, Golden Week is over and now it's back to work. I hope that everyone had a nice holiday. I had a chance to spend time with my family and played a lot with my son. It was a nice break.
I didn't enjoy the traffic though, it was so crowded everwhere we went! It's amazing how crowded it becomes just because of the holiday. It took us hours just to go a short distance by car. I really hate travelling during the holidays in Japan because EVERYONE else is travelling at the same time.
Well, I hope you all feel refreshed and ready to go again - I'm still feeling "slow" from the holiday.
Ganbarimasu!

See the pretty flowers!

So, how do you say 花見 "Hanami" in English? My guess is you have to add some extra words to say something like, Cherry blossom viewing (party).

This year for "hanami" I would like to take my family to Mishima Shrine to see the Cherry blossoms. I've been there before during this season, and the trees are very beautiful.

I also enjoy the small shops selling food. I always eat steamed, buttered potatoes, yaki-soba, and maybe a crepe or some custard doughnuts. Of course a cold beer is always nice too. I do think that at Mishima shrine there are too many shops however, and it gives me a crowded feeling. I prefer a more "open" area.

I hope you enjoy your Hanami experience. What will you do?

A Happy New Year

Well, The new year has begun, and we are hopefully all getting back to our "pre-holiday" lifestyles. During my NY's holiday, I enjoyed some time with my family at my in-law's house in Gifu and had a chance to relax a bit and drink some beer while eating some fine New Year's food. It was very nice! The photo above is from the Nanguu Taisha in Tarui-cho, Gifu on NY's Eve.

Now we're starting 2006 and again things are getting busier and busier. Of course most people want to improve their lives in some way, and so we often make a "New Year's Resolution" or a type of promise to ourselves to improve our life.

This year, one of my NY's resolutions is to cut down on eating sweets so much. I love snacks, especially chocolate, but I have to eat less or I'll get too fat! So, I'm going to try!

Another resolution is to start walking in the area around my house. I want to take my son for walks not only to get exercise, but also to enjoy some time outdoors.
Those are two of my New Year's resolutions this year. How about you? Do you have any?

Dear Santa

Hi! This is Rie3.
Dear Santa, I have been a good girl this year.
This year for Christmas, I want you to postpone life of my mother.
She is operated on for cancer to again. It is dangerous operation.
Christmas being greeted in my home and New year.

A Busy Weekend

I had a busy weekend. My family and I went to Tokyo on Saturday to do some shopping at Costco in Machida. We were looking for a bigger-sized x-mas tree and lights, but most places were sold out. So, we have to keep looking. We did find some toys and books for Tyler's Christmas present though, and that will be fun to give him next month. I like Costco, but it was pretty crowded.

Yesterday I took some bridal photos at Gajoen in Meguro. Wow! That place is huge, and very pretty. It seemed like a nice place to get married, but there were so many weddings at the same time. The staff said there were 25 weddings that day. That's crazy! Nice location, but no thank you. The bride looked very beautiful though.

So, we got home last night pretty late and now it's Happy Monday. How was your weekend?

Fall season

There are many things let me know fall season is coming.
Wind is cool, getting cold now though.
Leaf color is changing.
And food is nice!
There is one makes me have an impulse to eat,
which is a saury!
I love it.

Fall

Fall makes me want to go to hot spring. This season makes me something sad, so I need some healing!!. Go to hot spring is good way to cure spirit and body. Of course, it is better we can drink SAKE and have a tasty food. But, actually I want to drink good SAKE only ….

Fall weather

Fall weather/season makes me want to eat.
I have more intake calories than a consumption calories.
However, I'm hangry because I move well.
By the way, I climbed Mt. Chouja and Mt. Tenshi.
This mount near a Tanuki Lake.
The course was five hour and easy to walk.
The colord leaves were about to be over.
It was a carpet of dead leaves.
I was fun.

Fall Season

Fall season makes me want to go for walks in the forest. I love the smell of the trees and fallen leaves, and the quietness of the forest. Usually it's cool, and there's a cool breeze also.
Summer is so busy, and many people are out and about, but in the fall I feel that things slow down just a bit. If I go to the ocean or to the park, there aren't as many people, so I can enjoy my free space and privacy.
In Minnesota, I often went for walks in the woods in the fall. It's very peaceful and relaxing.
Enjoy the fall before it turns to winter!

This week's theme is, "I feel ... when I ......"
Well, I feel FAST when I wear my special sailing hat. It's a Tilley hat, made in Canada by Tilley Endurables Inc.
It has a lifetime guarantee so they will replace it for me if it's in bad condition.
When I wear this hat, I feel confident and I think that makes me faster on the race course as I sail my Laser around the marks. It's also a very useful hat because it keeps the sun off my neck when it's hot, and it's waterproof, so I stay dry when it rains.

Here's a picture of a future Tilley hat owner. I'll get him one when he gets bigger!

I love my Tilley hat!

I feel happy

Hi, I'm rie3.
I feel happy when I got present from children because my birthday comeing soon.
They buy a lot of flowers for me every year.
I like their feeling and looking at flowers.

A busy but good holiday

Tadaima! Yes, I'm back from my holiday to Minnesota and refreshed to start work again. Well, maybe.
People ask me, "How was your holiday?" The standard answer is, "Busy, but good." I and my family had a lot of time together to talk and Tyler had a great time exploring all around Grandpa and Grandma's house. He was crawling around, standing, and drooling on everything!
I had a chance to meet a few old friends at my class reunion at Concordia. I was a little disappointed because none of my close friends attended, but I did have a chance to watch the football team win so that was good!
We did some shopping and got a lot of good bargains on clothes and things for Tyler and work clothes for me. Yuki especially enjoyed the Mall of America in Minneapolis.
I did have a chance to eat some really good food. My mother is a great cook and we had some excellent lasagna and also a roasted turkey with all the fixings. It was all really good. I especially enjoyed drinking my favorite American beer again!
Yuki and I also saw one movie, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." It was pretty funny and interesting. I like Johnny Depp- he's very talented.
Well, it was a great holiday, but now I suppose it's time to get back to work!

Do you have kids?

Over the weekend I went with my family to Mt. Fuji Kid's World. (子供の国) I think it's a great place to take your kids to play. There are many different "play" areas where kids can climb on a jungle gym, ride a kayak or play in the water, ride many different kinds of bicycles, ride a horse, and see lots of different kinds of animals and bugs.
It's located near Safari Park on Mt. Fuji, and doesn't take long to get there. If you have a free day, I suggest you check out this place with your family - it was a lot of fun.

un happy weekend

Hi, I'm rie3. I damaged my knee.
I'm going to a oriental hospital now. It's acupuncture and moxibustion. It's feeling pleasant.
I feel worthless, because there are not favorite mountain climbing and volleyball.
Though it is autumn of sports...

A new listening site

I'd like to thank Kazu for this great new news listening link. If you visit VOA (Voice of America) in the Special English section they have daily news stories with both a listening part and the tapescript. It's very useful for practicing your listening and also learning new vocabulary. I suggest you check it out!