I like English

Hello, friends,
I've come back here so soon! Though I am as busy as ever, I have enough time to keep diary both in English and in Japanese. So I've come here again and I'd like to write in English when I want to. I do like English, don't I? I'll be very happy, if you write some comments in English on what I write here.

Last night I was invited to my grandson's eleventh birthday party. He was born in Niigata on March 24, 1994. His mother was 26 years old and I was 51.

The doctor, obstetrician, who was one of my old students, was supposed to perform a Caesarean on my daughter. Her baby was a breech baby　and the doctor told us natural childbirth would be impossible. The operation was going to be carried out on March 24. So my daughter entered the hospital in affiliation with Niigata University on the early evening of March 23.

But to our surprise, she went into labor late in the evening ! She had endured labor pains for fifteen hours or so. When her labor pains came at five minutes interval, she entered the operation room and had a Caesarean. She survived both her labor pains and the operation.

Anyway, eleven years have passed and a little baby grew up to be a bright boy.

Thank you for reading!

This is my 35th message in English. I have continued at this work of writing in English since February 10. Indeed I made the best of a bad situation. I've enjoyed myself so much. I'm getting better day by day. I will gradually return to my volunteering and other activities, which will make me very busy. So I think I will stop here with this message. Thank you very much for reading. Good luck!

postage stamps

I used to collect stamps when I was young. I still have ten books of stamps. Most of them are Japanese commemorative stamps. Some are foreign stamps. They are all so beautiful. They are really works of art. I sometimes watch them and enjoy myself so much.

I remember hurrying to the post office on the day when a commemorative stamp was going to be issued. I could hardly wait for the day to come. I always bought a sheet of commemorative stamps and kept them in my book. of stamps.

I've not bought any stamps lately. It's not because I do not write letters but I want to use those beautiful commemorative stamps I collected. So I no longer need to buy any more new stamps. Some people say they will not use those stamps they collected, because those commemorative stamps are very valuable and will sell at a high price in the future.

Emails took the place of post mails (I mean letters written by hand). Email is faster, cheaper, and easier than the post mail. Frankly speaking, I like the post mail better, though I am a heavy user of emails. Emails have no stamps on them.

Anne, my dear pen pal in America, sent me another get-well card yesterday. Of course, the envelop had 8 stamps on it. Anne doesn't like emails. She always sends me a letter in the envelop with many beautiful stamps on it. It says as follows:

Dear Karin,
It won't be long before you are feeling better and back to being your wonderful self. Enjoy this rest while it lasts!

Love from all--Anne, Charly, Milly, Sarra, and Apple.
(Anne is my pen pal and the others are her dogs!)

White Day

It is well known that St.Valentine's Day was imported to Japan in 1950s by a Japanese chocolate company in order to increase sales of chocolate. When I first heard of White Day, I thought it was also an imported event. No, it wasn't.
A marshmallow manufacturing company is said to have created White Day to increase sales of marshmallows in 1960s. Perhaps the name White Day comes from the white marshmallows. Ironically, men who receive chocolate on St. Valentine's Day do not seem to return marshmallows. Most men will return not marshmallows but cookies, sweets, candies or flowers. Were there years when men returned marshmallows? I do not know.

Everything went well with a chocolate company. Nothing went well with a marshmallow manufacturing company, leaving only the name of White Day. By the way, gentlemen, what are you going to return to the ladies who gave you chocolate on St. Valentine's Day?

Sorry to say, I have nothing to do with St.Valentine's Day nor White Day this year. You know I could not go out, as I had my left ankle broken on January 26.

language learning

When my daughter was a little girl, I was too busy to notice how she learned to speak Japanese and how she developed her vocabulary. I am now greatly interested in children's language learning.
When I came to live in Tokyo, my grand-daughter was just born. I rent an apartment about fifteen minutes' walk from my daughter's house. I visited her and helped her take care of her daughter (my grand-daughter) . The grand-daughter is now 5 years old. Her brother is 11 years old.

My grand-daughter had some muscle trouble and she was very slow in physical development. But she learned to use language so well. I am surprised that she is now developing a large vocabulary day by day. I'd like to say to her, "Your Japanese is much better than my English. How did you learn to speak Japanese so fluently, using adjectives, adverbs or conjunctions so correctly?" Is it possible for her to acquire a second language such as English?

I've found 4 or 5-year-old children have very good ears. They are very quick to learn. Then how about teaching English at elementary school? Oh, it is a very difficult question.

English club

I belong to one of the clubs in the community center. The club is named Mrs. English. I heard that this club was formed 25 years ago by some housewives who liked English. They wanted to gather and study English together. I was surprised to know those ladies, raising their young children and taking care of their parents, gathered and had been studying English for 25 years--such a long time!

Most of the members have their own specialties, such as dressmaking, sewing quilts, cooking, calligraphy, paper folding, tea ceremony and so on. I admire them deeply. I am overwhelmed by their high motivation. They may be in their fifties, sixties or seventies. Indeed as is written in a poem, "Youth is not a time of life---it is a state of mind;"

We talk and read English with an American lady. She is as young as my daughter. She is such a good teacher. She does so well in the club where all members are as old as her mother. I admire her politeness, thoughtfulness and sincerity. She comes to the club with her son and daughter, because she herself teaches her children at home instead of sending them to school, that is homeschooling.

Four years have passed since I became a member of this club, but I am still the newest member. Some visitors came to our club but no one did not join us. I wonder why.