See you in December!

What an agreeable weather!

It's not cold at all.

I cleaned my rooms.
I did the washing.
I put my Futon in the warm sunshine.

I've just come home from my daughter's.

They are very busy rehearsing for their tomorrow's concert.

The 27th Amaryllis Annual Autumn Concert
is going to be held at 府中の森芸術劇場　ウイーンホール
tomorrow.

My daughter and her husband belong to the Amaryllis Ensemble.

Her husband plays the soprano saxophone,
and she plays the alto saxophone.

I hope they'll have a good time on the stage.

On Monday, November 24, I'm going home to Niigata.

First I'll go home in Niigata City and say hello to my neighbors
who are so kind enough to take care of my own house.

Then I'll go to Tochio in Nagaoka City to see my elder sister
and her husband.

See you in December!

★in the neighborhood, today★

(ginkgo 銀杏）


(zelcove 欅）


(maple 楓）

my two birthday parties

I had my 72nd birthday yesterday.

Last Saturday my daughter's family had
a pizza party for me to celebrate my birthday.

What a warm family party it was!



I sincerely love you all.

The other day a friend of mine invited me to her house.

When I arrived her house, she was preparing for my birthday
party with a couple of her friends!

I had said nothing of my birthday when I met them last time.
But they were going to give a birthday party for me!

Oh, what a happy surprise!











All dishes were cooked by themselves.

Yes, they are all wonderful cooks.

I shall never forget my 72nd birthday
you celebrated, ladies.

How nice to be alive!

to Mt. Takao, alone

It was the ideal weather for hiking.
I decided at once to go on a hike to Mt. Takao.

I left my apartment at half past eight this morning,
and arrived at 高尾山口駅around 10:00am.

I was surprised there were a lot of hikers in front of
高尾山口駅.

More people were waiting their turn to get on the cable car.



I didn’t use the cable car but started to walk from the base.









Oh, I'll finally reach the summit if I go up these steps!
I was completely exhausted.



Here I am!







At もみじ台 I had onigiri-lunch.

もみじ台 was very crowded.

It took a long time to buy a ticket of なめこ汁.

There was no table for me.
Every table was occupied.

I asked three young ladies to let me share their table
with them.

They were so nice young ladies.
I enjoyed talking with them.

Thank you very much, ladies!

I walked 21994 steps in a day.

morning drama, Massan

Yesterday I gave a short talk in . Wednesday English Class.

At the beginning of each class, two of us students
are required to give a short talk in English.
We have to prepare for it beforehand.

My turn came around.

I talked about 朝ドラ, morning drama.

The following is my short talk.

==========================================

Every morning except on Sunday I watch 朝ドラ,
morning drama, broadcast on NHK.

Now I enjoy マッサン.

The story マッサン is based on the lives of 竹鶴政孝
and his wife Rita (Jessie Roberta Cowan), a Scotswoman.

竹鶴政孝　is called the Father of real whisky in Japan.
He is the founder of the Nikka Whisky Distilling Company.

In 朝ドラ,　竹鶴政孝 appears as the name of 亀山政春
and Rita, his wife, as Ellie.

Ellie finds it very difficult to pronounce まさはる-さん,
so she calls her husband マッサン.

Why do I like this drama?
There are three reasons---very simple ones.

First
I'm interested in how Ellie will live in Japan.
How will she overcome all difficulties?
I'm interested in her way of life.

American actress Charlotte Kate Fox stars as Ellie.
She herself had never come to Japan before she attended
the audition.
She has never learned Japanese before.
These things make me feel as if the actress were Ellie herself.

Secondly
I like the theme song 麦の唄--the words and music by 中島みゆき.
And 中島みゆき sings the song herself.
It is full of love, hope courage and nostalgia.
The song encourages me to live today to the full.

Lastly
In the drama Ellie often sings three songs both in English
and in Japanese:

Coming Through the Rye, 「故郷の空」
Home Sweet Home 「埴生の宿」and
Auld Lang Syne.　「蛍の光」

She sings ゴンドラの唄 in Japanese.

These are all my favorite songs.
I learned them when I was a high school student.
These songs remind me of my good old days.

These are the main reasons I like the drama マッサン.

By the way, did you know Auld Lang Syne 蛍の光
is not a farewell song?

The original song is a lively reunion song!

According to Longman, English-English dictionary:

Auld Lang Syne is a Scottish song that people sing
when they celebrate The beginning of the new year
at 12 o'clock Midnight on December 31.

Someday I'd like to go to the Times Square in New York
and welcome the New Year, singing this song.

Will the day come? I am not sure about it.

=========================================

English Volunteering 2014

Yesterday we, 6 members of our Friday English Class,
enjoyed English with 8 little boys and girls.

They were 5-8 years old.
How innocent they looked!

Four of us are in the sixties and two in the seventies.

I'm sure we all look younger for our age—I’m kidding!

It was our second English volunteering.

The little children were interested in English
and were very quick to learn English.

They sang English songs with us.

They learned 25 English words on the picture cards.

They were excited in playing the game of English picture cards.
（かるたとり）

They learned an expression of using “can”such as
'I can walk (run, jump, swim and dance).'

They enjoyed their actions saying these sentences.

90 minutes flashed by.

We had an enjoyable time with those little children.

I think we did better than last year.

I was glad they thanked us heartily.

Thank you, Children!

(koharu's blueberry)