on Dec. 30, 2018

The year 2018 will end tomorrow.
Have you had a good year?

I've had a good year, I think.

I've been busy with this and that,
which means I've been in good
condition.

It is my greatest joy---
that my daughter's family are very close
to each other and look so happy.

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

The Kanji of the Year 2018 is 災, disaster.

I hope the Kanji of the Year 2019 will be
a more peaceful one.

Wishing you
a happy New Year!

on Dec.27, 2018

It was cloudy this morning
but the sky cleared up soon.

Oh, what a lovely day!

Not a cloud is to be seen in the sky!



木瓜flowers are in full bloom
in front of the door of my daughter's.



The strong light dazzles my eyes.

I've just called my elder sister in Niigata.

She said, ”It's very cold and it is snowing.
I wonder how deep this snow will pile up."

I know how uneasy she is.

I know how lonely she feels.

She is 79 years old and lives alone,
as her husband passed away this January.

I'm terribly sorry I can't go and see her.

===========

By the way, have you done
the year-end cleaning?

I've done it in my own way.

Friday English Class, today

We have three Friday English classes
a month.

In the last Friday English Class ,
we usually read a story from the book
‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’.

But today we had a Christmas party.

Our teacher prepared three English games
related to Christmas---

Christmas Trivia, Mad Lib word game and
Word search game.

At 11:00 we had a break and had some cake

We gave our teacher Christmas presents—

a pot of purple cyclamen with a fragrance,
some fruit and a chopping board made of
cherry wood.

We were happy
these presents delighted her.

After the break we continued the games
in English until noon.

We did not have enough time
to finish the games.

It was a really enjoyable party.













＜参考＞

★　Christmas Trivia
クリスマスに関するクイズ問題です。
答えはクリスマスソングの歌詞にあったりします。

★　Mad Libs word game
あらかじめ先生が空欄のある物語を用意しておきます。
そこに入れる言葉の品詞だけを私たちに教えて生徒は
適当な単語を用意します。
最後に先生の用意した物語の空欄に生徒の用意した単語
を入れていって完成しためちゃくちゃな文章をみんなで
楽しむというゲームです。

★　言葉探し
日本語の４文字熟語探しと同じ感じのゲームです。
たくさんのアルファベットの中からクリスマスに関係の
ある２７の単語を探し出すゲームです。

Christmas season

Christmas is approaching.

Do you have any plans for Christmas?

Me? No plans as yet personally.

Next week we’ll have a Christmas
party in Friday English Class.

I'm looking forward to next Friday.

On Wednesdays I enjoy learning English
with a few ladies who like English
very much.

One of them, IY-san, baked stollen,
シュトーレン, for each of us.

シュトーレン is a rich German fruit
and nut loaf.

IY-san is good at cooking and her stollen
is so delicious.

My daughter and I enjoy a slice of the stolen
every day.

Thank you so much, IY-san.

(the stollen and a box of tea given
by IY-san)


By the way, we've had
the first frost of the season
here in Kodaira!

(around 10:00 this morning)

time goes by

Oh, it's December 9th!

How quickly time goes by!

What have I been doing these days?

I attend two English circles.

I go to the community café
for the elderly people
when I am in free time
and enjoy talking.

I go to my daughter's house twice a day.

Yes, I am busy with this and that.

I walk 7000-8000 steps in a day.

My Friday English teacher always starts
with the question, “How was your week?”

My answer is always the same:

“I should say my week was pretty good.

I've been busy with this and that.

But I have nothing special to say.
I spent an eventless week.

My week was the same as usual.”

I have no energy to go on a hike
nor to go downtown Tokyo.

But I should say I am happy for the present.

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

By the way, the expression “time goes by”
reminds me of the movie Casablanca
I saw when I was a university student.

I've almost forgotten the story
but I remember the following
two expressions:

As times goes by （時のすぎゆくままに)
Here’s looking at you, kid!（君の瞳に乾杯！）

Oh, my fond memory!