"You say Tomato, I say Tomato"

Hello! I hope you are having a nice holiday.

Only one more day left! Oh no...

Well, I'm going to get up early morning and try to make it a great day.

Let me introduce you to Melody...

Melody just arrived from Nottingham, England.

Nottingham is famous for its links to Robin Hood.

Melody is here in Japan to work as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher)

and I was helping her move into her apartment and get settled in.

I have forgotten how different British English and American English is:

"Gas" 　　　　 　　　 "Petrol"

"Cell Phone"　 　　　"Mobile"
"Soccer"　　　　 　 　"Football"
"Garbage"　　　　　 "Rubbish"
"Garbage can" 　　 "Dust bin"
"Great!" 　　　　　　 "Brilliant!"

"To-may-to" "To-mah-to"

You say tomato, I say tomato"...A phrase used to stress someone's understanding and accepting of a minor disagreement they have with the person they are speaking with.

The two different pronounciations of the word "tomato"(the first one with a hard 'a', the second with a soft 'a') represents the knowledge that many things can work in more than one way.

This phrase is actually taken from an old Gershwin song...

Well, this is her first time working in Japan...

So much to get used to...

At least she drives on the same side of the road.

Good luck, Melody!

ALT: Assistant Language Teachers=外国語補助教員、外国語指導助手

ロビン‐フッド　英国12、3世紀ごろの伝説上の義賊。シャーウッドの森に隠れ、貪欲な僧侶や富　裕な貴族らを襲い、略奪品を貧しい者に施したと伝える。多くの物語・詩・劇に登場する。

にほんブログ村　Thanks!

"Cinq Sens Cafe"

Silver Week: Day 3

"Cinq Sens Cafe"

Today, we visited "Kurabiyori" in Tsukuba City.

I really love this name!

They renovated an old rice storehouse into a bakery & cafe.

You can truly relax and stimulate all five senses here.

Cinq Sens= Five Senses= 五感｛ごかん｝

◆触覚(touch)、味覚(taste)、聴覚(hearing)、視覚(eyesight)、嗅覚(smell）◆

storehouse, warehouse　蔵　　　renovate 修繕｛しゅうぜん｝・改装｛かいそう｝・改修｛かいしゅう｝

PS. No matter how old you get,

Birthdays should always be celebrated!

"Pretty in Pink"

Silver Week Day 2

"Pretty in Pink"

Today was a magnificent day

A "picture-perfect day"...

(Of course, my picture isn't perfect!)

Autumn is the season for many things...

And one of my favorite things is...

walking through a field of cosmoses.

So pretty in pink, against the autumn sky.

picture-perfect day: 実に素晴らしい一日

Cosmos: also known as "Mexican Aster"

"The 3 Jizos"

Silver Week Day 1

"The Three Jizos"

　 　These three jizos stand watch as the guardian of children.

Surrounding the three jizos are spider lillies.

Since these scarlet flowers usually bloom near cemeteries

around the autumnal equinox, they are often described

as flowers that guide the dead into the next reincarnation.

guardian deity of children 地蔵 　

Licoris, spider lily, hurricane flowers 彼岸花

Autumn Equinox 秋分の日

cemetery 霊園、墓地

reincarnation 再生 生まれ変わり

　　

Long, LONG Weekend

Good evening! I can't believe it's 1:30am already... and I have to get up early tomorrow, so this will short and sweet(like me!)

　　　　　　　 連休: consecutive holidays, successive holidays.

If you are lucky and have a nice boss, tomorrow is the start to what is called Silver Week in Japan.　上司が優しければ、明日から５連休ですね。

Japan has many 【連休】…

In English, you can say long weekend if you have 3 or more consecutive holidays that include Saturday and Sunday.

So, this 5-day consecutive holiday will be a long, LONG weekend.

What are your plans? I have some family matters to attend to and I have to work on Monday, so think I will stay close to home and enjoy autumn in Japan.

And of course... play with my cat

Please join me over Silver Week, and we can enjoy autumn together.

Enjoy! Take it Easy!

"Steiner&Colors"

How's everything going?

Thank-you for visiting our blog and leaving your footprints

I started this blog one week ago and today is my...ta-da... 10th entry　

When I first started this blog, I didn't realize that it would be such hard work

So to everyone who updates their blogs almost everyday...a　BIG hand!

Good job! 　　ブログをほぼ毎日更新している方に、盛大な拍手を送りたいと思います！

Are you familiar with Steiner Schools ?シュタイナー幼稚園・学校はご存知ですか? 　Are you familiar with～何々を良く知っている

Steiner education is also called Waldorf education or

Waldorf Schule in other countries.　　　　

　 海外ではWaldorf教育とも呼びます。

Waldorf education is based on the educational philosophy

of the Austrian philosopher Rudolph Steiner.

I first visited a Steiner school when one opened near my old house...

I went to an Open School and what impressed me most 

were the beautiful colors they used throughout the school... 　　　　　　 　

もっとも関心した点

Why aren't Japanese classrooms more colorful?

Continued: Departures & Ponyo

Good morning! I truly, truly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to visit my blog!

おはようございます。お忙しい中、ご訪問ありがとうございます！とてもうれしいです!


I am still trying to understand how all of this works and to find my 'style', so everyday I end up changing something... the title, the background colours, the layout... So many choices...I can't decide!

まだ自分の「スタイル」が固定しないため、毎日何かを変えています…タイトル、背景の色、レイアウト…選択が多すぎて、決められない！


One problem that I have trouble with is embedding the You-tube file... once I embed the file, it changes the layout of other things in my entry.
So today, I have tried embedding the "Departures Trailer" separately:
もう一回You Tubeのコンテンツを貼りつけてみますね


Okuribito/Departures Trailer



If you are trying to improve your English...
1) Movie trailers are a great way to learn because they are short and there are many visual cues to help you.
2) Watch You Tube for TV programs, commercials and trailers from other countries.
3) Read the "comments". They give you a good idea about what people are thinking about this topic. But be careful... people from around the world watch You Tube, so sometimes non-native speakers will write something in English that isn't correct.
But it's a good chance to read what people from around the world are thinking!

Here is another Japanese movie recently released on August 14th, 2009
8月14日公開された日本映画を紹介します。

『崖の上のポニョ』 in English is...　　"Ponyo"　　 (そのまま使ったのね）

　Ponyo Trailer



番組内で映画を紹介しますが…"Is it Pon-nyo or Po-nyo... I'm not really sure. These anime names have really challenging titles..." アニメタイトルの発音は難しい！とアナウンサーが言っています。

At the end of the trailer, "Featuring the Voices of..."shows all the actors and actresses who are the voices in the movie... all very, very famous!
予告編の最後に紹介されますが、吹き替え版で使っている女優・俳優は超有名！日本のポニョとぜんぜん違うものになるのかな…

I'll be back with my regular blog in a few hours...

See you later!