How was your Christmas? Mine was great! On Christmas Day, some special guests visited Gifu Teragoya. No, not Santa Claus & reindeer (トナカイ). Do you know the Japanese idol girl group called SKE48? Three members - Ruka, Haruka, & Natsuki - came to our school for an English lesson. It was a lot of fun.
A camera crew recorded their visit. You can see it on Gifu TV on Jan 23.
Before leaving, they signed a card for us. We are happy to have their autographs!
Vocabulary:
- Be careful: In English, 'sign' is a verb (動詞), NOT a noun (名詞)
- サイン (名詞) = signature [ セレブや芸能人からもらうのは『autograph』]
This is the 2nd time I`ve restored & reused this Christmas wreath. I removed the old brown leaves from last year, & replaced them with new green ones, but I didn`t remove or repaint the pine cones (松ぼっくり). I also upgraded baby Jesus` cardboard (段ボール) manger (馬槽) to a wooden one I made using recycled wood. I include baby Jesus in my wreath to remind us that Christmas is a celebration of Jesus Christ`s birth. Finally, I returned the wreath to its place above our front door.
Vocabulary:
- The prefix (接頭辞) 're-' can mean two things: 1) back, or 2) again. e.g.:
- 1) re-use = use again, recycle
- 1) remind = make us remember (i.e. put in our mind again)
- 2) remove = move/take back
- 2) return = turn/go/put back
I made a display case for my collection of old fishing floats. I found these floats on the beach over the last few years. They are all different except for three. Can you find the three which are the same?
There are two spaces left (残り) in the case. In 2019, I hope to fill them!
Vocabulary:
- float (動詞) = 浮く, 浮かぶ
- float (名詞) = ウキの種類
- soda/ice-cream float = soda with ice-cream floating on top
I found this cool stamp sheet on sale at the post office. This story is pretty famous. In Japanese, it`s called "はらぺこあおむし.” In English it`s "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." I have both English & Japanese versions at home.
In this story, a caterpillar eats a lot of food, becomes fat, makes a coccoon, & finally becomes a beautiful butterfly. But you shouldn`t follow the caterpillar`s example. If you do, you`ll become fat but you won`t become a butterfly. You`ll increase your chances of getting health problems, for example heart disease, osteoarthritis, & type-2 diabetes. Finally, you`ll die early.
Vocabulary:
- example = 例え, 実例
- for example = 例えば
This week I got Christmas presents for my three kids from my brother in Australia. Check out all those fancy stamps! My kids (& their father) were impressed. My daughter is four years old & loves princesses, so she especially liked the stamps which featured Queen Elizabeth.
I haven`t finished my Christmas shopping yet. I got presents for my kids, but I haven`t got anything for my wife yet. Hmmm. What should I get her...? I should get her something nice, right? It`s difficult...
Grammar:
- "get + 何か + from + 誰か" = 誰かから何かをもらう
- "get + 何か + for + 誰か" = 誰かに何かを買う
- "get + 誰か + 何か" = 誰かに何かかを買う
I`m not usually a fan of romance movies, but I like this movie, set in Venice & starring Katherine Hepburn (not Audrey). One reason is that everyone is dressed so stylishly (stylish = お洒落). The men wear nice suits & the women wear chic, elegant dresses. Of course, the scenery & buildings are also beautiful. Another reason is the bitter-sweet (楽しくも複雑な?) ending, which features a steam train. I like steam trains.
If you get a chance, please watch it.
Vocabulary:
- dress (動詞) = put on clothes
- dress up (動詞) = wear special, nice clothes
- dress (名詞) = ドレス ( ワンピース は英語ではない)
- chic = シック, 粋 (だから栄名古屋で「ラシック LA CHIC」と言うのファッション店があります）
On Saturday night Gifu Teragoya had its Christmas party around the corner at a restaurant called Bar Sabio. It`s a Spanish restaurant, so I ate a lot of delicious Spanish food. I also talked to a lot of students, & drank a lot of Sapporo beer. It`s* been a while (= 久しぶり) since I drank Sapporo beer, but it`s a suitable beer for Christmas I think, because it has a big star on its label. Do you know why a star is put at the top of a Christmas tree? It`s because some wise men ("magi") who visited baby Jesus used a big star to locate him. It`s a kind of GPS. MagiPS...?
Spelling:
- its = それの
- it`s = sore...desu OR *it has
Have you ever been to Ibigawa Town? It`s famous for its annual marathon. Although there aren`t many famous sights (見物) in the area, there is nice scenery (景色) & a couple of free campsites. I chose one by the Kasu River. I thought I would be the only person there, as it is so late in the year, & it was a weekday (平日), but I was surprised to see that there were a few other people camping there too. This campsite must be packed (=very crowded) in summer! But if you want to go: https://www.town.ibigawa.lg.jp/kankoujyouhou/0000006141.html
Vocabulary
- site = 所 / 敷地 / 用地, --> campsite = キャンプ場 , construction site = 建設地, world heritage site = 世界遺産, website
- sight = 光景, --> sightseeing = 観光
For this year`s Teragoya halloween kids party, I dressed as Frankenstein. I`m pretty skinny, so I put socks under the shoulders of my old 90s suit jacket (I knew it would come in handy one day) to look more muscly.
By pulling a handy wire inside my jacket, I could open my 'head' (a black, hairy bucket) to reveal a bloody styrofoam brain. When I did that, most people laughed, but some kids cried.
For my craft activity, kids put felt shapes onto a blank green Frankenstein face. When they finished, I picked it up & put it on a body, like a scarecrow, & we took photos in front of it. I like the design above - it has a cheeky smile.
Vocabulary
You can make various adjectives by combining '[body part] + y':
skin 皮膚 skinny 細い
muscle 筋肉 muscly 筋肉隆々の
hand 手 handy 便利な
hair 髪 hairy 毛だらけの
brain 脳 brainy 利口な
blood 血 bloody 血塗れの
nose 鼻 nosy 詮索好きな、おせっかいな
cheek 頬 cheeky 生意気な
When ex-Teragoya teacher Paul told me about this jazz performance, I knew right away* that I wanted to go. However I didn`t know the place - Pannonica. Anyway, it`s right* next to Gifu Don Quijote (ドン・キホーテ), on the right**. Convenient location, right***? I went right* after work on Saturday evening, with a couple of friends. We had a good time.
Thank you Paul & Nagoya Union Church (http://nagoyaunionchurch.com/) for sponsoring such a cool event!
* 直ぐ
** 右
*** correct
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yukio 
内倉憲一 
mokomoko 
birdy 
KUMA 
田仲なお美 
bokushi 
PSPINC JP 
エメラルド