I hope your New Year is off to a good start. I have enjoyed the beginning of 2011. The family had a relaxing holiday and I was able to get some school projects done. There has been lots of snow here in Nikaho. Our son has enjoyed playing in it. We are looking forward to 2011. I hope you are feeling the same as us.

　　Starting next week James will have a four week series writing about his experiences teaching at Japanese elementary schools. It will be fun reading about his cultural experiences, so please visit the site and interact with us. Until then, leave us a message on the recorder and tell us how your new year is going. We hope to hear from you all soon, if not this week.

　　When I eat lunch with elementary kids, this is what happens:  First, I sit at a desk which is too small and my knees don’t fit under it.  Next, I am complimented on how I use chopsticks.  “You are very good with your chopsticks” the sensei says.  Fortunately Canada has many sushi restaurants so I have had many years of practice.  Not all Canadians can use chopsticks though.  Next I empty my Kinoko salad on top of my rice.  I don’t like to eat just plain rice.  “Oh my goodness” everybody says.  “What are you doing?” everybody asks.  As the students discuss this with each-other, sensei comes over and tells me not to worry.  Now I realize you don’t mix rice with other foods in Japan.  Lastly, I wash out my milk drinking box.  You rinse this three times.  I put it on a tray upside down so the water drains.  “No, the students say, not there James”.  I learn a new lesson.  My milk-box goes in the milk-box drying rack for boys.  I had just put mine in the drying rack for girls!  There are so many things to learn about eating lunch with elementary kids in Japan.  Fortunately, I like all my school lunches in Japan.  They’re tasty.  They beat a sandwich any day!    

Questions

Answers

　　Footwear or shoes is a very important part of Japan.  Americans and Canadians notice that there are different kinds of shoes in Japan.  Sometimes you have to take your shoes off, and sometime you have to put your shoes on.  I have to be careful not to make any mistakes.  DO NOT go inside someone’s house with shoes on.  Also, DO NOT use slippers on tatami mats. Finally DO NOT wear dress shoes in a school.  These are some of the rules.  Last Saturday I broke one of these rules but everyone was very polite to me still.  In America teachers would never wear running shoes but in Japan every teacher wears running shoes.  Guess what kind of shoes teachers wear in Canada?  The answer is starred * in the list below.
Are you good at shoe vocabulary?  Try this activity:

Match the shoe with the vocabulary word.

1. Flip Flops
2. Slippers
3. High-heel
4. Sandals
5. moccasins
6. Platform shoes
7. rubber boots
8. hiking shoes
9. Running shoe (sneaker)
10. army boot
11. cowboy boot
12. moccasin boots
13. Dress shoes*
    
    

　

My Punk!

Last week I had a problem with my car.  I was driving and I hit something with my tire.  I got out of the car and listened.  Psssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.  I got a flat tire!  What should I do?  I changed the tire easily because I was not on a busy street.  Then I took my flat tire to the gas station.  They said they can’t fix it.  “Why not?” I asked.  The hole in my tire was on the side.  “We can’t fix this kind of problem,” they said.  That’s too bad!  “How much for a new tire?” I asked.  “About ￥9000” they said.  In Japanese you call this a punku.  In English most people call this a flat, but some people may say a puncture.  I learned my lesson.  Be careful.  Don’t drive too fast!  Signs in America and Japan are different.  Here are some examples.  Match the signs with the box on the right. The answers are at the bottom, scroll down. Bye for now.

　

Ramen!

　Ramen is popular.  It is even popular outside of Japan.  Vancouver, where I lived for 5 years, has a few ramen shops.  Sushi, however, is extremely popular.  Vancouver claims to have over 200 sushi shops!  In Japan, I think ramen is the most popular Japanese lunch.  You can buy a bowl of ramen for about ￥600.  I have tried two Ramen shops so far.  One delivered to Sloan's English School, so convenient. The other was very cozy and close to the train station.  How do you feel when you sit down to eat a bowl of Ramen?  I feel happy.  I can relax.  Almost every day I feel quite busy.  It’s nice to have a chance to concentrate on the big soup bowl in front of me.  It’s hot.  It’s steaming.  It’s full, and I’m hungry. 

- Let’s eat! -

　　As my bowl of ramen steams into the air, I begin to eat.  I try not to let the spoon fall into the bowl.  I pull the noodles out and let them cool a bit.  Then I eat them and suck in air to help cool them down.  Westerners call this slurping and it’s bad-manners.  In Japan, it’s okay.  Finally my bowl of ramen is finished.  I’m full!  That was delicious! I don’t like to pay for electricity but I don’t mind paying for ramen.

Questions: (answers below)

• What is more popular outside of Japan, ramen or sushi?
• What is more popular inside Japan?
• What city had the 2010 Winter Olympics?
• How many sushi shops are in Vancouver?
• What is “Let’s eat” in Japanese?
• How often do you get ramen delivered?
• What’s your favorite ramen shop?
• What do you call the noise you make while eating noodles?
• What do you say in Japanese when you’re finished eating?  What can you say in English?
• What do you call “ramen” in English?

Answers:

 

• Sushi is more popular.
• Ramen is more popular, I think.
• Vancouver held the 2010 winter Olympics.
• There are about 200.
• Itadakimasu!
• ?your personal answer?
• ?your personal answer?
• The noise is called slurping.
• Gochisosamadeshita! – That was delicious or I’m full.
• “Ramen” is called noodles.
  
  

Japan's Top Ten Places For Foreigners

Hello everyone,

　　Did you enjoy James’ four week blog series? I sure did. For the next four weeks I will be choosing different subjects concerning Japan. This week we will be talking about the ten most popular tourist spots in Japan for foreign tourists. Can you guess where or what these places are? Make a list of your top ten places and see if we agree. I will tell you the top ten places with an audio crossword. Here is how you begin. Click the crossword’s “play button” above, and then click one of the sentences on the right-hand side of the crossword to listen to the hint. Then type in your answer. There are no spaces between a two-word answer. You can check your answers by clicking the “solve button”. You only have ten minutes to finish the game. Good luck and we hope you enjoy it!

Japan's Top Ten Movies

　　I’m back again this week with our second audio crossword puzzle. This week’s topic is the top 10 Japanese movies. Can you think of any Japanese movies that should be in the top 10? I was surfing the internet the other day and found a list of top 10 Japanese movies. There are many sites that rank different movies in their top 10. I personally have some of my own favorite movies which are not on this list? For example, I think the movie “Departures” should be on the list. It is a wonderful movie that is heart-warming and full of human emotions. It is a movie that transcends borders and cultures. And at the same time it reveals the Japanese culture so beautifully.

　　 How about you? Tell us your top 10 movies and why you think a particular movie should be in the top 10. We would love to hear from you. To open the crossword puzzle, just click the play button in the picture above. Once the crossword is open, click the hints to listen to the audio. Hope you have fun!

Japan in Need

   It’s more than two weeks since the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, but the recue work is far from over. Thousands of professionals and recue workers are still working around the clock to help the people, thank you. There are many brave people still risking their lives to contain the radiation in the nuclear reactors, thank you. Millions have given time and money, thank you.

The suffering is overwhelming!

Much more support will be necessary, please don’t forget.

The pain is great!

There will be more opportunities to help, please don’t forget.

You can help someway.

You can take a small step…

Thanks!

 

Small Steps

　　It has been just over 3 weeks since Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and a tragic tsunami. Things are basically back to normal on our side of the country. Of course there are still food shortages and a good percentage of work has still not recovered from the effects of the disaster.

　　I have talked with several people in our city and have asked if there are any opportunities to provide very simple, but practical assistance other than donating money. Many of us don’t have much money to give, but have time to help in other ways.

　　It looks like there is one person who is driving over to the disaster area regularly and giving practical help. In the weeks to come I will use a small portion of our blog to provide information and volunteer opportunities for those interested in helping. I am not sure what it will look like, but be sure to visit us in the next few weeks to see what we are doing. 

　　Next week I will also be back with the normal blog. We will continue the last two weeks of the audio crossword blogs. We hope you will join us for the fun. Until then, may you have a safe and rewarding week.

Top 10 Healthiest Japanese Foods

We are back with our four week audio crossword series. This week you can test your English skills and knowledge with the topic of Japanese foods. Just click the play button above and start playing. You might be surprised with a few of the choices. Let us know if you think there are other Japanese foods that should be in the top 10. Tell us the reason for your choice. You can leave us a message on the recorder.

Top 10 Japanese Athletes

This is our last week of our four week audio crossword series. We picked Japanese athletes as our topic. We only used one name for each person. Sometimes we used their last names while for others we used their first names. If you are having a difficult time doing this crossword puzzle, please look at the list of names by clicking "here". The list will give you the name of the athletes that we did not use in the crossword. Click the play button above to start game four. Good luck!

May 1, 2011

It’s “Golden Week” here in Japan, but it is not a normal one because of the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. It is usually a time to travel or do something fun as a family. However, many people have canceled their trips to the Tohoku area and most families here are not going on long trips. I will be traveling to the tsunami hit area to volunteer for three days from the fifth to the seventh of May. Through Paul Yoo’s inspiration, I too, will be taking fruit to those in the disaster area. Many friends have given me fruit or money donations to take a load of fruit in my van. I will be doing the volunteer work through an organization called AG (Amazing Grace) network. I’m not sure what I will be doing, but I will do whatever is needed. I will inform you more on their situation after my trip.

On June twenty-four we will hold a charity concert here at school to raise money needed for programs in the relief area. We will let you know about the details in a later blog.

Below is an update written by Mr. Sato who has been working with the AG network. Sorry it is only in Japanese.

災害支援レポート、Ｎo 5

 先週で被災地に行き５周目になりました。約一ヶ月の働きを通して分かる事は、震災後何も変わっていない、何も進んでいない地域が、たくさんある事です。
県外に居ると実感が湧かないと思いますが、津波が来たのが昨日かと思える所がまだまだあります。

　今回も、倉庫には全国から多くの物資が集まってきました。トラックでたくさんの物資が運ばれます。その整理も時間がかかります。シンガポールのボランティアチーム２０人くらいで物資の仕分けをしていると、連絡が入りました。
石巻市の教会の牧師先生からでした。この教会は浸水しました。以前、畳や物資を運んだ所です。私に来てほしいとの事でした。

７０代の牧師先生御夫妻がされており、３０代の長男と３人で暮らしています。この先生が言うには「もらった畳を部屋に合わせてほしい」というものでした。早速訪問し、部屋を見て、畳を合わせて、隙間は木材で埋めました。牧師先生は「ありがとう、助かった。これでやっと畳の部屋に寝れるなあ」「少ないけど夕飯を一緒に食べていってくれないか！」と言われるので、お言葉に甘えました。すると話してくれました。「震災後、体がだるくて力が出ない。なかなか部屋を片付けられないと」と先生は言われました。被災のトラウマが起こす心身的症状が出ている状態でした。
牧師先生は、２時間半にもわたり話して下さいました。生い立ちから、教会の事、被災の事。そして牧師には相談者がいないのでストレスを抱えてしまう事。更に牧師は、自分だけは大丈夫と思ってストレスに気がつかない事。
牧師先生は言いました。「私の話しを聞いて下さり、ありがとう。カウンセリングをしてくれましたね。とても楽になりました」と。そして、お互いお祈りし、励まし合いました。

絶望の中にあってもクリスチャン同志の祈りは、本当に素晴らしいですね。
栗原に帰宅したのは夜１１時過ぎ。かなり遅くなりましたが、岸浪先生と報告、ミーティング。午前２時まで話し合い、就寝。

　倉庫に、１０ｔトラックが来ました。かけ布団が届きました。早速１０枚持って、石巻の教会へ行きました。（ヘドロで濡れた布団を乾かして使っていると聞いていたので・・・。）
昨日の今日でタイミングよく布団が入り、早速持って行きましたので、とても喜ばれていました。
牧師先生は「神様の恵みは素晴らしい」と興奮気味でした。

（ＡＧネットワークの働きは、いつもタイムリーに物資が入って来ます。いつもイエス様に祈って奉仕を始めると、私達の計画を超えて、素晴らしい事が起こっています。）

私は石巻の後、気仙沼に行きました。南三陸を通って行きます。町は壊滅。どこまで行っても瓦礫しかありません。着いた先は、サンマ漁をされていた三浦さん御家族です。クリスチャンではありません。２億円の船が船首だけ残して沈みました。家は流され道の真ん中に移動していまいた。三浦さんが知らない間に強制的に自衛隊に壊され、道の横に押されていました（道路優先の為）。　
三浦さんはボー然とするばかり、うつむいたまま、何もすることが出来ない状態で毎日を過ごされていました。そんな時、ある教会のボランティアが行き物資を支援されたそうです。この教会の方との出会いが三浦さんを変えました。教会の方々が帰った後、急に力が湧いてきたそうです。そして岸浪先生が知り合い、ボランティア２０名を連れ、私も合流して瓦礫の撤去をしました。
私は驚きました。この漁師の三浦さんの目に力があるんです。生き生きしているんです。ボランティアと一緒になって、体を動かし瓦礫を撤去して、そして笑っているんです。その姿を見ただけでも私は感動しました。そして三浦さんが「祈ってくれんだろう！」と祈りをお願いするのです。
そして何度も「教会の方と出会って、俺は変わったんだ～！」と言います。
この三浦さん、私にはなぜか？「どこの国の人だ？サンキュ！サンキュ！」と・・・私を日本人と思っていない様子？（私は日本語で話しているのに・・・。）

　栗原に帰宅した夜、石巻の教会に居る長男の方からメールがありました。「仕事が内定しました」と！彼は優しく内気な性格。介護福祉士でしたが、施設が津波で流され失業中。
私との交わりの中で「何でもチャレンジ、何でも祈りましょう！」とお互い励まし合ったばかり。しかし就職は１０倍以上の難問。励まされた後、市役所にダメもとで電話したそうです。すると「福祉課の事務職員に内定した！」と奇跡を体験しました。私も本当に驚きました。

　朝一で、東松島のお宅にも布団を２０枚、灯油ストーブ、全自動洗濯機を届けに行きました。このお宅はクリスチャンではありませんが、教会のボランティアチームが掃除しに行ったお宅です。
以前、ここの御主人が「小さい頃、俺、洗礼受けたぜ」とカミングアウトして、周囲を驚かせたお宅です。
私の事も覚えて下さり、家に上がりました。それから奥様の被災した時の話しを聞かせて頂きました。奥様はあれから２回、礼拝に出たそうです。そして「私、教会の方々と出会って本当に変わりました。心も顔も変わったんです。全部、イエス様のおかげなんですね！」と話してくれました。
私は帰り際、聖書を出し、聖句を読んでもらい、祈りの仕方を伝えしました。そして声に出して祈ってもらいました。生まれて初めての祈りに感動されていました。奥様は最後に「何でもイエス様に祈ってみます！」と話されました。

　気仙沼の漁師、三浦さんの所に行きました。すでにボランティアチームが瓦礫の撤去をしていました。岸浪先生が私の奉仕を用意されていました。巨木の撤去でした。本当に大きな木が根っこから倒れていました。何本も。エンジンチェンソーが一つ用意されていて、ひたすらに切る、切る、切る。運ぶのはボランティアのメンバーに任せて、私は切るのみ！
日が暮れて、三浦さんとチームメンバーが賛美と祈りの時間を持ち、感謝のうちに解散しました。

こうして、関わった人が信仰を持ち、祈り、聖書を聞き、イエス様に目を上げる姿は、いつも感動します。そして今、悲しみの涙から、喜びの涙を流しています。
教会を通してすべての奉仕が、イエス様の栄光が現されますように皆さんお祈り下さい。

今回も、長いレポート読んで下さりありがとうございます。

象潟キリスト教会　佐藤祐明

Names

I find names hard to remember. Japanese names are even harder to remember than American or Canadian names. Maybe it’s because I had never seen or heard Japanese names before until I came to Japan. I also find it challenging to know if a Japanese name is a male or female name. Below is a list of American names. Do you know which are male and female names? The answers are below the list of names.

Sophia Ethan Michael Emma Mia Noah Chloe Jayden William Ava

 

 

 

 

 

(Sophia-F)(Ethan-M)(Michael-M)(Emma-F)(Mia-F)(Noah-M)(Chloe-F)(Jayden-M)(William-M)(Ava-F)

 

 

Charity Concert

　　We have been working really hard to organize a charity concert for the Tohoku relief effort. We have a fantastic classical and jazz guitarist, Mr. Hiroto Ito as our featured musician. You can go directly to his music site by clicking on his photo which is above. We will also have a couple of local groups performing, the “Windy Boys” which play folk music and the ladies chorus group, “Clover”. The ladies have beautiful voices. All the ticket and beverage proceeds will be donated to a relief organization. It should be a lot of fun, so come and join us. Please look at either the English or Japanese flyer to read the necessary information. The tickets are being sold in advance. If you are interested in attending, please call us or stop by to purchase your tickets. We look forward to seeing you and the family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James is a Canadian, sometimes feels American, and is trying to become more and more Japanese.  Read more below and try the Canada, American, and Japan quiz:

“Even though I am a Canadian I often say ‘this is the American way’.  This is because America [Canadians call it the USA] and Canada are so close.  I have the same accent of English as the current ALT Neil Fanning and the former ALT Kristin Clumpner - Americans.  Canada is even in the same sports leagues as America.  We watch mostly the same TV shows and movies too.  Canada and Japan are not that similar, but we do have some things we share.  Canadians love sushi.   Also, origami is popular in schools! Oh, I forgot to tell you that Karate dojos are in almost every small town in Canada.  Yes, our countries do like many things about each other.”

Try my Canadian, American, and Japanese, quiz!


QUIZ

1. Who has more kilometers of roads, Canada or Japan?
2. Who has the tallest mountain?
3. Whose largest city has 5 million people?
4. Whose major cities can get as cold as -45 degrees Celsius?
5. Who won the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in Judo?
6. Can you name a Canadian baseball team?
7. Which city has the most sushi restaurants: Akita City, Vancouver, or Los Angeles?
8. Who has the top-ranked figure skaters?
9. What countries does Canada export to the most?
10. What are the major products that Canada exports to Japan?

1. Answer: Japan. It has 1,196,999 km; Canada has 1,042,300 km.

2. Answer: America 6194m, then Canada 5956m, then Japan. Mt. 　　　　　　 Fuji as you know is 3776m.

3. Answer: Canada. The name of the city is Toronto.

4. Answer: Canada. Japan’s coldest temperature recorded in Hokkaido was -29 degrees.

5. Answer: Japanese Isao Inokuma won the gold and Canadian Doug Rogers the silver in 80kg.

6. Answer: The Toronto Blue Jays - World Series Champions in 1992 and 1993.

7. Answer: Vancouver has over 200 but Los Angeles wins with 276.

8. Answer: Japan. It has the best female figure skaters (Miki Ando, Mao Asada) and Canada has one of the best male figure skaters: Patrick Chan.

9. Answer: USA is #1; Japan is #3

10. Answer: 1. Coal 2. Canola (nanahana oil) 3. Lumber and woodpulp 4. Pork 5. Copper 6. Soya Beans 7. Wheat

　　Earlier this spring James and I finished another game page for the kid’s game center. It’s the 3rd game page for level 2. The page is titled, “Days of the Week”. We have included a “Days of the Week” song from YouTube as well as the kid’s favorite games in the “Let’s Play” section. In the “Let’s Spell” section, we added audio to the picture hints in the “Wordscramble” game. It’s pretty cool. James wrote his version of the Momotaro for one story and in the other story wrote about a little boy going to see a baseball game. The stories are more difficult for the kids, but it seems to keep their interest. We use the stories for various purposes. Some kids take the challenge to try to read it faster than James, while others will practice writing questions for the story and asking their friends about the story.

　　In the “Let’s Talk” section we have four activities that are great for listening and speaking practice. Even adults can enjoy this section. If you have any free time, try playing the games or doing the activities yourself. We are always trying to improve the game pages, so if you have any suggestions, please email us and let us know what you think. Click “HERE” to go to the new game page now. Hope you like it.

I missed my blog entry last week. I had lots of deadlines to meet for this week’s charity concert. We finally finished the upstairs loft, so people will be able to enjoy the concert from the second floor as well as the first floor.  You can watch the concert at USTREAM, if you can’t come. Here is the link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ses-english-class .

Chiharu

Today we will continue the Bilingual series. I am interviewing a former student of mine, Ms. Chiharu. She started classes here at SES when she was in high school. There was no high school class at the time, so Chiharu joined an adult class. The class was extremely difficult for her, but she never quit. Through today’s interview you can meet a girl who at first hardly spoke a word of English, but through time slowly improved her speaking and listening ability through hard work. She went on to study a year in Tokyo and then three years at a university in New York. She is currently working at an airline company in the states. Please click “here” to watch the interview. I was not able to interview Chiharu in person like the previous interviewees. We used Skype and had a video chat. I captured the conversation from my desktop using video capture software. Therefore, the video and sound is not the best quality; however I think it is acceptable. We hope you enjoy it.

Christmas Cards

This year we will be doing a special Christmas activity here. The activity is for all ages. As you know there are still many families struggling to live in the earthquake/tsunami struck Tohoku areas. Many still have no way to make a living. There has been little new construction. They still have many needs.

So, we will be making home-made Christmas cards. Besides writing a short message, we will be putting a gift certificate inside each card. We are looking for “Christmas card sponsors”. If you would like to give a gift certificate donation between 500 yen and 3,000 yen, then please contact us. A local pastor will deliver the cards to individual families before Christmas.

We will be making the cards here at the school on Dec. 17. I will give detail information later next week.

Living in the States

A Special Christmas Party