Departure

My older son has gone to the dorm tonight. He is going to attend intensive training course from tomorrow.

My wife made his favorite dish, hamburg stake, for dinner. His younger brother looked a little bit sad. They are really close even though fighting each other sometimes.

We took him to the dorm and said good bye. Good luck!

Cherry Blossom

I live near Shimane university and  its yard has many cherry trees.  Now, I can see lots of cherry blossoms but unfortunately it was raining today so many petals have fallen. I think the most of cherry trees will be bare by the time of the entrance ceremony.

Looking back at my school days, cherry blossoms went along with the school entrance ceremony but not these days. One of the reasons is global warming. That has made cherry trees blooms earlier than before. How about in your town?

Wakaba, or Beginner's Mark

My son got the driving lisence the other day and now enjoy driving with Wakaba Mark  or Biginner's Mark.

He sometime takes me driving but I don't enjoy it. It's a scary experience. I often screamed and got sweat in my back but I've survived! 

Moving

My son is going to move to a dorm for taking some job training soon so my family went to a farewell dinner to a stake restaurant today. The first month, he will take an intensive training and shut out from outside completely. My son is a positive person and he didn't look nerves so I think it will go well for him.

Women Rights in Afganistan

I listened to a VOA radio show about women rights in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, women were banned from working outside and girls could not go to school because the Taliban forced to do that.

But recently, the Taliban doesn't have enough power to control Afghanistan so they can attend school. Women teachers also can work in school. 

I hope women in Afghanistan will gain more rights after American troops withdraw from the country.

Packard Automotive Plant

I've read about the Packard Autmotive Plant. The plant is an abandoned automobile plant in Detroit in the United States.

The old famous plant was soled by the city because of the accursed taxes. The car company, Packard, was once a famous luxury automobile maker but after the World War 2, the company failed at management and went bankrupt.

Recently, the Packard plant was described big, ugly and dangerous because the 18-hectare propaty are destroyed.

A Spanish-born businessman has bought the factory and he wants to create space for new factories, offices, and homes there. 

Missing 777

Malaysian prime minister said Malasian Airlines flight 370 ended in the Indian Ocean. There are apperently no chances of survival because some satellites found debris likely came from the missing Boeing 777. But I'm still thinking that the airplane would appear in the sky all of a sudden.

Yokozuna

A sumo wrestler, rikishi, Kakuryu will be a Yokozuna next tournament. He is a Mongolian. There are two Mongolian Yokosuka already, no Japanese Yokozuna now. I'm not really interested in sumo but I want to see a Japanese Yokozuna near future.

Busy

I'll be busy in this spring because I have to do lots of things. For example, in this season the amount of fish in the market would be increasing, I'm a middleman of a fishery company, I have to help my son's practice for table tennis and I need to learn English grammar, etc.

I hope I could handle these things well.

Table Tennis in Yamaguchi

We came Yamaguchi at 11am and ate ramen for lunch. 

After lunch today's table tennis practice started and lasted until 6:30pm. It was quite hard but looked really efficiently. 

Then we went to a hot spa and took a nice bathing for one and half hours.  

After that we had dinner at an izakaya. 

We really enjoyed ourselves.

Go to Yamaguchi

My son, my friends and his son, and I are going to go Yamaguchi for practice table tennis tomorrow. 

My old friend lives there and teaches table tennis to children. He and his wife have rised many good players. Their most famous student became a Olympic medalist in 2012. She is also their daughter and you can watch her on TV commercials or TV shows.

My son is really looking forward to go Yamaguchi. I hope he will enjoy himself and learn a lot.

My Son's Birthday

Today is my younger son's birthday. We ate birthday cake after dinner.

He became 14 years old. He can do anything he wants if he studies hard. He plays table tennis at school but he is wasting time with playing video games at home. I sometimes stimulate him to study at home but he doesn't. I hope he studies at least 10 minutes a day.

Hay Fever

I thought I had a cold but I was wrong. I found my eyes congested and felt itchy. To make matters worse, my nose was running.

At first, I went see an eye doctor. He prescribed me with some eye drops and said, "you should go see an otolaryngologist immediately"

So I went see an otolaryngologist. The doctor said I might got a hay fever. I never had a hay fever before but I have to be along with hay fever for a long time or ,may be ,forever. I hope it was wrong!

Catch a Cold

I think I've got a cold so I couldn't write a blog, sorry.....

Mah-jongg

My 18-year-old son is interested in mah-jongg. He learned it from video game. I used to play it when I was a high school and college student. My son has found my old mah-jongg tiles and a mat in the closet. He wanted to play it and we did it.

I was not a good mah-jongg player. I played it with teaching to my sons and I lost the first game. I'm not fit for mah-jongg player. That's for sure.

Mas Oyamas Will

I read a non fiction book. It was about a karate organization, Kyokushin-kaikan. Mas Oyama was the founder of the karate group. He was a charismatic leader. After he died, Kyokushin-kaikan was divided into many groups. 

This book shows how the big organization collapsed easily. Like many companies or groups, money and power are the reasons of break down. No one can avoid power struggle movement even they don't want to have money and power. It's sad but that's the way human beings are.

English Grammar

I didn't study English grammar seriously. Many people say I should study fundamental English grammar. 

I bought an English grammar book for high school students. I think I need to read the book at least twice and solve all of questions in it. 

Karate

I watched some YouTube videos about karate recently. Watching these videos, I really wanted to do karate again. Actually I'm a member of a karate-ryuha but I don't go to dojo for a long time. One of the reasons I don't practice that is my sons no longer the member of karate group. 

In the videos, many people punch and kick each other. It looks pain but everyone didn't give up their fight.

I think I need some physical exercises before rejoin the karate dojo otherwise I would get hurt in fighting. 

Internet Radio Show

I took part in an Internet radio show called Jun's Diamonds Show. There were five people joined the show. We discussed many issues. It was a kind of a practuce for debating.
I didn't dibate well but it was fan and useful for me. I should do this kind of training more. I think before I practice that in English, I should do that Japanese first. I cannot explane my thoughts in Japanese. That's a probrem.

Vocabulary

I'm learning English. One of my problems in learning English is lack of vocabulary. When I read TIME magazine, I find over twenty unfamiliar words only in a page. Only I can do is check the words in the dictionary. Just do it! 

Authors Should Be Honest

Japanese English learners tend to shorten their English learning history. 

For example, an English conversation book author said he began to study English for the first time when he was 36. After only three years studying, he got a good score in TOEIC test and published a book. Three years? No way!  He's a liar. He studied English at middle school and high school, even in college. How come he said that? What's the advantage in that? 

English studying book authors should be honest with their readers! 

Missing Airplane

A Malaysian aircraft has been missing since March 8. Tha plane, Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, lost the contact with authorities two hours after its take off.

Many countries are cooperating with the search but there are still no sign of the missing plane. 

Someone said the jetliner has been hijacked and crashed into the sea because the plane, Boeing 777, is known as a safe airplane so it's hard to say the  plane got some accident in its body or engines.

It might be hard to survive but I wish the air plane passengers will be found in safe.

Old Fashioned Words

I'm reading a book titled Twelve Years a Slave. It was first published in 1853, one year after Uncle Tom's Cabin was published. 

I've found lots of unfamiliar words in the book and I look up these words in the dictionary. Many of them are said as old fashioned words. 

Thinking of 1853, it was Edo era in Japan. Words can change in such a long period of time. I shouldn't spend a long time to check those old words so I'll guess the meaning while I read the novel.

A Letter to My Son

I'm writing a letter to my son. My son is going to go some training school. My wife and I are invited the entrance ceremony and I have to hand him a letter for encourage him after the ceremony.

I wish I would be a good writer but I didn't write such a important letter.

Anyway, this is the first time to write a letter to him. Thanks to have such a opportunity in this Winter.

Came Back from Tokyo

My son came back from Tokyo. He and his friend went to there for watching Samurai Japan's soccer game with New Zealand. Japan won the game with 4-2. He was lucky enough because he was able to watch the moment of six goals.
The next day they went around in Tokyo like Tokyo Tower, Senso-ji and some of typical sightseeing spots. He was excited for the trip without his parents. It might be a really good memory for him.

RT Anchor Resigned

An anchor person of RT news suddenly resigned from her company. She said in her news show that she was not able to work for RT because the company was under the control of Russian govrment. She was against Putin's military action to Ukraine.

I understand what she was saying but she definitely knew that Russian government has established RT. Why on earth she joined the company at first? Did she believe they had freedom of the press?

Twelve Years a Slave

Twelve Years a Slave won the Best Picture of Academy Awards this year. And Lupita Nyong'o in the same picture won the Best Supporting Actress.

The movie was based on the non fiction book and the story was about a black violinist in 1840s in the U.S. who forced to be a slave. I'm really interested in the story so I bought the original book at kindle shop. 

I have lots of books TO read. These are really piled up but I should read the book first.

The Samurai Japan's Soccer Match

My son is going to go to Tokyo with his friend to watch the Japan-New Zealand soccer match tomorrow. My son is a big fan of soccer so he is really looking forward to watching the game. 

The weather forecast said it will rain in Tokyo tomorrow but I hope it does not rain during the game. 

Terrorist Attack in China

According to today's news, some 29 people were killed and over a hundred of people were injured by a terrorist attack in China. The goverment said some Uighur extremists did the mass killings. 

I've read some articles about the crackdown on ethnic minorities in China. Tibetan, Uighur and other ethnic groups are forced to leave their hometown and been taken away their freedom or killed by authorities.

Many countries including Japan have ignored this fact but I think it's time to speak out this issue to the world. At least, journalists must be protected their activities in China. 

Cow Brains

I talked with an American friend today. When we taked about food, he said that his parents used to eta cow brains but they stopped to eat that because of BSE issue. My friend haven't eaten cow brains but he said it was popular in these days.

I posted that on Twitter and an American Twitter friend replayed he's never seen anyone eat cow brains. He said eating cow brains is a kind of regional dish. 

Graduate Ceremony

My son has just graduated from high school today. I went to the ceremony with my wife.

As I wated the ceremony, I thought my son's 18 years and it was only a moment for me. He might think his school day lasted long but I felt his entrance ceremony of kindergarten was only yesterday. I was not able to do much for him but he did well as much as he could. I really proud of him.