Christmas Party Photos

It’s been a few years since we last held a Christmas party. Hopefully, we’ll be holding one at the end of this year!

The Be & Me Santa

Rigby & Mayumi enjoying a party with some old friends

A party in full swing

Playing "Pass the Present"

Online Calendar & Announcements Pages Updated in Japanese!

We've just updated our online Calendar & Announcements pages. By visiting them, you can check our Service Lesson time, Kids' Classes Model Lesson dates, holidays, and special events – all in Japanese!

To check them out, go to http://www.be-and-me.com/ Then click on the “スクールカレンダー” or "生徒のみなさんへ" buttons. Or click on the links below;

スクールカレンダー [The School Calendar]:

http://beandme.blog6.fc2.com/blog-category-3.html

生徒のみなさんへ [Be & Me Announcements]:

http://beandme.blog6.fc2.com/blog-category-5.html

Australia Day

On April 20th, 1770, Captain James Cook and the crew of his ship, HMS Endeavour, became the first Europeans to see the east coast of what we now call Australia. He named the land New South Wales, after his homeland of South Wales, and claimed it for Britain.

Back in England, the jails were overflowing with prisoners. Despite the fact that Captain Cook had made contact with the Aborigines, the British declared that New South Wales was uninhabited [no one lived there] and sent 11 ships full of prisoners there to start a colony. These ships are now known as the First Fleet. The First Fleet arrived in Sydney on January 26th, 1788 – 221 years ago today!

A ship like one of the First Fleet in modern-day Sydney Harbour

January 26th is now celebrated as Australia Day, a national public holiday that is marked by special events around the country. Many towns & cities hold special ceremonies & fireworks displays. The Prime Minister of Australia gives a special address to the nation [a speech that is broadcast on TV & radio stations], and special awards are presented to Australians who have done good things. Also on this day, there is usually a special cricket match, as well as some big outdoor music festivals.

The Australian Flag – The Union Jack [British Flag] represents Australia's connection to Britain; the 7-pointed star, the 7 states of Australia; and the other stars, the Southern Cross [ a group of stars you can usually see from the southern half of the Earth].

Not everyone thinks that Australia Day should be a celebration! Aborigines hold “Invasion Day” and “Survival Day” events, protesting the fact that their country was invaded [taken over by force] by the British and celebrating that their people & culture somehow survived.

Some anti-Australia Day graffiti on a wall in the Rocks, the oldest part of Sydney

The Australian Aboriginal Flag – The black represents the people; the red, their land & blood; and the yellow, their sun

Coming-of-Age Day

Today, 20-year-olds across Japan will be celebrating their coming of age. To “come of age” means to become an adult.

Traditionally in England, people were considered to come of age on their 21st birthday. In modern Western countries that used to be English colonies, you are legally [by law] considered to be an adult on your 18th birthday (in some states of America it’s still 21), however, many people still hold a special party for their 21st birthday.

In Australia & New Zealand, 21st birthday parties are big events. All of your friends and family are invited to the party. So many people come to the party, it usually has to be held at a special party hall or in a marquee [a big tent] in the back yard of your parents’ house.

At the party, your father gives a speech in which he formally recognises you as an adult. As a part of this speech, he usually “gives you the keys to the house.” This is showing that you are now an adult, free to choose when you’ll leave and come back home. Key’s are an important symbol at 21st birthday parties.

A Typical 21st Birthday Card

A Key-shaped Birthday Cake

Another common tradition at Australian & New Zealand 21st birthday parties is to scull a yard glass. “To scull” means to drink without stopping. A yard glass is a special beer glass that is about 1 meter long. It holds about 1 ½ to 2 litres of beer.

A Yard Glass

This tradition usually means the 2nd day of your “adult life” is spent nursing an adult-sized hangover!

Coming-of-Age Day is a national holiday in Japan so Be & Me is closed today. Don’t forget that you can check future Be & Me holidays, Be & Me Kids' Model-Lesson Times, and service-lesson times at The Be & Me Calendar. You can also check for future events at the Be & Me Announcements Page.

Welcome Back!

And welcome to the Year of the Cow!

Be & Me classes start again from today. Yippie-ki-yay! (This is cowboy English. It basically means, “let’s go!” It’s famously used by Bruce Willis’s character in the first Die Hard movie.)

Don’t forget that if you want to check out our holiday, Service Lesson, and kids’ model lesson dates and times, you can do so by visiting The School Calendar.

You can also check the same information plus any special events (friend or students’ concerts or exhibitions, parties, and so on) at The Announcements Page.

Many people are feeling very nervous about this year. They are worried about the economy, the environment, terrorism, and so on. However, I think this year is going to be special. I think this year…

Anything is possible!

Here’s wishing you all a great 2009!

Online Calendar & Announcements Pages Updated

I've just updated our online Calendar & Announcements pages. By visiting them, you can check our Service Lesson time, Kids' Classes Model Lesson dates, holidays, and special events.

To check them out, go to http://www.be-and-me.com/ , click on "生徒のみなさんへ" (the Students' Page), then click on "The School Calendar" or "Be & Me Announcements."Or click on the links below;

The School Calendar:

http://groups.msn.com/BeandMe/calendar.msnw

Be & Me Announcements:

http://groups.msn.com/BeandMe/announcements.msnw

Don't Forget the Milk & Cookies

If you have been good this year, tonight Santa will climb down your chimney and leave presents under your Christmas tree. (If you don’t have a chimney, don’t worry – Santa uses magic to change your air-conditioner into a fireplace. If you don’t believe me, check out Disney's The Santa Clause.)

Santa gives you presents. Did you know that you are supposed to give Santa something? In North America, most children leave some milk and cookies for Santa on a table near the Christmas tree…

Santa has milk & cookies at every house
he visits – that’s why he’s so fat!

In Australia, Christmas is celebrated in the middle of summer. Instead of milk & cookies, Australian children usually leave Santa some beer and fruitcake. It’s true!

Also, in Australia it’s too hot for Santa to use reindeer. Instead, he uses 6 white kangaroos known as…

The 6 White Boomers

Of course, there’s no such thing as a white kangaroo...

Or is there?!

Have a very merry Christmas!

And don’t forget the milk and cookies!

Live Concert at Covent Garden Tomorrow Night

Our friend Simon is the music man! I first met him when he was playing for Tripod Jimmy, one of the best bands to ever come out of Osaka…or anywhere! Since then, he has been in so many different bands, I can’t begin to list them.

His latest band is called Goodman Bad. It features Simon on guitar & vocals, Glenn on bass, and Spleen on drums.

Every month, Simon organises Inner Sky, a concert at Covent Garden, a friendly bar in Kita Horie.

This month, Goodman Bad are going to be joined by special guest Deron "The Geminiac" on keyboard.

Here are the details...

When? Friday, July 25th, from 8:00 till late!

Where? Covent Garden, Kita Horie (06 – 4391 – 3177)

How much? 1000 yen, which includes 1 drink

In Japanese: 今月の「インナー・スカイ」ライブは1２月1２日(金)に行われます。Goodman　Badというベース、ドラム、ギターの三人組が80年代のポップスや90年代のGrungeをAcoustic風に再現します。今回のライブにKeyboardの達人Deron"TheGeminiac"もゲストとして参加してくれるので、さらにレベルの高いパフォーマンスを期待しています。予定のない方は是非おいでください。忘年会があっても居酒屋を出る場合、カラオケではなくて、ライブを見に来て盛り上がりましょう。

Unfortunately, I have to work until late. I'll get there around 10:00 pm. Hope to see you there!

Online Calendar & Announcements Pages Updated

I've just updated our online Calendar & Announcements pages. By visiting them, you can check our Service Lesson time, Kids' Classes Model Lesson dates, holidays, and special events.

To check them out, go to http://www.be-and-me.com/ , click on "生徒のみなさんへ" (the Students' Page), then click on "The School Calendar" or "Be & Me Announcements."Or click on the links below;

The School Calendar:

http://groups.msn.com/BeandMe/calendar.msnw

Be & Me Announcements:

http://groups.msn.com/BeandMe/announcements.msnw

Halloween at Ola

On Friday, October 31st – the real Halloween! – we went to Ola Tacos Bar, a really cool Mexican bar in Shinsaibashi, with a small group of students & friends. We all had a great time…

The Gang Outside Ola

The Cave-Couple with Cat-Man

Cat-Men

Colonel Sanders & Mini Mouse

"Sally" & Friends

Costumed Customers

The Bar Staff

The Gang

Day-of-the-Dead Hiroki

Sexy Shino

Sexy Shino Up Close

She-Devil Jenna

The Masked DJ

[Back in Australia, I once played "The Masked Radio Announcer" in an amateur production of the musical "Annie"]

The Bar Getting Crowded

Schoolgirls?

The Child-Friendly Cave-Couple Return

The Caveman Cops a Feel

The Caveman Thumping Woody

Woody Gets (a) Shot

[That's a little joke - an injection is also known as "a shot" in North American English]

Adios, Amigos!

You can check out more photos at Ola's official photo page.

Halloween Revisited

Oops! It's been almost a month since my last post! Where did the time go?

On October 26th, we were going to hold a Halloween picnic for our students and friends. Unfortunately, it rained! Instead, we held a small event in our local community center...

The "Picnic Gang" in the lobby of the local community center

This year, our son wanted to be a carnotaurus, a kind of dinosaur

We decided to be a caveman and cave-girl

The cave-girl playing tricks on some of the kids

By the way, that wasn't the first time for me to dress as a caveman...

My first-ever costume: Fred Flintstone

Check back soon for more (a lot more!) Halloween photos!

Happy Halloween!

It’s Halloween! This evening, all across Ameirica and Canada, as well as other parts of the world, children will be dressing up like ghosts, witches, skeletons, and other interesting people or things.

Some kids in Halloween costumes

The children will go from door to door and yell, “Trick or treat?” Their neighbors will give them special Halloween candies, cookies or fruit. If they are refused a treat, the children might play a trick on that person. A common trick is to cover their house with toilet paper.

A toilet-papered house

Halloween has its origins in an ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. The Celts lived in Ireland and Scotland thousands of years ago – long before the birth of Christ. The festival of Samhain was a celebration of the end of the harvest season. The festival was celebrated after the harvest was sorted and stored away. It is also sometimes regarded as the end of the Celtic year.

The ancient Celts were very superstitious. They believed that on the last day of the year (around October 31st, according to their calendar) the spirits of the dead came back to this world. They were scared of these ghosts. They wore costumes and masks to trick the evil spirits into thinking they were also ghost, hoping that the real ghosts would leave them alone.

The most famous symbol of Halloween is the Jack-o-lantern, a hollowed out pumpkin with a scary face carved in it. Originally, Jack-o-lanterns were made from turnips.

There is an old Irish story about a bad man called Jack who tricked the Devil into never taking him to hell. (Read the full story here.) However, this trick eventually backfired. When he finally died, he could not enter Heaven or Hell. Jack found himself doomed to walk the earth at night, guided only by the light of a burning coal – a gift from the Devil – in a turnip lantern.

This story was the Celts’ attempt to explain the phantom flames they sometimes saw burning over bogs and moors. (In Japan, these flames used to sometimes appear over graveyards. They were caused by methane gas escaping from rotting bodies or wood. In Japanese, these flames are known as hino tama.)

Online Calendar & Announcements Pages Updated

I've just updated our online Calendar & Announcements pages. By visiting them, you can check our Service Lesson time, Kids' Classes Model Lesson dates, holidays, and special events.

To check them out, go to http://www.be-and-me.com/ , click on "生徒のみなさんへ" (the Students' Page), then click on "The School Calendar" or "Be & Me Announcements."Or click on the links below;

The School Calendar:
http://groups.msn.com/BeandMe/calendar.msnw

Be & Me Announcements:
http://groups.msn.com/BeandMe/announcements.msnw

The 5 A's

Ahoy, me hearties! Today be International Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day! (You can read last year’s post to find out exactly what it’s all about. Click on: International Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day)

My friend, Captain “Boston” Dave, sent me some interesting YouTube links to help celebrate this important day.

First, check out The 5 A's

The 5 A’s are…

Ahoy! – "Hello!"
Avast! – "Listen to me!" It can also be used in a sense of surprise, kind of like "Check it out!" ["Look at that!"] or "No way!"
Aye! – "Yes!” or “Yes, I agree!”
Aye, aye! – "Yes, I'll do that straight away!”
Arrr! – (This one is often confused with "Arrrgh!” – the sound you make when you sit on your sword.) "Arrr!" can mean many things: "Yes," "I agree," "I'm happy," "I'm enjoying this beer," "My team is going to win," "I saw that television show, it sucked!" and "That was a clever remark you or I just made." There are many more possible ways to use “Arrr!”

Next, sing along with "I'm a Pirate", the “official” Talk-Like-a-Pirate song.

If you find it hard to talk like a pirate, why don’t you use the The Talk-Like-a-Pirate Translator, another gift from the Captain.

This morning, I typed this message in the translator…

“Here's wishing everybody a happy Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day.

All the best from Be & Me!”

The translator came back with…

“Ahoy, har's wishin' e'erybody a happy Talk-like-a-pirate Day.

Ye'll ne'er get me buried booty!”

Also, don’t forget to check out last year’s Be & Me pirate photos…

Be & Me Pirates (Page 1)

Be & Me Pirates (Page 2)

And speaking of pirates, Osaka’s number one foreign/Japanese-member improvisation comedy troupe, The Pirates of the Dotonbori, are having a show at Balabushkas, in “America Mura,” this Sunday, September 21st. Avast!

Ha! Ha! HArrrrrrrr!

Here there be monsters!

And speaking of monsters, did you know that International Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day is the official holy day of The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster? RAmen!

And finally, Shiver me timbers! The International Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day Homepage!

The Puzzle Project Party

We went to the Puzzle Project party yesterday. (You can read all about the project here!) There were a lot of people there. And the finished puzzle looks good! You still have to this Saturday (September 20th) to check it out in person! It’s worth the trip to Horie!!

Puzzle Project

As I’ve mentioned before (Substance, Hisashiburi!), one of the coolest people I’ve ever met is artist and bar owner Takashi Inaba. One of the coolest ideas he has ever had is the Puzzle Project. Every year, he makes a big jigsaw puzzle. He sends the pieces to artists all over the world. After the artists have all done their thing with the pieces, they send them back to Inaba San. He then puts the puzzle together…

The 2006 Puzzle Project

This year’s Puzzle Project goes on show today, September 8th, at Artist Space CERO. The exhibition will finish on September 20th. There will be an exhibition party on September 16th, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Free wine! All are welcome!

As well as the Puzzle Project, Inaba San will be holding his own exhibition at the same gallery. There will be an exhibition party this evening from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. I hope to see you there!

For more information, click on the following links…

The Puzzle Project

Artist Space CERO

Takashi Inaba's Profile

Uni Pon Pon Kau Kau (Inaba San's Bar & Gallery)

Online Calendar & Announcements Pages Updated

I've just updated our online Calendar & Announcements pages. By visiting them, you can check our Service Lesson time, Kids' Classes Model Lesson dates, holidays, and special events.

To check them out, go to http://www.be-and-me.com/ , click on "生徒のみなさんへ" (the Students' Page), then click on "The School Calendar" or "Be & Me Announcements."

Or click on the links below;

The School Calendar:

http://groups.msn.com/BeandMe/calendar.msnw

Be & Me Announcements:

http://groups.msn.com/BeandMe/announcements.msnw