On Saturday, our son woke up missing one of his baby teeth.
The tooth fairy (fairies?) visits a child's bedroom
During the night, he was visited by the tooth fairy…
I can't decide which costume suits me best! What do you think?
In its place was 100 yen.
Only 5 days until the Tenjin Festival! (Above is a photo I took at last year's festival) Last year, I did a countdown to the festival by teaching how to say some common Japanese summer festival words in English. If you're new to this blog (or if you've just forgotten!), check out the links below...
Toshiyuki Nishida
Sandy, Monkey, Tripitaka & Pigsy
A Kappa
A Water Nymph
Check out this week’s weather forecast from the newspaper! I guess it’s the rainy season in Japan! (The little line of suns on the top right column is Hokkaido; the line on the bottom left, Okinawa. If you live anywhere else in Japan, you had better take an umbrella with you when you go out this week!)
Rain, rain, go away.
Imagine playing UFO Catcher with a crane that was 300,000,000 kilometers long and took 20 minutes before it responded to you touching the button. Imagine the prize was information about the very beginning of our galaxy. Imagine that you caught something on your very first try. That's what Japan just did! Congratulations!
Mayumi has written a related story on her blog. Go to Mocha Mocha to find out more!
I traveled through Europe with my sister in the summer of ’97. On the way home, I met up with Mayumi for 10 days in Thailand (where I proposed to her!). We visited a beautiful beach resort on Ko Samet Island for 3 days. Mayumi tans very easily. While on Ko Samet, Mayumi’s skin turned a beautiful chocolate/coffee brown color. I nick-named her “Mocha.”
A Pack of Wolves
Deer, cows, elephants, horses, and most other grass-eating animals are called “a herd.”
A Herd of Horses
Generally, a group of any kind of fish can be called “a school.” (However, many fish species have their own special collective nouns.)
A School of Fish
As with fish, a group of any kind of bird can be called “a flock.”
A Flock of Seagulls
Many bird species also have their own collective nouns. My favorite is “a murder,” the collective noun for a flock of crows.
A Murder of Crows
Yesterday morning, there was a murder in my neighborhood. I’ve posted a few photos on our online photo album. Click on A Murder of Crows to check them out!
If you want to learn many more collective nouns for animals, click here!
The Sunday before last was Mother’s Day. Many of my students celebrated Mother’s Day by giving flowers to their moms.
A Bunch of Bananas
A Bunch of Grapes
It’s because the fruit grows in bunches, like grapes.
“I gave him a bunch of 5 (as in 5 fingers held together).”
Check out the TV opening at The Brady Bunch on YouTube
Put Yourself in this Picture!
A Summertime Christmas Party in the Gold Coast
(That’s Tak wearing the green hat)
Yesterday, my family & I (also known as “Be & Me & He”) went to Tennoji Zoo, in Osaka. The weather was great – really sunny & warm. However, most of the animals were sleeping so it wasn’t really that exciting. Luckily, my son bumped into [met by chance] a friend, so he wasn’t too bored.
An oxymoron (sometimes called a “contradiction in terms”) is usually two words with almost opposite meanings used together. “Amazingly dull” is a good example.
Mayumi warming up before the race
Where’s Mayumi? (She is there! Can you find her?)
One of our students is also a fun-runner. Hisae ran in the half marathon...
21 kilometers! Good on you, Hisae!
You can see more photos from the Ashiya Fun Run at Ashiya Fun Run Photos
You can also watch a short video of Mayumi at the 9-kilometer mark at Mayumi’s Ashiya Fun Run Video
Cherry Blossoms in Tsurumi Ryokuchi Park, Osaka
The Be & Me Hanami Gang "Under" the Cherry Blossoms
President Obama [?] Sings with the Tsurumi Ryokuchi Choir for the Seasonally Challenged
Sunset Over the Cherry Blossoms in the Japanese Garden
