We love persimmons!

Persimmons are a fruit that many Westerners might not have eaten. I was 20 years old before I first saw one, and then that was because my friend's Italian born parents grew a tree in their garden in South Australia. (Actually, immigrants introduced many, many new foods to Australia.)

Anyway, then I came to Japan and found persimmons are a common autumn fruit. Fresh ones are nice, but I LOVE dried ones!

For some very weird reason, Dusty LOVES fresh ones. Now they are out of season, but in autumn when I brought them home and put them on the counter, he would run and jump up on the counter immediately. (Very naughty, but it is impossible to stop him from doing it.) I guess he can smell them? Twice he actually picked one up in his mouth and ran away with it, before I could get it back. It was so funny, a cat with an orange fruit in his mouth, that was as big as his head. I'm not sure if he would actually eat it because both times I took it off of him before he could start to bite into it. And he is not at all interested in dried persimmon.

A really nice news article ...

You should go to the Daily Yomiuri Online newspaper and read the article below. It is really nice :)

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110206003523.htm

article = story

"article" is often used for a short piece of information we can find in the newspaper. "news" is a non-countable noun, so we need to use a counting word such as:

a news article
a news story
a piece of news
an item of news

Cooking brussel sprouts

Do you like brussel sprouts? I really hated them when I was a child, but now I know that was for 2 reasons:
1. They were not fresh, and
2. my mother overcooked them :(

You may call these "baby cabbages" in Japanese but they aren't cabbages. Please do a search for "brussel sprout plant" on Google and see what the plant looks like. It is certainly not a baby cabbage :)  But actually, it is one of the cabbage family, so it is related to things like broccoli and even rapeseed  -  菜の花.

Brussel sprouts grow along a stem so they look a little like a bunch of grapes. Please try to eat recently picked ones because the older they get, the more bitter they become. Fresh ones are quite sweet! And DO NOT overcook them! They will become really bitter and horrible. My mother cooks them in the typical English/Australian way of boiling them for a loooooong time in water. They become bitter and all the vitamins are lost.

So how do I cook them? It is really easy. The easiest way is to wash them, drain them and cover them with damp paper towel (kitchen towel) and cook them for a few minutes in the microwave oven. This is also a good method for cooking broccoli. It keeps all the vitamins and doesn't make them bitter. Another way is below:

1. Wash the sprouts. Don't drain or dry them.
2. Put them in a non-stick pan. ***
3. Put a lid on the pan. This will help them steam.
4. Steam them for about 3 minutes, rolling them around a few times by shaking the pan. Don't open the lid or the heat and steam will escape. Most of the water will be gone.
5. Take off the lid and cook for another minute until all the water is gone.
6. While you are cooking them, chop one clove of garlic.
7. Put about 1 teaspoon of virgin olive oil in the pan with the sprouts.** Shake them around.
8. Add the garlic. Cook for about 1 minute until the garlic is golden.* Garlic will burn easily so be careful.
9. Finished!

*** I'm using my new, non-toxic pan :)
** You can use 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil plus 1/2 teaspoon of butter. This will give a richer taste.
* The total cooking time from start to finish is 5 minutes. Please don't cook them more.

If you think this dish is too "green" or if you want a stronger taste, add chopped bacon to the pan and don't use any oil or butter.

Today's Grammar Point

Try to find the mistake in this conversation, then go down the page to check.

A:     I've never been to Okinawa.
B:     Me too.
A:     Do you want to go there?
B:     Yes, but I want to go in summer.
A:     Me too.

*
*
*
*
*
*
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NOTE {but not the mistake}: In natural English it is not necessary to say "there".
"Do you want to go?" is OK.     So we can use:

"Do you want to?" - maybe this is a little too easy and casual but native speakers do say it.
"Do you want to go?" - natural
"Do you want to go there?" - natural
"Do you want to go to Okinawa?" - unnatural, please don't repeat the same noun so soon

Anyway, could you find the mistake in the conversation?

A:     I've never been to Okinawa.

B:     Me too. --> Me neither.  /  I haven't either. 

A:     Do you want to go there?

B:     Yes, but I want to go in summer.

A:     Me too. 

"Me too" is for two positive verbs (simple verbs with no ..n't)
A:    I like dogs.
B:    Me too.  /  I like dogs, too.

A:    I can ski.
B:    Me too.

"neither / .... n't either" is for negative verbs (verb + n't)
A:    I don't like dogs.
B:    Me neither.    /    I don't either.    /    I don't like dogs either.

A:    I can't ski.
B:    Me neither.   /      I can't either.

Amazon Kindle

In October 2009 I was so excited because Amazon USA finally sold their Kindle E-book reader to customers worldwide. I had been wanting a Kindle for soooooooo long but it was not available in Japan. Luckily, I look at the Amazon page so often that I could find the news just one day after it appeared. I immediately pre-ordered a Kindle and it was in the first shipment that arrived in Japan.

Many people don't like the idea of an electronic book reader because they say paper books are best. Well, I have been an avid reader since I was a very small child and Kindle is WONDERFUL! Of course I still love paper books and I collect hardcover books by some authors, and also paperbacks of some series. But that is also a problem because I honestly have no more room to store books at my house or my office. I am the type of person who keeps their books and doesn't re-sell them or pass them onto other people :)

If I won the lottery, I would build a house with one room as a private library. That has been a dream of mine since I was a child. Actually, I used to think being a librarian would be a good job, but you have to WORK which means I couldn't read all day! Unfortunately I haven't won the lottery yet, so I shouldn't buy more and more "real" books.

So that's why I was interested in the Kindle. Not only is is great for storing many books, it also has many useful features such as "search". But would it be good for reading? The only answer was to buy one and find out for myself!

The answer is a resounding YES!!! It is much better than I could have ever expected. I love the Kindle just as much as I love books. Often it is much better than books! How do I know? Well, I've bought 70 books for the Kindle in the past 14 months and read them all. And in that time I've read about 40 paperback or hardcover books as well. In almost all cases, the Kindle is much easier and more convenient. (I only bought most of the books in paper because they weren't available on the Kindle - rare, textbooks, unpublished in e-format, etc.)

Now 5 people I know have bought a Kindle since I recommended it, and they all like it too :)

You should watch the official Kindle video on the bottom of the Kindle page at Amazon.com. Look for the picture of a woman reading while sitting in a beach-chair. That is the video that introduces the Kindle.

The most recent Kindle is third generation. That means it is the 3rd model. I have a second generation model, but it is fine. If you do buy a Kindle to use in Japan. You must buy the one that costs $189. The cheaper one cannot access the mobile phone network in Japan. Right now you cannot read Japanese books, but I think if you wait another 6 months or a year, it will be possible - maybe 4th generation?

One of the best things about Kindle is that it is NOT a computer and doesn't have a back-light. The Amazon website shows a woman reading in bright sunlight on a beach. I tried it on Miyako Island and it's true - bright sunlight is perfectly OK :)

Sitting nicely!

News Topic - Kirishima Volcano

This week a main news topic is the volcano erupting in the Kirishima Mountains on the border of Kagoshima and Miyazaki.

Here are some important words you should know. At first, try to understand in English. Next, try to think of the Japanese words. Finally, check your dictionary.

volcano - a mountain that has lava, etc under it. (e.g. Kirishima, Sakura-jima)
active volcano - a volcano that is not sleeping, e.g. Sakura-jima
dormant volcano - a volcano that is sleeping but not dead, e.g. Mt. Fuji
extinct volcano - a volcano that is dead, e.g. Mt Kaimon (in Kagoshima)

lava - the red, liquid rock under a volcano
lava dome - a big dome of lava that is growing under a volcano
ash - the grey/brown/black powder that comes out of a volcano.
erupt - the volcano explodes or something comes out suddenly

evacuate - people move to a safe place
evacuation center - a safe place people can stay, e.g. a school, community center

A souvenir

Here is my souvenir for Dusty and Kuro. This year is the Year of the Rabbit, so I bought a small rabbit for them from a shop leading up to Kiyomizu Temple. The shop had many lovely items and the store owner was a very polite and kind elderly man. I think he would be surprised to know I bought the rabbit for my cats ....

I think it is actually a key ring because it had a small strap and a bell, but now it is a toy :)

I told you Kuro was jet black, and it is very hard to take a nice picture of him! You can see his very big, fluffy feet well, but sorry you can't see his face.

Mount Fuji in the sunset

A nice picture of Mt. Fuji taken from inside the shinkansen, as another train speeds past in the opposite direction.

Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto

On Sunday I went to Kiyomizu Temple in the morning. I chose it because I wanted to go somewhere that existed in the Heian Period, and that Sei Shonagon had visited. Kiyomizu Temple was founded in 798, but the present temple building was built in 1633.

I love reading "The Pillow Book" and I have several versions: one rare book from 1920, another translated in the 1980s and now a newer electronic book. If I had magic, or a time machine!, I would go back and visit Shonagon. She sometimes went to Kiyomizu for a Buddhist retreat. I know everything has changed, but I guess the mountain view is still similar ....

Anyway, it was SO SO SO busy! I cannot imagine what it must be like in spring or autumn in the peak seasons. It was difficult to take a picture that didn't have many people in it, so please forgive the poor photos.

Curious in Kyoto

Hello from Kyoto!

I left Tsukuba at lunchtime and caught the bullet train at 3pm. Today was only my 4th time to take the "shinkansen" or "bullet train". (It was called a bullet train because the original shape was like a bullet!)




It was very comfortable because I took a superior "green seat" which are very spacious and I had no-one sitting next to me. Most passengers in that carriage were businessmen. It was very reasonable because I used a package of train and hotel, so the superior seat was less than half price. I was going to try and sleep, but I didn't because I was happy to look at the scenery outside of the window. I could find Mount Fuji hiding behind a cloud, and a very snowy area just after Nagoya.

Now I am in a small hotel in Sanjo in Kyoto and I am using my mini-sized computer. It is very difficult to type on and the screen is small. The hotel is quite nice and better than a regular "business hotel". At Kyoto Station I went to Isetan department store and bought some simple side dishes for dinner. Plus two Japanese sweets :)

I've found some curious things about Kyoto:

1. I heard that in the Kansai region people stand on the RIGHT side of the escalators and let people pass on the left. That was true in the main station area, but in the department store and going to the subway, people stood on the LEFT, same as in Kanto!??? Now I'm confused :(

2. Most shop clerks are lovely! They are VERY polite and very carefully give you back your change after you  pay. It is nice :)

3. Some Kyoto people do speak with rising intonation - just like I saw on TV. So the end of sentences rises. I thought it sounds good, but not all people do that. I wonder why? Maybe it means some people were born and raised here, and others came from somewhere else ....

4. Kyoto Station is very big and confusing. There are English signs but the station building and how to get to the subway is maybe worse than Tokyo. And I was a bit surprised that people push into the subway carriages quickly. Most Tokyo people wait for the other passengers to get out first. Maybe people are in a hurry because it is Friday night?

Anyway, I am very tired and I think I will go to bed early. I have a big meeting tomorrow so I should be wide awake for that!

Goodnight.

Vocabulary - Dry vs. Air

Here are some verbs you can use when talking about housework!

dry = something that is wet becomes dry

I hung out my laundry to dry.

***
air = you put something outside to make it fresh. It is already dry, but maybe it is smelly :)
Or maybe it is just a little damp, from humidity.

I put my futon out to air. 
I picked up my suit from the dry cleaner, but it smelled of chemicals so I am airing it outside today.


Basically, if it is wet and you want it to be dry, then use "dry".
If you want the sun and wind to touch it to make it fresh, then use "air".

乾かす= dry;         風に当てて=air

By the way .... 洗濯
American English = do the laundry
British English = do the washing

Nigella Lawson's cooking

Do you like cooking? Would you like some very easy cooking ideas? Then you should visit Nigella Lawson's website.

Nigella is a British woman who has become one of the world's most famous cooks. I think one reason she is popular is because she makes food we can all make at home. She LOVES to take shortcuts. For example, she buys baby leaf salad mix in a bag from the supermarket and puts it in a salad bowl with homemade dressing. She just drops it in a salad bowl without washing it, so I really hope that it is "pre-washed"! She also often uses kitchen scissors instead of a knife. You should try it - I've used kitchen scissors for many years, especially for herbs because you can cut them directly over a pot. This means all the flavor from the herb oils goes into the cooking, not onto the cutting board. And of course, you don't need to wash the cutting board if you don't use it :)

By the way, I have never cooked any of Nigella's recipes myself because they are often unhealthy with much butter and sugar. But you should check her recipes and just use her ideas. If you watch her videos, you can get lots of ideas for taking shortcuts while cooking even 'gorgeous' dishes. There is a really good chicken pie video on Youtube. (Search for Nigella Lawson Chicken Pie)

She chats a lot while she is cooking, but don't worry if you don't understand what she is saying. Mostly it is not at all important for the recipe.

Here is one example of a very quick desert. (She calls it "pudding". In England, "pudding" can mean "dessert" or it can mean "pudding" - e.g. chocolate pudding.)

Recipe on her website:

150g mini marshmallows
50g soft butter
250g good dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), chopped into small pieces
60ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle
1 x 284ml tub double cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


To see how she makes it, please watch this video:

For a bigger size, go to this page on Youtube.

Be careful about cup and spoon sizes in recipes from different countries. On Nigella's website, go to the recipe page and click on:

EQUIVALENTS AND CONVERSIONS

A new fry pan/skillet

Recently I bought a new fry pan. I know that is not very exciting, but a good fry pan is important for cooking well without too much oil. And less oil is healthy, right? But I have to tell you something important before you get too interested ... I IMPORTED the fry pan from the USA! Crazy? Maybe, but here are my reasons:

I've been looking for a good fry pan for YEARS! About 7 years to be precise. I want something that is easy to cook with, so I tried many kinds of non-stick pans. Even the expensive ones were not so good after just 1 year or so. The non-stick coating slowly wears off. The second to last pan I bought was an expensive one from America that I bought from a local kitchenware shop. It was expensive and the box said the coating would last for many years. Well, it lasted for 1 :( In the end it was no different to the next pan, a cheap one from a local home-center store.

The other reason I am worried about pans is that actually I don't want to use Teflon coated ones. There is some research that says the coating is toxic and very bad for our health. I don't know if that is true or not, but I don't want to take any risks. Anyway, if the coating comes off little by little, where does it go? I surely don't want to eat it!

So then I bought a stainless steel pan like chefs use in a restaurant. It is nice if you cook food on a high heat with much oil, but honestly it is difficult to use in daily life. If you are not careful, the food sticks very quickly :(

Then one day I was looking around on Amazon.com and the site was promoting kitchenware. I had some free time so clicked on the pictures just to see what kind of things are popular in the USA. After a few minutes of browsing, one brand of cookware caught my eye. It is a brand more famous for food processors, so I was curious about the pans.

Take a look at this site and you can see a selection of pans and also watch a video.

Before you decide you want one too, I have to tell you that you CANNOT buy them in Japan. Cusinart Japan doesn't sell this particular type of pan with ECO "hard anodized" coating. So why did I want THIS pan, and not one I can buy domestically? It's because the ECO pans are totally non-toxic even at high temperatures.

The pan itself was on sale for less than 5,000yen but shipping from the USA to Japan cost that much again. Was it worth it? YES! Great to cook with and the handle doesn't get hot at all - just like the video said. I highly recommend it. Now I just have to wait and see how many years I can use it :)

Oh, and by the way,

fry pan         is British English
skillet           is American English

so the Amazon.com webpage says "skillet".

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*** This blog entry contains many idioms or daily phrases. Please check the underlined parts in a dictionary. If you can't find the meaning, send a comment and I will help you.

Introducing ..... Dusty and Kuro

A little over a year ago two new members joined my family. Let me introduce Dusty and Kuro.
Dusty is a blue Abyssinian, and Kuro is a black Siberian.



Dusty came first but he was so naughty when he was young that we decided to get him a friend to play with.
"dusty" means "tinged with grey"
 いろがくすんだ, 灰色がかった
Kuro's full name is actually makuro-kurosuke from the small black ball spirits you can see in the Miyazaki movie Totoro.

In English, まっ黒 is "pitch black". When he was a kitten (baby cat) he was totally black, but now he has some brown and dark grey around his neck like a muffler :)

Happy New Year for 2011

Did you have a nice New Year vacation? It is hard to believe that 3 weeks have already passed.

What are your resolutions for 2011? I've resolved to re-start blogging :)

blog is a noun and a verb:
You are reading my blog. (noun)
I am blogging. (verb)

And one more vocabulary point, I think "resolution" has a stronger meaning in English than in Japanese. The word in Japanese is:

抱負 {houfu}
in English, 抱負 = hope, aspire, plan

But in English, "resolution" comes from the verb "resolve" and in Japanese that is 決心する {kesshin}. That is a stronger meaning, isn't it?

So a resolution is something you strongly feel you will do! Do you think I can keep blogging for a full year? Please keep reading and checking my progress.

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The Winter Solstice

Today (Dec 21st, 2008) is the winter solstice. That is, the length of the day is the shortest, and the length of the night the longest in the whole year.

In Japan it is traditional to have a yuzu bath. I love to eat yuzu in various ways, so I rarely have any left over to drop into the bath, but tonight I had an extra one :)

It is really interesting to read about many solstice celebrations and traditions from around the world, both past and present.

But the best thing is that from tomorrow, the days will be longer. That's important because last week it was REALLY hard to wake up on freezing and dark mornings ....

Ishigaki Island

Have you ever fallen in love at first sight? Well, at the end of October I instantly fell in love with Ishigaki Island. (Map) "ishi" means rock, and "gaki" means wall, so the island gets its name from the typical protective walls that surround the traditional houses. The islands don't seem to get many earthquakes (so the walls don't fall down) but there are quite a few big typhoons each season, so I suppose the walls help protect the buildings from the wind.

We hadn't been on a vacation in MANY years, and when I had the chance of a five day vacation from work, I decided that a tropical place would be nice to visit, because I had never been to anywhere like that. I'm not so interested in popular destinations like Hawaii or Guam, Australia is too far, and the Maldives too far and much too expensive. So I decided to go to Japan's own tropical paradise.

Ishigaki is part of the Yaeyama Island chain and is very close to Taiwan. I'm surprised how many people I have spoken to that say they have never been. I'm amazed how easy (and cheap) it is to go to Hawaii, but how people forget the beauty in their own backyard :) We stayed for 4 nights, 5 days and it was so wonderful I really didn't want to come back.

There was still a chance of a late typhoon as it was the very end of October, but the weather was hot (about 30 C) and sunny. The sea temperature was still 26 - 27 C, so I could snorkel for the first time in my life. The island is great for beginners as nice reefs can be found right near the beach. There were so many fabulous things about Ishigaki, and it is difficult to do justice to it in words. Please enjoy my photos, and some day, be sure to go for yourself!

Mount Tsukuba

Tsukuba City is very unusual because it is a mixture of the very old and the very new.

The old is the original villages that merged to become a city more than 20 years ago. The new was the creation of the "science city" that made such a merger necessary. Now there is a very high concentration of research centers, international companies, and of course, Tsukuba University.

Even in the past 7 years that I have been here, the city is changing again. There are 3 shopping malls, the latest being IIAS (strange name!) that is the largest mall in the Kita-kanto area. And many new residential areas creating a property boom.

The stimulus for much change has been the Tsukuba Express Line that opened two and a half years ago. The line is so profitable that the company has applied for an extention of the tracks from Akihabara through to Tokyo Station.

But despite all these old and new things, the most defining feature of Tsukuba is its mountain. Mt. Tsukuba is not so high, 877 meters, but is very beautiful with an unusual shape. My favorite view is from due south, but many people like different views. And I think winter is best because the sky is so clear.

One of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen was last Sunday - very cold rain had been falling in the city all day, and the cloud finally lifted just after 4pm. Tsukuba-san, which had been hiding all day, was suddenly revealed in the glorious orange sunset. Capped with snow!

Mount Fuji is certainly a "must see" mountain of the world, but last Sunday, Mount Tsukuba was in a class of its own!


A big "thank you" to K-san who kindly sent me this photo. (I didn't have my camera when I went out last Sunday afternoon.)

German vs. Germany

One regular mistake I hear is the use of "German" to mean the country.

The noun (country name) is "Germany".

"German" is an adjective. For example:

I like German bread.
German people are really friendly.


In this case, the noun is longer than the adjective. Most country adjectives are longer than the noun.
Australia -> Australian
Japan -> Japanese

BUT
Germany -> German

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A return to blogging

Hello again,

After a long time (and some computer trouble!) I'm restarting the blog with a new design.

Please check back regularly!

A.K.

If I won the lottery......

Blogging is not the only thing I took a break from. Last night was the first time I had been swimming in about 10 months! Aghhhhh!

My work schedule changed (my pool membership is only for the evening so I can't go in the day time, even if I do have free time), winter came, work was busy, and most of all - I was LAZY!

I think exercise is something you have to continue. I love swimming but it is hard to go if I don't make it a habit. Last autumn I was going 3 times a week and swimming 2km on two days and 1km one day. Last night I could barely make 1km and by the end of 40 minutes, my body had nothing left to give. My style in the last 200m was pretty bad!

If I won the lottery I would drill for a hot spring and make my own indoor warm water pool. I have never tried an "onsen" pool but I think it would be nice to swim in warm spring water with lots of minerals. Maybe I wouldn't have to use chlorine???? And I could go swimming every day, whenever I felt like it.

Hmm, I should go buy a lottery ticket!

New style blog

Here I am again after a break of almost ONE YEAR from blogging.

What happened? Well honestly speaking, I lost motivation to write. I was using the computer so much for work that I couldn't find the energy to write for fun.

I'm going to start up the blog again and change the content a little. PLEASE write some comments - then I will know that I have an audience of interested readers :)

Thanks for waiting!

Thanks for being so patient and waiting for 4 months!

The big news is that I am moving the classroom from Takezono to Onozaki. It took quite a long time to find a good space to rent. Most office spaces are way too big and of course, expensive.

My goal is to keep R.E. as a place for students to learn, rather than just a business. I want to know everyone's name, and to be sure that every student can study in a class that is best for them. Please don't be worried that moving is the first step to becoming "another eikaiwa school".

I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions for the new classroom.

Quiche recipe

Would you like to make a quiche? It is really easy and also quick - just about 25 minutes in total.

Ingredients:
1 x 200ml carton 35% cream
3 eggs
vegetables*
bacon/ham/chicken sasami meat/mini sausages**
shredded cheese if you like it

Method:
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C
Use a brush or a small piece of kitchen paper to coat a pan*** with olive oil.
Put the vegetables and meat into the pan.
Break the eggs into a bowl, beat with a fork.
Add the cream.
Add a little salt and pepper.
Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables.
Top with shredded cheese.
Bake for about 20 minutes in the center of the oven.

* Vegetables
You can use almost any vegetables that aren't too wet. Big tomatoes are not good, but mini tomatoes cut in half are great. For hard vegetables like broccoli or fresh asparagus, cut them into small pieces and microwave them for a few minutes. Spinach should be microwaved with just a very little water, then drained on kitchen paper. Any kind of onion or negi is okay.

** Meat
It is not necessary to add any meat. Mostly I make vegetarian quiche because the eggs and cream are high in protein and fat.

***Pan
Any size pan is okay. Sometimes I use a pound cake pan, sometimes a flat quiche pan, sometimes a muffin pan for mini-quiche! Pyrex glass dishes are fine, as are gratin dishes.

You will notice I don't use any pie sheet. Pie sheet is troublesome and is not healthy :)

Tsukiji Fish Market

In Golden Week I went to Tsukiji Fish Market for the first time. Of course I have been to Tsukiji many times before, especially when I lived in Tokyo. But for some reason, I had never been to the market.

It was a rainy day so I didn't look around so much, but I did have the best sushi I have ever eaten! We chose a restaurant at random, and the one we entered, Sushizanmai, was more of a real restaurant rather than a place for a quick, cheap lunch.

Here is our lunch, plus I had miso soup. The cost was about 4, 500y for the two of us, which was reasonable considering the wonderful quality. The sea urchin that you can see in the bottom right corner just melted in the mouth :)

Be sure to go to Tsukiji next time you are in Tokyo!

Pheasants

Well the pheasant near my house finally has a girlfriend! He has been waking us up for the past few weeks and on fine sunny days likes to sit on a mound of soil near my house watching the world go by and calling 'ken ken' every few minutes.

Yesterday afternoon I looked outside of my bedroom window and found him with his new partner, eating grass seeds or something in the field. Sorry I couldn't get better pictures, but I couldn't open the window or the fly screen.

He is particularly nervous these days and yesterday though he couldn't see me, he was aware something was watching him because he kept looking around and fluffing up his feathers.

They are not there today because it is too windy.

Vista!

I've been gone for a while again because I've been spending a lot of time 'playing' with my new computer :)

Ninety-nine percent of the time I write this blog on my home computer rather than at work. But my poor old computer was becoming slower and not so user friendly. It is now 6 years old and the hardware is quite basic. That means the computer can't cope with multiple tasks and really got slow when website used Flash players etc. It became so frustrating to do the smallest of tasks.

So after more than 6 months of thinking about it, I bought a new computer. At first I really regretted that I didn't buy before the end of last year - my work computer runs on XP so I wanted to have two XP computers to make my life easier. But now it is impossible to buy a new computer with XP so I have to make do with Vista.

Believe me, starting out on Vista is not that smooth. It is similar enough to XP that you are fooled into thinking you can master it quickly. But tasks like 'Save As' took me 30 minutes because Vista hides the tool bars in new places :( Finally I went over to the Microsoft website and watched a few tutorials. I really wish I had of done that before I even began.

But it is not all bad, Vista (in Microsoft Office 2007) has some wonderful new functions that makes using Word a breeze! So many great quick shortcuts that I wish they had years ago. Now I feel my work computer is slow, so maybe I will get another Vista????? But I don't have enough money so I will have to check the price of a hard memory upgrade and keep the same machine.

So now that my computer using is becoming smoother, and I can access this blog software without wanting to scream, I hope I can update the blog more :)

Swimming update

I have a new record! I can now do my 1.5km in 40 minutes :)

I've been able to do this the last 3 times I've been swimming by cutting down on the rest time between laps.

Hmm, my new challenge is to build up the distance to 2km. Let's see how long it takes!

Golden Week!

Yay, it it Golden Week! Well, actually there are only 3 days left but I'm happy I'm on holidays :)

This April was one of the busiest times I've had in the past few years. Many things seemed to come up at once and I found myself spending over 12 hours working each day. That's okay for a while, but after a month I was mentally exhausted .... Teaching can be a tough job because you constantly have to be thinking, asking, guiding - there is no "down time". I love that part of my job but doing paperwork, reports, etc becomes a real chore!

Anyway, this week I've mostly had no work to do so I had a few special plans, like a BBQ with friends on Monday and a trip to Tokyo on Tuesday.

For some reason, GW always seems to have nice weather for most of the days. Tuesday was rainy but the other days have been glorious! I often find myself doing spring cleaning in GW and this year is the same. You can wash heavy winter blankets and they dry in half a day. (I love washing many things and even wash the kotatsu futon in the bath by hand!!!!) There is some kind of satisfaction to bring in all the laundry in the late afternoon with it smelling fresh and clean :)

This picture shows a typical Australian clothesline called a "Hills Hoist". Everyone has one in their backyard. One day I will buy one for my garden here in Japan. You can read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hills_Hoist

The picture comes from here and you can see lots of other models and designs.
http://www.onlinedirect.hills.com.au/cattleprod/products/A1000PRO
If I become rich, I'll import one and you can come look at it. Oh, and you need to buy a special basket and trolley like you can see in the picture. That way you don't have to bend down to get the wet clothes.

They are not only good for hanging clothes on, but you can also buy specially made covers so they can be used like a giant beach umbrella in your backyard. And when I was a child, my sister and I held onto the crossbars and spun ourselves round and round like a ride at an amusement park! My mother or grandmother were NOT amused if they caught us though :)

Champion

I've been very lazy about writing in the blog recently. Please forgive me, there is a reason!

In January I promised myself to try as hard as I could to become healthier. In the last two months I've been going to the pool at least 2 times a week, mostly 3 times a week. And in those last two months I've increased from swimming 800 meters to 1.5km!

I'm so happy that in the past two weeks I can do 1.5km in less than 50 minutes. (I think my record last week was 48 minutes.) Now my new goal is to do 2km in 60 minutes. Actually, I can already do 1km in 30mins, but I get more and more tired as the laps increase .....

If you're wondering, I do 60 laps of a 25m pool to make up the distance. One goal is to reduce the time I rest between laps, though some of that time is stretching my legs. Oh, and just to make it more interesting, I don't really swim - I only use my legs! (I stretch my arms out above my head.) I swim 4 laps face-down, then 4 laps face up.

The reason I can swim so fast with no arms is that I use swim fins. Please don't think I am cheating because these specially designed fins are ONLY for swimming (not diving), are short and make your leg muscles work harder. By the end of 50 minutes my legs are like jelly!

The best fun is when no-one else is in the pool. It is very rare, but there were no other swimmers for about 30 minutes last Wednesday. I could be really selfish and swim dolphin kick (the kick for swimming butterfly) on my back. It makes tidal waves in the pool so not a good idea when there are other customers! I only did 125m before I was tired and then a man came and I really had to stop.

I am certainly getting healthier but often I am so tired I go to bed at 9pm!!! No time for using the computer outside of work.

A broken microphone

I'm really sorry there has been no podcast for a while. My computer microphone was broken - well, not really broken but not working!

I found out the problem was my digital camera software. Be careful when you install viewing software for a camera etc. Sometimes the software over-rides your normal computer settings and strange things start happening. The video section of my camera software 'broke' the sound and microphone settings that I had taken years to set up perfectly! :(

All fixed now, so as I get time I will start recording the old posts and put them in the podcast.

How is your 'new year'?

It is the new school and business year in Japan. How are you doing?

Actually I still like to think in terms of a calendar year, so my year begins in January. But it means the first business quarter just finished for me. April is the the start of my SECOND season!

All in all, January through to May is the busiest time of the year for most people. Thankfully this year I didn't have any moving to do. Sadly one of my good friends moved away, but luckily another is coming back this week! I can't wait to catch up with her and her family.

Whatever you are doing in this season, be sure to take care of yourself. Influenza still seems to be striking people - don't believe that the flu only appears in winter!

Rainy days, sunny days

The weather is so changeable lately. Some days feel like early summer but other days like the end of winter.

But truly it is spring so the trees are blooming. Please enjoy the sights from my garden. The big tree with white blooms is a magnolia and the pink blosooms are apricot.

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A new restaurant

A new Italian restaurant opened two weeks ago in Tsukuba. New restaurants open (and close!) all of the time, but this one is really worth visiting.

Trattoria e Pizzeria Amici (トラットリア・ピッシェリア・アミーチ）can be found at 286-1 Teshirogi, Tsukuba. Phone 029-852-5885. It is between Umi-to-shima Okinawan restaurant and Hotel Suwa, on the west part of Doho Park Street. If you want to go please make a reservation because every time I drive past the carpark is 'choc-a-block'!

It opened on March 12th and I've been twice. Once for "White Day" dinner, and once again for lunch two days ago. Um, yes that means I've been twice in two weeks. My husband and I decided we REALLY like the food!

Dinner was a little expensive but the taste was great - it seems they use the best authentic Italian products. For dinner we had a simple pizza with rocket (herb) and prosciutto raw ham. The proscuitto was of the best quality and so delicious - no wonder the prices are a little expensive. At lunch we each tried a different pizza: mine was with tomato sauce and oregano, and my husband's was four kinds of cheese. They were both wonderful, too.

The pictures are of the first course at lunch and the lunch pizza. The dessert is one you can only get at night. It is called a 'baba' and is kind of like a cake that is soaked in liqueur. It was the first time for me to find it in Japan.

By the way, the coffee is nice too. Oh, and the whole restaurant is non-smoking. All in all, it's a great place for eating out.

Makabe Town

Here are some pictures from Makabe. I really liked walking around the old town and looking at the period architecture. It was like being in a time slip!

I highly recommend Makabe if you have a little free time, and certainly it is a good place to take foreign visitors. Old cities like Kamakura do have historic temples and shrines to look at but the regular shops and houses are modern. On the other hand, Makabe is living history.