Stop to smell the roses

In class last week we had the phrase 'See the bigger picture'. It reminded me of one of my favourite sayings, 'Stop to smell the roses'.

Everyone should take time to 'stop and smell the roses'

Both have a similar meaning. Slow down for a minute, take a look at your life, ignore your problems for a while and see the positive things in your life.
This is something that we all need to do every now and again. Especially at the end of the year.
In Japan there are many "End of year parties" (in Japanese 'forget the year' party) which I always thought was a strange, however forward thinking, idea. Why would anyone want to forget the year that they had just lived?
Every year on New Year's Eve I sit alone for a few minutes and think about everything that had happened that year, and how I will learn from the mistakes I had made, to make the next year a little better, and just to take a minute to 'stop and smell the roses'.

2012 has been a great year for me...here's to 2013!! (if the world doesn't end on December 21st ;)

Great drawing

Yesterday, in an elementary school class I was doing 'He is wearing.../ She is wearing...' and learning some clothing and we were drawing some outfits for a listening/comprehension exercise.

I asked them to draw two pictures...

The first 'He is wearing a big, old, striped T-shirt', the second 'She is wearing a small, new, polka dot T-shirt'.

One of my students in the class, Miss A drew this really nicely...

...and Mr T drew this...

I love his imagination.
He is always sketching before and after class, and he is getting better and better. I can't wait to see what he draws next time!

Amazing voice

I was just reading the news and I came across a piece about a new singer who is currently the favourite to win 'The X Factor', a UK TV talent show and I can see why...

She is only 16 years old but she has one of the most amazing raw voices I have ever heard...




Then last week on the show she sang Minnie Ripperton's 'Loving You'...it is amazing

get into / be into

One of my students said in class 'I got into Jazz music now'

What she wanted to say was 'I am into Jazz music now / at the moment'

To 'get into' expresses a change over time from not liking something to liking it...

'Last year I got into cooking' means before last year you didn't like cooking, but now you do, so...

'Now I am (really) into cooking'


We use 'be into' with 'now' or 'at the moment'

'I am (really) into going to the gym at the moment'

We use 'get into' a lot with 'last...' or 'recently'

'I got into painting very recently'

Hope this helps :)

STOP MAN !

My friend who works in a children's ward at a hospital in Hiroshima asked me to make a poster to keep visiting children out of the ward. It had to be eye-catching enough to stop them entering, so I came up with STOP MAN.

She just sent me pictures of the final posters in place...

I was really glad to be able to help :)

Summer holidays

So it is summer holidays time again and so it is time to visit Hiroshima's art galleries for kid's events.
Every year, through-out the summer holidays, Hiroshima Contemporary Art Museum (my favourite place in the city) and Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum hold special art events for kids, which are usually free to enter.
So this week I took my 7 year old daughter to the Prefectural Art Museum to do some drawing on the floor!!

 

It was busy when we arrived but my daughter soon picked up some crayons and started, a little tentatively at first, to draw on the walls and floor. By the time we left she was jumping up and down with crayons in her hands trying to draw as high as she could on the wall, and climbing on me to get to the top.

 

We had a great time and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something to do with the kids.

 

Then afterwards we left the back entrance and went to see Shukkeien. It was the first time I had been there but it is so relaxing and tranquil that I will definitely be going back again soon.

Freedom...almost!

I went to the doctor today to have my cast taken off!! Finally I am free!

 

 

I have spent the last 4 weeks in itchy hell...I cannot tell you how good it feels to have it off.
However I still have a couple of weeks of physiotherapy ahead of me until I get the movement back into my hand.

I love my hand...happy happy day :)

I Want My Hat Back

I love reading to my kids and I am always looking for new English books to read to them.
When I was a child I used to, and still do, love children's books which adults can enjoy too and with some dark humour.
I found this book, called 'I Want My Hat Back' on the net and, after reading the reviews, bought it.
It is so good!
It is funny, the illustrations are fantastic and it has the best dark twist at the end!
I recommend it to everyone, adults and children

I said I would...

This is something that often comes up in class.

"I said (that) I would (do...)"

It is a very useful phrase to remember for talking about the past. It is usually used to talk about past plans you had which didn't happen in the end.

"I said (that) I would meet her at the station but she didn't show up"

"I said (that) I wanted to be a pilot but I failed the exams"

It is used often when talking about others' promises to you which were broken...

"My wife said (that) she would buy me a new coat for my birthday but she didn't"

Please try to make your own sentences with the phrase and try to use it in conversation

Thanks

LONDON #2 - Street Art

Sorry I have been away for so long...life has been hectic for the last month.

Any way back to business!

I am a big fan of 'street art', which used to be graffiti until it branched out into other areas of publicly displayed 'art works'.
London is covered in 'street art' and while I was there I took many photos of the best pieces I saw, and here they are for you...I hope you like them :)

LONDON #1

So last week I went on a quick trip home to London...and I am in love!!
Since I came to Japan 8 years ago I have been back to London 4 times now, and every time before this time I have had mixed emotions about my home city. Sometimes I love it, others I hate things about it, but this time I am in love again.
For probably the first time in my life we had a whole week of sunshine!!

It didn't rain once in a week, which is almost unheard of in March, and the sun brings out the best in Londoners. People walk around with a smile on their face and everyone comes out to stroll the streets and eat lunch in the sun in the park...and it made me remember all of my best times in my London life.

London is such a beautiful city and I enjoyed just walking the streets, soaking up the atmosphere and going to all my favourite places...I can't wait to go back!!

Beer

Now. I don't drink very much. Maybe 1 can of beer a week, and often not at all, but when I do I really don't like drinking famous brand lager. In England there are so many small, independent breweries which produce some fantastic tasting, locally produced 'real ale'. Every time I go to London I try as many different ones as I can, as in the UK you can buy a large selection of ales in your local supermarket.
However in Japan it is very difficult to find 'real' beer. Once before I have been to Kure-ru in Kure which has it's own brewery on site, and it was pretty good (especially their black beer).

Then last night we went to an inn in Kure and they had a locally brewed, 'navy' beer, and it was great! It was very cloudy and tasted almost like home-brewed beer. It is a little expensive but I will be drinking it again soon...