Christmas is coming

We, almost of Japanese people, are atheists.
However we love this Christmas season.

Romantic illuminations and gorgeous decorations are everywhere in towns. Kids believe Santa Clause, so they become good until they get presents. People enjoy spending their time with their families and friends and of course with lovers.

After Christmas, New Year's day is coming and it is the most important national holiday. We celebrate the beginning of New Year in Japanese traditional way.

Anyway, Christmas is coming first.
I put a Christmas tree in our living room and kids put ornaments and electric objects with grandpa.

It was FUN!

Hair Spray

Last Sunday, I went to the movie "Hair Spray" with my kids.
The story is: a high school girl who is fat but very charming is dreaming to be a star. Some people try to stop her but she has a power to make people like her. So, finally, her dream came true.
It is originally from the famous musical. I usually don't see musical movies, but, I wanted to see this one. Because....John Travolta is performing as a MOTHER! I'm not his fan, but I wanted to see that manly, hairy big guy turning into big fat mom! and Zack Efron who is a super idol among American teenagers is playing as a boyfriend. My kids like him very much. :-)
It was one of my very happy movies ever. Though my younger daughter couldn't understand English and read subtitles, my kids enjoyed the movie.

Positive thinking and happy smiles are the key to enjoy our lives, right?

Be positive!

I bought tickets of the world famous rock band "Bon Jovi"!
Yeeeeaaaaah!!!
They have been world-touring since this summer and
are going to come to Japan in January.

I have been their fan for more than 20 years!
They made their own BIG history but the years didn't change them at all , musically and physically.
When I go to their concert, I still be a teenager in my mind!

Their songs sometimes have positive messages to me.
That encourages me.

I'm looking forward to seeing them and SHOUTING with them. :-)
Oh, I have to memorize their latest album!

Winter has come!

It's getting chilly in the morning. I like Winter better than Summer.
Leafless trees, frosty ground and chilly air....these make things kinda transparent.

I walk every morning in the park as exercise. I don't sweat because of chilly air.
It is one of the merits of winter sports.

spending much time

I'm spending much time in front of a mirror these days,
at mornings and at nights......because of AGING!!!

In recent two to three years, I found lines and spots around
my eyes, mouth and neck!

I didn't have much cosmetic and skincare things because my skin
was always not bad and got no trouble such as pimples and pores...
But I couldn't fight against aging.
I bought some skincare things and taking care of my skin gently and carefully.
It takes TIMES and MONEY!!!
I always think that how much times Hollywood stars take and how much money that costs!!

Birthday Party!

I held a birthday party for my daughters today
and it was the first time to invite their friends!

I have two daughters and an older daughter's BD is October 26,
and the other one's is October 30.
So I usually plan a birthday party at the middle of two days.

With my older daughter's request, I had to invite their friends this year.
I made two cakes yesterday, I cooked some dishes early this morning
and prepare for the table with Halloween dolls (return gifts for kids).

They enjoyed having cakes and lunch, played indoor games making girls scream.
I was glad to see them having great time together.

But, no thanks next year ! ;-)

balloon

I was driving with my family.
On our way home, we saw a hot-air balloon in the distance.
Kids are excited to see it and I wanted to know why it's there.

Closer we got, the hot-air balloon was bigger and bigger.
We found there was an Autumn festival around there, too.
The ride on a hot-air balloon was one of the popular event of it.

Kids wanted to ride and asked me to do that but there was a long line of the people who waited for riding. My husband had a job to do in the late afternoon, so we persuaded not to line and to look around a bit.

Some men talked to us and said they had floating balloons for children.
They also asked my kids if they want some and what color my kids like.

My girls became very happy with the floating balloons.

Dear Lady Sigh !

Hello from my blog!!
Thank you for coming to my blog repeatedly!

I tried to reach you but e-mails to your Jewelry-address were returned.
So, I tried again to send you to Heart----address and it seemed O.K. so far.
Woud you check your mailbox for me?

I hope you see this blog and will get my e-mail soon.

outing

My younger daughter went on an school outing today to a forest park.
She is going to Nature hiking and make some bamboo crafts.

She checked her belongings many times last night and this morning.
She also got up VERY EARLY and woke ME up ! Thank you!!

I prepared her a lunch box and a tea bottle.
She put them into her backpack and went out very happily.

I am looking forward to hear from her about the outing!
I like chatting with kids and kids' smiles.

too bad...

I wrote only ONE brog in September.....
hmm....too bad....

It's not "Three lines a day"any more, it's "Three lines a MONTH"!!
I should straighten up myself.

Writing in English is not easy, so I have to keep writing.
Only to keep writing makes my writing better, right?

Hooray to me!!! ;-)

the Magic Flute

I went to see the movie "the Magic Flute" directed by British actor.
Yes, it is based on the musical work composed by Mozart.
It is the only opera which I watch repeatedly. I love it!

The movie was great. Singers (actors) were wonderful, too.
The main theme of the movie is the Love and Peace.
Sometimes I got tears in my eyes and manytimes it made me smile.

The original songs were written in German, but, in the movie, they sing and talk in English.
It is very fresh to me.
I don't know German, so English is better and easier for me to understand.

Rush Hour 3

I went to the movie "Rush Hour 3" starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan with my kids.
My older daughter (11yo) likes Jackie Chan very much and asked me to go to the movie.

Tell the truth, looooong long ago, I liked him very much when I was in junior high school. ;-)

Jackie is 53 years old now....wow...and still be an action star!

Movie was nice. The story was easy to understand, no nude, no blood and very funny.
The conbination of two, Chris and Jakie, were working great.
My younger daughter can't read the caption (it's too fast to read for younger kids) ,
but she laughed aloud during the movie, and after that, she said "I enjoyed soooo much!! I wanna see it again!".

I understand why Jackie is still popular among kids all over the world.

the end of Summer

It is coooooool today.
Recently, It was too hot and humid to do anything.

The climate in Japan is usually mild and confortable.
But, these days, especially in summer, something is going wrong.
City area, I mean Tokyo, is worse.

Countryside, where I live in, is very hot, too.
I put water into the small pool in the garden (under tree shades)
every day for my daughter.
I was afraid that playing without water cause kinda heatstroke or something like that.

It seemed the hottest summer lasted forever, but it dosen't.
A few days ago, I heard crickets were singing.

It was the sign of coming Autumn.

Meteor Shower

I set an alarm clock at 2:30 AM to see 'the Perseid meteor shower'.

At 2:30, still dark, I woke my kids up and went outside.
There was moonless night last night, so it was a good day for star viewing.

We were watching northeast sky and counting shooting stars for about fifteen minutes.
I could see three shooting stars and my husband and kids could, too.

Tell the truth, I expected more shooting stars. However, three stars were not so bad number.
The place we live is near the city, so the sky is a little bit lighter even if there was moonless.

This morning, I reported the number of the shooting star I could see to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan via internet. They always gather the data and information about meteor shower (where, when, how many, etc..) throughout Japan.
My older daughter reported, too. It was a good educational experience, wasn't it? ;-)

peace and prayer

Today is the day that the United States dropped the first Atomic bomb in Hiroshima 62years ago, so August 6 is one of the most important memorial days for us.

Every year, the siren rings at 8:15 AM throughout Japan.
It's the same time when the atomic bomb was dropped 62 years ago.
During the siren (for one minute), we, Japanese, pray for eternal peace and solemnly promise not to go to the war again.

Of course we do the same kind of ceremony on August 9 every year.
It is the day when the second A-bomb was dropped in Nagasaki city.

I always pray that every man and women, every children from all over the world can live their lives happily and healthy, without fear and scare to death.

I hate the WAR.

back to normal life

We came back home yesterday from Kamikouchi...
Yeah, back to normal life... house keeping, cooking, laundering and , of course, studying English... ;-)

We have traveled only for three days and just came home yesterday,however, I've already missed Kamikouchi.

I have a lot of things to do everyday (like the above), but, here, it is too hot and humid to do them... :-(

Away from home

4 hours drive took us to Kamikouchi in Nagano, very popular summer resort in Japan.
We are going to stay two nights here to reflesh ourselves.

There are the highest mountains called Japan Alps in Nagano.
You can see High mountains, beautiful woods, rivers flow..... birds are singing......
Everything is awesome, breathtakingly beautiful.

We have visited Kamikouchi several times, but it never disappoint us.
Unfortunately it was raining today, however, the rain made trees and leaves very beautiful.
I saw a wild monkey, too!

We are going to go to high mountains tomorrow.
It is easy to 'climb' mountains with public buses and ropeways.
Let's see what I will see from the mountain!

the typhoon has gone away

The typhoon had struck Japan. It seems typhoons are bigger and stronger every year.

Anyway, after almost three days, the typhoon #4 (we count them with numbers and don't name them) has gone away and disappeared. I can see the blue sky through my window and it is breezing lightly this morning. Do you know what we have to do on this kinda beautiful day in the middle of rainy season? Yeah! Laundry!! ;-)

but kids are kids

I had a opportunity to visit Aiko Juvenile Training School for Girls yesterday.
The school for girls who committed minor crimes such as stealing and drugs.
Almost of the girls stay there for about a year to learn social skills, how to express their feelings appropriately, how to cope with others and study school subjects like ordinary schools.

A third of them are also the victims of violence and abuse, including sexually.

It was very interesting experience for me as a mother and a teacher.

I had my hair cut today.

I went to the beauty salon to have my hair cut this morning.

I found my hair stylist wasn't there and the owner said "I'm sorry he quitted last month."

Oh, my god!! I liked the way he cuts my hair. It fits me, I think.

When I was moving base to base with my husband (he was a military man), It was always difficult to find a favorite beauty salon and a stylist. After I settled down here a year ago, I was glad to find the salon (and stylist) I liked. hmmmmm....

Anyway, a new stylist cut my hair and she was not so bad but not so GREAT.
I'm thinking whether she is the one who cut my hair for years (until she quit!) ...

autograph

My younger daughter came home from school and said,
"Today, I got an autograph of my English teacer, Mr. Wil H...!
Wanna see it???"

She showed me a notebook-size card. On the back of it, there was his
autograph with a note 'this is the autograph of my English teacher, Mr. Wil H.'

She wrote the explanation, in Japanese, of course, for her memory.

But she made a BIG mistake....

It was wrote upside-down!

She can read alphabets but is not used to read the script native wrote...

the daphnia?

When I came home at night, my elder daughter approached me and said "hi! Mom! Come on!! " with a big smile.
She guided me to the corner of the living room.
There was a microscope on the desk.

She said very proudly ...... "the daphnia!!"

Have you ever seen that kinda "water flea"????
It was very interesting to see so tiny creature through a microscope.
It was moving!!! The body was transparent and you can see its organ!

I said "wow!! You did it!! You've done very well!! Good job!"
She looked very happy.

After she was in bed, I found that she didn't do her homework..... :-(
I have to have her get up early tommorow morning and do her homework before going to school.

the Universal Genius

I went to see"the Mind of Leonardo" today.
It is the special exhibition of the Tokyo National Museum.

One of the well-known masterpieces, "Annunciation", is exhibited.

Wow....It took my breath away. It was a very, very beautiful painting.
I think I was lucky to see it in Japan. I don't know I could see it again in my life.

The Special Galleries of Leonardo da Vinci were the rest of the exhibition.
It was very interesting to know how he researched and pursued the nature,
including human bodies.
Maybe, he could see what we can't see and he could think in his own way that
we can't understand.

He was the great of the greats.

Duck and ducklings

I went to the library with my kids by bike.
My daughters can ride bikes very well, so I told them to follow me carefully.
On the way to the library, I shouted to them somtimes.
"Watch out! Cars are coming!" "Slow down! There is a slope!"
"Stop! The signal is turning to red light!"....etc...

Finally, we arrived.
We borrowed books, played in the park and read books sitting on the bench.

Then again, I shouted through on the way back to our home.

Whew. I relieved to get to my house with no accident.

Our riding on bikes was just like duck and ducklings.
I understand now the efforts of mother duck.

holiday week

After three days holiday, two weekdays (today and tomorrow) come, and four days holiday will come. From the end of April to the beginning of May, there are four national holidays , and with Saturdays and Sundays, that make this time of the year almost week holiday.

It is called 'the Golden week' in Japan. Doesn't make sense? ;-)

I took my childeren to the zoo and the amusement park last week end.
It is a weekday today, so kids go to school. We (parents) have a little rest while they've gone to school.

The latter half of 'the Golden week', my sister's family and my husband's brother's family are going to visit my house. It will make me busy!

Piano concert

The piano class that our daughters go to has annual concert every year.
Today was the day!

Elder daughter played the waltz in 'Nut cracker' composed by Tchaikovsky.
Younger one played two tunes of children's folk songs.

Though they actually did some mistakes, they played greatly on the stage and in front of the audiences. My little baby girls were nowhere on the stage as if they grew so suddenly.
I was glat to be their mom.

Condolence

Yesterday, a friend of mine called me after two years .
I was very glad to hear that somehow she is doing good with her two sons.

Two years ago, her husband's airplane was crashed to the mountain.
He was a co-pilot of the airplane. He died and left his loved ones, her and their two kids.
One was two years old and another was eight months old at that time.
I coudn't believe such a tragedy really happened to someone whom I know.

For two years, she said she hasn't been doing anything but caring for her kids.
However, she also said the kids are growing great and somtimes talk to her gently just like their father.

I couldn't hear that without tears.
I can feel his regret, sadness and anguish to leave his family.

Anything will happen in our lives, good things and bad things....
It is important to live doing what I want and be what I want to be, so not to regret later.

I just told her that all of you are always in my thoughts and prayer and keep going little by little....

Jurassic

Last weekend, I went to see a dinosaur's footprints with my family.
After three hours' drive, we finally arrived the place we can see the footprints' fossil.
It stands by the road in the mountain. It was found on the way to construct the road.
The footprints are like the holes on the stone wall that stands vertically not flat.
It seems strange.....but after millions of years past.....the (earth) ground moved...
maybe.... ;-)

The footprints were smaller than I expected. Scientists say the dinosaurs were bird-like ones, like ostrich. Hmmm, it's interesting, isn't it?

taste Spring

Colourful flowers are blooming in the garden. Fresh green leaves are growing.
It is the middle of Spring in Japan. I like Autum the best, but this time of the year, I can feel energies of natural. Everything is beautiful and full of real lives.

I picked edible plants (actually they are weeds...) in the field in front of my house.
It is my seasonal event. We can eat the plants only in this season, early Spring.
I cooked them Tempura, deep fried dish. It taste "Spring" and delicious!

We love Disney after all...

One of my daughter has been sick for three days.
She had a fever this morning and absents from school today.
Her condition is not so serious though she has to be in bed.
She can eat, drink and watch the Disney channel all day ;-)

To her great disappointment, today is the very last day of the school year.
It is the day that the HR teacher will give a kind of certificate to the students who hadn't been absent during the semester and celebrate them.
Yes....she went to school every day without fail except TODAY.
She was really looking forward to getting the certifcate and alomst cried when I told her she couldn't go to school this morning.

However, now, she laughed watching the Disney channel.

She was HE!

Two new students came to my class. I had had their names in advance.
One name was a girl's name and the other was a boy's name.
At the beginning of the class, I checked their names and faces.
I felt a little bit strange because the new students were girls. Then I talked to one student "are you...Miss S?" She said she wasn't. So I said "well then, are you Miss U?"
To my surprise, she said in a loud voice "no. I'm Mr.!"
She was HE!!!!

After the class, I apologized him and suggested to have a hair cut.
He said he was going to get his hair cut soon.

Come to Japan! Eddie!!

I went to buy a metronome for my kids' piano lesson. The piano instructor told that they should practice the piano with a metronome but mine had broken and I threw it away months ago.

The shop I bought a metronome was in disorder. There were lots of guitars and accessories here and there, and you can smell of hard rock and heavy metal things everywhere.
Then, I noticed the cover of a magazine which was displayed on the shelf.
"Is the man Eddie? Van Halen?" I thought and turned a few pages. It said that the band officially announced the North American Tour this Summer.

Wow...isn't that great? Two decades ago, they were definitely one of my best favorite band.
I hope they will tour in Japan!

Stones for strong men

Kids have no school on Saturday.
So, yesterday, I took them for a walk to a shrine which is famous for a stone.

An old story says the stone was for strong men to show their strength and power.
Such kind of stones are called Chikara-ishi. "Chikara" means a power and "ishi" means a stone and there are a lot of "chikara-ishi" stones around Japan.
The stone we saw is the biggest and heaviest stone in Japan.
It weighs 610 kg!! Can you believe it? It is impossible to lift it even if you are an olympic champion! The names of the strong men who could lift it (how!?) were carved on the stone.
The story was about a few hundreds years ago and one of the famous strong men was a sumo wrestler, U-no-suke. His name was carved on more than 30 chikara-ishi stones around Japan. He was amazing!

My kids tried to move it, of course, they couldn't!

the funniest wig ever

I went to Tokyo to see the street performers who wear very unusual and strange costumes but also very Japanesque. I found them on the internet during surfing and since then they have been in my mind!

Their performance was so funny that kids (including mine) were laughing a lot.

Because of the uniqueness of their appearance, they sometimes perform abroad.

Girls' festival

March 3rd is the day called "Hina-matsuri" , a festival for girls in Japan.
We decorate dolls and miniature of furniture in the room and have traditonal Japanese cuisine.
We have also boys' festival called "Tango no sekku (Children's day)" . It is on May 5th. On this day, You can see cloths-made large carp flags here and there which are swimming in the sky!

out of season

When I stepped out from the front door this morning, the citrus-like fragrance covered the path to the gate. It was Jin-chou-ge (daphne) coming out. I think the blooming season comes earlier than usual.
Here in Tokyo area, there is no snow this Winter so far(it is very unusual) and the Spring has almost come!! It is because the global warming, isn't it?

How is your country?

I'm full !

I went shopping with my sister today.
To tell the truth, I met her to chat trivial things in life....women always do that ;-)

We had Itallian lunch with dessert and hanged around in the department store.
Before we got home, we went to the store's basement floor where is the large food market and you can get foods, dishes and sweets. Yes, I bought croquettes, chickens and a loaf of pound cake for my family. When you see a lot of delicious foods, you can't pass through, right?
Especially you are a woman! ;-)

Zathura

I watched an American movie "Zathura" at Star Channel.
It's a kids' movie and made in 2005.
Before watching movie, I had read this picture book "Zathura" for my kids a few years ago.
I didn't know the movie coming. The impression of the book cover was so strong and I took it at library. It was a very good picture book.

Does good books become good movies?
Mmm......It's a difficult question. The movie"zathura" was not so bad for kids.
They laughed and enjoyed their time but, for adults, it's a little bit boring.

To add, to you who don't know. Zathura was written by the same author who wrote "Jumanji".

One day in Tokyo

One of my daughter had an orthodontist's appointment today.
She has braces with upper teeth.

After the appointment, we went to the International Library of Children's Literature. It started as a branch of the National Diet Library six years ago. The building is very gorgeous and about one hundred years old!
My daughters were delighted to see so many children's books and spend one and a half hours reading.

We also saw a street performer while our walking in the park. He was so funny! I laughed a loud, had a very enjoyable time, so I put (a little bit) money in his bag ;-)

Finally we got home, and we had my father in law's hand-made Japanese noodle for dinner.
He kneads and cooks Japanese noodle whenever I go out all day. He is nice, isn't he? ;-)

fat lunch for middle aged couple

My husband and I had a lunch at K-------- Fried Chicken today.

At first we went to the book store, bought some books and hanging around there.
It was not a shopping mall but it's a very huge area where several shops and stores for cloths, food market, DIY, computers... are located. Each building is bigger than normal.
We somtimes drive there for shopping.

He said he was hungry and wanted to have some chickens after a long time.
I remembered a "trance fat somthing"(sp?) in recent news but I agreed with him.
After we had lunch, chickens and coke, we soon regretted our choice.

The fat was too heavy for us to digest. We're not so young....

For income tax declaration

I gathered last years' hospital receipts and count them how much money did we spent for medical treatments. If the cost is more than the standard, our tax will be deducted.

Last year, I mean for ONE year, how much money do you think we paid for medical things?
Almost 500,000 yen! Traveling fee was included, we had to use the express trains to hospitals, wow...however, it is too much money!

One of the reason is that we, my husband and I, had took One-day-medical-check for researcing cancers including PET, CT, MRI etc. That's very expensive one.

How much money will we get? I mean, will THEY back to us!?

a dead mouse

My daughter found a dead mouse on her way home from school and brought it back with her!

I didn't see that but my father in law (her grandpa) did and scolded about that.
Therefore, she buried the dead animal in the corner of the farm.

I didn't angry with her behaviour but just asked why she brought it to home.
She said she was sorry for the mouse and just couldn't pass by, so took it with abandoned tin can to bring without touch.

I understand her but told that there was a deadly infection in the Middle Ages , a third of the Europeans were killed and the infection had scattered through mice and dead mice.

She knew that history and understood what I wanted to say.
I hope she won't bring dead animals any more!

for the Earth

I like walking and cycling. I have a reason for this.

I don't...can't...drive!
Yap, I have a driving licence but haven't driven for decades!
I always go out with my licence because I use it as an ID card.
It's very helpful ;-) I am, so called, "a paper driver"

I said I live in countryside.
So they say they can't believe I don't drive though I have a licence.

I'm OK, and I like going out by my own self.
It is very natural and good for health and good for the Earth!

HP #6

hmm....It is difficult to keep up updating this brog than I thought.
Three lines means a lot to me.

I have read Harry Potter #6, the half blood prince...? something like that.
I know the #7 will be published this summer, so I thought I should read #6 before that.
I read 20-30 pages of the beginning and enjoy the story very much though Harry has not showed yet ;-)

Happy Valentine!

I baked a chocolate cake for Valentine day. Correctly, the baking machine baked the cake. It tastes better than I baked. ;-)

I sent the e-mail Valentine card to Mr. T. the doctor. He sent me back an answer soon after he got my card. He is very nice person. :-)

Reunion

I'm going to meet my high school friends next month. It's been almost 20 years since we graduated. Updating each other about recent life via e-mail, one of my friends wrote me a letter(snail mail). She said her job is totally changed and she works at kinda call center and feels unsettled. Therefore she cannot(doesn't want to) come to the gathering.

yeah, she doesn't get marry, has no kids, and her work is not what she wanted to (maybe)...

She was a good friend of mine through my high school years. After a few decades, I have a lot of things to talk with. I'm so sorry for her not coming.
I e-mailed her to tell ''I'll make a next time and see you then!'' I hope she will.

odd feeling

I have lived here for 6 months. It's my husband's hometown. During our marriage, we moved and changed our home six times from north to south around Japan, and finally, we settled down and decided to live here for the rest of our lives.

To be honest, sometimes, I have odd feeling that I belong to nothing. I love my husband and daughters.....but I feel uncomfortable staying in my house, walking around neighborhood, attending the school assembly for parents....I feel I can't find my place....the place where I am what I am.....

Hard to explain...but it's true. Am I depressed a little?

National Treasures

My daughter had an orthodontist's appointment today.
She got kinda new lower jaw expander. She said that she felt a little bit strange with the device. I told her ''you are getting used to be with as much time as you put it in your mouth'' though I never had ortho-things....

After the appointment, we went to the Tokyo National Museum.
It has too many wonderful treasures to see around for one day. However my daughter and I enjoyed very much even though we could see only a half of them.
We should go back to visit the Museum again to see the rest.

I can't jump anymore.

It is sunny here. No rain for almost two weeks.
I see farms and bamboo bush from the window in front of my desk. Here is the countryside in Japan.

My younger daughter came home from school. As soon as she threw her bag on the floor, she urged me to see how well she can do jumping rope. She is practicing double jump at one skip and better and better every day.

Through winter season, kids are encouraged to do jumping rope at school recess and P.E. in Japan. I did(could), too in my early childhood....but I can't anymore.