Helicopter ruckus solved!!

This morning the City of Osaka stormed into Utsubo park and removed all of the BLUE TENTS. Apparantly the City used all resources available, including police helicopters. BLUE TENTS are the "houses" of homeless people. Japan used to be known as the "country with no homeless." If that was ever true or not, I don`t know, but in 2006, now, that is for sure NOT TRUE! I see homeless people all over Osaka city and sometimes even in the suburbs. The City decided to remove all BLUE TENTS from Utsubo and Osaka park about a month ago and I guess time ran out for the homeless who did not voluntarily leave until today. This is a very difficult problem. Many women who live near the park say at night that they are scared. A legitimate complaint. Other people feel that the BLUE TENTS look terrible and ruin the atmosphere. On the other hand, many of these homeless are harmless. They have no where to live so where will they go next? The debate can go on and on, but one thing is for sure. When you have a lot of homeless in your country, this is a very serious problem and a reflection of the society(Japan) itself...and it is not a good reflection.........

Just thinking out loud...

Did you notice that the fashion of the 11 women living with the guy in Tokyo is really old, out-of-style, out-of-fashion?!!? Their clothes are very out-of-fashion, like from the 80`s. Their clothes look like the fashion I sometimes see on t.v. about North Korea. It`s strange...

"Good Moooooooorrrrrrrrrrrning Vietnam!"

For the past hour there have been helicopters hovering over Honmachi! Why? I don`t know but maybe there was a car accident or something. I hope it is nothing serious, but to be honest it was pretty loud and annoying during class.

6. Useful English: SLACK OFF

*to be lazy. Recently I slacked off and didn`t update "Useful English.".// Don`t slack off!.// He is a slacker!=He`s lazy and doesn`t work hard!

LUCKY GUY? and BOBBY!

A 50 something year old guy was arrested yesterday for living in a "harlem" with 10 women. (He lived with 10 women!!! Lucky guy!?(JOKE!) For most men living with one woman is not easy, but 10, at the same time!!! Unbeleivable! ) One of the woman is 53, and the rest are in their 20`s. He married and divorced all of them. He has a child with one of them. The incident is in the early stages of the investigation but it appears most of the woman testified that they "wanted" to live together. If it wasn`t for Livedoor and Bobby, this story would be the top news!

Now, BOBBY Orogon, the t.v. personality and K-1 fighter, had a little problem yesterday. He allegedly went into his manager`s office and threw some things and people around. He says his manager owes him about 20 million yen. I heard that the American t.v. personality SEIN?, the guy from Sanma`s "Karakuri`s funny English" show, also had money trouble with that manager and eventually left that manager. Maybe Bobby is telling the truth? Or maybe, this entire incident is just a stint (by the office ) to promote Bobby and the other K-1 fighter who he fought with in the office yesterday!? Remember, this is show business and anything is possible!!!

Mom-Dad & Aunt-Uncle in America !

From the left is my mother Janis, father Ed, aunt Leslie, and Uncle Larry. My mother is an elementary school teacher, my father works in a company, my aunt is a travel agent, and my uncle is a doctor. They spent the weekend in Ocean City, New Jersey. My aunt and unlce have a beach house there. It is very beautiful and luxurious!! My mother and aunt look alike because they are sisters. In the pic they went for a walk on the beach on New Year`s morning. As you can see, they are also drinking some large coffees and eating some coffee cake or skones or something ;)

BOATS....

This is a small dock and some boats I could see from the ferris wheel. I got sea sick once really bad when I went dep sea fishing when I was a child. But when I worked in a Yacht club in Sydney, Australia I got over my fear of sea sickness. (well, maybe not 100% over, but about 80%). Either way, one day I want to own a boat in the future like my student, Mr. F! ;)

FERRIS WHEELS AND THE TOWER

Do you like ferris wheels? I don`t!!! I am scared of heights but when I went to Fukuoka I went on one! It wasn`t as scary as I expected, but I don`t plan to ride any ferris wheels again in the near future! ;)
As you can see the view from the ferris wheel was beautiful!!! I really love the ocean and mountains!
This is the famous? ;) Fukuoka Tower and I also think maybe? you can see the Fukuoka dome somewhere in the background, but I am not sure...

RAMEN...

This is one of the ramen shops I visited in Fukuoka. It is called Ichiran. It is very famous and there was a long line outside the restaurant. I had to wait about 1 hour to get in. The ramen was excellent!!! And the style of the restaurant was unique because everyone eats in a booth. Also in Kyushu you can order an extra-serving of noodles to add to your soup after you finish the first serving of noodles. I highly recommend to try this ramen if you go to Fukuoaka. Recently I go to Kamakura ramen shop in Nanba sometimes. I like that because the soup is hot but to be honest I don`t really think that is "ramen." My favorite ramen shop is near Honamchi and is called RAMEN-MAN. Please try it!

Snow flurries

Last night it snowed in Osaka. Also right now it is flurrying. It looks like cold winter is back!!! When I was a child in Philadelphia, my home town, I liked to play snow football in the snow! Also I liked to go skiing! I skied in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado many times! It was unbelievable!! There was always a lot of powder and the snow was very soft! I have never been skiing in Japan, but I heard that in Nagano there are many big mountains.

5. Useful English: TOUCHY

*easily becoming offended or annoyed. "How come he is so touchy these days?"/"I heard his is under a lot of pressure from his boss."

That`s a touchy subject! I wouldn`t talk about that!

Useful English 4: Thin-skinned

*too easily offended or upset by criticism. You have to be careful with your choice of words around him. He`s a thin-skinned guy!

Useful English 3: FRAGILE

*not strong and therefore easily broken or damaged. FRAGILE! Handle with care!! The antiques are very fragile so be careful!

*a fragile person looks thin and delicate and is often weak or likely to get sick. Keiko took her high school entrance exam yesterday today she is sick in bed-she`s super-fragile.

Me in Fukuoka!

HORSE MEAT!!!!!!!!

I tried raw horse meat for the first time when I went to Kumamoto. Horse meat is famous in Kumamoto. Many people say that the meat smells bad, but I didn`t think so. I liked it. It was the first time I had ever eaten raw horse as sashimi. But before I ate horse meat as sushi a few times in Osaka. Speaking of horses, today is Sunday. Sunday is a big horse race day!! haha ;) Just a joke!

"Year of the DOG!"

Woaf! Woaf!! ;) On the Chinese horoscope, this is the year of the DOG! I love dogs, especially medium and big-size dogs like shibas, akita-kens, kishu dogs, german shephards...But, I was born in 1974, so I am a TIGER! My brother was born in 1976, so he is a DRAGON!

This dogs is protecting the shrine! He looks a little scary! This shrine is for good luck in business, safety in the home, and good luck on passing entrance examinations. For some reason I really like shrines. I went to about 7 or 8 shrines over New Year`s vacation... I prayed a lot!!!

Fukuoka Outside food stalls!!

In this pic, you can see all the stalls lined up along the river in Nakasu. Some of the stalls have plastic sheets as walls and some are made from portable wooden screen doors. With all the neon lights in the background, and with the river, it`s a pretty cool atmosphere.

The shop I went to was packed! And a little tight for a big kid like me ;) ! But it is very clean and the food was pretty good! Also, it wasn`t so expensive, but also it wasn`t cheap!

The staff was also nice. 2 women and 2 men worked there. I was surprised that 4 people worked in such a small shop! This shop had all kinds of food!!! A lot of the other shops had ramen! Many people waited in line outside to eat the ramen! I couldn`t believe it because it was pretty cold outside.

Dinner at a friend`s house

Last Sunday I was invited to my friend Mr. M`s , house for dinner. He lives in Nara and he was kind enough to come and pick me up and take me to his house. It was my first time there and he introduced me to his son (above) and wife. His wife prepared a great crab and meat/fish nabe and we all ate and talked for a few hours. His son just got engaged! CONGRATS! Mr. M used to be in the Self Defense Force. After he retired, he joined an interesting company and now works under the President. Now his son is in the SDF in the medic division...I met Mr. M one day passing out flyers about a year and a half ago. We met totally by chance, but since then we kept in touch by email and met once at my classroom. It was really nice of him to invite me to his house. I was thankful! On the way home I took the train. I used to live in Nara but I haven`t been to Nara in a long time. When I got on the train I laughed...It was about 9pm, but I was the only one in the train car...it was funny.

2.Useful English!! : delicate

*needing to be dealt with carefully or sensitively in order to avoid problems or failure. a delicate issue. a delicate situation. Be careful with what you say, she is a delicate woman!

*someone who is delicate is hurt easily or easily becomes sick. I take great care in preparing meals because my child is quite delicate and has allergies.

1. Useful English!! "SENSITIVE"

sensitive:

*able to understand other people`s feeling and problems. Parents must be sensitive to their children`s needs.

*easily hurt or offended by things that people say. He`s a very sensitive person.

Useful English!!

This year I have added a new addition to the blog. It`s called "Useful English!!" (Almost) Everyday I will post a new word/expression on the Blog. This section of the Blog will always be in the color WHITE! I will include some example sentences with each word/expression. If you need further explanation please look up the word in the dictionary posted on the blog on the right-hand side (BEST DICTIONARY) or please ask me directly. I hope this is a good study tool for you!

2006

I`m back...I know that you all missed me! ;) Well, it`s 2006. I started work again yesterday. I went on a little trip which I will periodically write about later with some cool pics!!! It was a good day, but also a little difficult because half of my mind and body was still in "vacation mode". Today is 100% ok, maybe.. :o) From now I will go to the airport where I teach every Friday. I take the Nankai line Rapit train, which is really nice! Oh, I almost forgot... Many people make New Year`s resolutions when a new year begins. Also, many people break their New Year`s resolutions about 2 weeks after they make them. Did you make any? Will you break them too? One of my many New Year`s resolutions is to lose weight...I want to lose about 7 kilograms by the end of March...We shall see...