This Week's Homework !!

David and Victoria are husband and wife.
David is 29 years old and Victoria is 27 .
They are both from USA, and both their ancestors were Italian.
They run a small coffeehouse in USA, and they enjoy watching soccer games and cheer their local team at soccer stadiums in their free time.
Now they are traveling Italy. This old building has a legend that Beauty and Beast had hold a wedding ceremony there a long time ago. It has a big memory for them because they first met there when they were young traveler. They come back there for the first time in about 8 years.

At Yurigahara Park

The other day, I went to Yurigahara Park.



It is at North Ward in Sapporo. In the park, there are about 100 kinds of lilies, and what is more, other various kinds of flowers are there. So we can enjoy different flowers in every season.



Wisteria flowers (Fuji) were at their best then, and wisteria trellis were lovely light purple.

The park is near the Okadama Airport, so we can see airplains larger and hear their engine sounds bigger.







While looking at flowers, I saw a pretty fox in the grass.






I don't know about flowers very much, but I took some pictures there and I was pleased with their beauty. After coming back home, I noticed one important thing. I didn't take any pictures of lilies! How foolish I was!!

My Friend's New Start

Last Friday, I went to an Itallian restaurant with my friend after "SGU Computer English" class. My friend, Ms. K, had been seeking for her new job for about 4 months, and the Monday before, she founded it. However, I heard from her that she would go to Tokyo for her job from this July. It was decided so suddenly that I was very surprised. She had short time until July, so we decided to meet at once.

At the restaurant, we had quite a good time talking about old times while eating delicious food. We worked at same office together before. We had many pleasant memories then. I feel very sad at the news of her going to Tokyo, but I hope her good luck at the new place.

Thunder!!!

It's thundering outside.
A clap of thunder broke above our flat a short time ago.
A heavy rain began to fall.
The babies next door are screaming like thunder.

Speaking of thunder, do you know the person who was hit by lightning as many as 7 times ?
His name is Roy Sullivan. He was injured his leg, toe nail, shoulder, ankle, chest, and stomach by each lightning, and he also set his eyeblows and hairs on fire. However, the injuries were not seriously. He died in 1983, but his death had nothing to do with lightning. I learned the story at SGU English Conversation class and I also have once watched this story on TV before.

Why do you think he alone was hit by thunder so many times?
According to the TV program, people who are easily hit by lightning have much water in their body than others. I don't know if it is the main reason of being easily hit by lightening, but the fact is very interesting.

Anyway, I don't like thunder, lightning, nor rain. I'm longing for fine day very much!!!

Crazy about Soup-Curry!

Have you ever eaten Soup-Curry?

In Japan, we have generally ate "curry and rice" for a long time.
The curry is roux-curry, thicken by wheat flour.
The rice is covered with curry, and we eat rice and curry together.

However, Soup-Curry is not like "curry and rice".
The features of Soup-Curry are as followings;

1. The soup
Its soup is literally 'soup', very smooth curry. We eat soup and rice separately; sipping soup and eating rice by turns. We can also dip rice into soup and eat.

2. Its spicy taste
At Soup-Curry restaurant, we can usually choose the quantity of spice, but its tastes are usually hot and spicy.

3. Many vegetables
There are many vegetables in the soup; carrot, pimiento, potate, eggplant, okra, a boiled egg, broccoli and so on. The each vegetables in the soup is cut larger than those of "rice and curry", it's my favorite point.

The Soup-Curry has begun to be popular for around 10 years in my hometown, Sapporo. Today, it became one of the features of Sapporo (see this site) .
When I ate Soup-Curry for the first time, I was surprised at its spicy taste. I said at first, "I don't think I can eat all the soup". But as I ate, I became addicted to the spicy taste. Now I'm crazy about Soup-Curry! Looking for delicious Soup-Curry restaurants became my hobby. If you know a good Soup-Curry restaurant, tell me please!!

Urashima-Tarou

I take two classes of SGU-community-college. One is 'Enjoy English!' class, for English conversation. Another one is 'Computer English class', for improving English skill by using computer---internet and so on; I was taught how to make this blog by the teacher of this class, Bob. Both two classes are fun and I'm enjoying them very much.

There is one more person who takes same two classes. He is Tetsu.

Today, at 'Enjoy English!' class, Tetsu was my conversation's partner. We talked about Japanese old story 'Urashima-Tarou' in English. Translating Japanese old story into English was difficult because some expressions became strange (for example,'tai ya hirame no maiodori' became 'fishes are dancing!'), but it was funny and I liked it.
I had a very enjoyable time by using English.

By the way, I found a interesting site, 'Old Stories of Japan'.
You can read many Japanese old stories translated into English in the site. There are so many stories that you may not know some of the stories, but don't worry, you can also read in Japanese. If you read this nostalgic site, you may rediscover the new things about Japan.

One-Day Flower Trip

Last Sunday, June 4th, I made a one-day trip by bus with my colleague.
We went to Takinoue and Kamiyubetsu to see many beautiful flowers.
Although it had been cold weather till the previous day,
the day was sunny, warm, and great day for viewing flowers.

At Takinoue, we saw a beautiful garden of Sibazakura(moss pink).
Everywhere in the garden were colored pink.








At Kamiyubetsu, there were various colors of tulips.
The arrangements of colors were fantastic!
We seemed to be in the Netherlands.







We traveled about 600km in only one day!
Though my backside ached a little,
the day became an unforgettable memory!!