Best present

I think for me, and maybe most people, it's not the value of a present, but the thought and effort that goes into it. The other night, my daughter gave me and my family the best present I've ever received.

When I came home, Erika was so excited that I could barely understand what she was talking about. She grabbed me and pulled me over to the living room where I saw this cool, purple shelf decorated with dried flowers, ribbons and felt. She proudly explained how she had cut the wood herself and then nailed it together. She painted it and then pasted on felt shapes that made out the faces of all of our family. I couldn't believe that a 6 year old could do such great work! My first thought would have been that the teacher had done most of it, but I know that her school places a lot of value on kids being creative and doing things with very little help and guidance. Her pride also told me that she had put her heart into the project.

I'll keep our shelf as a wonderful reminder of this time in our lives and the love my daughter has for our family.

12th post

What's the best present you've ever received?

Winter break

Every year my friends come over to my house for Christmas. We eat and drink a lot while catching up on what's been going on. This year I'm going to cook a big turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce. We'll also have pies and other dishes. We usually drink beer and wine or sometimes cocktails. Last week I started brewing a batch of special Christmas beer, so this Christmas, we can have that. Christmas beer is full of spices like cinnamon,ginger, and orange peel. Mmm. I'm looking forward to trying it.

11th post

What are you plans for the winter break? Will you study? travel? sleep under the kotatsu?

Adulthood

I've felt like an "adult" my whole life. Of course, I always knew I was a kid, or a teenager, or whatever, but even when I was in elementary school, I remember feeling like I really knew what was going on and I hated being treated like a child. It used to make me so angry when my parents or teachers would tell me I couldn't do something or make my own choices just because I was not a grown up.

In America, there is no particular ceremony or age that clearly marks adulthood. We can drive somewhere around 16, watch adult movies at 17, smoke and vote at 18 and finally drink at 21 (of course most people start sooner). At some point when I was in college and living on my own, people started to treat me like an adult and expect me to act like one.

However, now I feel like I really became an adult when I became responsible for other people - both as a teacher and a father. I can't think only about myself. My actions have a direct affect on the lives of others. I guess that responsibility really feels like adulthood to me.

10th post

What does it mean to be an adult? When will you think of yourself as a grown up?

My earliest memory

My memories of childhood are a random collection of images, feelings, and people. I'm not sure which one is the earliest memory for sure, but I don't think I can remember anything before I was four years old. That was when my family moved from Lynn, a suburb just outside Boston, to Framingham, a small town about one hour away. I remember my parents packing up all of our stuff into boxes and my dad talking to his sister and her husband about our house. I later realized that they were buying our old house. I was so excited that my dad let me ride in the moving truck with him, but I don't think I really understood what was going on. I said bye to my friends from the neighborhood, but I didn't realize that I would no longer see them every day.

When we arrived at our new home, I think I asked where the other people who lived there went and when they would be back. Since our new home was in a more rural area, we had a forest for a backyard. It was so exciting to run outside and explore the big rocks and play among the trees. My family lived in that house until I went off to college.

When I go back to visit my aunt in Lynn, I am so glad we moved. That neighborhood has really gone downhill and is now a pretty dangerous place. I feel fortunate that my parents got us out of there in time, but I feel bad that we passed the house on to my relatives!

9th post

What's your earliest childhood memory?

Future destinations

It's been a while since I've traveled somewhere that I just wanted to go to for myself. When I first arrived in Japan, I did my best to explore this country on my weekends and when I had a longer break, I took off to other destinations, like Hong Kong, Thailand, Bali, Singapore, the Philippines, or Mexico. More recently, my trips have been fewer and usually back to the US to see family. That's why I'm really excited about this winter.

First, I'm going to Chiang Mai, Thailand for a teacher's conference. I'll be presenting about our blogging project there. It'll be good to meet local teachers as well as educators from all over Asia, but I'm also hoping to see a bit of the city and surrounding sights.

After that, I'm off to Cambodia for another conference, this one on service learning (having students volunteer as part of their English course). I've never been there so it should be pretty exciting. If all goes well, I can shoot down to Angkor Wat, too.

My last trip will be purely for fun - Hawaii. I'm not a hundred percent sure about this one, but I think I'll be spending part of March swimming in the warm water of Ala Moana beach and sipping Mai Tais at sunset. My brother lives there, too. Bonus!

8th post

What countries are you thinking about visiting in the future (study abroad or just travel)? Why?

Women and Men

I think most men and most women experience life very differently. Generally, woman use emotion and consider personal relationships more when making decisions or interpreting what's going on around them. This is why women often go to the restroom together (how many really need to go?) On the other hand, men tend to use logic and rely on outside measures, like achievement or reward when deciding how to act or what to do. If you want a man (or a dog) to do something, offer him something he wants and then say "good boy!"


These differences become a problem when a man and woman are trying to make a decision together or when they are thinking about choices the other has made. Of course it's not true all the time or in every case, but I think these differences certainly affect a lot of people and relationships. What do you think?

7th post

What do you think is the greatest misunderstanding or misperception between men and women?

Fall

I love Fall. I grew up in New England, which has really beautiful fall foliage (autumn leaves), and now that I'm living in Japan, I can see the changing colors as well. Fall foods rock as well - Asian pears, persimmons, sweet potatoes. But, what is really special this season in Japan is the festivals. Universities have their festivals, which are loads of fun, and towns and neighborhoods also have their own traditional "matsuri". Fall festivals might seems ordinary to you, but for someone from outside of Japan, they are truly unique. I recommend you get some pictures of local festivals to show people when you travel or study abroad.

6th post

Fall is finally here. What do you think of this season? How does it compare to other seasons?

My type

I guess you could say my wife is my type (hopefully!). I'm not sure exactly what that type is, but I can you why I fell in love her: I took her to a park with a romantic view one evening. I thought it was nice to create a good mood... and she tried to Judo flip me into the fountain. She doesn't remember this but I do. When she tried that (and failed miserably) I realized that she was the woman for me. I guess that means I like people who are strong (in spirit), courageous (not afraid to try something even if they will fail), and funny (I assume she was joking). It didn't hurt that I thought she was pretty cute, too :)

5th post

What's your type?

Since I'm too old to be in touch with what is considered "fashionable" or "cool", I'm going to comment on a trend closer to my heart and the lives of other guys like me - beer. When I arrived in Japan after graduating from college, I was happy to find that beer was easily available - at the convenience store, supermarket, even in vending machines (these are unique to Japan and some parts of Europe). One thing I noticed though, was that nearly all the beer was one type - lager. Good lagers, even better than most mass-produced American lagers like Budweiser or Coors. But only lagers. Super Dry was lager. Malts was lager. Lager was lager. I missed the heartier ales and stouts that I could get so easily at bars and liquor stores back home.


While traveling around Japan I found that there were small groups of beer enthusiasts who appreciated different types of beer and were brewing them in the countryside at microbreweries. Unfortunately, Japanese laws prevented these from being sold on a large scale.


As the years passed, I began finding Irish pubs, commonly called "Gaijin bars," in the cities that often had import beers such as Guinness, a dark stout beer, and occasionally creamy British ales. Unfortunately, these bars were only in urban centers, so I could only get my beer fix every few months when I ventured into the city.

However, recently I see a new trend in Japan. More and more bars are offering not only Guinness, but also other types of beer. Moreover, there are lots of microbreweries and bars that specialize in these tasty brews. Home brewing is even catching on as a hobby.


Friday night I had a locally-brewed Rokko pilsner (the first type of beer ever made) at a bar in my home town of Nishinomiya and I bottled my own honey ale at home.


As a fan of craft beers, I hope this trend continues!

4th post

What are the top trends in Japan today? What kinds of people are into these fads? Why are they so popular? Do you think they will last?

The most unusual custom I've seen is body implants - it's not common among any particular ethnic culture that I know, but some subcultures seem to like it. I once saw a guy with horns on his head at a bar in Hawaii. To risk hurting your body just to be different seems pretty odd to me. I guess you could say that tattooing is the same, but it doesn't seem as extreme to me nor as dangerous. Everything is relative though. For many people in Japan, any tattooing is shocking or seen negatively. I guess we have to realize that different people have different ideas about how to decorate their bodies. Horns anyone?


If I could add one custom to Japanese culture, I think it would be hugging among friends and family. Human touch is important for health and happiness, and it seems like most Japanese who have experience with a touch culture seem to get used to hugging pretty quickly. Hug your friend today!

3rd post

What is the most unusual cultural custom you have experienced or seen? Do you think any Japanese customs are strange? If you could pick one custom from another culture that would become part of Japanese culture, what would it be?

New technology

Right now one of the most useful technologies that I use is an online calendar. I can enter events and appointments from anywhere with Internet access (home, office, etc.) and it sends me reminders one week and 3 days before the date. Recently, I've been so busy that it really helps me coordinate my schedule and avoid missed appointments. More importantly though, I can easily take a look at what's coming up and try to balance what I have to do with what I really want to be doing. The next step is getting access to my calendar on my smart phone (my favorite technology that I don't have yet!).

2nd post

What technology is most important in your life right now? Why? What would you do if you had to live without it?

My Summer

I had a fantastic summer break! Since my family and I just moved to Nishinomiya this year, we decided to stay close to our new home, explore the area, and enjoy catching up with old friends. My daughers, Erika (on the right) and Alina (on the left) had a great time playing inside and out, making lots of new friends at their kindergarten and in our neighborhood. Their favorite activity seems to be role playing, with Erika as "mama" and Alina as "babu-chan" or sometimes "Ojii-san".
Pretty funny to see.

We had a bunch of barbecues over the summer, and I tried to improve my grilling technique. The highlights included spicy pork ribs, sirloin steaks, and chicken shish kebabs. I learned that the key is preparing the meat and using the right amount of heat for what you are cooking. A nice cold beer helps, too.

We did get away for a couple of short trips, including a great weekend camping in Shiga at Lake Biwako. The kids played outside all day and then the adults got to spend some quality time drinking and talking after the kids were in bed.

(the person taking this picture was in a tree :)



The next day my friend and I made our way to the top of the climbing wall. It was great fun!













The best part of my summer, though, had to be swimming at the waterfall near my house. Whenever I had a chance, I hiked there with some friends and we took a dip in the clear, cool water. I was so happy to find such a beautiful, peaceful place right here in Nishinomiya.

Fall Semester: 1st post

Welcome back!

I hope everyone had a great summer. I spent most of mine exploring my new hometown and catching up with old friends. Nishinomiya is really fantastic - lots of good nature spots plus plenty of cool bars and restaurants to keep you busy. I'll post some pictures this week.

How about your summer? Some of you posted over the summer, but most took a blog break. Give us an overview or pick one particular person or place from your summer to tell us about.

This semester we'll be continuing our blogging activity, so try to post at least 10-12 sentences each week. More is even better!

I'm looking forward to seeing your posts.

12th topic

How was your first semester of university?

(This is our last topic of the Spring semester, but I encourage you to keep blogging over the summer!)

11th topic

What are your plans for this summer?

10th topic

Most of you will be going abroad next year. What would you like to bring with you to show your host family or new friends about Japan? Why?

#9

Love

8th topic

Who's your favorite celebrity or other well-known person? What do you like about her or him? Include a photo if you can find one.

7th topic

As the temperature warms up, our minds tend to wander. What are you thinking about these days?

6th topic

Do you know any good restaurants, cafes, bars, or shops? Tell us about your favorite ones in the Kobe/Nishinomiya/Osaka area.

5th topic

Think back through all of the places you've been in your life. Trips you took as a kid, weekends away with your family or friends, or perhaps somewhere you visited more recently. Pick one that is special or unique, and paint us a picture of that place using rich, descriptive language. Make sure to use as many senses as possible.

4th topic

Tell us about your hometown. You can give us a general overview or focus on something special. Remember, you don't need to worry about grammar or organization, just right as much as you can.

3rd topic

This week we're moving from the past to the future. What are you interested in studying and/or doing in the future? This could be as simple as some courses you'd like to take or a more detailed path to your dream career. Even if you aren't sure, just imagine.

2nd topic

This week we'll continue on the theme of Education and Student Life, but now I'd like you to look back into your past experience. Write about a teacher or course that influenced your way of looking at the world or changed your life in some way (positively or negatively).

Also, now I'd like you to comment on at least of your group members' blogs.

Enjoy!

1st blog topic

Now that we all have blogs up and running. Let's get to our first topic. Tell us about either, your first impressions of college life (academic, extracurricular, home, etc.) in general, or your first impressions of kangaku in particular (campus, courses, student body, etc.). Try to write at least 10-12 sentences. More is even better. Don't worry about organization or grammar, but please at least run the spell check before posting.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Introduction

This is Kevin's English I class 5's Awesome English Blog. From here you can find links to your classmate's blogs.