Northstar Lodge

Did you hear REES is organising a funfilled English camp for kids?

Did you think 'Wow, wish I was eleven years old so I could go too!'?

Well, you don't have to go too far to have a great time relaxing and enjoying the outdoors and practise your English at the same time.

Last weekend I stayed at Northstar Lodge in Norikura.

The lodge is run by an American Daniel Junker and his family.

Daniel was born and raised right here in Matsumoto.

The staff at the lodge come from all over the world. I spoke to some Americans, a Canadian and a Swedish guy, too- plenty of opportunity to practise English!

But, like the REES kids' camp you want to have some fun while you're there too, right?

Northstar has plenty to do indoors and out and all year round. Check out the website for more details:

http://www.ridenorthstar.com/

Here's some pictures of us having fun there:

rain rain rain

The rain yesterday was amazing wasn't it?

I was out for a walk when all of a sudden it started raining.

I'm from Australia.

It really doesn't rain very much in Australia.

The average annual rainfall where I`m from is about 500mm

In Matsumoto the average is 1018 mm a year.

That's over double!!

But it's not the highest rainfall at all.

The highest average annual rainfall is in Hawaii.

Mt. Waialeale, on the island Kauai in Hawaii, receives an average of 12,039 mm of rain a year.

Wow. That's a lot of rain!!

hangman

Do you know the game hangman?

I love it.

It's a simple game of guessing a word by suggesting one letter at a time.

If you're right the letter is written in place and you guess again.

If you're wrong one line is drawn on your hangman.

When all the lines are drawn you're dead!

Hmmm, when you explain it like that it sounds pretty bad but it's actually a lot of fun.

I found quite a few online hangman sites so I thought I'd introduce a couple.

The first one is Hangman especially for ESL students.

Click on the catergory you want to play and the word you have to guess will be in that category.

http://www.1-language.com/eslhangman/index.htm

The next one is a bit trickier but you get 10 wrong guesses before you die.

You can also put your name on the high score table if you win. :)

http://www.fun-with-words.com/hangman.html

There are all sorts of strange hangman games out their too.

How many types of dog do you know? Labrador, poodle, Shitzu... um...

Try this dog breed hangman and see how you go:

http://www.hangman-online.com/dog-breeds.php

Happy Hagmaning!!

Is that English?

Sorry I'm late. I borrowed my mother's my car and it had an engine stop.

Last week I saw Brapi at a Live House and I got his sign!!!!!

Did you undertand what I said?

Guess what? If I showed those sentences to most English speakers outside Japan they probably wouldn't know what I was talking about.

Yup, it looks like English but it's not.

Here is the same sentences in regular English:

Sorry I'm late. I borrowed my mother's car and it broke down.

Last week I saw Brad Pitt at a bar with live music and I got his autograph!!!!

There are lots of words in Japanese that come from English but aren't used by English speakers. Here's a list to be careful about:


Japanese English

ライブハウス bar with live music
ガッツポーズ triumphant, victorious
レベル　アップ upgrade, improve
サラリーマン employee, business person
パラサイト・シングル adult who lives at home
レース　クイーン promotion girls
サイン autograph
モデル　ルーム showroom, model home
CM commercial
GW Golden Week
アポ appointment
キャスター newscaster
コンペ competition
ショート short stop
ゼネコン general contractor
パソコン personal computer
ブラピ Brad Pitt
テロ terrorism

There are lots more, too.

Click on the link below to see a more complete list:
http://honyakuhome.org/glossary/scratchers

But sometimes Japanese English words catch on in English. CoolBiz is a word that started in Japan and is now used to mean the same thing in English.

Until next time
Stay cool!

Hello!

My neighbour alway says 'Ola! Heather' when she sees me.

Can you guess where she's from?

She's Japanese but she was born in Brazil.

Ola is hello in Portuguese.

How many languages can you say hello in?

Try this quiz and see how you go. :)

http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz2593321db0ee8.html

Breakfast in Bed

This Sunday is Father's Day.

What are you going to do for your father this year?

Are you going to buy something?

Are you going to make something?

Are you going to do something together?

When I lived in Australia every year my brother, sister and I made my dad breakfast in bed.

Before we were old enough to make breakfast our mum would make it for us to give him. Check out this gorgeous photo of someone's first Father's Day.




What do we make for Father's Day breakfast in bed?

Usually something that we don't eat everyday. Something special.

Have a look at this example of a breakfast in bed:



So how about it?

How about making breakfast in bed for your Dad this Sunday?

Until next time.... :)

Ice-cream? mmmm, no thanks!

A friend sent me an email with a link to this site:

http://www.bertc.com/japanese_ice_creams.htm

She asked me if I'd ever eaten any of the icecreams there.

Unagi icecream? No thank you!!

But I have tried wasabi icecream.

Have you ever tasted it?

I tried it at Daio Wasabi Farm in Hotaka.

What's the strangest ice-cream you've ever eaten?

I've had squid ink ice-cream in Kanazawa.

It didn't really taste like squid though.

I really liked this icecream when I ate it.



Can you tell what flavour it is?

Chocolate?

Noooooooooo. Look again.

Yup. Chilli chocolate.

It's surprisingly good.

If you get a chance you should try it.