Calendar

It's time for Christmas. I send some Christmas cards and exchange gifts at this time of the year.

A German friend of mine I used to go to university with sends me gifts every year. I studied at a UK university ten years ago. This calendar is handmade! The photos were taken and the dates were written by her. The photos remind me of beautiful places in southeast England and happy and hard days as a student.

I read "Katte saito: Senkusha ga akasu keitai bijinesu no shin kijiku" by Junya Ishino.

Overnight stay in Kagoshima

I went back to Kagoshima on Friday to attend a function and meet some friends.

It took roughly 7 hours to travel from Shizuoka to Kagoshima: one hour from home to Shizuoka Station; one hour and a half from Shizuoka to Shinagawa; one hour from Shinagawa to Haneda; two hours from Haneda to Kagoshima; and one hour and a half from Kagoshima Airport to downtown Kagoshima. I NEED Shizuoka Airport.

This is a souvenir, Kagoshima Romance, Baumkuchen enveloped in chocolate. It's good.

Last week, I read "Web ga tsukuru atarashii kyodo" by Hajime Maruta and the Japanese version of "The blended learning book: Best practices, proven methodologies, and lessons learned" by Josh Bersin.

Nagoya

I went to Nagoya to administer an entrance examination on Friday, 2 November. The previous night, Chunichi Dragons won the Japan Series. Many stores started victory sales and were crowed with people. In front of the hotel I was staying at was Nana-chan in uniform with a sash which said "Congratulations! Japan's Champion, Chunichi Dragons!"

For more information about Nana-chan (who is 34), visit her official site.

I read "iphone: shogeki no business model" by Yushi Okajima and "Shigoto ryoku" by Asahi Shimbun last week.

I read books!

Just because there aren't many books in my office doesn't mean I don't read books. I borrow books from libraries. I don't have money to buy books or space to keep them. Most of the books are not read again and I don't find it necessary to keep such things in my office.

I read "Chichi no bunsho kyoshitsu" by Manetsu Hanamura yesterday and finished "Bunmei no yuutsu" by Keiichiro Hirano a few days ago.

Hanamura is very unique in his academic background and school life. The book gave me a glimpse of his youth. Intricate emotion and relationship between the father and the child are well depicted.

Hirano's book demonstrates his deep knowledge in European culture and history. However, I was not very much impressed by or interested in the essays in this book.

I will keep a record of my readings for the time being in this blog.

New Tea!

This is a new tea. It's Italian. I bought it in Tokyo, probably at Takashimaya, Shinjuku.

I like its scent and taste. It's sweet in scent and mild in taste. I also like the tea caddy. The color is dark green which I think is very European.

Blog Started

I'm starting a new blog!

This blog is used for EFL classes. I hope students will submit many articles and enjoy publishing their ideas and thoughts.

I love earl grey tea. Some of the finished tea caddies are on the shelf of my office.