Black Thunder Challenge

This is a race to see who can be the first to find all the answers to questions based on articles from "The Guardian" (online).



    http://www.theguardian.com/travel

1. When is Norway's Ice Music Festival held?
2. According to Gavin Turk (in the City Guides) which is the best area of Paris?
3. Which hotel is voted number 2 among Thailand's beach hotels?
4. If you want to "survive winter", which country has nice beach bungalows?
5. If you want to try budget restaurants in London, what street has many good Egyptian &  Lebanese places?

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle

6.  Jay Rayner introduces "The Purple Poppadom" restaurant.  What type of cuisine is the crab starter?
7. What kind of oil does Nigel Slater recommend with "Dried mushroom broth"
8. What is Kelly MacDonald's greatest fear?
9. Jack & Melonie had a blind date.  What "mark" did Jack give Melonie after the date?
10. What kind of food does Yotam Ottolenghi suggest if you want a light, easy meal?

    http://www.theguardian.com/world

11. How old is the panda cub at Taiwan zoo?
12. What caused Eusebio to die?
13. How many miles away from Denver is Aspen-Pitkin Airport?
14. Since when has the Awami League been the ruling party of Bangladesh?
15. In which town does the Spanish Flour Fight Festival take place?

Something New

As a university student, this is the best time for you to have a variety of experiences, especially with a long spring break coming, right? When was the last time you tried something new (did something for the first time)?

During our trip to Hokkaido in the summer before last, my wife and I went to the horse races, not for the first time, but the second time for me, and the third time for her. It had been 25 years since my first time, so it felt like a new experience. If you've never been, you might enjoy trying it once if you go to a place with pleasant facilities like this one (in Hakodate). We could sit on the grass, see the horses as they walked around before the start of the races, and have some small bets just for fun.

What would you like to try for the first time, as soon as possible? If you have no definite idea, just write about a couple of things you think you MIGHT enjoy trying (not "challenging"...Japanaese English).

End of the Year

The end of the year is nearly here already, and we're all starting to think about the winter break. Do you have any plans? Some of you will be looking forward to a "romantic" Christmas, others will be having fun with friends. Both sound fine to me. Of course Christmas has nothing to do with romance in Western countries...it's a family time, more like O-shogatsu here. Families enjoy very special lunches/dinners together...certainly not KFC!!! That's like having MacDonalds as your Shogatsu food.


As the new year approaches, it's also a traditional custom to take stock of yourself (= think about how you are now, what you would like to change). People make new year's resolutions (things they promise themselves they will change, e.g. some bad habits or weak points of their character). My resolution is to eat more pizza and drink more beer, because I didn't have enough in 2013 (ha ha).

How about you? Do you have any regrets about 2013? What would you like to change for 2014?

Loy Krathong

I chose this photo because when there are so many sad and crazy things happening in the world all the time, it's nice to be reminded of the beauty in the human spirit, too. These are sky lanterns being released into the air during the Loy Krathong festival in Thailand. Thailand is 95% Buddhist, which is a religion I respect far more than others. Among other things, true believers are satisfied with not having much, are not greedy or envious, and making money is not the only thing they think of. Some countries have a rule that all young men must serve 1-2 years in the military, whereas in Thailand every boy must spend at least a year as a monk. This is a great credit to Thailand, I think.

Where is This?

 

Where do you think this is?  Nagano?  Somewhere in the Tohoku region?  The answer might surprise a few of you.  A student in another class thought only Japan has beautiful autumn leaves.  Of course most of you know that many countries have similar scenery every year.  This photo is of New England, an area just north of Boston.

Differences of Opinion

The next essay we will write will be an opinion essay, where you will argue your opinion on an issue.  Today we can start with a blog post about the strange behavior of the opposite sex.

One of the members of another class wrote on her blog about a party she enjoyed with some classmates:

"We told about some complaints of our boyfriends till midnight :)haha"

I wonder what they said...It's hard to understand the behaviour of others sometimes (and good fun to complain about them). Has everyone had the experience of feeling confused or unhappy with their partner's (or friend of the opposite sex's ) behavior/attitude? Surely, the answer is "Yes!!".

For your next post, please share your story of male/female behavior you find hard to understand or accept.

Autumn

Temperatures are dropping, so autumn is really here now. We've started eating hot pot (nabe) at home already. What have you been doing lately?  Did you go to the school festival? What did you do there? Actually, I didn't go this year.  One day I played golf in Ohara with friends, and another day I went to a friend's housewarming party.  He and his wife bought a house net to Lake Biwa, so they had a barbecue there and invited friends to celebrate.




How does this time of year make you feel? Do you have any plans to go and check out the autumn leaves this year? If you want to see some good autumn scenes, one of my favorite places is Tofuku-ji temple in Kyoto. I'd recommend you see it sometime. This photo is one of the most famous views. Have you been there?






Yoshimine temple, near Muko, is also worth checking out. You can see views of Kyoto city from the side of the mountain. Do you have any favorite places for seeing the autumn leaves?