I Love Scary Weather

We're all hanging around the house this morning because it's a national holiday and a typhoon is blowing in. My son's home because school was canceled on account of the typhoon. So it's a pretty lazy day. I love listening to the storm outside; it's pleasant for me. Where I grew up, in Texas, violent weather is normal. We regularly endured raging storms, relentless hail, and brilliant lightning, not to mention the occasional tornado. Further south, Texans have to contend with massive hurricanes. I grew up with this kind of weather, so typhoons only remind me of home. I actually have CDs of storm sounds that I sometimes play to relax. The one thing we don't have in Texas is earthquakes. I had never experienced earthquakes until I came to Japan, and those really do alarm me. I just hope this typhoon stops in time for classes tomorrow. Y'all stay safe.

Key Words

• hang around
• typhoon is blowing in
• cancel on account of 
• not to mention 
• contend with
• grow up with

If you don't understand any of these words, please ask me.

Here are my three favorite movies about scary weather:

Monkey Island: One of Kanagawa's Best-Kept Secrets

No, not the game; though we were humming the theme on the way there.


Yesterday my family had a rare opportunity in which all three of us were free at the same time, for the entire day. After oversleeping the the exclusion of any day trip more than three hours away we decided to drive down to Yokosuka (横須賀) in Kanagawa (神奈川) and visit Sarushima (猿島) or "Monkey Island."

It's the only island in Tokyo Bay, about the size of Rikers Island in the US. It's a little lump of green poking up out of the water, a five minute boat ride from shore. It was used as an artillery battery site in the Edo period, but now it's a leisure site where you can swim and barbecue.

As day-trips go, this one is very low-commitment. I can't believe we never went there before. Just take a boat five minutes and BAM, there you are. And it's a real cost-saver, too. Most people brought barbecue sets on trolleys and carts.

While on the beach, in a party nearby, one guy grappled another guy and started wailing on him. At first we thought it was some kind of sparing because the rest of their group was looking on indifferently, and they both had such excellent technique, like serious K1 fighters. But When the blood started dripping the whole beach took notice. The bigger guy just kept wailing on the skinny guy until they had to take him away on a stretcher. My first few years here, I'd tried breaking up some of these kind of fights and learned the hard way that my help in these instances is never, NEVER appreciated. There would be a better chance of me ending up in jail than bringing peace. So we just moved out of view and felt like horrible people. But I'm sure that was an unusual event. The rest of the crowd seemed very mild, and Kanagawa does get a bit impassioned compared to the rest of the Kanto plane.

Monkey Island usually gets about 1,000 people a day, but on this Golden Week holiday, 1800 people preceded us. We made up about 3,000 in all. But for all the people, we didn't feel terribly cramped like we do at Disneyland or Shibuya. No bumping or competing for spaces.

They have a little kiosk/shop where you can buy drinks, alcohol, and snacks. There's a sno-cone (kakirori/カキ氷) vendor at times, too. Free walking sticks are available; please put them back before you leave.

The tunnels are fun for the kids to run around in. There are rocks on the far side from which you can fish or climb around. The sea hawks are always entertaining with their aerial prowess. Lots of lush green knolls to picnic on. It's a great place to escape for a few hours. What's really surprising is how few people even know about this place. We've lived in the Kanto plane for over 15 years and this was our first time. I've talked to countless Japanese and foreigners since, and none of them knew about this place. So it's practically a secret garden. I probably shouldn't even be blogging this.

The boats run between fifteen and sixty minutes, and the last one returns around five. Tickets are about 1200¥ per person. Don't wait for the last boat; it'll be like a Cuban refugee raft.

Take a BBQ/picnic set, some sports equipment and have a great day.

Adventure at Disneyland

It was without a doubt the weirdest time we've ever had at Tokyo Disneyland, and we go about twice a year.

We went on a Thursday, and we thought the school kids had one more week to go before spring break. Oh, how wrong we were. No grown-up ride had less than a three hour wait, and even the dinky ones had waits of 45 min and up. It's a Small World had a 50 min wait, if you can believe that. All Fast-Passes had been suspended because of the massive crowds.

We started with innocently high hopes and headed straight for Big Thunder Mountain (as I'm slowly overcoming my fear of roller coasters, that's a recent victory). The wait was three-and-a-half hours. Scratch that. None of us had any interest in standing in line three hours for anything. We looked around. Same problem with Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. We lowered our standards. Even still it took thirty minutes just to get a ferry to Tom Sawyer Island. The canoes looked possible, but the wait for that was 45 min.

We wandered around for four hours until finally, crestfallen and defeated we decided to call it quits and go home, taking in Pirates of the Caribbean on the way out. The wait for that was down to 40 min...oh boy. The line snaked through parts of the antechamber we'd never even seen before. Once in a boat, all the disappointment was forgotten and we were having the fun we'd come for. We were finally at Disneyland! Then suddenly, half-way through, the boats came to a dead stop. Lights on; music and sounds off. There was an announcement that there was an unspecified problem with the ride and that we should please remain seated. This was repeated every two minutes.They wouldn't even tell us what the problem was. Mechanical breakdown? Bomb threat? Maybe the anamatrons were rising up and slaying the humans? But floating in a meter of water, we couldn't imagine any real kind of peril.

We remained safely seated for the next half hour.

We were stuck in the scene where the pirates were chasing the women around. It got kinda creepy with all the animatronics spasming and scuttling around, silently, unceasing. We started cutting up to kill time. Even the Japanese girls behind us started goofing on the endless announcement.

Finally the announcement came that we were to evacuate the boats. Staff in waders came out and started pushing our boats back to evacuation points.

This was literally a dream come true. I've always wanted to get off the boat half-way through and get backstage. Even back in Texas, where we had a similar ride at Six Flags, where it would be so easy to step off, but you didn't because you'd probably be banned from the park for life. But now it was happening. If I could've chosen any ride to evacuate, this would've been the one. 

It was too cool, getting to step off the ride and go backstage. We exited through a fortress near the town siege scene. It looked like backstage at any theater, if not a little neater. Lots of plywood and scaffolding. The staff were markedly professional and competent. Up some steel stairs and into the back lot. It looked a like a movie studio, with the big, square, white, sound-stage-esque buildings, and trailers. We were wondering if they'd offer some compensation like a free ticket for another time. They gave everyone passes for a ride of their choice. Without deliberation, we went straight back to Big Thunder Mountain where the wait was up to four hours...except for us! And what I didn't dare them was that we had so much fun evacuating that it was like being offered desert after having cake & ice cream. 

What started out as the worst ever trip to Disneyland turned out to be one of the best.

Here's a video of us stuck on the Pirates ride:

http://youtu.be/VsyU-kwDH40

Fitness

Health is important but every day people are getting fatter and more unhealthy.

More and more families in Japan are too busy. Either both parents work, or it's a one-parent home. Either way, no one's able to spend all afternoon shopping and cooking proper meals. And it wouldn't matter anyway, because the kids come home later and later because of school clubs and after-school activities like tutoring and English classes. And the primary bread-winner has to stay at work later and later as jobs become more and more demanding.

I see Japan slowly starting to look like America. Japanese are getting fatter and more unhealthy. Why is this? Are they not exercising, or are they eating more unhealthy food? Maybe it's a combination of the two.

The Japanese are famously healthy. Japan is one of the healthiest nations in the world, boasting one of the highest life expectancy rates and lowest obesity rates. This is because the Japanese eat very healthy food, lots of vegetables, and small amounts of fat. They also walk alot. They walk to the train, they walk to work, they walk to school, and they walk to the store. All that walking it great exercise. For further distances, they take bikes. I'm always impressed with mothers who ride bikes with three kids: one in front, one in the back, and a baby on her back. Biking, walking, climbing stairs in their homes and apartments; the world is their gym.

But that's changing. I know the number of people driving cars in Japan goes up every year. If you add scooters, then you have alot of people not walking. Recently we've seen the introduction of the very popular power-assist bicycle. Lately many of my students are brought to and from their classes here by car, even if they only live a few blocks away. How American! After the parking lot near our school was turned into an apartment building, I saw many of those students arriving on foot. So maybe losing the parking lot was a good thing.

A few years ago, futsal became popular and I knew many students who played it. Athletics in general are popular, if you you have time. But with the struggling economy workers don't have enough time to work-out or play sports. Students also spend most of their free time seated in tutoring schools.

And the one-two punch is that American fast-food is gaining popularity. It's easier to find a hamburger than a salad.

I hope

Irish Festival in Omotesando

Whatever you were planning to do 

this Sunday,

 March 17, 2013, from 1-4, forget about it. 

The only thing worth doing at that time will be 

the big Saint Patrick's Day parade in Omotesando, Tokyo.

What?

St. Patrick's Day is the annual celebration of Ireland and Irish/Celtic culture and it's one of the liveliest, most colorful street festivals you'll see anywhere in the world. The day is celebrated pretty much anywhere you have alot of Irish immigrants (or descendants). It's what happens when thousands of Irish leave their homeland, and get homesick. And here in Japan, we have several thousand of 'em (not counting their descendants, like me), and there have been Irish in Japan for over 300 years.

It starts at 2pm this Sunday on Omotesando street (one station from Shibuya), starting from Omotesando Hills. It should finish around 4. But you'll want to get to the station no later than 1:30 because it'll take time to make your way through the crowds. Oh, and wear green (or orange...if you don't know why, wear green).

This is not to be missed.

Why?
You'll see Omotesando adorned with Irish flags and thick with around 50,000 good-spirited revelers waiting for a parade of 1,500 participants with bagpipers, dancers, animals, costumes, and all manner of musicians, performers and costumes.

The festival is completely family-friendly, and you it's said that on this day every year, "everyone is Irish." 

So it's really your cultural duty to attend, as a temporary Irishman/woman.

Afterwards, friends and family retire to one of Tokyo's 300 Irish pubs (most of which are family-friendly) for a pint of Guinness and a bite. And if you like beer, but not Guinness, I'll wager you've never tried it on tap.

While in Japan, it's good to take in as much of the local culture as you can. But this is entirely too much fun to pass up. It's brief, free and unforgettable.

And if Omotesando is too far for you, there are celebrations in other areas of Japan, too including, Chiba, Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka.

For more information:
Irish Network Japan

Conversation Starter

The person who starts the conversation controls the conversation. It's in your best interest to start it.

One of the best ways begins with four little words:

"Did you hear about...?"

This introduces news and gossip in a very natural way.

"Hey, did you hear about the earthquake? Did you hear about the Lady Gaga? Did you hear about what Suzuki did?"

The pattern is simple:
Did you hear about + subject noun?

From here, the conversation follows a topic you already know.

If someone asks you, "did you hear about...?" You can answer two ways.

If you don't know about the news, you'd say, "No, what?" Then the person will tell you about it.

If you do know about the news, you'd say, "Yeah, I did..." and give some reaction or opinion about it.

Either way, don't let the conversation die. Ask questions. Give opinions.

Try it next time in class; ask your teacher or another student.

Cajun Food

Let's try some unusual (めずらしい）food. In Japan, everyone knows Italian food, Chinese food and French food. But do you know Cajun food?

Cajun (or Creole) food is a combination of Spanish, African, and Native American cooking by the French settlers in Louisiana over the last two hundred years. Dishes are aromatic and spicy. It starts with onions, bell peppers and celery, combined with regional North American ingredients. New Orleans’ cuisine, like the city itself became a "melting pot" of ingredients (材料） from all over the world combined with exciting results.

Owner and surfer Katsuaki Samejima opened this restaurant 18 years ago because he wanted to bring the true depth and diversity of American cuisine to Japan. Chef Miyashita succeeds in cooking regular Cajun dishes (料理） as well as American southwestern and original dishes. Samejima went to New Orleans and loved the food. He wanted to bring Cajun food to Japan.

My son, Eiji and I went there to write a review (みせしょうかい) for Tokyo Families Magazine. We expected spicy food, but he enjoyed everything. We had no problem.

Troubadour has a casual, friendly atmosphere like an American restaurant. They play good "southern rock" on the stereo. They decorate the walls with old record albums. Ceiling fans turn slowly in the high, vaulted ceilings upstairs, a bustling (にぎやかな) dining room downstairs, and a large dining patio (なかにわ). There are no alligators (わに) so don't worry.

We started with catfish (なまず). Eiji loved the fried catfish strips. They disappeared quickly. Many Japanese don’t think the catfish is good to eat but if it's cooked correctly it has a nice twangy taste. Troubadour soaks their catfish in milk. This removes any bad smell that some people don't like.

We chose entrees of country meatloaf and seafood Étouffée. The meatloaf was better than my family’s homemade meatloaf in America. Troubadour’s meatloaf was spongy and savory, with a dark mushroom gravy and a side crispy green beans and creamy mashed potatoes. Eiji’s note on the meatloaf is, “it’s better to chew it slowly, so as to get all the taste.”

The Étouffée was Eiji’s favorite dish. The name comes from the French verb étouffée and means, "smothered" or "suffocated" (ちっそく), and this étouffée was a smokin’ jazz ensemble of shrimp and seafood in a rosy (ばらの色) roux sauce. It isn’t too spicy for a kid, though it does give an exciting little bite in the back of the throat. Eiji noted it was “like some kind of shrimp curry.”

Their authentic (たしかな) gumbo is one of their most popular dishes. Gumbo, the miso soup of the Louisianan. It is something between a soup and a stew. It has lots of okra in a thin, flavorful stock.

If you’re really hungry you can order their blacken steak in caramel dark gravy. It is 250g of Australian beef.

They have all the traditional (でんとうてきな) Cajun food including Jambalaya, coleslaw and black-eyed peas. If you don’t have time to eat there, you can take out one of their acclaimed (賞賛) sandwiches; turkey (しちめんちょう), barbecued chicken, meatloaf, or my favorite, the Cajun Rueben which is a mound (いっぱい) of roast beef and cheese.

Save room for homemade pecan pie with whipped cream.

Brunch serves up the rarely-seen Southern biscuits and cream gravy, and other down-home favorites on the weekends. Happy hour on Monday from five o’clock to seven o’clock has 500 yen well drinks and Cajun appetizers (catfish!). They often have live music and you can have their Christmas dinner from December 23^rd to the 25^th.

So if you’re bored with (あきている) the same kinds of restaurants in Tokyo, get out to this Cajun hideaway and you’ll have an unforgettable meal!

Troubadour

Monday 5:00 ~ midnight.

Tuesday to Friday, weekends and holidays 11:30 ~midnight.

30 minutes from Shibuya on the Den En Toshi line

3 minute walk from Tama Plaza station South exit, straight out past Bagel & Bagel, past the second signal and on the left.

Phone: 045 911-3763

www.motherlucy.com

School Shoes

うちの息子は1人っ子で日本人とアメリカ人のハーフ。家では英語、外では日本語を話す。見た感じは日本人にも見えないがガイジン顏でもない。そんな彼だが名字がカタカナの為、日本人社会ではかなり目立ってしまう。自分が何人かと言うアイデンティティトラブルが少しずつ出て、だんだん悩みを抱えるようになってしまった。悩んだ末、親子で話し合い、私達親もとから離れてアメリカ、テキサスのおじいちゃんの家に1年間滞在してもらうことにした。当時彼は8才だったが、この経験は子供だけでなく、私達夫婦にも非常にいい影響を与えた。
さて、子供がアメリカの学校初日の
話。子供は英語で生活しているので、言語はまったく問題ない。学校に到着後、履いていた靴を手に持って、靴箱を探し回ったらしい。授業に間にあわず、結局事務所に行き靴箱を尋ねると、「ない」と言う返事が。
アメリカの学校に上履きがないから、靴箱の必要がない。日本の学校では、生徒による掃除があるが、アメリカの学校ではない。だんなは、日本の学校で英語を教えていたので、生徒による掃除の習慣は素晴らしいと大絶賛。
うちの息子は日本にいた時は自分がアメリカ人だと思っていたらしいが、アメリカに行き、両国の文化の違いを体験し、自分の中の日本人を見つけたようだ。

Eiji went to Dallas for his third grade year, as much for the school experience as for the cultural. As much as we'd have liked to have gone with him, we had to stay here for the business. But in his time over there, he had a number of interesting discoveries. Among them, school etiquette where footwear is concerned.

In Japanese schools, you take off your outdoor shoes at the entry chamber, put them in cubbies or lockers, and change into indoor shoes. You do this just as surely as you would wash your hands after cleaning out the cat box or flush the toilet after doing your business. This keeps the school floors clean, and follows the Japanese customs of not wearing outdoor shoes indoors as is also observed in homes as well as clinics, temples, and some offices. It's strictly observed, as students and staff clean their own floors in Japan (janitors are a rarity).

On Eiji's first day at Lake Highlands Elementary, he walked into the school with all the other kids, more excited than most at his first adventure in English-language, American academia. Well-raised and eager to make a good impression, he stopped just inside the entry, removed his shoes and looked around for the shoe lockers. As you can imagine, he didn't find any. He spent 15 minutes trudging around in his socks, bags and shoes in hand, looking diligently for shoe lockers. He went to the principal's office and asked her, "excuse me, where are the shoe boxes?" Busy and otherwise occupied, she thought he was making some kind of joke and dismissed him. Why would anyone there guess for a minute what he was talking about, even if they knew where he was coming from? The bell rang. The halls emptied. A teacher scolded him for wandering the halls. He made a second attempt to explain his dilemma. This teacher, Ms. White, didn't quite understand the situation either, but she made a cognitive leap and told him that he should wear his outdoor shoes inside, and get to class! He did, but he was a little shocked. For him, after three years of kindergarten and two and a half years of elementary in Japan, wearing outside shoes inside school felt about as weird as wearing them into the bathtub.

Snow

Snow fell this month. It was very dangerous because most people in this area don't have much experience driving on ice and snow. One word that came up in the news was バンドアイス. I think this is called "black ice" in the States. We had snow a few weeks ago, but it "didn't stick" (あつめなかった). But this time, we saw big, puffy, powdery snow. Many schools and businesses were closed or delayed. It was beautiful, but now it's melting and turning to "slush" (泥). We had to drive in it that night. The roads were very tricky. There were many accidents because some drivers "tailgated" (テールゲート). Y'all be careful!

Testing Fun

Okay, we did our first STEP test, today. For those of you who don't know, it is Japan's scholastic standardized test for English proficiency. It's pretty dry and not a very realistic tool for assessment, but it's the fountain of numbers all the Japanese parents and educators seem to bow before. We took my seven-year-old son (who speaks English better than Japanese) and 20 other elementary kids on the train out to Kami Fukuoka (20 min up the line) to a Jr. High School (30 min walk) that used to be a hospital and is reputed to be haunted where we went into one of many class rooms where a humorless young man in a suit and tie administered a test of English proficiency lasting an hour and a half. For some of them, including my son, this was their first encounter with a proper, #2 pencil, bubble-sheet answer form, do not open the book until instructed-type test.

We met them all at our school this morning, accompanied by lots of parents who clearly wanted to come to. But we'd already said students only; the last thing the kids needed was wound-up soccer moms and dads looming over them, stressing them out further. We took them on the train and then on foot down to the school. Some of our kids were so tense, their shoulders were like iron. I talked 'em down on the way (in English). We got a little turned around due to a mis-printed map. Safely escorting 21 wiggly, nervous kids down a narrow, treacherous Japanese street was a task worthy of insurance (we took out insurance) so I deputized my oldest boy and girl. They were Jr. High and 6th grade, respectively. I asked them if they knew what a "cow-boy" was. They said yes, but of course had the image of a gunfighter. I explained in English what a cowboy or cowgirl actually does. I told them that all these other kids were cows, and that was all the explanation they needed. They looked like a couple of old pros, and my wife wrangled the middle while I acted as trail boss. I can holler audibly over two full blocks.

When we arrived, we did some battle cries in front of the school and got good and psyched-up. As we ushered them to their desks, we delivered knocks, high-fives and lots of general bravado to the point we looked more like a little league football team hitting the field than a bunch of test-takers. The other sitters in the class, mostly high-school-aged people and a few adults looked on in shock as my students and I bantered IN ENGLISH, of all places...they were all ready for an English test, but not for English. HA! My kids were feeling good and ready for battle.

90 minutes later, the kids came running down to the foyer. I greeted them with more of the same Spartan bravado, to the befuddlement of the people at the front table. Some of the kids were down on themselves until I told them they could test again in January. That perked them up, considerably.

Keep in mind, I didn't speak Japanese once the whole outing, except to people on the way in the course of it all. Station masters, proctors, asking direction and such. That's how good our kids' English is, and it made a wonderful spectacle in providential Japan.

We took them for ice cream, afterwards. Again, an alien rite here in Japan. Ice cream shops are scarce here, so we descended on a sleepy little Family Mart convenience store for grapefruit ice pops (a big favorite over here) or whatever kind they wanted. Again, no parents. A real blast for them.

Took a little work to control them on the last leg home, especially on the train.

Hard to believe a test could be so much fun.

River Fun in Japan

Summer in Japan is hot so most families look to aquatic recreation for relief.

The pools are too crowded (see previous post: Taters in the Pool).
The beaches are also crowded. They's broilers under the sun with no shade. Jellyfish, sharks, sea urchin and countless more threatening organisms lurk unseen. Riptides and undertows strike without warning. The water is salty, briny, stinky, and leaves you feeling sticky and nasty. And of the beach-going crowd, many of them tend toward the obnoxious (I'm no fan of beaches).
Water parks are expensive, stressful and again, overcrowded.
Onsen are all about hot and not exactly family recreation.
There aren't many lakes and most of them don't accommodate swimming.
Some of the shopping malls have plaza fountains which is fine until about age 5.
They'll arrest you for jumping into the canals, and you'd have to be pretty drunk to consider it in the first place.
Can you think of any other bodies of recreational water? No, not marshland or sprinklers.

Back home in Texas we'd spend many weekends out on the rivers. Locally, however the rivers are too polluted to swim in (my neighborhood river has recently been cleaned-up, yeah!) but I couldn't accept that there weren't any clean rivers here. Not finding anything overtly promoted, I made a habit of taking swimwear with me whenever we went on a drive in the mountains. After many summers of driving, we found one. After a bland morning at the Saiboku Ham village, driving through to Chichibu for a little hike, we spotted some people splashing around in the Koma river (Komagawa). We pulled over where a farmer was offering parking for 500 yen. We quickly changed into swimsuits and hit the water. It was wonderful; not too cold. It wasn't very deep in most areas, but there were some places where boys were jumping off the overpass. Lots of overhanging trees and shade. Cool breeze coming off the water. Pebble shores with plenty of good rocks to lounge against. At one point there's a salmon ladder (a series of stepped troughs and a flume to help salmon make their way up) that was good fun for people, too. Nearby grocers sold us inner tubes and anything else we needed. My wife, Mami wasn't much for the swim but wading around and relaxing on the banks she declared that it was the most relaxing, "healing" place she'd ever been to in Japan. The sound of the water, cicadas, and breeze in the trees was transportive. And in contrast to beaches, the water is crystal clean, fragrant, relatively garbage-free, uncrowded, well-shaded, and river rats (river goers, as we're called back home) are some of the friendliest folk in Japan or Texas.

OK, this is what I'd been talking about for years. But for my family to understand, they had to experience it themselves. They were hooked. We only left when the sun started going down.

Next week, Mami spent some time searching the Japanese blogs for other rivers and found one in Hanno, not far from Komagawa, the Nagurigawa. Nagurigawa is bigger and even better for an all-day excursion. Nagurigawa has several spots where even an adult can tube a bit, and some places deep enough for diving. One of the parking areas is managed by a grocery, Happy Family (Teddy Bear logo) also rents grills and will set you up all the way for riverside barbecuing.

Going to a river, here are some considerations. Bring wet socks, or water-proof sandals, or some kind of footwear that will work in the water. The stony banks and riverbeds are tough on bare feet. And walk carefully in the rivers; the rocks on the bottom are mossy and as slippery as ice. Try to walk on the areas of smaller rocks. Expect to get banged and scratched up pretty good on the rocks. It's all part of the fun.

You can get to either one by bus and train, but if you drive just head out to the river and watch for signs about parking and swimming. The key kanji to watch for is 泳川. Plenty of rivers are good for barbecue and picnics, but it's hard to find a good, clean one for swimming.

So to recap:
Komagawa in Hidaka for a few hours.
Nagurigawa in Hanno for an full day.

If you know of any others, please post them.

Double-Edged Sword

"We just bought a house next door to my parents. It's nice because they can come over and look after our baby when we want to go out, but at the same time we don't have much privacy from them. They often come by and nag us."

"Yes, it sounds like a double-edged sword."

A double-edged sword is a sword whose blade with both sharpened edges like in this picture:

You'll notice how it is different from the conventional Japanese katana, which only has a single sharpened edge. The double-edged sword can cut to the left and cut to the right.

In modern times, it is more often a metaphor for a thing or situation that can be equally, sometimes simultaneously beneficial and detrimental.

A good example is the cell phone. With it, you can reach people anywhere, anytime, with the touch of a button. But at the same time anyone can just as easily reach you anywhere, anytime.

This sword can cut your enemies but it can cut you, as well.

What is another example? Leave a comment.

Feb 2013: Alien Zoo and Big Numbers

Our older kids started 2013 with a study of basic animal parts.

Hoof, claw, pay, antennae, horn, fangs, beak, fur, scales, tail, wings...to name a few.

It all culminated with the Alien Zoo project. We randomly combined the parts to make strange, new "alien" animals. Then, everyone gave presentations on their beasts. I'm very proud of them; they all did quite well.

Our teens are working with past tense and heavier question forms.

Now many of our students have begun working with big numbers. We've been having fun with a game called Safe Cracker where we try to guess the combination of a safe. Families should try this one at home. Ask your kids.

Our younger kids have finished talking about toys, and now they are learning about animals. Where do we find animals? What do they look like? What do they eat? What do they sound like? Which ones do they like? Which ones make good pets?

Congratulations to all our EIKEN members and good luck to the interviewees next week.

Remember to keep asking questions and talking about what you're interested in.