Just a Glimpse of our Christmas Parties...

Merry Christmas from English Square and our cute students!

Here's some of what we've been doing this week at English Square for the kid's Christmas parties.  I see these and think...gosh, how can you call this much fun "work"?  

Bounce the ping-pong ball (snow) in the chimney to put out the fire before Santa comes!

Santa, Santa, Where are you? game with Takako.

Cookie making with master-chef Mashi.

Even our mature JHS girls love cookies....

and teddy bears!!  

 I like the cookies, too, as you can see. But, actually, I like the cookie dough - just like Ayumu and my cousin Jenny in Alaska!  ; ) 

We also got twisted up with Twister!

and I  just couldn't resist showing the excitement...all over Christmas Concentration.

Nice reaction!!  (It's not the same girl again, BTW...her twin.) 

Finally, from our Mommy & Me class - RUN! STOP! FIND THE CARD! Yuka on the piano makes magic.

Here she is pretending not to be paying attention as the kids yell, ...

"One more time, please!" like this:

Thanks for lots of fun this week, everyone!  Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Parties Begin!

It was a nice, intimate party with just a small group.  We ate the delicious food everyone brought, drank a few drinks, talked and laughed a lot.  Everyone played a game and got to pick a present from under the tree.  Even us adults get giddy over Christmas presents.  It was festive and fun.  Here are some photos.

 
Two of our students named Yuko...the third couldn't make it.  Maybe next year!

Reading the quiz card for the present exchange game...

Getting a present from under the tree...

Mr. T with the gift from me...

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves.  I know Mashi and I sure did.  Thanks to those who made the effort to join us!  We'll definitely look forward to next year's party.  Happy holidays!

Early Christmas Gifts

For the past three days it's felt like Christmas came early.  One of the moms in my Thursday morning class gave me this bag full of handmade ornaments including frosted pine cones that she and her son had found.  They're very cute ornaments that fit perfectly in our woody home...and that they're hand-painted makes them so much more special.
Another mom of one of our students is a florist and made this truly unique, arrangement for us.  It has fresh greens and twigs, real princess apples, pine cones and little Christmas treasures on every corner.  It's so creative and cute...I just love it!  (Mashi wrote about it too, so see below for more pictures.  For the last two hours, we've been on separate computers arguing over who gets to use which pictures in their blog entry.  Haha!)

Friday evening brought the delivery man to our door with a box from two of my homes - one from the US and one from Shiga.  The first was from my cousin in Chicago who is so kind and thoughtful as to send us gifts despite the high shipping costs.  She sent her homemade snack mix that I love and can't stop eating once I start, my favorite chocolates with peanut butter inside, Mashi's favorite brand of Earl Grey tea, and a basket which comes from Ghana. It was purchased to supplement the income of the local farmers who make them.  She also included a family photo from my Aunt, bless her heart, which she knows I will treasure.  I so miss my family during the holidays.

The second box came from Shiga from my old supervisor at Koka Junior High School where I worked when I first arrived in Japan - gosh, how many years ago??  twelve? thirteen?  I've lost count.  If it hadn't been for the kindness and constant care of Oki-sensei in those first years in Japan, I'm sure I wouldn't still be living here.  She still goes out of her way to send me gifts and a hand-written card, in perfect English, mind you, EVERY year.   She reports in this year's card the happy news that her eighth grandchild will be born in January.  I will go dig some photos out of my albums to pay proper tribute to this wonderful woman in a separate post once the holidays are over.

Finally, in this run of wonderful gifts that came my way, I got a very cute coffee mug from one of my adult students at our annual Christmas party on Saturday night.  We had a nice, intimate gathering with just a few of our students who could manage to come during this busy time of year.  We always play a simple game and do a present exchange.  For the past two years I've been lucky to receive the present that our student Yuko brought.  Last year I got a really cute frog-shaped tape dispenser, this year a mug from "The Story of Moominvalley."  She has fun taste!  I enjoyed my morning cup of coffee with Moomin this morning.  Thanks, Yuko!  (Christmas party pictures coming soon!)

Thanks to our students and moms for making our Christmas holiday so warm despite my being so far from home, and for my cousin who always makes an effort to stay in touch and keep our small family close.  My life is so blessed with special people.  Tomorrow we start the Christmas parties for our kindergartners and elementary students....the cookie dough is made and in the fridge, cookie cutters washed, Christmas games and Twister set-up and ready to go!  Bring on the kids!  Ho! Ho! Ho!

Chiristmas Gifts

今日はびっくりうれしいことがありました。


ハロウィンフェスティバルのジャンボカボチャでお世話になった

“A”ちゃんのお母さまが、かわいいクリスマス飾りを持ってきてくれました。




お母様ご自分で作られた手作りだそうです。



サンタさん(＾＾)



ベルも。。。

やっぱり手作りは違いますね！

ほんとうに！ほんとうに！！うれしい贈り物！！！

クラスに飾ってますー！


ありがとうございます(o^∀^o)

Yummy Autumn Food with Friends

Some friends joined me for an all-girls weekend eating extravaganza.  We are all married with no kids, two of us from the US with Japanese husbands, two Japanese with husbands from the US/Canada, all English teachers/small school owners. We all love to eat and talk and relax and had a great weekend together.  Thanks girls!  

Our first stop...grilled scallops and oysters just after getting off the train. 

After a bit..a very little bit of hiking, we enjoyed a full-course seafood dinner and healthy Japanese breakfast at the hotel..all served in our room in between trips to the hot springs.

Finally, we stopped for special Japanese sweets on our way to the beautiful, serene, (very crowded and a bit rainy) World Heritage Site, Ise Shrine.  

This trip was made possile by my master trip-planner, Mashi.  He's a pro at organizing vacations and spent a lot of time on this one for us wives...Thanks, hon!

Christmas Tree!

今週末は、
クリスマスの飾り付けをしました！

もちろん、クリスマスツリーも！

夜暗くなってから撮ってみました(＾＾)☆

Thanksgiving Day

アメリカでは毎年１１月の第４木曜日は、
サンクスギビングデー（感謝祭・収穫祭）です。

この日は祝日になり家族が集まり
七面鳥などを食べてお祝いをするお祭りです。

今年のLisaの両親はSam（Lisaの双子の弟）を訪ね
メイン州にある彼のお家に行っています。


ちょうどむこうが感謝祭当日夜ぐらいに
電話をしました。

いつも使っているSkype。

Joe, Sam, and Lila


一昔前までは、
お互いの顔を見ながらの国際電話なんて考えられなかったですし
またあったとしてもすごーく！高かったでしょうね。

それにしても便利な世の中になりました～。。。

Off I go into the blogging world...again...

Ok.....so....ah...um.....I already have writers block. Just kidding! I have been wanting to start this blog so many times, on so many occasions, after being inspired by so many thoughts and blog ideas, so it's finally time to get this launched. I tried a few year ago on our original blog page, but realized none of my family or friends had been reading and gave up. This time, I'll use this site since it can be accessed in English...sorry about the confusing Japanese blog home on our first try.

I'll start with a bit of a warning...I am overly crazy about my little niece Skyler, so if you see me stealing photos from her mom Emilie's amazing blog (manhartfamily.blogspot.com) and putting them here shamelessly, I apologize. I can see her cute little face peering out from behind my blog screen on my screensaver as I write. She has no idea how much she's loved from half way around the world.

I have to make a commitment to this thing this time. I'll try my best even though Mashi seems better at getting posts out there. I wish my family could read Japanese and understand the simple joy that are Mashi's posts...but alas....you can at least see the photos he choses and now I'll try to write more often.

So...in the next post, let me backtrack a bit in to the last few months....

Wish me luck!

Our Blog Has Moved !

English Square Blog お引越し先ですー！

これからはこちらで続けていきますので
よろしくお願いいたします！

Lisa & Mashi

（以前の記事は↓をクリック）
http://ameblo.jp/englishsquare