David's Classes

Good bye

2008-09-29T11:59:14Z

Tonight was my last adult group lesson at JOY. It has been a fun 23 years and I have had a lot of interesting students and worked with many fun co-workers. I know there are many people who never find a place where they really enjoy working, so I feel very lucky to have found a place like JOY to spend most of my working life.

I will miss all of you, but I am sure that we will see each other around Obihiro. Don't worry I will be stopping by JOY occasionally to say hello and you can always come out to the university to say hi.

I won't be posting anything more on this blog, but I hope to get a new one set up at Chikudai very soon. I will send the address to Shinobu, so she can put it in the JOY News. If you want to contact me by e-mail, you can use kamiobi1atyahoo.com.

Remember, keeping studying.

David

3A

2008-09-22T11:22:10Z

Well, we went over the homework, but Iku was the only person who as here last class. It was pretty easy, so it didn't take long to do.

The lesson was set in a restaurant and different problems you might have. Both Shunsuke and Iku have had problems, but Yoko has been lucky and not had any so far. Iku's problem was in Hawaii when a food server automatically added on the tip. They complained about it and didn't pay it. My wife had something similar happen to her in New York.

The homework for next week is to do the writing exercises on page 37. Do forget we still have one more class next week.

New washing machine

2008-09-21T11:52:55Z

Last couple of weeks we have been having headaches with our washing machine. It finally came down to buying a new. They delivered it today, but before they arrived I had to redo the water pipe and drain set up. It didn't take too long and everything seems to be working fine.

1G

2008-09-11T13:44:04Z

Chika and Misato have been gone for several weeks and Nao is back from her trip, but was sick today. I thought Mitsu was coming, but she must of had to work overtime tonight. It was only Atsuya, so we talked about several different things and then checked the homework. After that we did the reading about "internet addicts". Neither Atsuya or I are ones, but I probably use the internet more than he does. He did say that he never uses a credit card when he shops online. He always uses C.O.D. There is no homework for next week, but remember that it is our last class.

３A

2008-09-08T03:51:27Z

Thanks to visitors we have had a little larger class that last two week. Hopefully, the same thing will happen for the last two classes. Remember there are no classes next week.

We went over the homework and finished up the last part of the lesson we were working on last week. The theme of the new lesson was dreams and there was a reading and listening exercise on interpreting them. If you want to learn more about it go here.

1G

2008-09-04T04:11:26Z

Atsuya thought he might be getting a private lesson tonight, but Mitsu showed up a few minutes after the class started. We talked a lot about our weekends and wonder where Nao was in Spain. I should be getting a postcard from her by next week.

Atsuya was busy last week and didn't have time to do homework. Mitsu had done the homework, but forgot her textbook at home. We will check that homework next week. Tonight's lesson was about different types of TV shows and if people like them or not. It will be interesting to hear what type of shows the high school students like next week.

3A

2008-09-01T12:28:35Z

We ended up with 4 people tonight because Uro joined us from one of Joe's classes. He used to take my class, so it was nice to see him again. Susumu has been busy with several different trips. It sounds like he will be around for awhile.

There wasn't any homework to check so we jumped into the new lesson. In one part we talked about promises and did a reading about the ones that are commonly broken. There were a couple that seemed to be more common in North American than Japan.

The homework for next week is 3 b & c on page and Grammar Bank 3C on pages 130-131.

Another Rainy Weekend

2008-08-31T12:28:00Z

Even though the weather wasn't so great I had a wonderful time with my friends from Tokyo. On Friday we had a BBQ for lunch and luckily the tarp we set up kept off the rain. After lunch we drove out to Sennen-no-mori and while we were there walking around it didn't rain. On Saturday we walked around downtown and looked at two different photo exhibitions. That night we went out to dinner and enjoyed talking. Today they had to leave on the early flight because there weren't any seats for the later ones. At the airport I met Nao from the Step 1G class. She was on the way to Tokyo and tomorrow she will leave for Spain.

The weather forecast is for more rain this week and I am beginning to wonder if I will ever be able to get the lawn mowed. When I do mow it is going to be really difficult because the grass is getting really long.

1G

2008-08-28T14:06:35Z

Nao was back tonight, but she will be absent next week and the week after because she is going to Spain for her summer vacation. Then in October she won't be able to come because she is studying for a difficult test. Hopefully, she can make it back in November.

At the beginning of class I mentioned that I watched the movie "Somethings Gotta Give", but no one had heard of it. When I mentioned that Jack Nicholson was one of the stars, nobody recognized his name either.

We moved on to the textbook and reviewed last week's listening exercise and then checked the homework. We started working with frequency adverbs and we will work with them more next week.

If you were absent, then do the grammar exercise in Lesson B plus the Vocabulary Notebook for this unit on page 52.

3A

2008-08-25T12:19:47Z

Trish said that last week there were only two students and it was the same this week, too. Last week in the comments Kieko mentioned that she wouldn't be able to come because of her pregnancy. Remember Keiko to start speaking English to the baby now.

Maki has been gone for several weeks, but I am sure she will be back next week. Now I am a positive thinker. Tonight's lesson was was about positive and negative thinking. I am pretty sure everyone in this class is a positive thinker. If you aren't the tips in the book might help you out.

There is no homework for next week, but we will talk about more about positive thinking.

Rainy Day

2008-08-24T01:22:47Z

It looks like it is going to be a rainy day today. I guess it was a good thing that I spent the day working outside yesterday. I made some progress on the pile of wood, but it will take me three or four days of work to get it done.

Today we are going to be running a lot of errands, so we will miss the closing ceremonies for the Olympics.

1G

2008-08-21T08:58:48Z

Two people were absent tonight, so at the beginning of class we talked about everyone's vacations. Everyone had to ask at least one question. I also told you about my trip to the States and there were several questions.

After that we went over the homework and people had done a good job. There were a couple of people (you know who you are) who were finishing up the assignment just before class started.

There was still a little time left at the end so we started Unit 5. In this unit we will talk about what people do in there free time. The homework for next week is to do 2A.

Almost over

2008-08-16T17:17:54Z

Our stay in Alaska is almost over and it looks like we might finally get a sunny day or at least no rain. This morning I will be helping at the Seward Salmon Derby. My job will be to weigh the fish that our brought in. I don't think it will be too busy because this is time most people are out fishing. The later shifts are the really busy times. Of course, I will tell you more in class, so have a lot of questions ready.

Having fun, but ....

2008-08-11T15:32:28Z

We had a great time in LA and I will try to write more about it later. We were on our way to Alaska until this happened. We should get there sometime tonight unless something else happens.

Arrived in LA

2008-08-07T15:55:03Z

We arrived in LA last night and were very tired. It was long day with a 3-hour a drive to Chitose, a 3-hour flight to Taipei, a 5-hour layover in Taipei, a 12-hour flight and a 2-hour trip from the airport to the hotel. It was mistake to use the shuttle bus. It would have been much faster to use a taxi and not that much more expensive.

The hotel is nice and we will be heading out to look around the area to the hotel. We will be getting together with around noon.