Only two people tonight. Kenji stayed in Hokkaido for the holiday and Miho didn't do anything special. We continued talking about heroes and role models. We compared the opinions offered by the two authors. It was sometimes difficult to tell because of the exaggeration and sarcasm they used. By the end I think people had a better feel for what they were trying to say.
We also talked about the English newspapers in Japan because Kenji just started subscribing to the Daily Yomiuri. Over on the left side of this page you will find a link for the Shukan ST which has a link to the Japan Times. I mentioned another online source for news about Japan; Japan Today. I haven't used it for awhile, but now I remember why I quit. It is very slow to load and the discussion parts after the articles are a waste of time. Most of the people are just making noise.
1C
Almost everyone was here for the first class after the holiday. Kaoru was here so I could give the prize she won in the JOY Big Five News contest.
At the end of class we talked about people's New Year's Resolutions. Some will be hard for people to do, but others will be very easy. Maybe Mayu's, go to a Kinki Kids concert, will be the easiest.
The homework is to do the vocabulary practice in Unit 10.
1L
Mitsue couldn't make it today because of car trouble. Hideko observed and may be joining us from next week. We talked a little about the winter vacation, but in this class no one went anywhere or did anything special. Everyone had a quiet and relaxing holiday.
4K
People's opinions about New Year's traditions were similar. They mainly focused on the special foods severed on January 1 and 2. Everyone seemed to feel that they weren't really necessary nowadays because everyone has refrigerators and the stores are open. It sounds as if most people don't make the dishes, but buy them from the supermarket.
Hiroko talked about how the Sapporo police reduced the crime rate in Suzukino. They are using a system similar to what was done in New York. They, in conjunction with the city, make sure that little things are taken care of. For example, broken windows are repaired, graffiti cleaned up and simple laws enforced. I first read about this in The Atlantic Magazine in the article Making Neighborhoods Safe. The article is a little difficult, but very interesting.
We started Unit 10 today and this unit is about personal ads. The homework is to write one for yourself. If you want to look at some examples you can find some on the web. This link is to the site of the Washington Post. Please add a comment 1:58:45 PM
