Recommended reading

The Fault in Our Stars 

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once."

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

January 2016 Schedule

December Quote of the month

Chrisween Party

Thank you very much for coming to the Chrisween party!

Games, making craft and lunch!

We had  so much fun together.

Making craft time.
Good job everyone!
Dale and Mizuki were a big help!
Everyone made a big effort to make the craft!

Lunch time!
We ate Dale's handmade Lasagna,
Blueberry cream cheese pie and carrot cake!
Every dish was so yummy!
All kids ate a second helping. Even the small kids!

This is what we made!
We drove a lot of nails into the shape of a Christmas tree on a board and then stretched yarn around the nails. Finally we decorated.








                                                                            


Everyone had the same shape. But they could choose different yarn colors and decorations that they liked. So finally each Chrismas tree had it's own personality. Very good!

    

Have a good winter vacation! 

                                                                 See you at next year's Chrisween party!

11/22/15 December lesson schedule

November Quote of the month

１フレーズ覚えよう！

                                  " It's up to you."          

　　　　　　「あなた次第だ、君に任せるよ、あなたが決めて」の表現

be up to somebody
to be somebody’s duty or responsibility; to be for somebody to decide
[Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary]

“be up to （人）”には、「～次第だ」という意味があります。

ですから、“It’s up to you.”と言うと、「あなた次第だ」「君に任せるよ」「きみ次第だ」「あなたが決めて」 などという意味になります。

物事の決定を相手の判断に任せる場合や、相手の決断を促す場合に用いられる表現ですね。

また、この“be up to （人）”という表現は、「～の義務・責任だ」という意味で用いられることもあります。

“It’s up to you to protect your family.”
「家族を守るのは、あなたの責任だ。」

また、「（それが成功するかしないかは）あなたにかかっている」と言う場合に、
“It’s up to you.”という表現を用いることもありますね。

“What do you want to eat for dinner?”
「晩御飯、何食べたい？」
“It’s up to you.”
「君に任せるよ。」

　　　　　　　

人にお任せは楽ちん、言うのも簡単！　でも自分の意見や意志をちゃんと伝えたいですね！

updated 11/17/2015 November Lesson Schedule

Chrisween Party

                  Chrisween party for Kids

      　　　　 11月29日（日）10:00~15:00

クリスウィンパーティーってなんだぁ？この言葉、英語にはないけどOasisが作っちゃいました！ハロウィンとクリスマスを合体！
ゲームをしたり、クリスマスに向けての工作をしたり。

そしてみんなでランチ！Dale先生手作りのランチとケーキです！

おいしいよ～

盛だくさんの楽しいパーティーにしちゃいます！
みんな集まれー！

　　オアシスカウンターにて参加申込み受付けてます。

　　　

            

Recommended reading

Wild

At twenty-six, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's rapid death from cancer, her family disbanded and her marriage crumbled. With nothing to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to walk eleven-hundred miles of the west coast of America - from the Mojave Desert, through California and Oregon, and into Washington state - and to do it alone. She had no experience of long-distance hiking and the journey was nothing more than a line on a map. But it held a promise - a promise of piecing together a life that lay in ruins at her feet.

Strayed's account captures the agonies - both mental and physical - of her incredible journey; how it maddened and terrified her, and how, ultimately, it healed her. Wild is a brutal memoir of survival, grief and redemption: a searing portrayal of life at its lowest ebb and at its highest

tide.

On my way home flying over Istanbul, Turkey

Rabbit in Hof, Germany

One of many mosques in Istanbul

Dinner in Istanbul

October lesson schedule

１フレーズ覚えよう！

　　　　　　　　　　 　　　 ”Tomorrow is another day”          

　　　　　　　　　　「明日があるさ」「明日は明日の風が吹く」の表現

“Tomorrow is another day.”を直訳すると、「明日は別の日だ」という意味になりますが、「明日があるさ」「明日は明日の風が吹く」「明日という日がある」と解釈されることが多いです。

映画“Gone with the wind”　「風と共に去りぬ」のスカーレット・オハラの有名なセリフ

“After all, tomorrow is another day.”は、従来では「明日は明日の風が吹く」と訳されていましたが、最近では、より原文に近い「明日という日がある」と訳されていることが多いようです。

日本人が使う「明日は明日の風が吹く」ということわざは、「明日はまた別のなりゆきになる。世の中は何とかなるもので、先を思い煩うことはない」という意味になり、どちらかと言うと「なるようになるさ」というふうに、「成り行きに任せる」という受動的な意味合いで、自分から積極的に何かをしようという意味合いではないような感じがするからでしょうか。

ですので、“Tomorrow is another day.”　を「明日は明日の風が吹く」と訳すのは間違っているという意見もあります。というのも、“Tomorrow is another day.”とは、“Tomorrow is sure to come.”「明日という日は必ず来る」という意味で、「たとえ、今が辛くてくじけそうになっていたとしても、明日という日は必ず来るのだから、決してあきらめないで頑張ろう」 という感じで、自分から能動的・積極的に行動をするという強い意志を表していると解するわけですね。

どちらの解釈が正しいのか、いろいろな意見がありますが、この“Tomorrow is another day.”という言葉が、「明日に希望を託す」という意味を表していると解する点は、共通しているのではないでしょうか。

“Be patient and don’t give up. Tomorrow is another day.”

This Autumn's first Apple Pie!

September 2015 Schedule updated 9/17/15

Recommended reading

Gone Girl

Marriage can be a real killer.    One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.    On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge.

Beautiful sunset in the Sea of Japan during Obon holidays

This Month's Quote

             To love is to recognize yourself in another

                                                                          Eckhart Tolle

Pastello in Morioka 2015

Thank you very much for coming to Pastello!

We had a good time together as we do every year.

This year's theme was "Himmeli" it's a traditional Finnish Christmas decoration made of straw. But we put a wind-bell in it to make it sound like summer. Good sounds!

     All the kids did a good job! They chose straw colours to their own liking. Each Himmeli had it's own personality.

    

We went to the park behind Oasis for lunch.
Kids played a lot until lunch and afterwards too!
It was a very hot day. But they didn't care!　

                                                                                                                                         

We ate Dale's handmade hamburgers!

It was very delicious as usual!

Thank you very much every year!

Have a good summer!
See you at next year's Pastello!

August Schedule updated 8/4/2015

Blueberry Sunday 2015

We started picking in the morning at 9:30

Blueberry jam

 Potluck lunch!

Recommended reading

The Boys in the Boat

Cast aside by his family at an early age, abandoned and left to fend for himself in the woods of Washington State, young Joe Rantz turns to rowing as a way of escaping his past. What follows is an extraordinary journey, as Joe and eight other working-class boys exchange the sweat and dust of life in 1930s America for the promise of glory at the heart of Hitler's Berlin. Stroke by stroke, a remarkable young man strives to regain his shattered self-regard, to dare again to trust in others - and to find his way back home. Told against the backdrop of the Great Depression, The Boys in the Boat is narrative non-fiction of the first order; a personal story full of lyricism and unexpected beauty that rises above the grand sweep of history, and captures instead the purest essence of what it means to be alive. 'The Boys in the Boat is not only a great but an inspiring true story.

Qiuz!

Who am I?

1  I live around a sea or river. I have scissor type hands. I walk sideways. Who am I?

2  I live in a forest or mountain. I'm big. I love honey. I sleep during the winter season. Who am I?

Do you know the answer? If you know, please tell us at the Oasis counter! 
You can get a candy!

This Month's Quote

New Kitchen!

Great work Dale! DIY! 
He made the kitchen in Oasis with new water and drain lines ! There is a big gas oven now too!  Wow! My favourite is to be able to use hot water!  \（＾O＾）/

He can make some delicious cake and pie there from now on. When we had Eiken test  at Oasis, he made Blueberry buckle for students. Everyone ate it happily!   

We have a Blueberry Sunday event every summer. We will make jam in the new kitchen this year. Looking forward to it!

July 1st

Pastello information