(Tuesday, May 1, 2007)
　Most people would say that it's not mony that is the most important in life. I mostly agree with them, but it's also true that money is quite important when you start something new. However, it's not easy for you to find someone who is willing to lend you money when you are in trouble. Almost all the finance organizations like banks or fainance companies tend to lend money to those who already have plenty of money. Don't you think something is wrong with the tendency? I can understand that they don't want to finance people who might be unable to repay the loan. But how could they decide people's situation by just putting data in the computer? They themselves will be in a serious situation if they keep on doing their business like this. They have to take good care of poor people who would be most likely to depend on them.

(Wednesday, May 2, 2007)
　This morning when my mother was opening the shutter of the living room, a big black fly flew into the room, which scared Ryoma so much that he hid himself under the kitchen table and seemed to have decided to stay there for a while. As usual my mother took him for a morning walk, but after coming back from the walk, he went under the table and didn't come out even for eating his breakfast. My mother moved his breakfast bowl under the table and he started eating it at once. It seemed that he was in good shape and that the only problem was the big fly that was already gone. He seemed scared until the middle of this afternoon. Toward the evening he almost got back to himself and went for an evening walk with me.
　Now that my wife has come home and he can stay with his mom and dad, he is asleep on the sofa in the living room where he couldn't go half day today. It was quite interesting that only a small fly could be scary for him.

(Thursday, May 3, 2007)
　I was thinking of going to Tanashi, Nishi-Tokyo City, to watch some softball games for junior high school girls. Now the Spring Championship Tournament for JHS teams in Tokyo is being held. When all today's games are over, they'll have the top four teams. Tomorrow is going to be the last day for the tournament. I hope the final game will be fought between Fujimura-joshi and Tokaidai Sugao. I'm familiar with both of them.
　I wonder why many official games for junior high school sports teams are held during the so-called Golden Week. People related to the games can't enjoy their holidays. When we think of so many people going on a trip during the Golden Week, those who in charge of the games should think of holding the games at a different time of this season. If the games are relatively big and important, they could hold them on weekdays. Even managers or coaches of the sports teams have families to take care of. There should be some change.

(Friday, May 4, 2007)
　I was supposed to visit Shiroyama Town with my wife today, but I didn't because I felt kind of tired. Tomorrow I'm having usual lessons at my school. I hope it will be fine on Sunday and that I'll be able to take my wife for a drive instead. It's no good to break a promise even if it's between you and your wife. My wife doesn't seem to be discouraged, but she must be. I really feel sorry for what I did.

　As for the softball games held in Tokyo, Fujimura Joshi won the championship as I had expected. I now think Karen, who stayed at my house for 10 days at the beginning of this spring, made a good choice. At first I wondered why she had decided to enter Fujimura. But now I'm sure Fujimura had something quite attractive for Karen. I'm very proud that her team became the champion of Tokyo where they have so many strong teams.

(Saturday, May 5, 2007)
　It's sometimes frustrating to teach English to children who have just started to learn English, because here in Japan we have to teach how to read at a very early stage. In other countries children start learning English by listening and speaking. But here in Japan they start studying English by reading and writing. That's why there are few Japanese people who can speak English fluently after learning it for at least 6 years at school. Why doesn't the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology try to completely change the curriculum and improve the English proficiency of young students? It's been pointed out for such a long time, but nothing seems to be improved. I don't know why?
　There are not a few language schools in our country. They are trying something new to let students learn English conversation in an effective way. What they can do in private language schools should be done at public schools. It's a waste of time for Japanese English learners to start from the very beginning after finishing school. If they start learning English in a proper way, they can speak it during the first few years of studying the language. Who's going to solve this big problem?

(Sunday, May 6, 2007)
　We didn't have the luck to enjoy a sunny spring's day today, which is the last day of the so-called Golden Week. It's been raining since this morning and my wife and I have been staying home, taking care of our dog Ryoma. He went for a morning walk in the rain. After he came home, he was taken to the bathroom to have a shower. It is customary for him to take a shower after coming back from a walk in the rain. He does have his raincoat, but he tends not to do his business when he's wearing his coat. So my mother doesn't usually let him wear it even in the heavy rain. Now it's easier for us to let him take a shower, but it's not an easy job to take care of his wet hair after coming out of the bathroom. He's so excited just after a shower that he never sits still while my wife and I are drying his hair. Because we use a hair dryer, his hair goes up in the air. One of us has to vacuum the floor and the carpet so that his hair might not spread out all around the living room. Bu it's worth doing that tough business, because Ryoma looks so refreshed after being taken care of.

(Monday, May 7, 2007)
　I went to KGC to teach the three-month intensive course from 10:30 to 12:55 with a ten-minute break in between. After the class I spent about half an hour to answer questions from one of the students. They were so positive in learning English, which surprises me after teaching English at public junior high schools for more than 22 years. Some junior high school kids were bored and looked sleepy during my lesson. Children today are not hungry at all as to learning.

(Tuesday, May 8, 2007)
　I don't know why, but Ryoma has had a poor appetite since this morning. It's about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and he hasn't finished his breakfast yet. He's been lying on the sofa all this afternoon and looks a little tired. Something could be wrong with his stomach, because he has had a lot of food these few weeks.
　As for his evening walk, my wife and I walked him, or he might have walked us. He looked so fine that he tried to move from place to place as was always the case with him. And he did his business! After he came home, he asked me for some more food. His appetite seemed to be coming back to him.

(Wednesday, May 9, 2007)
　I went to the nearby dentist this morning and the dentist cut my upper gum and got rid of the pus that had oozed from the root. I didn't feel any pain because he anesthetized my gum. I've been under the anesthetic for about two hours and now I feel a little pain, which is not too terrible to have lunch. It's good to have a dentist within a few minutes' walk from your house, isn't it?
　Now the morning class at my language school is over, there's only one class left at KGC that will start at 7:00 this evening. I haven't decided yet what I'll do until then. Is it wise of me to visit another Pachinko Parlor in Fujisawa in order to get back the money I lost at my favorite Pachinko Parlor, which is now being renewed and not open? Or should I not go play Pachinko any longer?

(Thursday, May 10, 2007)
　The Hydrangea Snowflake in our garden has had only a few buds this year. My mother is worried that it's not going to have many flowers this year. I hope it's going to have many more buds from now on. The beautiful hydrangea, called "Kashiwaba Ajisai" in Japanese, is one of my favorite flowers in our garden. This year about a dozen potted azaleas, called "Satsuki" in Japanese, are coming out. Last year they didn't have flowers. Those are some of the more than 200 azaleas that my father was taking care of. When we built our new house here, we moved them into the new garden. Now my mother is taking good care of them, which is sometimes a very tough job to do. Satsuki flowers are often made into "bonsais," or dwarfed trees, which many people all around the world enjoy growing inside the house or in the garden.

(Friday, May 11, 2007)
　I enjoy teaching English to the Peare class at KGC. For the first season of this academic year, I have just 20 students in my class. Most of them are as old as, or older than me. It's quite surprising that they're so willing to learn English conversation. Most of the people who are interested in learning English tend to go to classes managed by native teachers. I have to thank them for choosing my class. I've been trying to give as interesting lessons as possible. I know I still have a lot more things I could do for my class. Let's hustle.

　Ryoma hasn't done his business today. Is anything wrong with his health? Late tonight I asked him if he'd like to go out for the third walk to empty his bowels, but it seemed he didn't want to move. I hope he'll be fine tomorrow morning and be refreshed by doing his holy mission A.S.A.P.

(Saturday, May 12, 2007)
　Which do you think is easier, to write in a diary in Japanese or in English? The answer is that writing in English is much easier. It's maybe because I don't have to worry about the style I'm writing in. When I write English, I try to write down every word that comes into my mind without thinking about the style so much. To tell the truth, I don't understand what kind of English expressions I'm using.

　I was worried about Ryoma's health last night, but this morning he did a great job while walking with my mother. During the walk with me late this afternoon, he did it again. Anyway I was relieved to see him walking so happily. After he came home, he ate some Kentucky fried chicken. I hope he won't have some troubles again tomorrow morning.

(Sunday, May 13, 2007)
　Tomorrow's my pay day at KGC. They're usually supposed to pay us on the 12nd of every month, but this time it was Saturday. I hoped they would pay me on the previous day, 11th, but it didn't happen. Anyway I can't expect much money in my bank account. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll have to go and check it out. Almost all the money withdrawn from my bank account will have to go to my mother, though.

(Monday, May 14, 2007)
　This evening I got an email from the area manager of Oxford University Press. He says he's in charge of Kanagawa Prefecture and he'd like to be of any help of mine. But I guess they want to know how I've been using the sample textbooks they've sent me so far. I ordered three more sample textbooks, which have not arrived yet. It's true that I've been making proper use of the sample books. I've bought such a lot of textbooks for my students learning English at my language school. When I was a school teacher, they believed me so easily. But now that I'm out of school, they seem to find it difficult to trust me. This is the world I live in.

(Tuesday, May 15, 2007)
　What's happening to the children today? A 17-year-old high school boy killed his mother and cut her head off with a sharp knife. He visited the local police station with his mother's head in his school bag and confessed his incredible crime there. According to the TV news, at 9 o'clock after answering some questions, the boy went to sleep. How could he go to bed after killing his own mother in a cruel manner? He is said to have stayed at an Internet cafe and watched a DVD before appearing at the police station.

　In Kumamoto Prefecture, a 3-year-old boy was put in the so-called "Baby Post" by his own father on the 10th of this month. A 3-year-old boy is not a baby. He will remember the day when he was abandoned by his father as long as he lives. How could you be so cruel as to suddenly stop being a parent? What a society!

(Wednesday, May16, 2007)
　I went to teach at KGC wearing a shirt with short sleeves. But it was still a little bit too cool for a summer shirt toward the evening. I put my jacket on and went out of the building to have a smoke. You would say, "You must have quit smoking for almost a year." I have to confess that I started smoking again a few months ago. Now I realize that I'm gaining weight. I guess in my case the smoking habit has something to do with the fructuation of my weight. I think I should quit smoking as soon as possible, but....

　Tomorrow morning at 10:30, a new student is coming to my school. She's not yet decided whether or not she's going to start learning English conversation at my school. I hope she will. She was one of the students I taught at KGC. She lives near Tsujido Station and she's been wondering if she could learn English again from me, because she liked my lessons at KGC. Welcome to Mt.Stone Language Institute!

(Thursday, May 17, 2007)
　Ryoma looks so refreshed after taking a shower at night. We usually let him take a shower during the daytime, but tonight it seemed that he was feeling itchy rubbing himself against the side of the sofa, so my wife and I decided to lot him take a shower. When he was a little boy, it was such a difficult job to let him take a bath. But now he knows it's refreshing, he enjoys taking a shower without moving around in the bathroom. It's still a tough job to dry his hair after getting out of the bathroom. My wife always has a hard time drying his hair with a big towel until I join her with a dryer. After all the procedure is done, Ryoma usually gets sleepy and goes to sleep on the sofa. He's still sleeping on the sofa now.

(Friday, May 18, 2007)
　What's become of the crazy guy who shot a police officer to death yesterday? Is he still barricading himself in his own house? I hear he has taken hostage of his own family. If this had happened in the States, he would have been shot to death already by the armed cops. I think the cops should break into his house to solve the problem as soon as possible. If things go on like this, there might be more people injured or killed by the crazy man.

　It's been windy all day today. It's been like the weather just before the spring comes. The strong wind that blows as a sign of the coming of spring is called "haruichiban," or the first wind of spring. But it's too late for the spring wind, isn't it? This year we don't know what the weather's going to be like.

(Saturday, May 19, 2007)
　I've been in trouble working on the Internet since yesterday morning. I've been unable to access the Internet. Yesterday afternoon I tried to contact the NTT, but the line was too busy to reach them soon. After coming home from KGC, I decdided to call the NTT again, but this time the trouble-shooting center was already closed. I got angry about that, but there was nothing else I could do then.
　This morning I was expecting the system had been repaired, but actually not. I called the customer center of Biglobe, the Internet provider, and knew there had been something wrong with the NTT system yesterday and they told me what to do to deal with the problem. It was a piece of cake. Just pull out the code of the NTT equipment and then after more than five seconds turn it on again. I made it! Now I'd like to say that next time they have trouble in their system, they should let us know what to do to deal with the problem. They can fax us the information or call each home directly to explain how to restart the Internet.

(Sunday, May 20, 2007)
　This afternoon my wife and I took Ryoma to the beach by my car. Of course Ryoma looked so happy to be at one of his favorite places. The summer season was already starting and we saw a lot of people playing on the beach. We met an Indian and talked to him for a while in English. My wife thought that he was from Iran or Iraq, but I was sure he was from India when I listened to his Indian accent. He said he often visited the beach because it was so refreshing. I understood how he felt about visiting the beach.
　Every time we visit the beach we meet some new people. Most of them like Ryoma and come close to us to stroke him gently. Today too a little girl tried to touch Ryoma. He was never threatening the girl, but she seemed to be afraid of touching a dog. When she touched him, she looked as happy as her mother who was watching her daughter. Ryoma succeeded in making another human child who liked dogs.

(Monday, May 21, 2007)
　It's been a really hard day today. I had the first lesson at KGC from 10:30a.m. to 12:55p.m. After that I hurried home and had the second lesson at my own school from 2:00p.m. to 3:30p.m. The from 4:00p.m. to 5:10p.m. I taught English to an elementary school girl. After that I had the fourth lesson for a high school girl from 5:30p.m. to 7:00p.m. The last lesson of the day was from 7:15p.m. to 8:45p.m. How many hours did I work? But teaching English is fun and I'm not tired after teaching so many hours. I think I have to go to bed now because tomorrow morning I'll have to leave home for Odawara around 7:00a.m. I should never get sleepy while driving, shouldn't I? Driving along the Seisho Highway sometime makes you sleepy.

(Tuesday, May 22, 2007)
　When I was walking Ryoma, I met two housewives and a junior high school girl. They were talking in front of the girl's house. One of the women was her mother. I joined their talks and after talking about Ryoma for a while we started to talk about some of the teachers at Shorin Junior High. Now that they knew I used to be a school teacher, they asked me a lot about their favorite teachers. They looked quite surprised to hear so many teachers' names that were also familiar to them. Of course I tried not to give them any negative information about school teachers. It's good to get to know people living in the same small area. I enjoyed talking to them, but Ryoma looked bored to stay with us for a long time, doing nothing.

(Wednesday, May 23, 2007)
　I sometimes complain about the unreasonable teaching schedule at KGC, but I think I have to remember what I felt when I was first hired at the language school. When I started teaching there, I always thanked the manager for giving me classes I could teach. Even if I have only one lesson in the evening, I should think I'm lucky to be able to work as an instructor of his school. Now my own school is growing steadily, but I should never forget to thank for every opportunity offered outside of my school.

　My mother is now in her hometown in Chiba Prefecture because of the sudden funeral of her younger brother. He killed himself for some unknown reason. My mother looked so shocked when she got a phone call telling her the tragedy. My brother had a day off and drove her to Tateyama City. I'm not used to driving a long distance, so he went there instead of me. I sincerely wish my uncle will be blessed with peace and quiet in the heaven.

(Thursday, May 24, 2007)
　One of my former students at Nishihama Junior High School about 24 years ago is visiting me at my house this afternoon. I haven't seen her since she graduated from Nishihama JHS. Do I remember her? Yes, of course. I remember some scenes pretty clearly. In my memory, she remains a 12-year-old girl with a cheerful smile.
　Around the appointed time, I was waiting for her in front of the convenience store near my house. Then a car slid into the parking lot and I recognized a familiar face in the driver's seat. She looked just the same as she had been more than 20 years before. She brought her baby with her. I invited her into the lesson room upstairs and we enjoyed talking about our good old days for nearly three hours.

(Friday, May 25, 2007)
　What a nasty weather! It was still raining when I left home for KGC in Fujisawa. It was not raining heavily, but it was heavy enough to make my trousers wet. But I was lucky that I rode my motorcycle back home only through slight rain. I felt as if we had already got into the rainy season. My wife took Ryoma for an evening walk in the heavy rain. Walking him in the heavy rain is not an easy job. He never does his business when he goes out with his raincoat on. But last night she didn't let him wear his raincoat, which seemed to have made it easier for Ryoma to do his job. It was quite wise of my wife not to let him walk in the raincoat.

(Saturday, May 26, 2007)
　It was quite hot during the day today, but it got cooler toward the evening. Every day there are more and more hydrangeas coming out here and there. The time that they come out seems to depend on the hours they get sunshine during the day. In my garden they are blessed with lots of sunshine every day, which is why they come out later than hydrangeas in other places. I'm looking forward to seeing them in full bloom soon.

(Sunday, May 27, 2007)
　I took the TOEIC test in Odawara today. It's been a long time since I took the test last, so I was a little bit worried whether I could handle it in a successful way. After all I did a pretty good job in today's test. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get a high score, though.
　It was surprising that it only took me a little more than 20 minutes form Odawara to Chigasaki by rapid train. After leaving Odawara Station, it only stopped at Kozu and Hiratsuka before reaching Chigasaki Station. The train is called a "super rapid train," which is really fast. You don't have to pay extra fee to ride the train.

(Monday, May 28, 2007)
　The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Mr.Matsuoka, committed suicide by hanging himself up. Many people including me think that he should have confessed everything about the bribery issue he is believed to be involved in. I also think that Prime Minister Abe should resign his position as the leader of his cabinet. He appointed Mr.Matsuoka as one of the most important ministers in his cabinet.

(Tuesday, May 29, 2007)
　I now find it a lot of fun to teach at Odawara Advanced Nursing Vocational School. At present I teach the first year students who are from the age of 19 to 24 or 25. They look like high school kids with lots of curiosity. Most of them doesn't like studying English, but it seems they have decided to try it once again from the very beginning. I'd like them to enjoy learning English. I'd like them to know that learning English is fun. That's what I've got to do at that school, I firmly believe.

(Wednesday, May 30, 2007)
　It's been raining since this morning. The hydrangeas in our garden are now coming out. In the falling rain they look really happy. Our favorite hydrangea called Snowflake hasn't had many buds this year, but the few lucky flowers are now in full bloom, shining in the sunshine. Hydrangeas look most beautiful in the rain, though. Most of the hydrangeas will be in full bloom in a week or so. I'm looking forward to seeing the colorful flowers in our garden.

　Our dog Ryoma has got a lot of friends. Nearly half of them are big dogs. They're much bigger than him. One of his favorite friends is Kahana, a mutt with the blood of the Golden Retriever. Kahana and Ryoma have been like sister and brother since he was a pup. Every time they meet they start to wrestle and their performance will last for a few minutes. This afternoon we met Kahana on our way back home and, of course, the started to wrestle as soon as they got together. It's quite obvious that they like each other so much. Ryoma is a happy dog blessed with such a big gentle sister as Kahana.

(Thursday, May 31, 2007)
　It's scary to go out into a thunderstorm, isn't it? A man was struck by lightning in Tokyo. The flame of his glasses were damaged, but he miraculously survived without being seriously injured. It's safest to stay inside the house in a terrible weather like this. It seems that Ryoma hates thunder. He looks scared when it thunders. He might feel like running into the futon when a thunderstorm comes near.

(Friday, June 1, 2007)
　Wow! We've already got into June. The rainy season is just around the corner. These days I feel time passes by so quickly that the end of this year doesn't seem so far away. I've got to be careful not to waste time.

(Saturday, June 2, 2007)
　I've been looking for a DVD writing software for the Windows Vista, which is easy to get and cheaper. I just want to watch DVD movies on the computer. Then last night one of my American colleagues told me that I should watch DVD movies if I used the Windows Media Player. Yes, he was right! Every Vista computer should have the Windows Media Player on it. This morning I tried a DVD movie on one of my two Vista computers and it worked! How stupid I have been to keep looking for a writing software!

(Sunday, June 3, 2007)
　My wife and I took Ryoma to Southern Beach Chigasaki to enjoy walking along the beach for about an hour. It was not a beautiful day, but there was no wind on the beach and we could have a happy time walking up and down the beach. Surprisingly there were so many tiny fish called "shirasu" all along the beach. Ryoma was interested in those fish and tried sometimes to eat them. Among those tiny fish there were some other kind of middle-sized fish. We didn't know how it happened there. After walking for a little more than an hour, we went back to our car parked in the parking lot attached to a restaurant along the beach road.

(Monday, June 4, 2007)
　Ryoma's usually very nice to little kids and pups, but sometimes he seems to be at a loss what to do when little angels come and play with him in a very active way. It happens especially when he is very tired and doesn't want to play around. This afternoon when one of my students, who goes to elementary school, was about to say goodbye to me, her little sister was asking Ryoma hard to come to her. But he stayed in the dark living room and didn't try to move. Maybe he knew the little girl would start touching every part of his body when he came near her. He's such a smart dog who could imagine what would happen to him.

(Tuesday, June 5, 2007)
　I went to Odawara to teach English at a nursing school in near Ashigara Station on the Odakyu Line. I usually drive on the Seisho Highway to go there. So I try to go to bed earlier than usual on Monday nights. If I get sleepy on the speedway, I might get involved in a terrible car accident, which would mean my death. I always try to drive very carefully, but there are some other drivers who run in a very dangerous way. I hate driving on a highway. But I have to use the speedway in order to save time on the busy mornings.
　On my way back from Odawara on Seisho Highway, I suddenly found a crazy car running only a few meters behind my car. It looked as if the driver had been enjoying a car chase. I thought I would try to let him see my brake lights, but I didn't because it was too dangerous. He must have been insane doing such a silly thing! If he wanted to dive into the sea next to the highway, he should have tried that himself. Never involve us!

(Wednesday, June 6, 2007)
　Some of my favorite hydrangeas are "Snowflake," "Marine Blue," "Lacecap, "Sumida's Firework," and "Jogasaki." Some of the are native to Japan. The Hydrangea Snowflake is especially beautiful, which would never be regarded as hydrangeas by those who see the flowers for the first time. I feel this year we can enjoy a lot of beautiful "Sumida's Firework" here and there. They look so fragile and actually they're not in full bloom for a long time. If you happen to see them, it might be a good idea to take some photos of them. When I see them, I feel as if I was looking at the fireworks in Sumida, which I have never seen with my own eyes.

(Thursday, June 7, 2007)
　This evening I asked one of my native colleagues at KGC for his opinion about the STEP test. I gave him an exercise book and asked what he thought of the materials in it. He said, "It's dry." I didn't understand what he meant by the adjective "dry," so I asked him to rephrase his words. He told me that the word "dry" meant "boring." A native speaker of English thinks the English sentences used for the STEP test are boring. Many Japanese students are struggling hard to pass the STEP tests. But the knowledge they get by studying for the tests might not help them become good speakers of English. This is a very big problem, isn't it? I wouldn't say that it's useless to study for the STEP tests, but I would say that if you do it in a proper way, you might lose your way someday. That's what you've got to be careful about.

(Friday, June 8, 2007)
　If you look around in today's Japan, you'll see so many things that you can utilize to fulfill your goals. As is often the case with human activities, however, things easily obtained are not regarded as important as they actually are. For example, if you try to find some good materials to learn English conversation by yourself, you'll have to take a long time to choose from hundreds of good materials available in book stores. If you're not patient enough, you'll finally stop choosing good materials yourself and knock on the door to a famous language school nearby to ask for help. Why don't you try to do it yourself, when it's just a little too difficult to do so? A very famous English saying goes, "No pains, no gains."

(Saturday, June 9, 2007)
　Two new students have started to learn English conversation at my school. Both of them are nurses who work in the same hospital in Samukawa Town. One of them is the mother of one of my ex-students at Hagisono JHS about 10 years ago. They looked so happy as if they had gone back to their younger days. I kind of understood how they feel to get a new textbook published by a foreign company, with no Japanese words written in it.

　It started to rain toward the evening. If it goes on raining until midnight, we might have a very beautiful day tomorrow. I'm thinking of going to the Hydrangea Festival in Kaisei Town next to Odawara City with my wife and Ryoma and possibly my wife's parents. I'm looking forward to seeing the colorful flowers growing along the edges of many rice fields. We've been blessed with good weathers this year, so the hydrangeas must be in good shape around this time. I'm going to bed earlier than usual tonight.

(Sunday, June 10, 2007)
　We had a thunder strom this morning, and I decided not to go to Odawara today. The Hydrangea Festival in Kaisei Town will last until next Sunday. We are planning now to visit the town next Sunday. If it rains again on the last day of the festival, we'll just have to make it next year.
　Our dog Ryoma is afraid of thunder. This morning when he herad the thunder far away, he hurriedly got under the kitchen table and stayed there for a while. He was lying on the floor next to my wife's leg. It seemed that he wanted to feel safe. He usually looks very brave, but when we see him hiding from the thunder, we feel he's even cuter. For us he's lust like a little kid of ours.

(Monday, June 11, 2007)
　The hydrangeas in our garden look much more bearutiful after the rain they had on Sunday. The blue is deeper than before and the white whiter too. They're such interesting flowers that I'm more into them. I'm looking forward to visiting the Hydrangea Festival in Kaisei Town next Sunday. If it rains, I'm going to take my wife and Ryoma to Kamakura instead. One of my American colleagues, Nancy, suggested I visit Kamakura to enjoy the beautiful hydrangeas there. She once lived in Kamakura and knows a lot about the old city.
　By the way Nancy in a very interesting woman. I hear she's a perfect speaker of Japanese after living here in Japan for many years, but she's never talked to me in Japanese. Is that why she respects me as an English instructor? If so, I'm really proud of myself.

(Tuesday, June 12, 2007)
　Today a 7-year-old elementary school girl and a housewife newly entered my language school. I'm really happy about that. The number of the students learning English at my school is gradually increasing. I hope I'll have about 30 students by the end of this year. I think I have to give them the best lessons that I could ever have.
　Can you smell the beginning of the summer time? I can smell it in the breeze blowing from the south. Especially in the evening when I'm walking with Ryoma, I can smell it in the air. What an attractive season we're having now! I have to think of a lot of things to do before the end of my favorite season.

(Wednesday, June 13, 2007)
　Not only in our garden, but also in many other places, you can enjoy beautiful hydrangeas in their full bloom. I really love the beautiful colors that hydrangeas show us at this season of the year. Especially the shocking ping and the marine blue attract me a lot. I'd like some pink hydrangeas in our garden too, but it might be impossible because of the quality of the soil. As many people know, hydrangeas change their colors in accordance with the pH level of the soil. Almost all of the hydrangeas in our garden have blue flowers.
　But the beauty of the hydrangeas comes from the green leaves in the background as well as the colorful flowers themselves. A nice combination of green and other colors gives perfect attractiveness. You might feel like picking a beautiful flower of hydrangea from a big stock, but it sure is a stupid idea. They're so beautiful just because they're there.

(Thursday, June 14, 2007)
　Ryoma likes sleeping on the sofa with a pillow under his head. I wonder how many dogs in the world can use a pillow as a comfortable tool to use when they go to sleep. He looked so cute and funny that I soon took some photos of him. It seems that he wanted to say, "Come on, Dad. Stop taking pictures and just let me sleep." Dogs usually don't have a deep sleep at night because they have to watch carefully what's going on around them even when they're asleep. They're naturally nocturnal animals. Usually my mom sleeps in the living room on the first floor with him. She once told me that Ryoma would sometimes suddenly bring something to play with in the middle of night. It's OK he stays up all night, because he can take a nap druing the day. But what about my mom who goes to bed late and wakes up early every morning except for Sunday mornings?

(Friday, June 15, 2007)
　There were no classes at KGC today. They made it a holiday in order to adjust the number of classes on each day of the week. There might be not a few students who would welcome holidays, but for us part-time English instructors, holidays are something that we never welcome, because we're not paid for holidays. I think they should make a monthly pay for us, becuase they get the same sum of tuition fee monthly from the students. Even if they take only three lessons in a month, they have to pay for four lessons, which is not fair at all. And one more thing. It's often said that when you learn English, it is most important to keep studying every day. Then why do they make so many holidays at major language schools? I have no idea why.

(Saturday, June 16, 2007)
　My wife's cold has been getting better, but I wonder if we could go to Kaisei Town to visit the Ajisai Festival there tomorrow. If she should get sick, she just has to sleep in the car I drive. But I don't want her to have a hard time just visiting a yearly festival. We'll be able to go there next year. It's all up to her.

　It's been a really hot day today, with the sunshine burning our skin. It was like the weather just in the middle of the summer time. They say that we're having a very hot summer this year. If we have so many hot days like this, maybe the summer will be a disastrous period of time that we can't stand. I love hot days, but hopefully not too many.

(Sunday, June 17, 2007)
　Today was the last day of the Ajisai Festival in Kaisei Town. They celebrate the 20th anniversary of the festival for hydrangeas this year. My wife and I drove there with Ryoma. When we arrived at the site, there was a long line of cars waiting for their parking space. We waited about 20 minutes in the line. We walked around the festival site. We had to be careful not to let Ryoma piss over hydrangeas, but he seemed to understand what he should do there. He was so cute that he soon became popular among people visiting the festival. He made a new girlfriend also. Her name was Marimo and she looked very smart. I was surprised to hear that she had once been to the hot spring resort in Kusatsu and had had a good time bathing in the hot water there. I wonder if Ryoma will also be happy to take a bath in the hot spring. Perhaps he'll run away to hide behind the rocks.

(Monday, June 18, 2007)
　Ryoma seems a little tired. Is that because she walked a lot yesterday? Or does he have a cold? He looked so lonely when my mother went shopping late in the afternoon. I guess he didn't want to be left alone, which meant he was not in good shape.

(Tuesday, June 19, 2007)
　When I was walking with Ryoma, he looked a little tired. But after coming back he got fine and asked for more food late at night. As far as his appetite is concerned, it was really good today. It seems that he hasn't got rid of the fatigue he got from walking so long on Sunday. It's getting muggy these days, but it's not a good idea to turn on the air-conditioner in the living room, because Ryoma always get some trouble in his stomach after staying in the cool air for a while. It's good for our health not to use the air-conditioner, though.

(Wednesday, June 20, 2007)
　Ryoma seems to like a fan now. When he first saw me sending a breeze with a fan, he tried to bite the fan. But now he's got accustomed to it and when I use it to give him a nice breeze, he looks so comfortable and goes to sleep. Dogs have fur all around their bodies, so they're no good at adjusting their temperature to the outer world. They can only put out their tongues from their mouths and try to cool their bodies. As it was really hot this afternoon, he wanted to rest often while he was out for an evening walk.

(Thursday, June 21, 2007)
　The rainy season in Okinawa came to an end today, which was two days earlier than usual. This year the season there started later than usual also. It means that they've had a very short rainy season this year in the southernmost part of our country. I've been to Okinawa only once so far. I'd like to take may wife there and enjoy swimming in the crystal clear ocean. The Maldives is a little bit too far.

　It's been extremely hot since yesterday. Late this afternoon I watered the garden, but soon the soil got dry with the strong sunshine showering over the garden. Hydrangeas need a lot of water and not too much sunshine. Now they're going to say goodbye their season this year and I want them to enjoy the rest of their life to their heart's content―as beautifully as they could.

(Friday, June 22, 2007)
　It started to rain late in the afternoon. When I left home for KGC, it was not raining outside. I was afraid that it would start raining at night, but I didn't have time to prepare for rain. When I finished my last lesson, it was raining heavily. I waited for the rain to stop for a while, but it seemed impossible and I decided to ride my motorcycle back home. When I arrived home, of course, I was all wet from head to toe. I thought I had to prepare for the sudden heavy rain when I went out by motorcycle.
　
　My wife was still coughing, but she took Ryoma for an evening walk in the rain. I couldn't do anything about that because I had three classes from 3:00p.m. to 8:25p.m. I thanked my wife for going out late at night in spite of her bad physical condition.

(Saturday, June 23, 2007)
　I had four classes today. The first lesson was for business people who studied hard to get a better score in the TOEIC test. The second lesson was for a high school boy who was not good at English. The third lesson was for a 7th grader boy who had just started to learn English. And I taught two nurses in the last lesson that started 5:30 in the afternoon. In the last lesson we had a happy time talking about how to do some online shopping. They didn't know how to utilize the website for online shopping and looked so happy to get a lot of new information about it. I guess they are now sitting in front of their computers checking those websites. Of course we had an interesting English lesson after my precious "lecture" on wise shopping.

(Sunday, June 24, 2007)
　I played in a softball game today after two months. I still had some trouble in my right shoulder and I couldn't throw the ball well, so I played first base. I tried to make a hit because I couldn't play well enough as the first baseman, but I was no good. Next Sunday we're going to have a game in the afternoon. I think I'll have to practice batting hard to do a good job in the game.

(Monday, June 25, 2007)
　I have a stiff leg muscle this morning, because I played softball yesterday without daily exercises. I know I'm not so young that I can do a good job in a sudden softball game. I'm mentally young enough to be a good softball player, but physically not good enough, I have to admit.

　I had the last lesson for the 3-month Intensive Course at KGC. I've managed the grammar lesson and I think my students there have enjoyed my lesson very much. I think I could teach English grammar more interestingly, but there is a textbook that I have to handle the class with. It's a pity that I can't decide which textbook to use in the grammar lessons.

(Tuesday, June 26, 2007)
　I had diarrhea this morning. I didn't notice that until I arrived at the nursing school in Odawara. I was lucky not to feel like going to the bathroom while I was driving along the Seisho Expressway. I had to go to the bathroom twice before the class started, but I was OK during the lesson. Interestingly my stomach got stable when the class was over. So I could drive back home safe. I could eat lunch as usual. I felt a little tired, though.
　I know the reason why I had diarrhea this morning. I had gone to bed last night with the large window of my bedroom wide open. Toward this morning it got cool, I guess. That's why my wife also had diarrhea this morning. She usually sleeps on the same bed as me, closer to the window. So her symptom of diarrhea was more severe than mine. She usually wants to go to sleep with the window closed, but last night she thought of the husband who was often hot while sleeping. I was sorry for her.

(Wednesday, June 27, 2007)
　It was about a quarter to five when Ryoma and I went out for the evening walk. Incidentally it was time for many dogs to take a walk and we met a lot of friends of Ryoma's. I first thought of taking an-hour walk when we left home, but actually it took us about one and a half hours to finish walking. It was a few minutes after 6:15 and I didn't have much time before I left for KGC. Ryoma would welcome a longer walk, I'm sure.

　Now most of the hydrangeas are finishing their prime time and we see only a few kinds of late hydrangeas starting to come out. About half of the hydrangeas seen here in this country are native in Japan, but the others come from western countries. There are so many kinds of hydrangeas, which means they come out at different times of the season between spring and summer. Some come out early, and others do rather late.

(Thursday, June 28, 2007)
　It's sometimes very difficult to understand people. We live in the same world, but we don't think or feel in the same way. Even if you think you're doing what you think is right, it might have been making someone upset. But you have to go on your own way, fighting the stress you get from the difficulties. It's probably wise of you to pretend to be satisfied with what's going on around you. In order to do so, however, you might have to spend so many sleepless nights. Now I think there are only a few people in this world that I can trust. Yes, I could think positively that I do have some people who I can really believe in.

(Friday, June 29, 2007)
　My wife Kayoko is a really nice woman to get along with. She's very thoughtful and is always thinking about me. She always cares if I'm happy or not. I've never met such an honest woman as her. I do wish that she will be happy with me too. She's now upstairs hanging the laundry. She must be pretty tired after working at the reception desk of a condo up the hill. I'm always thinking what I could do to make her happy.

　It's been so humid this evening. It seems that the weather is preparing for the hot summer to come. It's not rained much this rainy season, which means we're going to have much more rain before the festival season starts in July. It also seems that our dog Ryoma has a hard time coping with the humidity.

(Saturday, June 30, 2007)
　Are you a type of person who likes arguing? I'm not. I like exchanging ideas with people, but I hate arguing with others, especially when the one I'm talking to doesn't respect my opinion. It's quite natural for us to have different opinions. And we should respect different opinions than yours. If you just insist your opinion, nobody would feel like listening to you. Energy should be spent on something more important. It's a waste of time and energy to talk to someone who always try to deny other people's ideas. Sorry to say, however, there are so many annoying people of that type around you. I'd really like to keep away from them. Never talk to me, please!

(Sunday, July 1, 2007)
　Our softball team had a game this afternoon, and I played the first base because I still had some trouble with my shoulder. Perhaps in the next game to be held at the end of next month, I'll be able to throw as well as I did before I had the trouble with my shoulder. Today I met a high school girl who belonged to Hiratsuka Shogyo High School's softball team. She said she had come to watch the games. I once had a game with her team when she was on Shorin Junior High School's softball team. We enjoyed talking to each other.

(Monday, July 2, 2007)
　From today on I have to drive to Odawara to teach at a nursing school on Monday morning. Usually you don't start driving your car at the maximum speed at the beginning of the week, so it's a little tiring. I have to take away my sleepiness completely so that I could drive my car safely along the Seisho Bypass. I'm afraid of high speed, which will help me avoid car accidents, though.

(Tuesday, July 3, 2007)
　The first class I had at my language school today started at 9:30a.m. and the last class ended at 7:30p.m. Today the new tough Tuesday schedule started, which was not so tiring as I had expected. It was perhaps because each of the five classes was really small and all the students were eager to learn English. The most difficult class to handle might have been that for an elementary school kid. I used to teach at public junior high schools, where I didn't have to teach kids under 12 years old.

(Wednesday, July 4, 2007)
　One of the middle-aged women I know said that the ex-Minister of the Self-Defense Ministry was incredible to have mentioned the U.S. nuclear bombing in a stupid manner. But the next moment she said something stupid, which made me upset. There are many people who think of themselves reasonable but who are actually not. I know I myself am not always saying or doing right, but I think that's a big difference if you can sometimes doubt yourself or not. I hate those who think without doubt that they're completely right.

(Thursday, July 5, 2007)
　Still the tendency of bullying weaker children has not been stopped and some parents have started to ask a detective agency to make investigation on what's going on around their kids. It's partly because the bullies are hard to find out. And it's also because most of the school teachers can't do anything effective to stop the bullies. Some people say that it's the school teachers' job to deal with the bullying problems, but others say that teachers should deal with their students in a gentle manner. Do you think you can persuade bad children into giving up bullying other weaker kids? If you do, you're stupid. Children are not angeles, sorry to say.

(Friday, July 6, 2007)
　Greeting people is very important. You should be as cheerful as possible when you meet people. No one doubts that, but these day fewer people seem to be interested in how to get along well with people around them. Some people won't say anything back to you even when you said hello to them. They won't even give you a smile. Then you don't feel like working as hard as usual. Greeting makes people happy. You just have to say hello to your co-workers and try not to make them upset. You will also be made happy by your co-workers someday. Just a few words, but they're so mighty.

(Saturday, July 7, 2007)
　Tonight after eating dinner, I made a new poster to invite new students to my language school. This time I used a cute photo of Ryoma, which I'm sure will attract a lot of people. I showed the poster to Ryoma, but he didn't seem to be interested in it at all. I hope he'll be happy to be a "welcoming dog" for his dad's school. Tomorrow I think I'll have to make a new leaflet for my school. I'll be making about 100 copies and put it in the plastic bag attached to the brick wall at the mouth of the path to my house. English lessons will be officially introduced into elementary schools in a few years, and I expect more and more parents will be interested in letting their kids start learning English. I'm sure I'd be of a great help of theirs.

(Sunday, July 8, 2007)
　I saw the softball girls on Hagisono Junior High after a few months. I was looking forward to seeing them having grown bigger than before. It seemed that they had grown to be better players, both technically and mentally. Of course they won the championship. I hope they will go on to the final of the Prefectural Campionship Tournament held at the end of this month in Sagamihara.
　In softball games, as you can expect, it's most important for the manager to do everything to let the players do their best. It's no good to give them negative words. You should always try to encourage them in a positive manner. Even when you think the player has done a poor job, you could encourage her by saying for example, "OK. Don't worry. I'm sure you'll do a better job next time. Believe in yourself." The manager who's the best in encouraging players will be able to smile with the big cup in his hands.

(Monday, July 9, 2007)
　I played one of the most popular love movie "Ghost" in the lesson at a nursing school. It was so impressive that manyof the students there couldn't help crying at the end of the story. I couldn't stop tears coming out of my eyes. What would you do if you died before your partner? I would stay in between the heaven and the real world and try to protect my family as long as possible until they learn to stand up on their own feet again. It's a great movie, but I don't feel like seeing them times and times again. It always tears my heart. One of the students at the school lost her husband about half a year ago. I was sorry that she had to see the movie and remember the happy days she had had with her husband. After the movie was over, I went to her to apologize to her about the movie. She said it was OK, but when she talked about her husband's death, she started to cry. She's now studying hard to become a nurse. When I think of her strong will, I feel I could do anything.

(Tuesday, July 10, 2007)
　There are many young people who don't want to work full-time and who just roam around doing nothing creative. They can earn a living by doing a part-time job from time to time, which makes them feel life is easy to get along with. They will learn it's not when they get older. On the other hand, there are many others who start working hard at earlier ages. Even though they're hard workers, it's very difficult for them to earn enough money to support their families. You may agree that something is wrong with the situation surrounding us these days. Prime Minister Abe promised to realize a society where there are less poor hard workers. We all know, however, he didn't make it, though.

(Wednesday, July 11, 2007)
　Do you know what to do with the hydrangeas when their season is over? You have to cut the stems at a certain position. You cut the stems between the second branch and the third branch from the top. If you make it all right, you'll be able to expect lots of beautiful flowers next year. If you don't, they might never come out when you expect the colorful flowers. It's one of the wonders of nature. You have to be careful that you should do the job until the middle of July when the rainy season is almost over.

(Thursday, July 12, 2007)
　Tonight I saw the movie "Ghost" on DVD again. It was such a fantastic movie that after seeing the film I didn't feel like complaining about so many nasty people around me. Life is not for complaining, but for loving someone very important. I won't be paying any attention to disgusting people. I'll have many other reliable people in mind and go on my own way. That's what my life is for.

(Friday, July 13, 2007)
　As usual I had an open seminar in Fujisawa this afternoon. It was the 13th lesson of the 14-lesson course. I asked the students if the lessons for the first course for 2007 had been a little too difficult for them, and they answered in the affirmative. I think I'll have to make it easier in the next term starting in August. Most of the students in my course look over 50 years old. I can proudly say that they've been doing quite well and I hope many of them will be registered in the same course of mine next month.

(Saturday, July 14, 2007)
　Typhoon 200704, or Man-yi, went though Japan giving us more than enough rain. I'm sorry for people living in Kyushu District who suffered from incredibly heavy rainfall during a short period of time. The amount of the rain they had during the period was more than the yearly amount of rain in the area. Although it's not far from Kyushu, Shikoku has been contrarily going through water shortage as usual. The typhoon blessed the people in Shikoku with plenty of water.

(Sunday, July 15, 2007)
　I knew that Typhoon Man-yi was passing by the Kanto District, but I decided to take Ryoma for an usual evening walk in the heavy rain because he hadn't emptied his bowels in the morning. We walked together for over an hour, but it seemed that he didn't feel like doing his business. I gave up letting him doing it and came back home. Ryoma's so careful that it takes him a lot of time to find the right place to do his business, especially when he has to walk in the rain. Of course he doesn't have to empty his bowels every day, but we don't want him to have a hard time waiting for the next morning to come with stuffed bowels.

(Monday, July 16, 2007)
　It was the Hamaori Festival we had here in Chigasaki early this morning. Some streets were so noisy during the night before because of the sacred portable shrines carried by dozens of drunken men. Many people left their homes early in the morning and rush to the beach to see those portable shrines going into the ocean. I also got up quite early this morning, not for the Hamaori Festival, but for taking Ryoma for a very early morning walk. He didn't do his business all day yesterday and he gave a short sad cry at the foot of the stairs. I thought he felt like doing it and hurriedly took him out for a walk. However it took him more than half an hour to make a circle that he usually made before doing his business. Anyway I was relieved to see him refreshed by making his bowels empty. It was not so bad to go for a walk early in the morning, though.

(Tuesday, July 17, 2007)
　Why do we have to pay monthly for the pension that might not be paid back to us when we're retired? The Social Insurance Agency have been too careless with the large amount of precious money they collect from us. How could they so dull? What's their job to do? Do they say they've been quite busy chatting over a couple of coffee? They should realize that they're completely responsible for all the troubles in the spotlight.

(Wednesday, July 18, 2007)
　There is a very big difference between the English lessons given at juku schools and the ones at English conversation schools. At juku schools they teach how to do a better job in the English exams, while at conversation schools we teach how to use English as a communication tool. Many people might believe that studying English for the entrance exams needs higher skills, but actually it's not true. You have to have a lot of information when you try to speak and write better. Yes, of course, you have to be able to listen and read better before becoming a good speaker and writer of English. I hope more people will understand how beneficial it is to learn English at a conversation school.

(Thursday, July 19, 2007)
　It was about a few minutes before 4:00p.m. I left home with Ryoma for an early evening walk, because I had to teach English in Fujisawa at 5:35p.m. But an hour was good enough for us to enjoy walking slowly. You have to walk in your dog's pace when you take him/her for a walk. Otherwise the hurried walk will just give your dog some stress, not some satisfaction. Our dog, just like other dogs, likes to stop many times and sniff around in the grass on the way. You would often scold him/her partly because you think the grass is too dirty or because you don't have much time to spend walking with him/her. But what would you feel when someone else told you so may don'ts in a short period of time. You would probably get upset and try intentionally to do something wrong as a sign of objection. That's why I always try to walk in Ryoma's pace. Of course I sometimes hurry him because I don't have much time left until leave home for the English conversation school in Fujisawa.

(Friday, July 20, 2007)
　Water's so important today. I'm not talking about the quantity. I'm talking about its quality. Today hydrogen water attracts a lot of people and I'm one of them. Last year I bought an erectrical equipment that could produce hydrogen water. I think it worked, but I haven't been using it for the last few months. It's just becuase it's not an easy job to do. But maybe because of the water I lost weight by more than15 kilos. I think I'm going to try it again, maybe tomorrow.

(Saturday, July 21, 2007)
　I started to edit four courses of training books for getting better in speaking English. I've been making a lot of original materials for about 30 years, and these are kind of final results of my work so far. My students have already begun to use the training books and they like them very much. They are supposed to give them a good chance to speak as much English as possible in a short limited period of time of ten minutes or so. All those four courses of books will be completed in about half a year. They're really good, I'm sure.

(Sunday, July 22, 2007)
　My wife and I took Ryoma to the Southern Beach Chigasaki this afternoon. They had already built some beach houses for visitors and it was prohibited for the dog owners to walk their dogs along the swimming area. How could they suddenly decide the beach is a kind of restricted area against dogs? It's part of public places called beaches, isn't it? I understand there are some people among the visitors who don't like dogs walking around them, but I felt something was wrong with the situation. Am I the only one who feels that way?
　We walked along the beach next to the swimming area, which was good enough to satisfy Ryoma. We enjoyed walking together for about an hour. I threw a stick into the wave to see if Ryoma would try to go get it. Yes, he did. He ran to the stick without paying any attention to the coming waves. It still seemed that he didn't really like to get wet, but he found it fun to go get the stick. Maybe next time he'll be better at it.

(Monday, July 23, 2007)
　I went to see Hagisono softball team play in the Shonan Block championship tournament in the school ground of Fujisawa's Oba Junior High School. The semi-final against Umeda Junior High was not so easy for Hagisono because Umeda had some good batters. The ace pitcher of Hagisono is now famous for her sharp pitching, but Umeda met her balls successfully. Hagisono lost 2 runs, but they won the game with three home runs. I felt they had grown to be a very tough team under the management of Mr.Ide, who's also famous as a splendid manager of his baseball teams he used to have. I'm sure they will win the championship tomorrow.

(Tuesday, July 24, 2007)
　I couldn't go to Oba Junior High School today, because I had as many as 5 classes to teach at my own language school. After the second lesson I noticed there was a message left on my cell phon, which was, of course, from Mr.Ide telling me that Hagisono had won the championship as everybody expected they would. The score of the final game with Shorin Junior High was 6-0, which meant Hagisono was by far the strongest team in the Shonan Block. I hope they will also win the championship in the Prefectural Tournament to be held from 28th to 30th of this month. I think I'll be in Sagamihara to cheer for them.

(Wednesday, July 25, 2007)
　Today I had two more extra classes that were substitute for regular lessons. Two classes mean 3 hours, which should not happen so often. From the coming September, I'm going to abolish the substitution class system. If I try to keep the system, I won't be able to expect new people come into the lesson schedule. I've already given out letters of notice to the present students at my school. I know they're not happy about that, but I don't have a choice. I'd like to ask them to think of one lesson more important than before.

(Thursday, July 26, 2007)
　It's been so humid all day today. The Meteorological Agency hasn't declared yet that the rainy season in Kanto District has come to an end, but we already feel we're in the midst of the summer. Do they think there's still some possibility of heavy rainfall in our region? I hear in some years they can't declear the end of the rainy season because there's no obvious phenomenon showing its end. Is this happening this year? Is it true that we're going to have a extremely hot summer this year because of La Nina off the coast of South America?

(Friday, July 27, 2007)
　It was really hard to get into sleep last night. I guess there were many people who had their air-conditioners working all through the night. I couldn't do that because my wife didn't really like it. She would never complain about that, but I know she's always having a hard time when I'm feeling so good in a cool air-conditioned room. Basically it's not good for your health to stay in a place that is too cool. If you do, you will gradually lose your ability to adjust your body temperature yourself. And you might gain weight becuase your body would naturally try to fight the cool air outside and need more fat, which is not welcome. Right?

(Saturday, July 28, 2007)
　It's been so hot and muggy today too. It's hard for many people to go to sleep without turning on the air-conditioner. But as I wrote in yesterday's diary, my wife doesn't like to sleep in an air-conditioned room. So I went to a nearby department store to get a new compact fan. The old one in my bedroom hadn't been working well and we needed a new one to make it easy for us to get into sleep in the muggy night. I hope I'll get a good night's sleep to get up early tomorrow morning. I'm going to watch some official softball games in Sagamihara tomorrow. I'll have to leave home at 7:00a.m. to be in time for the first game between Shorin Junior High and Hikarigaoka Junior High. I'm sure Shorin still has good chances to win the game.

(Sunday, July 29, 2007)
　It was the second day of the Prefecutural Softball Championship Tournament for junior high school girls. The games were held in Sagamihara District, where in the afternoon it rained quite heavily for a short period of time. The games were played in three different junior high schools, two of which were very much affected by the sudden heavy rainfall. I was at Ohno Kita Junior High, where we didn't have much rain and the games weren't stopped in the middle. It it rains, the rain makes it hard for the pitcher to control the ball and something unpredictable may happen at any time. Therefore softball games should be played in good weather.

(Monday, July 30, 2007)
　The semi-finals and the final game have been postponed until tomorrow because of the thunderstorm we've been having since last night. In Shonan District we didn't have rain till late in the morning, but around 10:30 it started to thunder and it started to rain heavily just after that.

　After going for an evening walk, I let Ryoma take a shower. Especially in the summer heat, it's easy for him to get smelly becuase he likes to go into grass where some other dogs may have peed. It's not that we don't like his natural smell as a dog, because he would say we smell like human beings. However the smell of other dogs' pee is just another problem. If you want to keep your pet dog inside your house, you have to stand it to some extent, which we understand very well. Now that he has taken a shower, he smells good and looks refreshed. I don't know if he agrees with me or not.

(Tuesday, July 31, 2007)
　They have made it! Our big dream has finally been realized! Hagisono Softball Team has won the prefectural championship and the right to go on to the Kanto Championship Tournament. It's been so hard for them to come all the way here. There might be some people who say Hagisono happens to have so many good players, but it's not true. They have done more effort than any other team in Kanagawa Prefecture. That's the truth. I'd like to say "Congratulations!" to all the players on the team and Manager Ide and Sub-manager Kodama and the parents who have been supporting the team. Congratulations once again on their great job that I could never have done. Now the next big stage is waiting for them. Go for it, Hagisono!

(Wednesday, August 1, 2007)
　The long, long rainy season this year has finally come to an end. The Meteorological Agency has declared it's over here in Kanto District. But who cares? Our hot summer already started dozens of days ago. And Typhoon Usagi is now coming closer. They say it might land somewhere in Kyushu District in a few days. Even though the end of the rainy season has been declared, we're still going to have lots of rain soon.

(Thursday, August 2, 2007)
　It's been extremely humid today. Once outside I could feel comfortable wind blowing, but inside the house it was really hard to do without an air-conditioner. We haven't used the air-conditioner in the living room for such a long time, becuase I've been the only one who wanted to stay in an air-conditioned room.

(Friday, August 3, 2007)
　The temperature today may have risen up to about 35 degrees Celcius. It was so hot in the evening that Ryoma often stopped walking. He looked very much tired walking in the summer heat. On the way I let him drink some water so that he might not get sick. After all he didn't do his business either in the morning walk or in the evening walk. Tiredness might have affected his willingness to empty his bowels.

(Saturday, August 4, 2007)
　Early this morning, Ryoma barked so often that we couldn't have a good night's sleep. He couldn't have been sick because I took him out for the third walk of the day around midnight. I guess he just wanted to go out. My mother thinks that he's in the middle of the special season when he seeks for some girlfriends. Now may be the time for him to decide his girlfriend. I myself really want to see his sons and daughters, but my wife is not willing to let him mate with a cute girlfriend. She seems to be jealous of his girlfriend. Isn't that crazy?

(Sunday, August 5, 2007)
　I went to see the fireworks at the beach with my wife and her mother. It seemed impossible to park my car near the beach, so I parked my car near the station and we walked to the beach, which took us about 20 minutes. The beach was not so far from the station as I expected. They shot off about 3,500 fireworks in this festival. At first it was supposed to be held yesterday evening, but it was postponed till the next day because of big waves influenced by Typhoon Usagi. If it had been held yesterday as it was planned, I wouldn't have been able to come and see it because I had an English class last night. I was one of the lucky people. This was my first time to see fireworks so closely that I was very much impressed with the beautiful flowers in the night sky.

(Monday, August 6, 2007)
　Today was the 62nd anniversary of the atomic bombing on Hiroshima. An atomic bomb was dropped on the city on the morning of August 6, 1945, when the defeat of Japan was quite obvious. Why did they have to use a nuclear weapon in that situation? Nobody can give the answer to that question. It was partly because the U.S. had to show their military strength to the Soviet Union, but we're not sure it was the main reason for the mass murder. I hear in the U.S. history book it is written that the purpose of the atomic bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was to bring an earlier end to the Pacific War and save a lot of lives of the U.S. soldiers. Many people say that it's not the truth lying behind the event, but who would listen to the people of a country where most people are not so much interested in Hiroshima or Nagasaki?

(Tuesday, August 7, 2007)
　It's been incredibly humid today too. How come we should have so many hot days after the end of the long rainy season this year? But I've noticed today that there're only three weeks left until the end of the hot summer season. I haven't even been swimming this summer yet. I hate humid weathers, but I also hate too short a summer. Will it be possible for me to take my wife and Ryoma to the beautiful beaches of Izu?

(Wednesday, August 8, 2007)
　Hagisono JHS's softball team won the first game in the Kanto Softball Championship Tounament, but the second game was not easy. After all they didn't make it and the 9th graders's hot summer came to an end. They're going to stay one more night in Yamanashi and tomorrow they'll be on their way back to Chigasaki. I hear the 9th graders will visit the Fujikyu Highland, while the members on the new team will directly come back to school and start practicing for their first official game to be held in September. I'm a little bit worried about Mr.Ide who literally won't be able to take any holidays after the big event.

(Thursday, August 9, 2007)
　Today was the 62nd anniversary of the atomic bombing on Nagasaki. The famous photo of the mushroom cloud is believed to have been taken in Hiroshima, but actually it was taken in Nagasaki. I hear most of the photos taken in Hiroshima have been lost in some way or other. Many of the pictures of the atomic bombing are of Nagasaki's. How can it be a "must" to kill more than 80,000 people in a flash? Do the American people really believe that they had no other choice but to drop nuclear bombs on so many innocent people? Of course war itself is a serious crime and no one country should be blamed of doing something wrong, though.

(Friday, August 10, 2007)
　I went to the pachinko parlor after a long while. I have never done a good job with the new machine called "Hissatsu Shigotonin," or the shadowy killer group in English. I made two hits, but they didn't make me smile at the end. Everytime I go and play in the pachinko parlor these days, I decide not to come again, which won't last long. Pachinko is such fun that you have to be careful not to be too crazy about it.

(Saturday, August 11, 2007)
　I was sleepy all day today, perhaps because of lack of sleep last night. I don't remember well, but I could have woken up several times during the night. I remember going to the toilet once. Even if it's hard to go to sleep in the humid night, I know it's not a good idea to keep the air-conditioner working all night. If you have a cold in a hot summer like this year's, you should have a really hard time getting rid of it. Let's be careful.

(Sunday, August 12, 2007)
　22 years ago today, a JAL jet plane, Flight 123, crashed into Mt.Osutaka on its way from Tokyo to Osaka. 520 people out of 524 including clues were killed in the crash. The official cause of the accident is said to have been the destruction of the plane's diaphragm, but there are some specialists who insist there must have been other causes. 22 years have passed and nobody is sure what really caused the tragedy.

　Late in the afternoon, my wife and I took Ryoma to Southern Beach Chigasaki. It seemed that there were bigger waves than usual and the sea smelled so bad. Is that because there were so many people visiting the beach? Or because the dirty sewage water flows into the ocean nearby? Anyway the beach doesn't look like the beautiful one I used to enjoy when I was a little boy.

(Monday, August 13, 2007)
　It's been so humid today too. It seemed that Ryoma had a hard time lying on the floor, so I switched on the air-conditioner for the first time in maybe a year or so. The living room got so cool soon and Ryoma looked so happy for a while. About a few hours later, I turned it off because he usually had some trouble with his stomach when he stayed in the cool air for a long time. It didn't take the room even a few minutes to get hot again. What a crazy weather we're having this summer!

(Tuesday, August 14, 2007)
　They have no classes today and tomorrow at the language school I've been working for in Fujisawa. They already had a long summer vacation from July 23 to August 4. How could they have so many holidays when they have to teach the students the importance of practicing every day? Most of the major language schools have the same system. I feel they have too many holidays. Once a businessman told me that they would really like to learn English in the middle of summer when they don't have to go to work. However no classes are available in the middle of summer. Today even public school teachers have only five days-off during the summer. Who do they think they are? If this situation goes on, most of the students will lose their interest in the language schools that have too many holidays. At that time it will be too late.

(Wednesday, August 15, 2007)
　Today is the 62nd anniversary of the end of the Pacific War. What did people feel when they listened to the Emperor announce the defeat of the war against the United States? The top leaders of Japan always kept saying that Japan would surely win the war. Many people believed that and didn't complain about the hard life they had to lead. But the truth was that there wasn't only a little chance for Japan to win the war.
　On March 10, 1945, more than 300 U.S. B-29s came over to Japan to bomb Tokyo. During the night over 100,000 people were burned to death. About five months later, two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing totally more than 200,000 people. If the Japanese government had made an unconditional surrender, all those lives would have been saved. It was such a great loss that we could never allow the government not to respect their people. Never again!

(Thursday, August 16, 2007)
　It was such a humid evening that when I came home from work my mother, my wife, and Ryoma was staying in a cool air-conditioned room. It was quite unusual because all of them hated staying in an air-conditioned room. But if you tried not to turn on the air-conditioner, you would get sick because of the heat. Actually a junior high school boy died of too much heat after practicing basketball in Tokyo. You have to be careful not to get seriously sick by taking a lot of water from time to time. I hear the temperature went over 40 degrees Celcius in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture. It was the same as the Japanese record.

(Friday, August 17, 2007)
　Yesterday a great earthquake of measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hit Peru in South America. More than 300 people were killed according to the TV news. In North Korea they're suffering from floods caused by too much rainfall. And here in Japan we're having an incredible hot summer. Something must be wrong with our planet deep inside. Now not a few people wonder what comes after these. Something more serious?

　In the northern part of Iraq there was a suicide bombing, killing more than 400 people, which was the worst incident that had happened since the war started. What does it mean to kill people in their own country just because they believe in different religions? President Bush has often been criticized for having started the crazy war, but without the war there must have been a very serious problem in that country.

(Saturday, August 18, 2007)
　It's such a cool morning that we're having today that I feel as if I were already in the fall. It was so hot when we went to bed last night. Weather changes so quickly. The crazy heat of summer has been out of its prime time? Or is it just taking a rest for a while? No more humid days, we all hope.

(Sunday, August 19, 2007)
　Today I had nothing special to do, so I went to the pachinko parlor in Fujisawa. I tried the "Shigotonin" and gained 14 boxes of balls, which was worth almost 80,000 yen. This was the first time for me to win with this newly-released machine. At first I didn't like it very much, but now that I really enjoyed playing with it, I'm an enthusiastic fan of the "Shigotonin." I shouldn't get too much envolved in it, though.

(Monday, August 20, 2007)
　I rode my motorcycle to Hiratsuka today. On my way back from Hiratsuka I visited Mr.Ide at Hagisono Junior High School. I was expecting the new team was still practicing softball in the afternoon. I was right. They were going to have a practice game with Hamasuka Junior High school, which might be the strongest new team in Chigasaki City. On the new Hagisono Softball Team, there's only one 8th grader. The other 16 players are all in the 7th grade. It's going to be a pretty tough year for Mr.Ide, who has to take care of so many beginners.

(Tuesday, August 21, 2007)
　The last lesson today that was supposed to start at 6 o'clock in the evening had been canceled, so I had enough time to take Ryoma out for an evening walk. We met almost all his favorite dogs, who were all girls and were much bigger than Ryoma. When he was still a pup, he used to play with them. They were so nice to Ryoma that he seemed to think they were his sisters. Now Ryoma is three and a half years old, but he still maintains the good relationship with them all. He looked really happy to see them.

(Wednesday, August 22, 2007)
　This afternoon, after finishing the two lessons at my own language school, I left home earlier than usual to go and play in the Pachinko Parlor. I tried to make some money for my wife, who doesn't have much pocket money for herself, but I didn't make it. I think I was stupid to expect that I could win again this week. If you really want to save money, it's very important not to play pachinko so often. Once or twice a week may be more than enough. I should know that well, but it's not so easy to keep the golden rule after making a big win.

(Thursday, August 23, 2007)
　My car insurance will expire at the end of next month. Now is the time I have to decide whether to renew the present insurance or to change insurance companies. I'm now looking for a cheaper one, because I don't think there's a big difference among so many car insurances. So far I've found a good one, which is more than 10,000 yen cheaper than the present one. I'm satisfied with the present insurance, but I have to look for a cheaper one for a financial reason.

(Friday, August 24, 2007)
　I feel it's getting cooler little by little when compared with the crazy summer heat that we had until last weekend. But it's still humid, which makes us really sick. Last night I went to sleep without turning on the air-conditioner, becuase my wife had a headache sleeping in an air-conditioned room. Instead I kept the fan working all night, which must have taken away too much water from my body. I was so sleepy when I woke up this morning, and I've been feeling pretty tired since then. I guess I couldn't have a good night's sleep last night. It's so difficult for two different people, one who hates to stay in the cool air and the other who hates to stay in a hot room, to sleep in the same room. Whatever piece of eauipment we try to use, either my wife or I would have to have some trouble when the morning comes.

(Saturday, August 25, 2007)
　Late in the evening, after I finished the last lesson at my school, my wife and I took Ryoma out for a walk. It was a humid evening, but it seemed that Ryoma was not so tired he kept walking on and on. Usually when he feels tired, he often asks me to take a rest. But tonight he didn't do that and walked rather faster than usual. We were happy to see him walking fine. Dogs don't know how to express their ideas effectively, so when we see them looking tired or sick, we cannot but worry about them so much. It's been a really hot summer this year, but he has never lost his appetite, which has made us feel pretty relieved.

(Sunday, August 26, 2007)
　Tomorrow the new members of the second Abe cabinet will be announced to public. I don't think he will make it all rigtht this time. Perhaps some other scandals will be revealed sooner or later and he will have to give up his position. If he really wants to succeed in handling his new cabinet, he himself will have to change. Today's politicians tend to think of their own advantages first. If they want to get our support, they should start thinking of the usual people first. Do you think they could do that? Maybe not. We really hope a honest and powerful leader to show up before us. It is often said that a real hero appears once in a hundred years.

(Monday, August 27, 2007)
　The new members of the second Abe cabinet have all been decided. When we see the new faces of the cabinet, we don't know whether it's a better one or not. What is going to happen from now on will tell us whether Mr.Abe is qualified as the prime minister of our country.

(Tuesday, August 28, 2007)
　There are lots of parents today who want their little children to start learning English as early as they could. Is it really a right decision? It seems that those little children are unwilling to learn the international language. They seem to like spending more time playing with friends. An English saying goes that it may be easy for you to take the horse to the river but that it's quite difficult to let him drink water when he's not thirsty. What today's parents are doing is just like trying to let their kids eat delicious food when they're not very hungry. I'm sorry for those kids who have to sit at the desk learning English, which might be of little use for them. Of course I wouldn't say it's a crazy idea for the parents to give their little kids chances to learn how to speak a foreign language if they're really interested in it.

(Wednesday, August 29, 2007)
　This evening, before I left home for the English lesson in Fujisawa, I took Ryoma for a walk in the heavy rain. Surprisingly enough, it seemed that he was enjoying walking in the water running on the roads. He used to hate walking in pools on the streets, but I guess he has gradually got used to it. Basically Shiba dogs are not good with water. They don't like to take too many showers, or they don't like to swim in the ocean. However I guess it's possible for them to gradually get used to playing with water. I hope someday he will enjoy swimming in the ocean with us. He doesn't have webs between his fingers, though.

(Thursday, August 30, 2007)
　It's been a little cooler these days than it was last week. I feel it's rapidly shifting from summer to fall. When I rode my motorcycle back home from work in Fujisawa, I felt a little cold wearing a short-sleeved shirt. I had never felt like that for the past few months. The temperature today is not uncomfortable for me, though.

　Most kids are now going back to school, which might make the city a little quieter. The noise that children make is not always annoying, but when you hear it while you're woking, it could be a big problem. There are a lot of little children at the language school where I've been working for two and a half years. Sometimes I feel like shouting at the kids who are playing around in the lobby. But at the school we instructors should not tell them how to behave. We just have to teach them English. I think it's a crazy idea, but I have to obey the rule as long as I'm just an employee there. I'm trying to pretend not to hear the noise they make.

(Friday, August 31, 2007)
　I felt tired all this morning, maybe because of lack of sleep during the night before. I know I should go to bed before 1:00 in the morning, but I often have to go to bed later. When I suffered from depression, my doctor advised me to have a good night's sleep. Sleep is the most important factor when you try to get rid of your state of depression. Now I'm completely OK, but I should try to have enough sleep to keep myself in good shape.

　Everyday I count the leaflets left in the plastic bag hanging on the brick wall surrounding my aunt's house. Out of the twenty leaflets I put in the bag about a month ago, seven have been taken so far. Do I have to do something else to let more people know about my language school? I'm thinking of asking the hairdresser in Hagisono to give the leaflets to the customers. I hope it will work.

(Saturday, September 1, 2007)
　I'm teaching in Odawara next Monday, when I have to turn in the term-end test to the school. Tomorrow I'm going to play softball at Hagisono Junior High, so I worked hard on the test and completed it about half an hour ago. I don't think I'll be fine enough after coming home from a softball game. That's why I tried to finish what I need to complete by tomorrow night. Now I don't have to worry about it at all. All I have to do now is to turn off this computer and go to bed as soon as possible.

(Sunday, September 2, 2007)
　It seemed that Ryoma had some trouble with his stomach late this evening. My mother asked me to let him take some medicine, so I took out a sugar-coated pill of Seirogan and wrapped it with a piece of cheese. My wife and I tried to let him eat the cheese, which was not so difficult this time. He's now asleep inside his cage. I hope he will wake up all right tomorrow morning.
　Tomorrow morning I'm leaving home around 7:00 to go to Odawara by my car. I'm having the last lesson for the first-year students there tomorrow. The first lesson for the second-year students is supposed to start at the end of next month, which means that I'm having a long vacation again.

(Monday, September 3, 2007)
　A hot summer's day is back. After cooled down for about a week, the humid weather like today's really kills us. While driving to and back from Odawara. I kept the air-conditioner of my car working all the time. If it's warm inside the car, I tend to get sleepy, which is quite dangerous when you drive along the expressway. How I wish I could use the public transportation! I think I'll have to think about it more seriously.

(Tuesday, September 4, 2007)
　There are more and more crazy parents who don't sincerely think of their own kids. Parents used to care much about their kids when I was a little boy. But today what many parents are most interested in is themselves, not their own kids. You would see some parents with their kids walking by the side of the driveway. How could they do that when they can expect their kids might be hit by a car? In the age when it's pretty dangerous for a kid to be alone outside, how could some parents be late coming to pick their kids up? I don't understand why. I'm sure they will panic when they are to lose their kids, but it will be too late when they realize that they've been too stupid to watch their children. What the hell!

(Wednesday, September 5, 2007)
　Typhoon 200709 is now on its way to the Japan's mainland Honshu. The weather forecast says that it might attack the Kanto District and that when it does, it will be one of the biggest storms that have ever hit the area. It is said to be closest to the Kanto District late tomorrow afternoon, which will be the busiest time when business people are on their way back from work. I'm taking care of two classes tomorrow evening, which will never be canceled. I'm wondering if I should ride my motorcycle to work as usual. If it rains more heavily than I expect it will, then I'll have to give up the idea of using my motorcycle.

(Thursday, September 6, 2007)
　The monster typhoon is now ready to land somewhere between the Tokai District and the Kanto District. I heard the emergency announcement by the local government saying they had opened some emergency shelters in the city and that those who feel great danger are asked to evacuate to one of the shelters. This might be the first time for me to hear this announcement, which means the storm is expected to give great damage to our area. I'm having two classes at a language school in Fujisawa and I'll have to ride my motorcycle there. Of course I'll try to run as slowly and carefully as possible. The heavy rain itself is not a big problem. What will kill me is the strong wind. I'll have to be careful not to be blown away while running along the road.

(Friday, September 7, 2007)
　These days I feel that English words are more easily coming out of my mouth than before. Does that mean my English has improved a lot? It's very difficult to get used to speaking English when we live here in Japan where we don't have to use English in everyday life. Even if you try to watch as many American movies as possible in English, it will never give you chances to speak the language yourself. The only thing we can do is just talk to ourselves in English. It might work in some way, but it's not fun, isn't it? In my case, most of the English lessons are conducted mostly in English, so I can talk to the students in English. However it's not enough.

　It was a windy day today after Typhoon No.9 had gone away from the Kanto District. When I went to bed last night, I could hear the wind blowing harder and harder and I was very much worried that the roof of my house might be blown away. But this morning when I woke up, it was so peaceful as if nothing had happened the night before. It was just a beautiful morning after a storm.

(Saturday, September 8, 2007)
　The weather's been so changeable for the last week and many people must be suffering from uncomfortable physical conditions. I'm relatively OK, but I'll have to be careful in order to keep myself in good shape. When I feel kind of tired, it might not be a bad idea to take some vitamin pills. I looked up the word "vitamin" and found the example sentence that went "Lack of vitamin E can cause skin diseases and tiredness." Now I know that you have to take enough vitamins to get rid of your tiredness.

(Sunday, September 9, 2007)
　Today I was thinking of going to the Pachinko parlor, but I was too tired and sleepy to do so. Instead my wife and I went to a restaurant near the beach by car. Of course our dog Ryoma was in the back seat of the car. It seemed that he was not happy because he couldn't get out of the car to enjoy walking along the beach. It was too late and dark today for us to let him enjoy walking. My wife promised him that he would be coming there again to walk along the beach someday. Maybe next Sunday would be nice for us to put the promise into practice.

　When you go out for dinner at a restaurant, you would see a lot of types of people. Some are nice and some are nasty. Am I the only one who thinks that many of today's young people look like idiots? I hope they will learn to know how to behave in public places. I'm sure Ryoma would be a better learner, though.

(Monday, September 10, 2007)
　You usually feel tired when you start the first day of the new week. I was a little bit tired all this morning. In the afternoon before the first class started, I took a shower to wake myself up, which worked quite well. Teaching itself is such a lot of fun, so once I start the lesson I usually forget that I'm tired. In the case of a small private school like mine, it's most important for the instructor to always try to stay in good shape.
　At the beginning of last March, I had a flu and I couldn't teach for three days. I shouldn't have the same situation again. I can't bee too careful to stay away from any sickness.

(Tuesday, September 11, 2007)
　Today is the 6th anniversary of the Terror in the United States that happened on September 11, 2001. Has anything changed since then? Yes, there has been more and more racial discrimination against Muslims. It should be taken for granted that everyone has a right to decide which religion they believe in. Those who attacked the United States happened to be Muslims. Everyone know that not all the Muslims are dangerous people. There are some more dangerous people even among Christians.
　The Bush Administration started wars against Afganistan and Iraq in the name of protecting the world from any terrorist. Was it true? Were they really going to try hard to maintain world peace? Not a few people suspect that they started the wars to protect their own profits by ruling the areas where they could get lots of oil and natural gas. Nobody knows the truth, which will be veiled in mystery forever.

(Wednesday, September 12, 2007)
　Prime Minister Abe finally decided to resign from his post. Many people have long wanted it, but when he decided to leave the cabinet, interestingly enough, many people criticize that he should not run away from the difficulties he faces. We've been bashing Mr. Abe, then why don't we just let him go? In the press conference, he looked so blue that he didn't seem to understand what he himself was talking about. I think he needs some rest for some while. Is Mr. Aso willing to take his place? Is this what the old fox has been longing for? Let us all see what's going to happen next week.

(Thursday, September 13, 2007)
　Yesterday there was a great earthquake measuring 8.4 on the Richter scale in Sumatra. Luckily it didn't het the residential area killing less than 20 people. It's located on the so-called Ring of Fire, which is said to getting more and more active today. The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake was also caused by the activities. Now what's next? We can't do anything to prevent natural disasters, though.

(Friday, September 14, 2007)
　We've had a hot day back again today. But it was a little bit different than a humid day we had this summer. We're already getting into the new season. One of my students at a language school in Fujisawa told me that she had waken up feeling so cold this morning. It wasn't that cold for me, because I don't usually feel cold until the beginning of December.

　My wife and I are planning to go to an Indian restaurant near the beach tomorrow night. It used to be a private mansion with so many rooms. A few Indian cooks work there to serve us good Indian food. I'm looking forward to the delicious curry and nan. So is my wife, I'm sure.

(Saturday, September 15, 2007)
　It's been more than two weeks since we let Ryoma take a shower. So this evening after coming back from an evening walk, I let him take a shower. After that he was dried with a towel by my wife as usual. It's quite natural for him to small like a dog, which all my family don't care at all. But after a few weeks of walking outside sniffing around in the grass, he usually starts smelling with some other dog's piss. We love his own smell, but the smell of other dog's piss really kills us. I know Shiba dogs don't welcome a lot of showers, but we have no choice. Just spraying odor-eating chemicals over him doesn't work at all.
　Now he smells really good. We brushed him too. It looks like he feels really comfortable lying by the side of the large window of the living room, looking out into the garden. He is enjoying a nice fall breeze coming in through the window net. I'm sure he makes a really good picture.

(Sunday, September 16, 2007)
　My wife and I have just been to an Indian restaurant called "Gara" near Southern Beach Chigasaki. We both ordered the most expensive course, which made us really full. I don't think I would feel like eating curry for some while. I was happy that we could celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary having dinner together. We've been nice to each other for the first five years, and we'll be going on like this for the rest of our life, I'm sure.

(Monday, September 17, 2007)
　I went to do some shopping at a discount stationery goods store in near Tsujido Station with my wife who didn't have work today. Ryoma was a good boy, waiting for us to be back in the car. On our way back home, we ate late lunch at Lingerhut. It was her first time to dine at the restaurant. This time again Ryoma was waiting for us to finish our lunch. He is a really good boy, who likes to ride in a car just looking out of the rear windows.
　After coming back home, I got ready for the first class at my language school. I had three classes in all. I felt a little bit tired starting a new week. Tomorrow is my busiest day of the week.

(Tuesday, September 18, 2007)
　Now Typhoon No.12 is attacking China, moving northward. After the hot summer seems to be gone, typhoons are coming one after another. Is this one of the strange phenomena that have been seen all around the world this year? I hear the we'll have a lot more bigger tropical storms as global warming develops. The biggest problem about tropical storms might be that they often attack and damage the same areas.

　A movie entitled "The love letter from the Heaven" is now on air in Shibuya. It's based on a book written by a young father who has lost his wife and dearest daughter. The crazy young guy who murdered the mother and the daughter is now on trial. In court the killer is said to have insisted that he had no intention of raping the mother, although he admitted that he was the one who killed both the mother and the daughter. A group of about 20 lawyers have been trying to defend the kinky monster, which most of us cannot understand. If he should be sentenced to life in prison again, we would feel that there is no justice in this society of ours.

(Wednesday, September 19, 2007)
　The weather today is rather comfortable for both us human beings and our dogs. When I walk with Ryoma these days, it looks like he's really enjoying walking around in the neighborhood. Weeks ago, it looked so tiring for him to take a long walk in the late heat of a hot summer day.
　Last night when I was working on the computer in the classroom on the 2nd floor, I heard him make a few short sad barks toward my wife, who was also getting ready to go to bed in our bedroom on the 2nd floor, and me. He wanted at least one of us to come down to play with him. I ignored his barks, but my wife was gentle enough to go downstairs to stay with him. Later when I went downstairs to have something to drink, I was surprised to find a figure lying on the futon in the living room. It was a little too early for my mother to be back from her friend's shop. It was my wife. I didn't know my wife had already been down there to make Ryoma feel comfortable. He always has to stay with someone in the family. That's what attracts us about him, though.

(Thursday, September 20, 2007)
　I hear more and more language schools in Japan are going bankrupt. It's quite interesting because the number of people who would like to learn English is increasing year by year. Why is it impossible for a major school to do their business properly? I think they should think carefully about what many people expect from a language school. The biggest reason that many people leave school is, of course, the fact that they haven't got what they expected from language schools. If you get more than you pay for the lessons, you would never think of leaving school. What makes those people feel satisfied―that's what school managers have to keep asking themselves. If you're more interested in making a huge profit, you'll end up with bankruptcy.

(Friday, September 21, 2007)
　Does it often happen to any wroking field that your job is suddenly canceled and that you can't be paid for the canceled job? It's often happened to me in the language school I've been working for. This evening I was supposed to take care of a class for junior high school kids, but it was canceled the day before yesterday. According to the school regulations, we can only be paid for the lesson canceled on the very day when the lesson was supposed to be carried out. If I was told that the lesson had been canceled on the previous day, I wouldn't be paid just wasting the time for nothing. Don't you think this is a crazy system? Of course I should not complain about this to the boss, becuase I'm just a part-time employee who has to do whatever he was told to do. I understand that the boss is trying hard to save even a little money to maintain his school, but if I were in his position, I would naver abuse the teachers, who have also been trying hard to maintain the school. People think in different ways. You can't simply tell who is right or who is wrong.

(Saturday, September 22, 2007)
　Ryoma escaped from the front door of my house this afternoon for the 6th time. Once he's outside without a leash, it's quite difficult to catch him within a few minutes. Today my mother and I guessed that he would go and visit the house of his favorite old woman who's been dead for about a year or so. We were right in locating him. I chased him into the garden of one of the houses in the area and successfully caught him much more easily than I had expected. He's so heavy that the few minutes' walk holding him in my arms was good enough to make me feel tired. I think we'll have to be more careful not to give him a chance to carry out his 7th escape.

　This afternnon, just before Ryoma escaped, we had surprising guests at our house. They were Mr.Ide, the father of Karen, who came and stayed at my school for 10 days this spring, and her little sister. Mr.Kikuchi, Karen's father, was thoughtful enough to bring us a big bag of fresh Tochigi rice, which made my mother really happy. I was surprised to see a gentle-looking guy standing in front of me, because I had been expecting a strict father from what he had written in his blog or on the mimic board of my webpage. Tomorrow I think I'll be able to have plenty of time to talk to him on the school ground of Hagisono Junior High.

(Sunday, September 23, 2007)
　It's been about a month since my wife and I walked Ryoma along the beach last. After having lunch, my wife and I went down to the beach with Ryoma and enjoyed walking along the beach, part of which is now under construction. We didn't see many dogs today, but maybe it was our second time to see Chocolat, a five-year-old Labrador retriever with dark brown fur. She was so friendly to us all and enjoyed playing with us for a while. It seems that a Shiba dog get along quite well with a Labrador retriever.

(Monday, September 24, 2007)
　Today was a national holiday and there were some practice games of softball at a nearby junior high school. Five teams gathered together, each of which had three games. The so-called "new teams" have just started their long journey to the championship tournament to be held next summer. They still have a lot of strange plays on the ground, but in a few months we'll see quite different teams. Junior high school girls usually make rapid progress under the control of great managers.

　Tomorrow the first class starts at 9:30 in the morning. I have to stop writing in this diary now and go to bed before 2:00a.m. Bye for now.

(Tuesday, September 25, 2007)
　All the members of the Fukuda cabinet have been announced to the public. Not a few people criticize the new Prime Minister for failing to gather any surprising ministers at all. Why should the cabinet members be surprising? This is not a game or a performance. Placing the right people in the right positions is the most important thing that the Prime Minister has to take into consideration. I have two favorite ministers in the new cabinet. One is Mr.Ishiba, the Minister of Defense, and the other is Mr.Masuzoe, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. I'd like to see what they're going to do during the next few months.

(Wednesday, September 26, 2007)
　I sometimes smoke on the balcony, where I can enjoy a nice cool breeze of the fall. I feel the hot summer has already gone. According to the TV news, however, they have had the hot summer heat in Kyushu for more than 50 days. Are we going to have much rain next month? Anyway here in the Shonan Area, we no longer need an air-conditioner. I still need it sometimes, though.

　Around this time of the year, our dog Ryoma loses a lot of hairs. We see his hairs here and there on the floor of the living room, so we have to vacuum the room a few times every day. His body seems to be so itchy that we often see him scratching himself. He looks so happy when we're brushing him.

(Thursday, September 27, 2007)
　I'm writing this before the first class in the morning. I usually go to bed very late and sleep late the next morning. I don't think it's refreshing to get up later than 9:00. You can do a lot of things efficiently in the morning. On the contrary, you often get sleepy after eating lunch. So I think I should try to get up early in the morning even if I go to bed very late the night before. In that case I could take a nap early in the afternoon just after having lunch. They say while you're taking a nap, you can enjoy a deep sleep.

(Friday, September 28, 2007)
　It's been a hot day today. The summer heat was back again. The weather forcast says that we'll have cool fall days from tomorrow on. Last night it seemed that my wife couldn't sleep well because it was too hot for her. It was really strange, because my wife is usually easy to feel cold. It was not so hot for me. She must have had a slight fever. Now she works from Monday to Saturday. I'm sure she's so tired from hard work. Her office is supposed to have the audit tomorrow, which has caused her to work extra hard. She's been working part-time. Then why does she have to work extra hard without getting extra pay? Someone in charge of the office should go through the audit themselves. I don't quite understand the crazy system.

(Saturday, September 29, 2007)
　Suddenly it was so cold thoday. What happened? When I went out for an evening walk with Ryoma, it was still cold and cold rain was falling. After coming home, Ryoma and I took a warm shower. He looked so comfortable that he stayed rather still while I was washing him. Usually he doesn't like the hairdryer, but tonight was an exception. It was quite easy for me to dry him up. It's also cold in the living room and Ryoma is now sleeping on the sofa with his special mat on him. He looks so cute!

(Sunday, September 30, 2007)
　It's been drizzling since this morning. The highest temperature in Tokyo today was about 15 degrees Celcius, which made us feel as if we were at the beginning of the winter. Around this time of the year, I usually wear shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. But today I felt like wearing long pants and a long-sleeved shirt instead. After an extremely hot summer came suddenly an unexpected cold fall. I even wonder if I could call this season fall. We might have jumped over fall into winter. It seemed that Ryoma was looking for a warm place to sleep in. He usually moves from place to place, so whenever he changed his place, we had to go and put his special mat over his body. He can't carry his mat himself. Now it's almost midnight, and he must be sleeping in my mother's futon. It looks like that he feels safe when he's lying close to someone in my family.

(Monday, October 1, 2007)
　Wow! It's been so cold today too. Are we really getting into winter without enjoying the great season of fall? The season for food. The season for reading. The season for love. Fall is full of fun. Please just give us some time to have fun in the fruitful season of the year.

(Tuesday, October 2, 2007)
　The Yomiuri Giants won the championship of the Central League tonight. I hear it's been five years since they became the champion team last. The manager Hara seemed to have red eyes, but he must be thinking that all his players could do more. I don't think they've been doing their best jobs so far. They don't have the most important thing they should have. That's strong fighting spirit. Sometimes they looked like little baseball boys who were crying over the errors they had made. I hope there will be more wild things on that team.

(Wednesday, October 3, 2007)
　A 17-year-old sumo wrestler were lynched to death in June. He belonged to the Tokitsukaze Stable. It has been reported that he tried to run away from the stable a few times before he was lynched. The boss himself admitted that he had hit the young wrestler in the head with a beer bottle. It must have been a unintentional murder rather than an accidental death. I think the boss should be arrested by the police.
　We often use the traditional phrase, "Risk your life and do your best." But is there anything in this world that is more important than life? I would say, "Do your best without risking your life." As long as you're alive, you still have some chances left. But if you die, you can never realize anything important.

(Thursday, October 4, 2007)
　I heard from my wife that Ryoma had some trouble with his stomach this morning. It might have been caused by the chicken he had eaten last night. Even when it seems he doesn't have a good appetite, it doesn't mean he's not hungry. Once he starts eating, he never stops. That's we always have to keep in mind. Otherwise he might eat too much and have diarrhea the next morning. When he has some trouble with his stomach, we usually let him take some human medicine to get better. It really works! I'm not sure if it should be done or not, though.

(Friday, October 5, 2007)
　This afternoon I had an English class for a mass of 15 students, mostly middle-aged women who belong to the same generation as mine. I made some material for todays lesson, which seemed a little too difficult for them. Today's topic was how to use an English-English dictionary. It was an interesting thing to do, but they had to look up so many words in their e-dictionaries, which must have made them so much tired. Next week I think I'm going to make it much easier for them to enjoy learning.

　Tonight around midnight, I watched a U.S. TV drama as usual. The second one had no subtitles but I felt I was following what was going on in the drama. It must be that I'm getting used to listening to fast conversations in English. It should be so because I'm an English instructor.

(Saturday, October 6, 2007)
　These days Ryoma takes one of my slippers away almost every night. Tonight he was lying on the floor of the living room, watching both my wife and me. When I went close to him, he seemed to be worried about the slipper he had taken away about an hour before. I told him that I was not going to take back my slipper, but he didn't trust my words easily. He was watching me directly in my eyes as if he was asking me if I really meant it. So I tried to touch his paw to show I was not lying to him. Then very interestingly, he seemed to start trusting me and came to my side and sat next to me. It was his first time not to pay attention to the slipper he had taken and to come close to me in a very friendly manner. It is true that he is our pet dog, but I felt it was important for us to treat him like a human child. Honesty is needed when we try to build up good relations with our pet animals. I should try to take back my slipper while he's interested in something else.

(Sunday, October 7, 2007)
　A major language teaching organaization based in Tokyo is now looking for English instructors to take care of its speed reading system. I checked it up on the Internet and found it was kind of interesting. First I thought of applying for the job, but I decided not to because if I was chosen, I'd have to work in Tokyo at least three days a week. It takes me about an hour to get to Tokyo by train. It might be a waste of time. Now that I manage my own language school, I should not belong to a major language school.

　According to the TV weather forecast, it will be stormy all through Japan tomorrow. It'll be caused by the meeting of the mass of cold air from the North and the high pressure coming up from the South. It'll also be affected by the huge typhoon that attacked Taiwan yesterday.

(Monday, October 8, 2007)
　It started raining late this morning as the weather forecast told us last night. But it stopped raining much earlier than it had expected. We could see the blue sky late this afternoon. I guess we're going to have a nice sunny day tomorrow, although the weather forecast told that it would be cloudy.

　Ryoma didn't do his business this morning, so my mother took him out for an evening walk a little earlier than usual. Of course he completed his mission, but the two long walks seemed to have made my mother quite tired. She's already gone to bed now. Because he doesn't see his "Mom" around him today, he's been sleeping on the sofa, looking so lonely. It seems that I can't take her place to make him feel safe and relaxed.

(Tuesday, October 9, 2007)
　I don't know why, but this morning English words didn't come smoothly out of my mouth. Maybe I was a little tired because of lack of sleep last night. I seldom sleep alone in my bedroom. Both last night and tonight my wife is away in Fukushima and I have to have a hard time going to sleep. When I'm alone in my bedroom, somehow I don't feel comfortable. Now I have to confess that I've been owing a lot to my wife. She's been making me feel comfortable and relaxed. She's going to be back tomorrow, which will assure me a good night's sleep.

(Wednesday, October 10, 2007)
　One of my colleagues at a language school in Fujisawa showed me a sheet of test paper the other day. It was an English test for returnees. Some of the questions were too difficult for us English instructors to solve. I felt the question maker paid too much attention to small rules of English grammar. As a matter of fact, even native teachers couldn't give us the answers. Do you know which of the underlined parts in the following sentence is incorrect?
　　(Question) What would happen if a woman was able to become an empress?
　We asked an American teacher and an Australian teacher. They both said that there was nothing wrong with the sentence. "What would happen if a woman wasn't able to become an empress?" is the correct answer?

(Thursday, October 11, 2007)
　When I started the first class at a language school in Fujisawa, it was a little muggy in the classroom. I turned on the air-conditioner. Then it didn't take us a few minutes to feel cold. I turned off the air-conditioner. But in five minutes or so, we started to feel a little hot. So as you can imagine, I had to repeat the same procedure times and times again. As for my clothes, I still wear a short-sleeved shirt. How about you? You've already changed your clothes into the fall mode? It's only when I ride my motorcycle back home in the evening that I feel a little bit cool. I guess something is wrong with my sensor to catch the temperature outside. Now I'm writing in this diary in the lesson room of my own language school, of course with the air-condtitoner on.

(Friday, October 12, 2007)
　It rained a little in the evening. It seemed that my wife took Ryoma for an evening walk in the drizzle. I'm a little bit worried about her health. She's had a cold for more than a week and has a pain in her lower back. She sometimes asks me to fix her hip bone, which I learned from a bone-crusher some 20 years ago. It could work. But you have to do it regularly to get better results. She works for the shop on the first floor of a nearby condo. She can't sit and take a rest while she's at work. That's why she has a pain in her lower back.

(Saturday, October 13, 2007)
　It's so warm this afternoon. The computer gadget shows that it's about 21 degrees Celcius in the Shonan Area. During the morning lesson, I had to turn on the air-conditioner for about 10 minutes to make it cooler in the classroom. When a group of people stay in a small room for some time, it gets hotter and hotter. This is the same phenomenon as global warming. If we have a lot of carbon dioxide in the air, the temperature gradually goes up. It's because of the fact that carbon absorbs heat easily and tends to keep it inside.

(Sunday, October 14, 2007)
　My mother has had a bad cold for more than a week. She has a fever and is now lying in the futon. Ryoma always stays in the same futon as my mother, but it seems that a human cold is never delivered to a dog. By the way, how can we tell that a dog has a cold. Have you ever seen a dog with a runny nose? Does a dog ever sneeze? Yes, dogs sneeze. I have sometimes seen Ryoma sneeze. I'm not sure if it was caused by a cold.
　Yesterday I went to a drugstore to buy some vitamin pills. Taking a few of them really works especially when you're pretty tired or you have a cold. I told my mother to take some pills, but she was not willing to take the pills. She belong to the generation who think they should sleep well in order to get rid of a bad cold. It is surely said that all illness comes from the mind. You should do whatever you think will work when you're sick.

(Monday, October 15, 2007)
　I changed most of the banners on my website into new ones. It's very important to always try to make the index page easy for everybody to see. It has to be well-organized and to have some colors, but not too many. It's been more than two and a half years since I opened my website. At first I didn't know how to make an effective site and the first version of the index page was full of so many things and colors that it was too difficult for anybody to find the information they wanted. Later I was told by some readers to renew the index page completely and so I did. Now it's much better and more people are visiting my site at present. But if it stays the same, I guess people will gradually get bored. That's why I always have to seek for a better way to make my website enjoyable.

　After the last class at my language school was over, I had a headache. I thought I got the cold from my mother and took some cold medicine and vitamin pills. It's been more than an hour and my headache is completely gone. Those medicines I took really worked!

(Tuesday, October 16, 2007)
　Yesterday afternoon I went to my favorite Pachinko parlor in Fujisawa, They were pretty nice to me yesterday and I got some pocket money. Most of the money I got went to both my mother and my wife. They looked so happy to have it, which made me happy too, of course. It's very difficult to be a wise Pachinko player. If you win, you'll feel like playing it more often. If you lose, you'll feel like making up for the loss. Once you play it, you'll never stop going to the Pachinko parlor. That's why that business makes a lot of profit every year. Anyway it's fun to play Pachinko unless you're too deep into it.

(Wednesday, October 17, 2007)
　My wife and I saw "On the Stormy Night" on TV tonight. It was an animation film released last year or the year before last. The only thing I knew about the film was that the theme song was sung by Aiko. The story itself was not so exciting as I had expected, but still it's heart-warming and most children would feel happy to see the movie. I think the original writer of the story wanted to insist that all the creatures on the earth should live together in peace in spite of so many differences among them.

(Thursday, October 18, 2007)
　Today was my wife's 41st birthday. After the evening walk with Ryoma was finished, we went out for a drive late at night. Of course "we" means my wife, Ryoma, and I. We told Ryoma to wait still in the car and went into Yumean to have something to celebrate her happy birthday. The meal we had was nothing special, but we knew it was most important for us to dine together.

　By the way Ryoma went for an evening walk twice today. First for about two hours with my wife, and then for about half an hour with me. During the first walk with my wife, he didn't do his buisness. We were worried about him because he didn't empty his bowels this morning, either. I'm not sure if he had planned it or not, but he finally did it during the second evening walk with me. He's such a incredible dog!

(Friday, October 19, 2007)
　I'm now trying a new way of reading English books. It is often said that when you read books either in English or in Japanese, you should try not to pronounce each word in your mind. If you make sound in your mind, you can only read at the same speed as you speak the language. So it's wise of you to just move your eyes from word to word. Of course you can skip some words that are not very important. But when you are reading alone in a room, you could intentionally read each sentence out loud. It will help you improve your speaking skill. I'm now trying to read an English book by pronouncing each word in mind, and I feel it's getting easier for me to let English words come out of my mouth.

(Saturday, October 20, 2007)
　This evening Ryoma and I went for an evening walk with my mother. She told me that she wanted to know how Ryoma would walk with me and how he would play with other dogs when I was with him. We didn't meet many dogs, but toward the end of the walk, he found his favorite dogs gathering at the usual place. He looked so happy to meet them. Of course they looked extremely happy to see all of us. During the walk, I was wondering why Ryoma walked much faster than usual. He wanted to play with the dogs, so he tried hard to follow their smell. What a surprise! Dogs really have a good sense of smell.

(Sunday, October 21, 2007)
　In the evening my mother, my wife, and I went to a yakiniku shop, or broiled meat restaurant, in Samukawa Town. Of course Ryoma was one of us, although he had to stay alone in the car while we were eating grilled beef. Everything, ranging from grilled beef, stone-roasted bibimbap to Korean soup, was so delicious that we could eat a lot. The price was quite reasonable. My wife is crazy about stone-roasted bibimbap. She looked very much satisfied with the dinner.
　The red soup that three of us ate was really hot. Both my mother and my wife love something hot, but I don't. I thought that eating hot soup every day would make Korean people physically tough. It would help blood circulate smoothly.

(Monday, October 22, 2007)
　Have you ever seen a dog drawing a curtain open with one of his forelegs? It's really surprising. Our dog Ryoma recently leanred to do it without any difficulty. How he learned to do it, I'm not sure. Maybe as he was watching us how to draw a curtain, he gradually felt like doing the same. What a super dog we've got! Learning to move some parts of the body that he is not supposed to move might stimulate his brain to become a smarter dog. Is he such a special dog? Yes! We have felt something special about him since he was a puppy. But you can trust half of what the dog owner tells about his dog.

(Tuesday, October 23, 2007)
　Ryoma can smell his friends from far away. This evening when Ryoma and I were on our way back home, he suddenly started walking fast, pulling me with such a strength. I didn't see any other dog around us. After walking fast with him for a few minutes, I found two of his favorite friends on the corner of narrow roads. Ryoma knew that they had been there, waiting him to come to them. The wrestled with each other for a while as usual and walked back together. They were Eve, the mother, and Vel, the daughter. The black female Labradors have been quite good friends with Ryoma. Especially Eve has been very nice to him since he was a little boy. I wish she was the same Shiba dog.

(Wednesday, October 24, 2007)
　I got a piece of spam on my cell phone this morning. It was from an unknown company that claimed I owed them a certain sum of money for the information website they say I had registered for. Of course I have never accessed such a shady website, so I ignored the message. I looked for some information about them on the Internet and found that similar emails had been sent to many people in the same way. When you get an email like this, you should just ignore the mail or ask the police to deal with the situation. It said, "You might be involved in a serious problem if you don't pay for the website." What kind of serious problem are they talking about? I hope someday they will have to pay themselves for what they have been doing.

(Thursday, October 25, 2007)
　The two great Japanese pitchers on the Boston Red Socks did a really great job in the first game of the World Series. The MLB team, based in Boston, Massachusetts, won the first game against the Colorado Rockies by the score of 13-1. I'm not only cheering for Matsusaka and Okajima, but it was so exciting that two Japanese baseball players did a splendid job in one of the most important games of this year's season. Of course I want Matsui Kazuo on the Rockies to show us how great he is as a Japanese MLB player.

(Friday, October 26, 2007)
　Okajima on the Red Socks did a great job again. He did his job as a relief pitcher and successfully closed the second game of the World Series. I'm now sure that the Boston Red Socks will win World Series Championship of this year. Okajima struck out Matsui Kazuo, which was one of the most exciting moments of the game. Did you know that in the history of MLB, the team that won the first game of the World Series also won championship with a chance of 90 percent.

(Saturday, October 27, 2007)
　This evening, as I had some time before the last class at my language school, I left home with Ryoma at 4:00. It was raining heavily and the wind was so strong. We had a hard time walking in the tough rain and wind. I had to let him empty his bowels becasue he didn't do it when he went for a walk with my mother this morning. He usually doesn't like walking in the rain, but today he tried hard to be a good boy. And so he was. It was surprising that he did his business with his raincoat on. He seldom does his business when he's wearing his raincoat. Maybe he thought he didn't want to give me any trouble. "Good boy!" I said to him gently.

(Sunday, October 28, 2007)
　Toward this evening, my wife and I took Ryoma for an evening walk along the beach. It's been more than two months since we walked along the beach together. He looked so excited when we got closer to the ocean. I parked my car in the parking lot next to "Yumean" as usual. When he got out of the car, Ryoma hurriedly ran to the stairs going down to the beach. I had a little hard time following him down the stairs. He pulled me so strongly.
　At the beach, we met "Kojiro" and "Satsuki" for the first time. Kojiro was a huge male dog aged 11. His owner told me that he weighed more than 35 kilos. Ryoma is usually no good with big male dogs, but he was OK with Kojiro and enjoyed wrestling together. Satuki was also a nice dog. They were both mutts. I think mutts are usually nicer and smarter than purebred ones.

(Monday, October 29, 2007)
　Today was the fifth Monday of this month and there were no classes here at my language school. But an elementary school girl came to my house by mistake. I was not at home, so my mother told her it was the fifth Monday without any lessons. I'm sorry that I didn't reconfirm the school schedule last week.

(Tuesday, October 30, 2007)
　Today was the first lesson of the 2nd term at a nursing school in Odawara. Last night I made some interesting quizzes about things in the world. Many young people in Japan these days don't even know where Alaska is. I'm sure they enjoyed answering the quizzes. Do you know which is the second largest country in the world? You might say China or the United States, but the fact is that Canada is the second largest nation. America ranks fourth, followed by China and Brazil. I didn't know that Brazil was such a big country. Japan is a very small island country, but as far as its population is concerned, it ranks 10th in the world.

(Wednesday, October 31, 2007)
　It was so cold this evening, wasn't it? I felt cold for the first time this season while riding my motorcycle back home from a language school in Fujisawa. I guess in a month or so I'll need wear my gloves when I ride my motorcycle. However it's refreshing to run through cool air. On the way I dropped in at a convenience store on Route 1 and bought two "nabeyaki udon" for my wife and me. I bought a Korean nabeyaki for my wife, because she liked something really hot. I was quite right about that. She was so happy to eat it up in a short time. She's not a big eater and can't eat up the whole "nabeyaki." Maybe the "chige-nabe udon" was so delicious that she forgot to leave part of it as usual. I was also happy to see her look so happy.

(Thursday, November 1, 2007)
　I had one class at my school this morning and another two classes at a language school in Fujisawa in the evening. The textbook used in the conversation class for junior high school students is a little too difficult for them. Usually it's fun to teach junior high school kids, but it depends on what kind of textbook we use. I myself prefer the Oxford University Press to a Japanese publishing company.

(Friday, November 2, 2007)
　I took too much time to prepare materials for the open conversation class which was to start at 3:00p.m. I had a hard time making enough copies and left home at 2:40p.m. I got to school just 5minutes before the class. The manager of the language school usually tells us to come to school at least 5 minutes before each lesson. I was just in time. It's very important to be punctual. Those who are often late for appointments should never be trusted. If you can't be trusted, you'll never get good jobs.

(Saturday, November 3, 2007)
　There's something interesting about our dog Ryoma. Basically he likes female dogs, but he tends not to show any interest to a dog who is too pesky. There are some good femele dogs among his friends. But they are often so willing to come close to him that Ryoma tries to ignore them as if there were not there. How come he has grown to be such a cool boy? I'm sorry for the lovely female dogs often ignored by Ryoma. I don't think it's a good idea for us to do something to improve their relationships. If he has learned to be cold to some of his friends by watching me, I think I should be careful about my own behavior.

(Sunday, November 4, 2007)
　I'm having an English lesson at a nursing school in Odawara tomorrow morning. This time I'm using the Seisho Bypass to get to Odawara. The expressway was partly destroyed by a great storm that had attacked the Kanto District about a month and a half ago. They haven't fixed the damaged part yet, but we can still drive along the road. If I didn't use the road, it would take me 30 more minutes to get to Odawara, which means I would have to leave home 30 minutes earlier than usual. I'd like to sleep a little bit longer, of course.

(Monday, November 5, 2007)
　The English lesson at the nursing shcool in Odawara started at 10:50 this morning. I left home around 8:00 and reached Odawara around 9:10. It was much easier to get to Odawara using the Seisho Bypass than I had expected. The second-year students looked a little more active than they had been a week before. Was it because it was the second lesson this morning? One of the students asked me if I had lost weight. "Yes, I have lost more than 15 kilos since I met you last last summer," I answered with a smile. I knew they wanted to know how I have done that. But it was difficult for me to explain how because I myself don't know how it happened to me. I guess it had something to do with my anti-depression medicine. I stopped taking it last summer, when I started to lose weight.

(Tuesday, November 6, 2007)
　I had four 90-minute classes at my language school today, which made me feel quite tired. I usually find it fun to teach English, but today it was a little bit tiring to keep speaking English. There's something interesting about my speaking English. When I'm sleepy or tired, English words don't come out of my mouth smoothly. When I'm fine, they come out so fluently. It seems to me that fluent speech doesn't only depend on your skill, but also on you mental condition.

(Wednesday, November 7, 2007)
　It was so cold this evening. I finished my lesson in Fujisawa at 8:30p.m. I was soon on my way back home. It's usually refreshing to ride my motorcycle back home, but this evening I felt cold and didn't feel like running fast. On the calendar tomorrow is the first day of the winter, or "ritto" in Japanese. I really feel that the real coldness of winter is just around the corner.

　It seems that Ryoma sleeps a lot these days. He doesn't like the cold weather, which might make him feel that he needs to stay in warm places longer than before. When he's sleeping on the sofa, he won't answer my call. He just half opens his eyes reluctantly and says, "Don't disturb my sleep, will you, Dad?" "Ok, I know how you feel. You can go on sleeping there. But please don't walk around in the house when you wake up after midnight," I gently answer.

(Friday, July 2, 2010)
　Today is the memorial day when I have restarted to write English diary. I know very well that writing English will shurely help you improve your English ability, but it was so busy I didn't feel like keep on writing English diary every day. Now I work in Yokohama, because five years ago I quit wroking in Chigasaki. I didn't like everything in school and everybody I worked with there. For about five years after quitting the job, I worked very hard in conversation schools like ECC or KGC, but it was not so easy to get enough moneyfor may family to live the day. It was a hard decision to make, however, to take the teacher's test again. But my wife told me that I should do whatever I believe I should do. Thanks to her advise, I could pass the difficult test, and now stand before junior high school kids in Yokohama.