Christmas Party Day 1

12.16.07

On the first day of the Hands On English Christmas Party my true love game to me: 1 Pooh-san (At school we call Pooh, Mr. Pooh) with jingly reindeer antlers.

Poohさん (Mr. Pooh also known as Pooh-san)

For my lesson, I reviewed what I had been teaching for the past two months (seasons and time) and asked my students write letters to Santa Claus. Between the three of them, they wanted video games and a dog. At the end of the lesson, I went over some new Christmas vocabulary and we played a game of Go Fish to help them remember what they had learned. Go Fish is a great game to play because it allows the students to practice speaking while having fun.

I gave some of my private students candy cane reindeer and they thought they were very adorable. I can't remember when I first made them around Christmas time, but they are still just as funny as they were when I was little.

From left to right: Akihiro, Hibiki, Shoichi, me, and Pooh-san

Here are some pictures of the school after Lauren and I decorated it. I made the tree in the window and it was Lauren's idea to put the lights at the bottom of the window.

This is the front window of Hands On English decorated for the holiday season. I was a little surprised when I realized that pansies are a winter flower here in Japan. (Sorry about the reflection of the buildings in the glass.)

This is a picture of our cute little school decorated for the holidays. All the snowflakes hanging from the ceiling were made by our students!

I also wanted to mention that a week ago I went to a holiday Christmas concert. They sang many popular Christmas carols and songs including everything from "O Come All Ye Faithful" to Mariah's "All I want for Christmas is you!". It was fun to spend time with friends; especially during the holiday season when family is so far away.

There were three beautiful trees near the concert entrance.

Azusa eating a make-shift s'more (Ritz, Meiji chocolate, and an "All American Tradition" marshmellow) as we wait on line to get into the concert.

Azusa and Lauren