My art works

Hello. How are you?

Today, I went to my school again to get my art works after lunch.

In art class, I tried many art techniques.

One class is about 90 minutes and we had art class every day, so we could try many many art techniques.

Today, I will show you my 3 art works.

The left picture was drawn with black leads.

My hands became black every time, but it was fun!

We went outside every time when it was fine.

We tried oil painting to draw many trees.

Oil smell was not good, but it was the first time for me to draw pictures with oil.

It was a good experience!

And we tried water pencils to draw many flowers.

It was also the first time for me to draw pictures with water pencils, so it was also a good experience!

The water pencils are very expensive. Do you know that?

So my art teacher cherishes water pencils.

I won't take art class here any more, but art class was fun for me.

There were many cheerful people like my art teacher.

I wanna keep touch with my art teacher.

See you,

*noma*

icing cake

Hello, how are you?

Today, I was tired. I don't know why...

So I had a nap for 4 hours...

After having a nap, I went to my host mom's parents' house to see a cake.

Can you see a picture?

Can you believe it is handmade??

My host mom's brother's wife is good at icing cake.

She often makes icing cakes whenever we have events.

I was really impressed by her work every time.

Sadly, cakes are here to eat, so we ate this cake today.

It was a chocolate cake!

My host family is going to family camp in the beginning of July, but I won't go there together because I have to go to my summer school.

So I have to stay with someone while they have camp.

My host mom's brother's couple undertook my second host family, so I will stay with them from July 6th to July 15th.

They said to me, "You will eat cakes as breakfast, lunch and supper while you stay with us!"

Of course, it is a joke, but she likes making icing cakes.

Icing cakes is famous in Canada, but it is not famous in Japan.

If I have a chance to make it, I wanna try!

Bye,

*noma*

Summer Youth Bus Pass

Hello, how are you?
Today, I went to Mill Woods Recreation Centre to buy summer youth bus pass with Eri in the afternoon.
It cost 68$.
We can use it for two month(from July 1st-August 31st= summer vacation!).
I got two cards.
One is a bus pass during summer vacation and another one is ID.
We can use public swimming pool, gym and so on with ID.
So I will go to Mill Woods Recreation Centre many times during summer vacation.

On July 9th, I will start my summer school.
I will go to my summer school building by bus, so I will use my bus pass every day.

However, if I lost my bus pass, it cannot be reissued.
So we have to buy one again.
Also, if I lost my ID, I have to pay $5 to reissue one.
So I cannot lost them during summer vacation.
I have to pay attention about that.

I can use them on July 1st!

Bye!

*noma*

West Edmonton Mall

Hello. How are you?
Last Friday, I went to West Edmonton Mall with Eri who is my Japanese friend.
I finished my final exam last Thursday, so I wanted to go out.

There were not so many people in spite of summer vacation.
However, it was on Friday(=weekday), so there were not so many people, I think.

I bought nothing special, but I enjoyed watching clothes, sundry goods, CDs, DVDs and so on.

As you know, West Edmonton Mall is the biggest shopping mall in the world.
So we get tired every time after coming back home.

West Edmonton Mall has "China Town".
There are not only Chinese goods but also Japanese and Korean goods.
There are many Chinese people every day.
Eri and I went there to see Japanese goods.

We found many Japanese goods and we were excited to see them.
However, they are soooo expensive.
Green Tea (Ohi ocha) costs about $7(=about 700 yen)
Milky costs about $5(=about 500 yen)

What else?
There are many Japanese snacks, convenience goods, foods.
We found TSUBAKI!!!(only shampoo)
Eri and I are using TSUBAKI here, of course, we brought them from Japan.
There were only 4 TSUBAKIs here. It means TSUBAKI is very popular here too.
We enjoyed watching(just watching...hahaha) Japanese goods.

And West Edmonton Mall has also water park.
It is very big and it has many water slides.
My Japanese friends and I will go there during summer vacation.
I am looking forward to going there.

By the way, do you want to know what we ate as lunch?
We ate Japanese foods!!
I ate beef bowl(Gyudon).
I haven't eaten bowl(Donburi) for a long time, so I was happy.
However, people who made Japanese foods in that restaurant is not Japanese.
I think they are Chinese... This is because they spoke in Chinese...
Anyway, I enjoyed eating Japanese food!

How was your weekend?

See you,

*noma*

Happy Birthday,Chiaki!

Happy Birthday, Chiaki!!

I hope you will have a wonderful day.

Are you enjoying your school life?

If you have a time, please go to our preschool and say hello to Ms. Yoshida!!

love,

*noma*

Final exam

Hi, everyone.

How are you?

Today, I took math final exam.

It was hard for me.

Before taking tests, teachers checked our calculators.

Canadian students who take math have to buy their own calculators.

However, my math teacher rent me his calculator, so I didn't have to buy one.

After that, we took math tests for one and half hour.

I was glad because I could meet some friends.

They said to me, "Good luck, Mari!"

When I waited for a bus after exam, it was raining.

I thought it meant the result of my math test might be very bad....(HAHAHA)

However, it stopped raining soon, and I thought it meant I should have a positive feeling even if the result was bad.(HAHAHAHA)

Anyway, I was nervous because it was my first time to take a final exam.

I don't have to take final exams any more this summer, so I am happy!

Bye!

*noma*

Father's day

Hi, how are you?

Yesterday was Father's day!
I got up at 3 a.m on Sunday and I called my Japanese family.
I talked with my grandpa, grandma, dad, brother and mom.
I talked with my mom about 40 minutes...
We enjoyed talking each other.

My host family and I went to my host mother's cousin's house last night for supper.
There are many people(host mother's parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandpa...)
My host mother's cousin's house is huge!!
In spite of many people, I didn't think it narrow.

After coming back home, I gave my host dad some gifts.
He was very glad to get them.

How was your Father's day?

*noma*

The last day

Hello. How are you?

Today, classes were over. I will have summer vacation from tomorrow!!!!

I made paper dolls for my teachers. (Food studies, math, art, music and CALM)



Yesterday, I finished taking CALM.

Career And Life Management= CALM

We studied about social problems(overweight, sexually etc) and career(resume, portfolio etc).

I can't take subject like CALM in Japan, so it was fun for me.

There are only one CALM class in my school, so there are not only grade 10 but also grade

11 and 12.

So I could make grade 11 or 12 friends!!

I made the autobiography, portfolio, resume and so on.

It was different from Japanese way, I think. ( I have never tried to write portfolio etc. in Japan...)

I had a good time in CALM class.

I wanted to take pictures with my CALM teacher, but she was busy yesterday, so I took pictures with only all classmates.

My CALM teacher is a funny person, and I like her.



Thanks, Mrs. Lonegan!



And yesterday, my food studies' teacher said to students, "Please bring some handmade sweets tomorrow."

She meant we mustn't buy sweets.



I had no ideas because my host mother isn't home now( She is in America with her friends)



I asked my host father and he said to me, "Grandma will help you!"



We went to grandma's house and she helped me to make sweets.



We made "apple pie"



It was very very good! And I brought it today.



However, nobody brought any sweets except me.



It was voluntary... "IF YOU CAN!!"



I was very surprised but everyone liked my sweets, so I was happy.



And my food studies' teacher said to me, "Thank you very much, Mari"



I appreciate grandma very much!!



After today's food studies' class, we took pictures!

*with Mrs. Fenton who is my food studies' teacher
We made many foods,(spaghetti, pizza, cookies, pan cakes, french toast, taco and so on)

Specially, when we learned about world foods, we also leaned about Japanese foods.

It was so fun for me.

Some classmates were interested in Japanese foods!

Food studies is one of favorite classes for me. Thanks, Mrs. Fenton!

Period two, I took math every day.
My math teacher is man.

He also goes to church every Sundays like my host family

However, my host family goes to church from 11 a.m to 2 p.m and my math teacher goes there from 1 p.m to 4 p.m.

I mean we cannot always meet at church each other.

I sometimes saw him and his son.

They have the same face!! It is funny for me.

I learned liner function, trigonometry, number patterns and so on.

However, I learned those things in Japan already, so it was easy for me.

But, of course, questions sentence are in English, so it was difficult for me...

Some friends helped my math homework.

I really appreciate them!!

Anyway, taking math was good for me. Thanks, Mr. Dakleck!

At lunch time, I ate a hamburger.

I bought it at cafeteria.

Buying hamburger is the first time for me.

Today is the last day, so I bought lunch.

It cost 2.75$. I think it is a little expensive...

Anyway, it is a special day for me, so I tried buying hamburger!!!

It was delicious!!

Period 3, I took art.

Eri who is my Japanese friend tool art with me.

At art class, we tried oil pictures, clay, likeness, and so on.

As you know, I took art every day, so I could try many art techniques.

Sometimes, we went outside and drew pictures.

My art teacher, Mrs. Lee is very cheerful.

I like her.

And sometimes, we had to do art homework.

Explain what hatching and cross hatching, drew comics, search artist and explain about him and so on.

It was very hard for me but it was good English study!

I enjoyed art class very much. Thanks, Mrs. Lee!!

Period 4, I took music class.

I can play the trumpet so I played the trumpet in music class.

I joined one concert and enjoyed it.

I wore black pants, white shirts, black tie and black shoes.

Someday I will show you my music clothes.

We practiced some songs and really enjoyed it.

Music is everywhere, so even if I can't speak English, I can enjoy music!

It's very good isn't it??

I wanna recommend everyone "Please try some instruments!!"

Music class is very fun!!

My music teacher, Mrs. Brill was kind to me.

Thanks, everyone!!

I could finish semester 2 today safely.

It was hard but it was a very very very good experience for me.

I will go to summer school with Japanese friends in summer and after that, I will go to school again.

I will enjoy summer vacation!!!

*they were waiting for their bus after school.

HAVE A NICE SUMMER!!!

love,

*noma*

See you, Stephanie

Hello, how's it going?

Last Sunday, I heard my Church friend, Stephanie will move to Seattle this Wednesday.

I was so surprised to hear that.

She was really kind to me, so I want to be a good friends with her.

I was shocked.

Today, we had a small party for Stephanie and 4 girls.

I belong to "Young Women" group.

Today, 4 girls graduated from Young Women because they graduated from their High School each other.

They will go to Young Women Camp together but after that they won't join any events of Young Women.

I had a great time with Stephanie.

We went to dance together, we watched some movies together, I celebrated her birthday and so on.

I am so sad I can't meet her any more.

If I can, I will go to Seattle to see her someday.

Or, if she can, I want her to come to Japan.

Thank you very much, Stephanie.

I don't forget you forever.

Good luck in Seattle!!!!

By the way, it was the pot luck party.

I made chirashi zushi.

I made much chirashi zushi, so I will bring them as my lunch tomorrow!

love,

*noma*

The last week started.

Hello. How are you?

In my school, classes will be over on June 15th.

So, this week is the last week in this semester.

Today, I had lunch with my Japanese friends, my school counselor and two ladies.

My school counselor prepared our lunch.

We talked about out host family and so on.

On May 16th, we had the market which is called "Wagner Market"

We made many Japanese goods to sell.

Many Canadian people were impressed by our works.

And we could get much money.

Today, my school counselor showed our works to two ladies.

One of ladies is our public school coordinator.

She was really impressed by our works.

We were enjoyed talking and eating at lunch time.

Another lady is our school's officer.

She was also impressed by them.

Japanese clutures are very good, I think.

For example, origami, foods, toys and so on.

We should keep our culture and tell them to foreign people.

This year it is a good chance for me to tell about Japan, so I will tell many things about Japan this year!!

Love,

*noma*

What is Scrapbooking??

Hello. How's going, guys?

Last night, I tried scrap booking with my host mother and her friends.

It is my host mother's hobby.

She has her own room for scrap booking. I was really impressed by it.

Anyway she loves it very very much.

In fact, she made my Japanese brother's birthday card last month.

Scrap booking is very famous in Canada, but in Japan it is not famous.

I made two cards!!

Who can get my handmade cards??

OTANOSHIMINI!!

Happy Friday!!

Hello. How are you?

Yesterday, I was so busy but it was a very great day!



After school, I went to Eri's host family's house.

Her host mother is a Taiwanese, so she knows how to make Asian food.

We ate curry and rice, Gyoza and YUBA.

I haven't eaten them here, so I was so happy.

I ate too much.

After supper, we ate warabi-mochi.

Eri made it last night.

She got warabi-mochi powder from her Japanese mother, so she tried to make it.

However, it was the first time for her to make it.

She didn't know how to save them, so she called Japanese mother.

If she had called her Japanese mother in April, she would have cried because she had homesick.

However, now, she became strong.

She wasn't criying when she calls her Japanese mother.

But Her mother's voice sounded like she was crying.

About me, I haven't had homesick yet here. I don't know why.

Anyway, I am enjoying my new life!! Thank you, dad, mam, grandpa, grandma and friends!!!!!

Before supper and after supper, we played with Eri's host sister.

She is 2 years old.

She is soooo cute and she loves to play with us.

So when we left house, she was crying...

But, we will go to her house again because Eri's birthday is on July 9th and her host family will invite us to her birthday party.

After that, except Megumi, we went to dance which took place at church.

It was so fun.

We danced with boys!! Can you believe?

We cannot have experiences like that in Japan.

We can join dance twice a month.

It's like Kambara Japanese dance! Can you image??(HAHAHA)

By the way, I got some clothes from Hikari who stayed with Eri's host family last year.

She left many clothes, but Eri doesn't use her clothes, so I got some of them.

I got 18 clothes.

I don't have to buy clothes any more.(HAHAHA)

Thanks, Hikari!!

Now, I am wearing one of Hikari's clothes!!

What do you think??(HAHAHA)

Have a good day!!


Love,

*noma*

Southgate or West Edmonton Mall

Hello. How are you?

Today, I went to Southgate with Mari.

Southgate is a shopping mall.

I bought some clothes and two hair accessories.

Do you know West Edmonton Mall?

It's the biggest shopping mall in the world.

It takes 60 minutes to get there from my host family's house by bus.

I have been there once.

Southgate is also a shopping mall.

I can go there after school because the bus which stops at Southgate comes to my school after school.

I can go there directly after school.

So, today, I went there after school and enjoyed shopping.

I'm going to camp in July, so I need short pants.

I bought two short pants.

And two shirts were sale, so I bought them.

I like Southgate and West Edmonton Mall.

However, I prefer Southgate to West Ed because West Ed is a too big shopping mall for me.

Southgate is the best scale for me.

And Southgate is near from here.

Shopping is fun, isn't it??

I will enjoy shopping here over caring money...

love,

*noma*

My new life1

Hello. How are you?

Today, I will tell you about my new life.

I am staying with my host family.

There are four people in my host family, father, mother and 2 cute boys.

My host mother has a baby now.

The baby due is August 10.

I'm really looking forward to seeing a new baby!

I go to school every day.

I take a bus to school.

The bus stop is very near my house.

I use "61 school special" bus with Mari, who is my Japanese friend.

Can you see a picture?

I took this picture today.

I use this bus every day.

Some students come to school by car.

Canadian people can have their driver's license when they are 16 years old.

People who have own driver's license drive to school every day.

From now on, I will tell you about my new life little by little.

love,

*noma*

*Hello*

Hello, how are you?

I have just started my blog!
I will tell you many things which are happening here.
If you are free, please check my blog and leave your comments.
However, I accept only English comments. Sorry.
Anyway, please enjoy my blog!

Thanks,

*noma*