MEMENTOS: of Happy Days

I won an umbreon from a nigh-impossible claw crane game. He now hangs from the rear-view mirror of my new car. (Yes, a new car!! A pic of my little red vehicle coming up!)

I drove Mr. C to his JLPT 4 (Japanese language proficiency) exam in Kanazawa. The university it took place at was on a high hill looking over this view of the city.

Park benches in Kenroku-en, in Kanazawa. This is the same park I visited during cherry blossom season in my first week in Ishikawa.

Walking across a bridge during twilight on the way to Kanazawa's downtown district, Katamachi. We walk in because it's cheaper to park outside the main stretch.

I mentioned before I spent two days giving an interactive presentation about Shakespeare to high school students at Hakui's English Camp. They learned who Shakespeare is, how to rhyme, and even how to identify a sonnet.

By the end of our time together, the students came up with their own poem! I was so proud of them!! Not only are they learning to communicate in a difficult foreign language, but now they can create poetry in it!

Below are two of the poems, complete with hammed-up illustrations by yours truly.

Class 1's cat poem:

There was a cat.

He wore a hat.

He was very fat.

He sat

on a mat.

There was a rat.

He sat

on a bat.

He wasn't fat.

And that's that.

Class 2's cat poem:

There was a cat.

It was too fat

It sat

on a mat,

wearing a hat,

eating a rat,

wanting a bat.

And that's that.

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