Here is a nice little song and cartoon that I found via a friend's weblog. It is really cute! You should take a look. It is a song about a little guy who is so happy because he has some "Curry-Pan" (A Japanese curry doughnut.) The song is all in Japanese, but I think that the "cuteness" is good in any language. Just Click this link: The Curry Doughnut song

Hello there. Thanks for coming to read my blog. I always appreciate as many readers as possible. Like my headline says: There is only one day left until the weekend. I think that I need the rest this weekend. After a long Thanksgiving holiday, the kids came back to school like little angels. By around Wednesday of this week, I noticed a big spike in the energy level of my students. I think that "cabin fever" is setting in. Because of this, has been taking a little extra from me to keep...

Hey there friends! I hope that you're having a nice day, and that you're all ready for that much-anticipated weekend. According to the title, I intend to write about a few things that have been going on lately. Most of the time I write my weblog entries for public-consumption. I also use this as kind of a daybook that I will be able to look back on in the future. To the latter end I give you: Odds and Ends. (Written in a semi-Larry King style...) -Man is it ever cold here in Minnesota...

Hello there. I hope that all of you are psyched-out for the three-day weekend. I always appreciate them when they come around! As my headline suggests, I am enjoying my evening with a margarita in hand. I don't think that I have had one of those in over a year! I gave my wife a sip, and she echoed my sentiment when she said, "Nadskashii!" (Which in Japanese means: "reminiscent of times past.") Ususally I fancy drinking beer. Today, the mood struck me to get some tequila and margarita ...

Hey there. Since I am on Christmas vacation from teaching school, my wife and I have the rare opportunity to get as many errands done as possible before I have to go back to work. Looking through our various papers, my wife and I found that we needed to turn in our son's registration at the county office for a birth certificate by today. I thought that it wouldn't be so bad. Well... Wright County Minnesota (where we live) has an extraordinarily understaffed DMV office. (For some unkno...

Hello there. Today I had meetings at my school about how we're going to proceed with our program. I thought that today was an awesome day as far as the amount of work that we got done is concerned. I am a little dubious about coming in during vacation week though... One of the themes of today's meeting (that I wasn't involved with) was the new Minnesota Social Studies standards. For those of you who aren't teachers: most states in the USA are trying to move toward standardization of...

Hey there friends. I hope that you've had a happy weekend. As usual, it seems to have passed by so quickly. Our lazy Sunday is winding-down. After sleeping in, I had a happy day spending time with my wife and the baby. I was also able to watch Day 1 of the Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka. Last night, some friends came over to our house for dinner. We had steaks, played Dance Dance Revolution, and we sang karaoke. We also were able to see how our babies interacted with each other. The...

Hi there friends! It is finally Friday. I am looking forward to a weekend surrounded by family and friends. Last night my wife and I took the baby along for dinner at Bonanza in Saint Cloud. Success! We had a good meal, and the service was good (as usual.) We both had steak and all-you-can-eat shrimp. The last time we went there (in December,) our meals didn't turn out so-well. I was a bit apprehensive before going back, but fortunately we were able to put the past behind us and wer...

About six weeks ago, the Michael Jackson trial was pretty big news. I think that he was worth at least one segment every half-hour on most of the national news providers. Then Janet Jackson shows her boob on national television, Martha Stewart has her trial, Howard Stern gets censored, Mel Gibson releases the Jesus flick, and the Academy Awards came and went. With all of those other "distractions" it seems that Michael Jackson has fallen off of the radar. I wonder how long it will be f...

Hello there friends. I hope that all of you are enjoying your Friday! My day is going by pretty quickly. As an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, I see various small groups of children in three different schools throughout my day. On most normal days, I run through my ESL curriculum, as well as help kids with their homework. Those days seem to go pretty well. I am teaching, the kids are learning, everything is swell. Today has been an diversion from that pattern. I hav...

Happy Early Valentines Day to all of you out there. Since the holiday lands on a Saturday, we here at schools across America will have to observe the holiday on Friday. Working at an elementary school, one can almost cut through the electricity with a knife. The kids are all hopped-up on chocolate, and the good-will that only a Valentine can bring. I really like the way that kids are allowed to enjoy the holidays when they're this age. Since I work as a specialist, pulling kids out of c...

Hi there friends. Have you been having a nice evening? I have been having fun. After watching "American Idol," my wife and I spent some time playing Dance Dance Revolution. That was fun. By the way, what did you think about tonight's American Idol? I was pretty sure that Diana and Fantasia were going to win. I am surprised that Matthew got third place. (I voted for Diana.) Anyway as I said in my headline, I have some experience of playing Scrabble with kids. You see, I work as an...

Hello there friends. TGIF to all of you out there. This morning I was at a gas station. I put gas in my car, I bought some coffee, and a doughnut. After paying, I put the receipt into my wallet. As I did this, I noticed some writing on one of my dollar bills. The writing told me to visit www.wheresgeorge.com. At this site, you can enter the serial number on the dollar bill to find out where it has been. It is pretty interesting. I found out that my dollar bill had previously been ...

Hey all! I hope that your weekend has been going well. Kazuko and I are enjoying the weekend with my parents. Tonight we'll have sushi for dinner. That should be good, I always enjoy eating sushi! Another piece of big news in our house is that I bought a second dance mat for "Dance Dance Revolution." Last night my wife and I had a happy time dancing together to our favorite songs. It is good exercize for the both of us. Finally, I direct your attention to the picture at the bottom ...

Hi there friends!  Have you ever heard of Culver's? Culver's is a chain of hamburger restaurants that originated in Wisconsin.  Their specialties are things called "Butterburgers," and their milkshakes.  Currently, Culver's is only located in the Midwest (they've only recently come into Minnesota.)  The food at Culver's is awfully good.  I recommend it for any of you who live up here, or are traveling through. Over the past month or two, I have had frequent craving...