Channel Duke

Twtterific!

2008-07-02T12:07:00.002+09:00

Hi!
It's a beautiful day, and it's been that way from Monday! Very good because I can get my exercise. I'm a bit stiff from yesterday's Aikido practice already, hehe.
I've been using a communication system called "Twitter". I blogged about it last time that I've been using this a lot. Now I'm a big "twitterholic"! It's very fun, you can talk to your family or your friends at work, also talk to people around the world! It's simple, every post has to be under 140 letters. You can post anything, cooking, watching TV, eating, gaming, etc. Then, eventually, you will get followers that are also interested in cooking, eating, etc.! When you really want to talk about your hobbies, "Twitter" is the best!
Dad uses "Twitter"for his students to practice English, and Mom too! Some problems are that there are a lot of sales people, or spammers on it. That makes the twitter page slower, so most of the time it says that Twitter is over capacity.
I'm right now saving money to get a laptop. It will be very useful for my studies, and computer programing. There are a lot of good looking computers out. It's very hard to pick one! Also I have to look for one that I can afford .
That's all for today!
Hope this weather stays nice.
See ya!

Busy, Busy!!

2008-06-18T14:46:00.004+09:00

Hi!
Wow, it's been two months since my last blog!
It's a nice and hot day. I just took a walk around the rice paddies; it was great!
We've been very busy. We are teaching Japanese to forign students. They come to Japan to work, but they still don't know how to speak Japanese. So we teach them simple Japanese, and words that you use at work. We do it 8 hours a day!! This was the first time to teach Japanese, and we had a good student to start with. Our student learned some Japanese at his school and then came to Japan, so it was very smooth teaching him. He was also very polite, he will get along with Japanese easily! Well, we next have a group coming, but it will be a month before that.
We are now playing with a new comunication system called "Twitter". It's very fun! We do it every day. It's like a blog but it's very short, 140 letters only. It's also popular in Japan! There's already a Japanese version out. If your interested, feel free to check it out!
That's all for today!
Hope it gets warmer.
See ya!

Weeeeeeee!

2008-04-18T15:12:00.003+09:00

Hi!
It's very cloudy here and the rain is going off and on. It's a bit cold too.
We are having fun with this new game I bought for the 'Wii'. It's called "Mario kart wii". It's a racing game and it's very very FUN!! The picture at the top is the 'Wii wheel', the controller for the game, you can turn left and right just like your driving a real car. The graphics also are very good, and the programing. You can also race with your "Mii"( a character that looks just like you ), so it's like your really in the game! The coolest thing about this game is you can play with people all around the world! You can play with someone in America, Euroupe, Spain, France, etc.!! It's too bad you can't talk with them. Also playing with your family is very fun.
I started to learn Spanish. It's much easier than Arabic since the alphabet is just like English. A lot of the words in Spanish are similar to English, and some Arabic too! Even though I just started learning a week ago, I can understand some of the sentences.
That's all for today!
iHasta la vista!
(See ya!)

Money, money ,money...

2008-03-19T14:49:00.005+09:00

Hi!
It's a rainy day here in Japan and it will rain worse tomorrow.
Today I learned about "Money as Debt" by watching a video on Google videos. Did you know most of the money in the world isn't real? In a ratio of 9:1 or more it is "made up" money that ends up in being debt. The banks do this to live off interest. Banks also make their own money from loans! Benjamin Franklin said that the revolutionary war was fought to escape from the European banks! It's very complicated, but one thing I got is debt is money; no debt no money!
I also learned about the "New challenges aggravating plight of hungry" from a news article written by Ban Ki Moon the United Nations secretary general. Food prices are soaring, so millions of the world's most vulnerable people are at risk. To solve this problem the leaders at the U.N. summit aim to reduce the proportion of hungry people by half by 2015. This is called the Millennium Development Goals. But, this is a very big challenge! The price of basic food staples, like wheat, corn, and rice, have increased up to 50% from the last 6 months! Also bio-fuels are reducing food for humans. It was all very interesting, it was in the Washington post on the internet. I hope they succeed.
That's all for today!
see ya!

Computer Problems!!

2008-03-14T14:43:00.004+09:00

Hi and long time no see! I haven't blogged since last year! So happy new year!
It's pretty cloudy and the weather person said it might rain a little. It also got warmer this week.
We had some computer problems with our mouse and monitor. First the mouse didn't click normally, so we got a wireless laser mouse. Very good, very smooth, you have to change the battery once a month or so, but it's worth it! The monitor was the big problem. When we turned it on we saw flat screen of our desktop, and some blinking sparks. We didn't know if it was the monitor or the computer. My Dad didn't want to have two working monitors with a broken computer! So we did some testing and finally knew it was the monitor. Then we bought a flat screen 17inch monitor. It is SUPER!!! We couldn't believe. It was like we got a new computer! Since the screen is wide we have more space on our desktop. Also, it's less space taking and light, and cheaper than our old monitor!
that's all for today!
See ya

Get in Shape!!

2007-12-28T17:05:00.000+09:00

Hi!
Wow, 4 more days until New Years! Time flys!
Today's picture is me holding a "kettlebell", a weight that is used in Russian Special Forces and American Special Forces for training. My Dad gave it to me for Christmas. It really does the work! I use it almost everyday, and my arms are sore today. It was a workout trying to take that picture!
Mom and Dad also got me a "WiiFit". It looks like a weight scale, it actually is a high tech scale! It tells BMI (Body Mass Index), and your weight. It has 4 balance sensors that senses which way you're swaying. Also "Fit" stands for fitness, so it's used for being is shape! It has "Yoga", a stretch or balance exercise that started from India, muscle training, aerobic exercises, and balance games. For Yoga and muscle training, it's just like an interactive exercise DVD! It will show you the moves one by one, and a little screen that shows you where your center should be. Being Nintendo, of course it has games, that are fun!!
That's all for today!
I will try to blog once more this year!
But, just in case I can't, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
See ya!

Aikido! 合気道

2007-12-12T14:36:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's been a long time since I blogged! I should keep track of it.
Wow, it's already December! It's 13 more days until Christmas too! We have to put our Christmas tree out.
Today's picture is me doing an "Ukemi", a way of falling down or rolling and not getting hurt. The "Ukemi" is very useful in a lot of cases. A lot of stuntmen in movies use this too. The man on the right is my new teacher. I'm going to night time classes on Tuesdays too. So, I have 2 classes now.
I've been learning Aikido for 4 years I think. I had some Judo lessons before Aikido but some how It didn't last that long.
I'm catching up with the high level people little by little. I took an test recently for gradeing up, and I hope I passed it!
It got pretty cold from the start of December. The weather was great since yesterday. The weather person said it's going to rain again tonight, and going to be an pretty rainy day tomorrow. Oh well...
That's all for today!
Happy Holidays!
See ya.

To the World!

2007-11-10T14:37:00.000+09:00

Hi! Long time no see!
It's cold here, but I think it's much more colder in the States. It's also raining so that helps too.
We have started a FaceBook account. FaceBook is a social networking system, so you can make friends around the world, and also you can meet old school mates. My Dad met a high school buddy working at a university. We also met a university student in Egypt that is interested in learning Japanese! This is cool, because we were looking for someone that can teach Arabic to us. So we started communicating! We sent her a internet drill that we use for Japanese students to teach English. The page is called WordChamp, you can learn any language on this site. It's very cool too!
She sent a list of Arabic words that I could practice. I'm really excited about learning more Arabic from her.
Back to the FaceBook, we started this just 2 days ago, and Dad and I found all kinds of people. Very cool!
Wow! It's winter already! The picture of me at the top is a view of Mt. Fuji, on a clear day! We might get some nice weather like in the picture from Monday.
That's all for today!
See ya!

Tai-Chi Event!

2007-10-11T16:23:00.000+09:00

Hi!
The weather is beautiful today. It's getting cool these days, but it's warm enough today.
I just got a letter and a beautiful calender for 2008 from my uncle and aunt, actually they are my god-parents, in Pennsylvania. The picture on the top is the calender, and the photo on it is Mount Hood in Oregon. There are a lot more beautiful photos in it! I like it!
Last week me and my Family went to a Tai-chi event, that my class signed-up for. It was my second time going there, but the first time to participate in it. We performed a part of a basic form and for the first time the Chinese sword. I think I blogged about the sword before. It went well; we didn't have any mistakes. The other people were fantastic! There were a lot of weapons and also with some cool music. It was great!
I also put another video on Google videos. To see it Click Here.
That's all for today!
See ya!

The "General of Winter" is Here!

2007-09-28T14:49:00.000+09:00

Hi!
The weather is nice, but the wind is howling! We're right on the edge where the fronts of Summer and Fall fight each other. Everybody call this the ' fuyu shogun '. It means ' The general of Winter'. We notice it very easily, because the wind is cool and very very strong. We sometimes call it a 'Dry'phoon. It really is, just a typhoon with no rain!
Today I'm going to try to put a video on my blog. Blogger made a new tool that you can put videos easly! So, The video below is a animation that I made about 5 months ago, or more! I think I blogged about it when I finished. I made this animation by moving my lego mini figures picture by picture, and setting the moves so it goes with the song. The image is blurry because of the camera, but you can see their movements. The music is from the 'Gypsy Kings' and the song is 'volare'. Enjoy!

How do you think? There's a 5 days work! I might put some more videos on, but I don't know yet.
That's all for today!
See ya!

TGS (Tokyo Game Show)!

2007-09-24T13:49:00.000+09:00

Hey!
It's cloudy today, but yesterday was a beautiful day. Yesterday was my Dad's birthday, and we also went to the Tokyo Game Show!
We took an early train to Makuhari (Near Tokyo), and followed a big group of people because we knew they were going to the game show. As the group got bigger and bigger, we bought the tickets and lined up where the others did, and walked all around two wide buildings for about 10 minutes. It wasn't opening time yet, but there were more than 2000 people in front of us! Not to mention the other 4000 behind us! The gates opened about 12 minutes a head of schedule, and we went in the huge dark room with flashy displays, and big monitors. The first place we went was the Microsoft area, where they have the Xbox 360.
I lined up to a flight simulator, and it was great! It's called 'Ace Combat 6', and it felt like flying a real airplane in a movie scene! We also played 'HALO 3'. It was my first time playing it so it was complicated! But, the graphics were great. Also, both of these games can be played on the Internet, so you can play with people in the US from Japan!
Those were the only games we were able to play, because the other playables were lined up for over an hour! We just saw them from a distance. But, most of these games had good graphics too!
We also went to high school and college exhibitions, to learn about going to those schools. They'll send me some information. It was very crowded and noisy, but it was fun!
That's all for today!
See ya!

Movie Stars!

2007-09-18T15:55:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's cloudy, but not raining so I'm happy. It's been nice since last weekend. We ate outside a lot, but yesterday was very windy! The table almost flew away!
This sunday we might go to the 'Tokyo Game Show'. It's one of the biggest game shows in the world. They unveil new games, new gadgets and they have alot of try outs for games that are not out in stores yet. We never been to a game show before. I only see them on television with a lot of people, and a lot of blinking lights and displays. The one on Sunday is for regular people, and last week was for business people. For the stuff they really want to keep a secret! We still don't know if we are going to go yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
Next month, Mom and I, and maybe Dad, are going to a nearby town to be extra in a movie. The movie is called "Survivors in 252" in Japanese. It's a movie about a great typhoon hitting Japan. This is what it says on the paper... "Scenario: People running to a nearby subway station to escape from the incredible strength of the typhoon." It also says it takes a week! I'm not that familier with show business, but a week for filming some people running!? Wow. The cool thing is that we are going to get paid, but we still don't know if we got the part. I Hope so...
That's all for today!
See ya!

Not much to say!

2007-09-13T12:14:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's still cloudy, and it might rain again! I wish it will clear up soon!
Our phone has died, and my Mom and Dad are going to buy a new one. We are hoping to get a one with a automatic answerer. We are borrowing our neighbor's old phone right now. But, we have some problems with the cords, because we don't have that many electric plugs!
The last blog I said that the iPod touch was $400, but there are two types an 8 GB and a 12GB. The 8GB one was $299. Sorry to suprise you! But, I still don't know if i'm going to buy one. It's still too expensive for me! Sorry about the short blog today. There's nothing I can think about today.
That's all for today!
See ya!

Storm Results

2007-09-10T12:09:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's another rainy day today here in Japan. It might rain for the whole week. Strange, because usually after a typhoon it's usually clear for a week. There's another typhoon that just missed us.
The typhoon, #9, was pretty strong. It kept Mom and Dad awake through the night. Our porch was a mess! The washing machine fell over, and everything that wasn't stable was scattered all around the place! I had to wash our bicycles so they won't rust. But, there was nothing big around our area, so we are good.
I found out that the new iPod Touch is $400! For me, that's pretty expensive! It will take years to get that much allowance! My Dad says, it's better than getting a big stereo. The new nano(iPod) is good because you can play videos on it. But, I might save my money for something else. I also want to know how to put DVD videos on iTunes. If someone knows, please give me a comment so I'll know what to do.
That's all for today
See ya!

Typhoooon #7!

2007-09-06T16:19:00.000+09:00

Hi!
We've have a typhoon approching. The wind is howling, and it's raining nonstop. But, not to worry, because it's not as strong or dangerous as a hurricane. It's more like a tropical depression. The map on the top show's the path, and the white dot passes the Izu peninsula. It's also very slow.
Apple has unveiled their new iPods. An new iPod nano that can play movies, and a very new iPod called the iPod Touch. It's just an iPhone without a phone! You can see movie's, your pictures (in a very cool way!). It also has a special button to go on Youtube! It has a wireless browser, Safari, so you can surf the net almost anywhere. If you want to know more, you can go to http://www.apple.com/
That's all for today!
Hope the typhoon dies out quicker!
See ya!

Summer is Done!

2007-09-03T12:35:00.001+09:00

Hi!
Summer vacation is over and I'm back in school! It got cooler, but the weather person says that it's going to be 31'C (87.8'F) today. It's cloudy ,and it could rain.
We went to Tokyo last week for a 3 day stay. We didn't go to watch Sumo this time, we went there for some sightseeing. We went to some new buildings, mostly fashion stores, but the food shops there were cool. We went for lunch in one of them and the inside was like a cave in the Carribean. The volume of the food there was HUGE! Dad barely finished his , and Mom couldn't finish hers, so I had to help her!
We also went to a movie called "Ratatouille". It's about a rat named Remy with a taste for good 'food' rather than garbage. I don't want to tell you too much, but it's a cute movie.
That's all for today
See ya!

Tech Man!

2007-08-07T09:33:00.000+09:00

Hi!
Looooooooong time no see!! I'm sorry not blogging more often. It's been 3 months!
It's a beautiful and a hot day in Japan. It's Summer vacation, and it's been hot for a week! It's very hard going to Aikido in this kind of climate.
A lot of stuff changed in 3 months! We have almost every Tech stuff we can get! I got a new game for my Wii called "Rayman Raving Rabbids". It's a wild and extremely fun party game. My Mom and Dad play it a lot when I'm asleep! My Dad also got some stuff too. He bought a Nintendo DS, and a MacBook.The DS (Dual Screen) is a portable game player and in Japan, there are a lot of educational software for the 'DS'. So we use it for educational purposes. Also, there are schools that use the game player for English. We also are going to have a DS English class at my Dad's school today. My Dad is happy with his second computer, the 'MacBook', a laptop computer from Apple. He is going to use it for his business. But, the display is great! You can also watch movies with it, and of course, if there is an internet access point, you can use the internet.
That's all for today.
I'll try not to leave the blog for 3 months again!
See ya!

Wii Will Rock You!

2007-06-07T10:56:00.001+09:00

Hi!
The weather in Japan is nice, for now! We might have a storm later.
I have finally got myself a Nintendo Wii! I had no problem getting it. We thought a lot of people would line up, so I went to the store an hour and a half before opening! But, there was nobody there! I thought I was just early so I waited and started to read a book. But nobody came! Later my Mom came to help me get the stuff. But, even when the store opened, nobody was interested with the Wii! So I was very lucky. We were at the same store yesterday, and some of the Wii were still there!
Well, some people might not know what the Wii will do, so I will simply explain. You use this remote (on the upper right hand corner) , or controller, to move yourself on the screen. And when you swing the "wiimote", as you were playing a real sport, it will detect your movement and you can hit or throw a ball! I have a game called "Wii sports". It has 5 sports games in it, and all of it is great! But, the Wii is not just a simple game player, you can browse the Internet, you can check the weather around the world ( some thing like "Google Earth" ), and lots more! So you can say that it is a cheap computer! You can also send e-mails with it. It's very cool.
That's all for today!
See ya!

Hi guy's!

2007-05-25T12:19:00.000+09:00

Hi!
Long time no see! The weather is nasty today. It was beautiful for the three days.

We went to Tokyo again to watch sumo and also spend the night there. On the second day, my Dad bought two books for me. The books are the "Pirates of the Caribbean", 1 and 2. We didn't buy the 3rd one because I wanted to see the movie first. The books were just like the movie. Once you start to read it, you can't stop! So, I already read both of them! I'm looking forward to watching the third movie.
On Saturday, at our local tec shop, if I'm lucky, I might get a Nintendo Wii! If I'm lucky, I hope I am...
That's all for today!
See Ya!

Baseball Season AGAIN!

2007-04-12T10:43:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's a nice day! You can see the beautiful blue sky!
My Dad is now watching a Boston "Red Sox" vs Seattle "Mariners" game. On Japanese television, they are talking about, the new Japanese pitcher for the, Red Sox "Daisuke Matsuzaka", and "Ichiro Suzuki" from the Mariners, competing. It looks like Ichiro had a bad day on that, but still the Mariners are winning.
Yes, baseball season is here...(*sigh). I like playing baseball but, I'm not that intrested in watching a game. But, if I could go to the game, that would be great.
Today I have 'tai-chi' and my teacher gave me a Chinese sword to use. No, it's not a real sword, it's made out of bamboo and painted and decorated so it will look like it's real. Bringing it to the place and bringing back home is a little hard.
That's all for today!
See Ya!

Back From Tokyo!

2007-04-09T14:32:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's partly cloudy today but, it's not too cold or not too hot.
The trip to Tokyo was great! We went to Yasukuni Shrine to see the cherry blossoms, and they were beautiful, really BEAUTIFUL! There were alot of people there too; since it was still spring vacation. And the cherry blossoms were falling like snow, and the paths were like pink carpets! Wow.
After that we went to see a movie called "HAPPY FEET". Wow, good thing I saw it in the theater! The graphics were great! I heard that there is a 3D version of the movie. That would be perfect! I should stop talking about it before I start to spoil the movie for you! But, one thing that I want to say is that, if you can, watch it at a theater!
Home schooling started today! Yes, my second year has started! Since I didn't have any problems on year1. Hope I have a wonderful year again.

That's all for today!
See Ya!

Flower Problem!

2007-04-03T11:25:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's raining a little bit today, but it's starting to get warm.
My Mom and Dad were talking about what daffodils are and what jonquils are. We checked on the Internet, and the result was that there are three names for daffodils, and a extra name from West Virginia called "Easter lilies"! Here is the text we saw:

What exactly is the difference between a daffodil(on the left), a narcissus, and a jonquil(on th right)? The simple answer is nothing, or "it depends". All three terms are used as common names in many cases and used incorrectly. Narcissus is technically the only correct scientific name identifying the genus of this group of plants. It is not a common name, though some use it as such. Daffodil is typically used as a collective name for all these plants, but is more often used to describe the larger flowered types. Jonquil is a name sometimes used for this group as well, but actually only applies to a very small subgroup, Narcissus jonquilla and related hybrids, which typically have several small, fragrant flowers on each stem with flat petals. The foliage is very narrow and reed-like, according to the American Daffodil Society.

American Daffodil Society !? Wow!
They say that daffodil bulbs would not be eaten by squirrels and other bulb eating critters.
Hopefully, we are going to Tokyo tomorow. We are going to see some cherry blossoms at the National Shrine of the War Dead, or the "Yasukuni" shrine. The cherry blossoms are beautiful there. Hope it will be a nice day!
That's all for today!
6 more days until my spring vacation is over...ha.
See Ya!

I'm Back

2007-03-29T15:30:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's been a looooong time since I blogged! I was busy making games. Yes, Games!
The picture in the upper right hand corner is the game screen. I used a tutorial to learn the basics for making a game. I named it 'flee! 2' since the game in the tutorialwas called 'Flee!'. The rule is easy, you just move your Player, that can be moved using the mouse, and try not to get hit by the spiders. The score is recorded by how long you survive, and if the score is higher than the 'Highscore' it will rewrite the
highscore. But, once you closed the game, the highscore will change back to 0!!
I like to put this game on the blog but I don't know how. If you want to have this game
on your computer, send me a e-mail and I will try to send it. (Click the 'View my complete profile' link and click the e-mail link on the upper left hand corner to send.)
It's very warm here! My Mom is at work and Dad is sleeping in the other room.
And after this we are going out for a walk. My Dad is on a diet AGAIN.
That's all for today!
I will try to blog more often!
See Ya!

Trip to Yokohama!

2007-01-09T15:39:00.000+09:00

Hi, and HAPPY NEW YEAR !
My winter vacation finished and I'm back on home schooling.
On my winter vacation, we went to Yokohama to visit our friend that moved there. It was a little rainy that day, but we mostly traveled by train and by ferry. The ferry ride was great! It was smooth, and there were some small stores inside too! It wasn't crowded at all, it was perfect! But, since that day was a little rainy we couldn't see much outside.
We met our friend at the station, and he took us to his house. We notice that the people near Yokohama walk fast! Well, the 1st day we went to a big shoping place called 'Costco'. They had everything! Big and great pizza there too! We got some spices and cake there. The 2nd day we went to Yokohama city. We got on the 'Sea Bus', a boat that carries only people and runs through Tokyo bay, and went to a big place called 'Queens Square'. Then we went to a restaurant called 'Garlic Jo's'( Guess what they serve! ). That place was awesome! We had garlic breath problems after that. But, that was fun!
That's all for today!
See Ya!

Long Time No See!

2006-12-15T12:07:00.000+09:00

Hi, and long time no see!
The temperature dropped, but not enough to snow. Since we are living near the bay, I have't seen snow cover for years! (sigh...) But, we still have lots rain.
We had a Christmas Party at Dad's school last week. A lot of people came, and the food was good! We had some live music until midnight! My Mom said that some of the band were still playing when we went out!
At home schooling, which I am doing right now writing this blog, we are doing computer programming. I think I talked about programming on 'Nothing to Do About Snakes'. Well, I am doing some fun programs that ask stuff like, 'What is your favorite music?: '. Really interesting stuff! I'm looking forward to making my own games!
I have put a new link to "My Mom's 'NEW' blog". You just look at the 'Links' list and click on "My Mom's 'NEW' Blog" and it will go to her page.
That's all for today! Almost a week until Christmas!
See ya!

”読書の秋”: Autumn Reading

2006-11-28T12:23:00.000+09:00

Hi!
We are having some cloudy weather today. It's getting really cold too. But, today, it's ok!
Today I started to read Washington Living's "Rip Van Winkle". Before I started this story I finished Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island". It was a great story! Some of the words in the story were really old so it was a little hard to read. But, It was a good pirate story. If you saw the "Pirate's of the Caribbean"(1 or 2) you can see that Disney used some of the names and 'legends' in the story.
The story of "Rip Van Winkle" uses beautiful words, and you can see, as you read, a picture in you mind; mountains and clouds and people. It looks like a really shorter story than "Treasure Island", but there is a lot of dificult words in the story. Comment me on the 'comment link' right below this blog and tell me about your favorite books. I might use the book you like for my next story to read!
One month until Christmas! Wow, time flies! That's all for today!
See ya!

Man, It's cold!

2006-11-17T15:10:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's cold and cloudy. It was warm 2 days ago. Where did the heat go!? Oh well.
We had a tsunami watch this Wednesday. Hokkido had a evacuation call. It was not bad. I was asleep that time when the tsunami hit Hokkido. It was just a 2 foot rise in water level, no problem.
Japan is really watching out for those tsunamis because in the year that I was born, a big tsunami struck at Hokkido and a village was wiped out and a lot of people died. 2 years ago, a big tsunami struck in the Indian sea area. That, time they did not have a tsunami watch system. Japan has a lot of tecnology so they know when to move. Hokkido's takeing a lot of hits! Tornado 1 day, tsunami the next! And it get's really cold there.
Well, that's all for today! I hope I get something warm for dinner.
See Ya!

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My Blog Updates
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'Links' :
My Mom's 'New' Blog
Coming soon!
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Tornado Strikes in Hokkaido

2006-11-08T15:20:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's freezing! Maybe not that cold but, it was very cold this morning. Also the wind is strong.
Speaking of wind, there is a big news in Japan.

" 'Tornado kills at least nine in northern Japan'"
At least nine people were killed, at least 20 injured and others trapped under rubble when a tornado hit northern Japan Tuesday, local officials said.
Officials said the tornado demolished two prefabricated buildings at a construction site, about eight private houses and a factory.
Two people were still missing, said an official at the fire department in Engaru, on the northeastern part of Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. He added that rescue efforts were being hampered by rain and a power blackout."
from: http://today.reuters.com

Yes, there has been a tornado in "Hokkaido". The red X on the map is where the tornado struck.
Yestreday was very windy over here too! As you can see, on the news script, that the buildings were prefabricated. That advanced the destruction. It is really rare to have a tornado in Japan, they do not have the equipment for tornado watchs. Very scary!
It's beginning to be when you're hungry, and sleepy, and "It's too cold, I miss Summer." feeling. Ah! Winter! Why does it have to be so cold! Ah! Winter!
My Dad is watching the election on "CNN". I looks very complicated. And my Mom is still at work. She is substituting for an office worker at my Dad's school. That's all for today!
See Ya!

Nothing to Do About Snakes!

2006-11-06T13:19:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's cold! Last night, when I was outside, I already could see my breath. Today, it is a cloudy day. It was fine in the morning though.
My Dad has a cold. It started 4 days ago, I think the cold weather got him, I hope he gets better. Since I am doing "home schooling", I got to be careful not get his cold.
Today, a book has arrived. The book is about computer programing, "Python". It dosn't have anything to do about snakes! The name is named after the group called "The Monte 'Python' ". I don't know anything but "spam, spam, spam, spam..." from them. Well any way, the book came and we (my Dad and I) are going to use it for "home schooling"; computer programing. It's realy fun, it's like solving a puzzle. And making games are really fun.
Sorry about not haveing pictures on the last blog. I'm going to try it this time.
That's all for today! Try not to catch a cold!
See Ya!

Getting Colder

2006-11-02T12:45:00.000+09:00

Hi!
Today it might start to rain, and it's a bit cold. I have three layers of shirts on!
Our supermarket "ODOYA" is under construction. They started to sell all kinds of foreign stuff. It was inconvenient. The Seven Eleven convenience store was better than Odoya. But, when they started to sell foreign stuff (like Belgian chocolate!!) we started to go there a lot.
Tateyama has changed a lot since we came here. A brige was built, a lot of new shopping places were built, and a lot more houses were built. But, I think that it got a little noisy!
This month we might go to "Yokohama" to visit some freinds that moved there about 8 months ago. Yokohama is right beside Tokyo metropolitan area. But we live across Tokyo bay. So we might go by ferry.
There is also a bicycle show at Tokyo this month. We are looking forward to that too.
We started to get American Beef again in the stores ! And my Dad is fixing up steak sandwich! Hee hee hee!
I can't believe that it is November already! I didn't know that time flies that fast. And some how, I think this is going to be a very cold and a long winter.That's all for today!
Sorry no pictures today Blogger seems to be having problems with something.
See ya!

Halloween Party!

2006-10-27T14:27:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It was raining in the morning but, the sky is back to normal and it's beautiful!
The Halloween party was great! 52 kids with their parents! It was really a full house. Most of them were little kids from kindergarden or even pre-school! They were soooo CUTE!!! They had some good costumes too.
We did some pumpkin carving with some HUGE pumpkins. My Dad hurt his back a little when he was taking it to the party room. But, the kids made great jack-o-lanterns. Some of the pumpkin skins were hard and shaped really odd but, the kids tried to carve thruoght the hard skin and made some good jack-o-lanterns.
Also the "Trick or Treat" was a great succses. The owner of the "Akitaya ( A Japanese restaurant that we often go)" had a "Namahage Mask (a gnome mask) see picture at the right" and I had a noise maker and it was a little scary, but for the kids, ohoooo , it was scary. A lot of kids cried! But, after that they say that it was fun.
Well that's all for today. On my Dad's blog, he is going to blog about the "Bossa Nova Party" that was after the Halloween party. To go to his site just click the link that says "My Dad's Blog".
See ya!

Another Beautiful Day!

2006-10-19T11:16:00.000+09:00

Hi!
I love the weather, It's beautiful! It was a little cloudy yesterday but, it's back to normal now. It's been like this for a week and a half. I heard on the news that it snowed in New York and other locations in America. I didn't know that it was that cold over there.
Two days until "Halloween Party" and a "Bossa Nova party". My Dad's boss likes "Bossa Nova", in the evening we are going to have that and on the same day we have our Halloween Party. A little busy don't you think?
My Dad is in his October sports mode. Baseball, (American)Football, and the next sumo season starts in two weeks! It gives all the politicians of the world a break- no nasty e-mails! But,it dosn't give ME a break. Soon as I want to do something , like playing the video game, there is some thing on the television. Good grief!
Our water pipe was leaking so the workers are going in and out. My Dad is going to blog about this on his blog. You can go to his blog by clicking the link on the right of the page that says "My Dad's blog". My Mom is also doing a blog about ikebana. You can go to her page by clicking the link that says "My Mom's blog". She hasn't posted a long time. I took a picture of her recent work (The picture on the upper right hand corner).
Well that's all for today! See Ya!

New Links Added

2006-10-13T10:58:00.000+09:00

Hi!
The weather is beautiful! No sign of rain clouds at all!
I have put a link on the right side of the page that says "Links". The one that says "Tateyama Station WebCam" is a live camera of our local station view. (The picture on the upper right hand corner is the station from my Dad's home town in America, Grafton, W.V., and on the left is our local station. )You can control the camera by clicking the "Start control" button. Some of the controls do not work so just play around with it. Below the "Tateyama Station WebCam" there is another webcam from "Wada" beach area. You can control the camera as well.
I also put a link to my Dad's new blog called "Japan a la carte". Don't be confused by the name, it's in English! Just click on the link that says "My Dad's Blog".
I have seen the airplane crash in New York. First I thought it was another terrorist attack. But, it was a two seater airplane so I think it was an accident. I am sorry for the N.Y. Yankees pitcher, Cory Lidle. I wonder why he was flying that low. And he looked like a safe pilot too.
That's all for today. Next time, I will try not to blog a lot about links!!
See ya!

Halloween Party on the 21st!

2006-10-11T11:01:00.000+09:00

Hi!
Finally the season is nice! It's been like this for 4 days. But, they say that its going to rain tonight. We don't know yet!
On the 21st, we are going to have a Halloween party at Dad's English school. We are going to carve some jack-o-lanterns, and play all kinds of games and have treats. We are going to do trick or treat too! There is this scary place to go, but it's just a harmless restaurant.
I remember when I was in America, I was a spider. My Mom makes great costumes. She makes it scary. There was a house decorated real scary, I ran back down the stairs. I met people with great costumes, and I got a lot of candy too! In Japan, we don't do any thing like that. I realy miss it, but I just thought that I am too big for that now! I wish there was trick or treat for big kids!
Well, I hope it will not rain tonight. I love shiny weather.
The picture is from Tateyama station today.
I will put a link for a "web cam" of Tateyama statio. This is the site>> http://it.awa.jp/live_camera2.htm.
That's all for today!
See ya!

Discover Japan!

2006-10-06T11:29:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's raining today (AGAIN!!!). And it's cold outside.
Tomorrow, my Dad will be not home for two days because there is "English camp" for the school he is working for. They are going to the "Hakkakusou". I think it means "eight sided house" in Japanese. A lot of foreigners stay there for a few days to learn about Japan, many people from Tokyo, including kids too! The owner of the place is Mr. David Green. He came to Japan and he wanted to tell every body how great Japan is. His homepage address is http://www.discoverjapan.co.jp/ . There is a English site and a Japanese site. And right now he is making another place for his camp. I hope it will not rain tomorrow.
I feel that autumn is here. No sign of summer any more. That's all for today!
See Ya!

We Love "Nabe-mono"!

2006-10-03T09:53:00.000+09:00

Hi!
It's a rainy day today. The sun was out for about an hour but, it started to cloud up again.
Last week my Dad had a 1 week vacation . We had a power walk on Monday. We just walked up the hill near by. It took about an hour. It was a great workout. That night, since it was cold, we had " nabe-mono". "Nabe-mono is a Japanese dish. You put meat, vegetables and other kinds of stuff in a broth. The word "nabe" means "pot" or a "earthen ware pot" in Japanese. You put all the ingredients in the pot and heat it up. There are all kinds of nabe-mono. There are sea food nabe, meat nabe, and the sumo wrestlers like the "chanco nabe. It has alot of nutrition for them.
The sun is coming out again. I hope it will clear up tomorrow.
Well, thats all for today. See ya!

Tokyo Special (Part 3)

2006-09-25T14:25:00.000+09:00

Hi!
The weather is nice and the temperature is low. Today I am going to blog about day 2 in Tokyo.

The Lightning Gate
We had a good night's sleep in a fluffy bed; the hotel was great, nice toilets and a plasma TV. We had our breakfast downstairs, and it was almost full already.
It was a rainy day. I thought it would never stop because of the typhoon. But it stopped! There was a place we wanted to go. That place is called the "Lightning Gate","Kaminari mon" in Japanese. You can see my Dad standing below the big red lantern. It was in the morning so it was not too crowded. My Mom bought us delicious sweet bean pastries. There was all kinds of nice looking stuff, like japanese umbrellas and key holders.
Hours past and we headed back to Tokyo Station. We went underground where there are a lot of food shops. It's called "chika gai". Every time we go to Tokyo we stop by there. Well, it was time to go and we got on the bus and saw the famous spots.
So, this is the end of the special series about Tokyo.
The next blog, I am going to blog normally.
That's all for today! See ya!

Tokyo Special (Part 2)

2006-09-21T13:44:00.000+09:00

Hi!
A nice day here in Japan! It was a little cloudy in the morning.
Today is part 2 from the last time's blog.

My Autographed T-shirt.
While the lower class wrestlers were fighting, we went where the wrestlers come in and out, to get pictures and autographs. That day I had on a T-shirt with a picture of me and one of the Russian wrestlers that my father took last time. I wanted to get his autograph on it, so I waited there. Before he came his younger brother came. So I got his autograph on the back of my T-shirt. After that, his apprentice said, looking at the picture, "Hey! That's your brother!". And I waited a little longer and he came! But, it is really hard to get an autograph before their match. So, the first time I couldn't get it because his apprentice said no. But, as he pasted by, he saw the picture on my T-shirt and said, "Oh!". So, after his match was over I went outside and got his autograph on my shirt.
(The picture on the right is his younger brother "Hakurozan" and on the bottom is him, "Rohou")
That's all for today! Next is Day 2 in Tokyo (part 3).
See ya!

Tokyo Special (Part 1)

2006-09-20T14:51:00.000+09:00

Hi Guys!
The weather is beautiful. The typhoon didn't hit us. But, unluckily, it still rained.
For the next few days, I am going to blog about the trip to Tokyo, with some pictures that I took.

Trip To Sumo
The main reason for going to Tokyo was to watch some Sumo. Since it was a weekend there were a lot of people lined up to get their tickets. We had to wait for an hour. When we got in, they were already doing sumo. But, the people playing were the lower class wrestlers. But, even if they are lower class it is interesting to watch. One of bouts was about 3 minutes long. Some were ties and were played one more time!
That's all for today! The next blog is part 2. See ya!

Viva Sumo!

2006-09-15T11:57:00.000+09:00

Hi!
The temperature is falling like a rock. My Dad is not getting much sleep because of that. But, the weather is beautiful. I'm composing this outside. Well, what do you know, it's starting to rain! Not that much.
Sunday to Monday we are going to Tokyo! On Sunday, we are going to "Sumo". And we are going to stay for the night. On Monday we are going to do some sight seeing. But, the problem is, a typhoon might meet us there.
I shouldn't brag about the weather. It's cloudy now!
In the afternoon, we are going to watch some american football. My Dad is happy because of the sports. We have sumo and football and baseball playoffs coming!
That's all for now. I'm going to lunch! I'm hungry!!!!!!
See Ya!

This is Not "Boaring"!

2006-09-06T11:49:00.000+09:00

Hi!
I was wrong about the weather; it's not getting cool! It's 93 at Tokyo! But we can hear the autumn insects. Typhoon #12 is coming but, I don't think it's coming here. The weather is beautiful. We can see the stars clearly. We have a telescope, but it does not work very well.
My Dad's on a diet AGAIN! He says that alot, and it does not last long. He just told me that New Years is the tough part because the food is so good! Well, we started to do "road work" ( running ) in the morning. Last time, I put weights on my wrist! We also play "DDR" (Dance Dance Revolution) on my "Game Cube". It's fun and, very exhausting!
Sometime, when we come back home from our "road work", we go through rice paddies and some vegetable gardens. The people there often give us some very good looking vegetables! And on Monday, my music teacher brought us some wild boar! It was GOOOD- a lot of nice people around Japan! Our workout is not working because of all the food we get! LOL
But, a lot of it is healthy.
That's all for today!

End of Summer Vacation

2006-08-28T15:44:00.000+09:00

Hello out there!
My short summer vacation has ended, and back to school for me!
Some of the leaves are starting to change color, and the hot, hot and hot temperature is gradually getting cool. Yes, Fall is coming! It's almost "sports day" for a lot of schools in Japan. I think I blogged about sports day when I was in elementary school.
Sports day is a event for a lot of schools in Japan.
Most popular is the "ohtama corogashi".
It means "roll the BIG ball" in Japanese. It's a race rolling a big, big ball.
When I was in Hojo elementry school, this sports day made teachers crazy! We had to stay late there for a long time just to do something! And I hated the "kumitaisou", you have to make a pyramid with 8 kids. I was all ways at the bottom! I'm glad I'm in home schooling now!
That's all for today! See ya!

Movie Time!!

2006-08-10T11:26:00.000+09:00

Hi guys!
We had a weak "typhoon" (A storm not as strong as a hurricane) and we had
three of them! But, no problem! One was weak, one was stuck on Taiwan! The one we had was called "Maria". It will clear for a while now. Oh boy.
Last week, we went to the beach to do some beachcombing. It was a nice and hot day, the tide was not dangerous at all. The problem was that there were no shells! And the tide didn't seem to go out. But, we had a good time.
The day after that, we went to see"Pirates of the Caribbean/Dead Man's Chest"! I can't tell you about the story because it will spoil the movie! But one thing I want to say is that it's a great, great, GREAT movie! And you have to see the first movie to enjoy the second one! There is going to be a third "Pirates" too! I can't wait to see it!!
Yesterday, my Dad and I had our own "film festival". We saw "the Matrix Revolutions" and "i,Robot"
"Matrix" is famous for action scenes. Good graphics too! "i,Robot" is based on a story in Chicago year 2035. It's a good movie too!
Well this weekend we are going to watch flamenco. Every year we have a flamenco festival of university students from all over Japan. This is the 5th time we will go there.
It is a beautiful concert. I wish you could see it!

That's all for today! See ya!

Summer is Here!

2006-07-28T10:57:00.000+09:00

Hey, hey, hey!
Summer vacation has started! But, I still have home schooling to do!
Rainy season is finally over. It might rain some more but the hard weather is gone.
It might rain this weekend.
The picture is from my Dad's friend in West Virginia, they are baby geese.
The women here are giving up their umbrellas for sun shade umbrellas called "higasa"
It is geting hot and the A.C. is on most of the time. We can hear the cicada, or as they say "Katydids". My Father can't hear them but, we can!
That's all for today! See ya!
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Sea Day

2006-07-18T14:11:00.000+09:00

Hello world!
The rain just let up and the hot sun is coming out!
We had a three day weekend. Monday was "Sea Day
Why do we have Sea Day? Well, in America the land is
big and some of the people can't see the 'sea'! And some
people get to eat fish occasionally. We eat a lot of fish , here in Japan , like three or four times a week. We love the sea( If it's not so windy)! So, Japan made a day to celebrate the sea. The picture is a fishing boat and the flag means that they caught a lot of fish.
It's geting hot! We got a 95 F last week. I went to Aikido that day ! We don't have any AC at the practice hall! But, today we have a little break (77 F).
That's all for today! See Ya!

Duke's Robots

2006-07-10T14:53:00.000+09:00

Hi!
Long time since the last blog.
We want to cook out but, every weekend the weatherman
says it's going to rain. The bad thing is, it didn't rain a bit! Give us a break!
Remember I was talking about my "Lego Mindstorms". The first time I got that set, I was about 7 years old. The set was for 12 years up. So, I didn't know what was going on! I gave up on it . Then we moved to Japan and brought the set with us. I wanted to restart again. I finally understood it! Then a motor didn't work. I gave up again. Then one day I saw a robot show and there was the "Lego Mindstorms" robot running around. Then again I wanted to play with it. So I ordered a motor, and it arrived. We tested the motor but, the motor went backwords! Give me a break! We send it back and finally got a new one that does work! HOORAY, HOORAY! Above is a picture of the robot.
That's all for today!

Crow Wars 4

2006-06-26T12:59:00.000+09:00

Hi everyone!
It's raining, but not cold.
I'm waiting for a delivery. I ordered a motor for my "Lego Mindstorms".
Lego Mindstorms is a kit that you can make your oun robot and program it.
I had two motors working but when I wanted to play with it, one of the motors
was jammed and didn't work. So I'm waiting, and waiting.
Tokyo is still invaded by crows. But, a force to fight down the crows has
arrived. They are "BEES"! Yesterday we saw a animal show on television.
They are makeing honey in central Tokyo. A few days later, a lot of the crows disappeared!
Why? Bees attack any thing that is black. So they attack the black crows!
I can hear the crows complaining now.
Well that's all for today! Don't wear anything black! see ya!

Japan's loss!

2006-06-15T12:24:00.000+09:00

Hi! The weather is sunny and a little warmer than yesterday.
Last night's World Cup's (Japan vs. Australia) result was too bad.
They were winning for first half of the game. Then in the second half, Australia got a goal.
Tying up is no problem but, 1 minute after they got another goal, and another one!
Gee! Oh well. Japan's next opponent is Croatia! I hope thay can win this time.
We got a new bbq and smoker set! It's getting warmer so we want to eat outside.
A LOT! But, here we have "A LOT" of wind! Food flying all over the place!
After home school, my Dad and I always play my new flying game "Star Wars " (I can't
spell the rest!). We get really excited playing it.
I'M GOING TO CRASH! BOOM! CABOOM! SMACK!
Well that's all for today! See Ya!

World Cup Started!

2006-06-12T17:49:00.000+09:00

Hello! The weather is fine but, a little cool.
The guitar performance was a great success, my Dad said.
I think the same way too!
My neck is getting better. I need to move to get better.
I'm back in home school now. I have another test tomorrow,
spelling and Arabic. Spelling is OK but the Arabic is , Uhuu!
But, I'm learning little by little my Dad says. It's tough but, when
I get it, it's fun!
Tonight is a big night! (morning in America.)
World cup Japan vs. Australia!
We slept in the afternoon so I get to see it. It's on at 10 pm here.
Most games are on at 2 am! Australia has a lot of tall athletes so I'm nervous.
Well that's all for today! See you!

Guitar Performance!

2006-06-11T10:54:00.000+09:00

Hi! It's raining but, it looks like it's going to stop.
Well, today I had an Arabic writing test and I had 98%! Good score.
I think tests are bad for your heart!
I also made an Arabic movie with my Legos.
I'm still working on it so I'm excited about finishing it.
Tomorow I have a guitar performance. I'm going to do a solo, and a duet with my teacher.
My legs are shaking just typing this. But I'm going to be O.K.
I remember the time that I did a performance at school.
I have had a neck strain for 4 days. I still feel some pain now. But, I'm getting better!!
That's all! See you!

Morning Haiku

2006-05-31T11:06:00.000+09:00

Hi! It's a beautiful day. We ate breakfast outside and we composed "haiku"
because it was so beautiful.
My Dad's haiku is;
　　　　　　　　夏の朝
　　　　　　　　　　　ごはんを食べて
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　とんび鳴く　　

A summer morning
while eating breakfast
seahawks song.

My haiku is;

　　　　　　　　　朝の空
　　　　　　　　　　　かすかに見える
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　飛ぶとんび

　　The morning sky
　　you can barely see
　　the seahawks fly.

I hope you have a beautiful day too,
　　　try to write a haiku！

Outside is Great!

2006-05-26T15:07:00.000+09:00

Hi and "T.G.I.F."!
Yes, it's Friday in Japan. We are having some good weather too.
Did you recognize on the last blog that I made a bilingual blog? The Japanese
was for the people that gave me the "tatejiku" - hanging scroll. I might write another Japanese
blog for my friends!
The weather cleared up so we started to do a class outside. It's a bit windy, but
It was better than inside! We eat outside too. I can't wait until SUMMER!!!!!
Well that's all for today. See you at Monday!

Japanese poetry 日本の短歌（日本語つき）

2006-05-22T12:42:00.000+09:00

Hi readers!
We have a sunny day today! Yahoooooooooo!
Today's news is about Japanese poetry.
When I was in the 6th grade, we had a Japanese poetry
contest for all kids in Japan. It was homework for the winter break.
So, I just made an easy poem;
"My father, even though he is American,
the things he likes
are Japanese.
Martial arts and food"
and submitted it.
Then a few weeks past and I forgot all about the contest. Then I was sent a message by one
of the teachers. I went in the teachers room and I handed him the message.
Then another teacher said that I won 4th place in the contest! I could not
believe it. I got a prize for it (not money!!). Yesterday I got a "tatejiku",
a Japanese way hanging a poem, written it beautiful calligraphy.
I was very surprised to get it from Mrs Hoshino and the Shikinami no kai;
the organization that sponsors the contest each year.
You can see it in the picture to the right.
I hope to write more poetry in the future.
Well that's all !

日本語
「マイファーザー　アメリカ人　でも　好きなもの　日本の武道　日本の食事」
という短歌を「しきなみ子供短歌　コンテスト」にだして４位をとりました。
昨日、ほしのさんから、たてじくをもらいました。すごくうれしかたです。
これからも、短歌を書きたいです。ほんとに、ありがとうございました。
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Crow Wars 3

2006-05-19T14:30:00.000+09:00

Hi guys! It was raining AGAIN until lunch time. Actually, now I can see the sun! HOORAY!
But if I look at my weather wigit on "Google Desktop" it will rain AGAIN tomorow.
My Mom and Dad are getting crazy. Actually I am too. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!
Well, I will stop goofing and go on with the blog.
Remember when I blogged about the crows? I don't know, but I think they are trying to conquer
Japan! I saw on the news that the population of crows, in Japan, is going to be bigger than the
population of people! Talk about OH, NO!!!! What should we do?!Oh well.
Yesterday I had Tai Chi and it was FUN! I also make silly movies that plays on Windows movie player!
Well, that's all for today! Watch out for the crows!

Mars is Cool!

2006-05-18T14:21:00.000+09:00

Hi everyone! It's still raining, and for the next few days too! I wish it would stop soon.
Today I studied about Mars. It has 2 moons Phobos and Deimos. They say that they
are asteroids that have been captured by the Martian gravity. In 50,000 years Phobos
will crash into Mars. We don't care! Phobos means "fear" and Demios means "panic"
in Greek.
There is a mountain, volcano actually, called "Olympus Mons". It is 88,000 feet (27,000 meters)high!
It is the biggest mountain in the solar system! Also there is a canyon so long it can go from California to New York!
Thats all! See Ya!

Tai Chi is Great!

2006-05-17T14:18:00.000+09:00

Hello! The weather is little better than yesterday, and it got
a little warmer too. But a tropical storm is coming this way!
But do not worry, it's not like a hurricane.
Today I'd like to talk about "Tai Chi". Tai Chi is a Chinese
martial art, but it is very slow and good for all ages.
I started three weeks ago. It is very strange because
when you move, you can feel something in your hand.
That is "Ki"! I also study Aikido. It also has Ki. That's
why I'm studying Tai Chi. I hope I get good at it.
People in China do it until they are very old!
That's all for today! See Ya!

Home School Started!

2006-05-16T14:19:00.000+09:00

Hi! This is my 1st blog since I started home schooling.
I study Japanese, Arabic, English, math and much more!
My favorite is computer programming. It's hard, but when
you get to know how it works you can make games and
little programs.
Today in Japan the weather is cloudy and it has been raining
almost every day, but yesterday was fine. It's not getting warm
either.
I went to the Prado museum exhibition in Tokyo. A lot of good
art and a lot of people! Well, we got to see the art with no trouble
so we had a good time.
That's all for today!

HOORAY!!

2006-03-21T16:42:00.000+09:00

Hooray!! Japan won the world series of baseball!!
I don't watch baseball alot, but this game was goood!
Hi! I finally graduated from Hojo elementary!
You can see on top, there is a picture of my diploma.
On my next blog I'd like to put some more pictures from my graduation.
In America it's not even close to graduation season.
But in Japan we have graduation in March.
We have a break for about 2 weeks. Then, back to (home)school again!
That's all for today. See Ya!

ROBOTS!!

2006-03-12T16:04:00.000+09:00

Hey!! It is gray Sunday in Japan. My Dad is watching Sumo, and Mom is cooking pasta!!
She is a really good cook!
Today I'd like to talk about robots!
I love robots! You can see that I have one too!
Robots in Japan are really cool. One time we went to a robot fair, and I saw robot guards that
were runing in the fair, robots just like a real human and "Karakuri", Japanese for contraption.
Thay are selling them too. I am looking forward to the future.
That's all for today, and I like getting comments for my blog so I can get some ideas for my next
blog. See Ya!!

Graduation Time!

2006-03-11T17:01:00.000+09:00

Hi! It's a nice day in Japan, and I had a 24 hrs virus.
First we though it was the flu. My temperature was up to 102.
I had a good nap for 13 hrs and I feel much better now.
Today I am going to talk about graduation in my school.
I am going to graduate to junior high school in a week.
My school "Hojo elemetary" is crazy about graduation.
Now we are doing practice for it ALL DAY! For 2 weeks!!
Why? No idea!!!
Stand up, bow sit down, time, after time, after time!!
Maybe that's why I had a virus! Well it's one more week until graduation, and I hope I can blog often after that.

The Fog

2006-02-19T17:54:00.000+09:00

Hello out there! Long time since I bloged last time.
Today is a cold, cloudy and Sunday in Japan, and like any Sunday you got to go back
to work, go back to school the next day. I wished for a long day, but the next thing you know
it is 5:00 pm!
Anyway I'm going to talk about horror movies.
I don't watch alot of horror movies so it's hard to talk about them but I saw "THE FOG".
Really scary! But I noticed some thing about the movies, 1st you know something's up
on this scene, and 2nd thought you think there is nothing, and next "BOOM!'' something
come's out.
But it was a great movie!
Well that's all for today.

School Days 2 (The pool)

2006-01-22T17:11:00.000+09:00

Really cold and a good day in Japan; it snowed really hard yesterday in Tokyo!
Today I will talk about my school again (Part 2).
Well, at last, I can chatter in japanese and, of course I made a lot of friends!
It was summer that time so we had pool but, I lived in America and, like a lot of countries, didn't have a pool.
I was thinking that swiming was a piece of cake. But no!! I could not even float that time!
But now I can swim (a little).

Roadtrip!!!!!!

2006-01-14T16:23:00.000+09:00

It has been a while since I blogged. We started school again so I think I can't blog unless it is a weekend.
Anyway, it is a nasty day in Japan and I just heard thunder too.
Tomorrow we are going to Tokyo to see sumo!!!
I am really excited, and I love bus trips!
Sumo is japanese wrestling. In the Edo period ( I am not sure) if you were late to wrestle, or did something stupid you would get your throat cut!
Uuuu~. Well of course, now they do not do that any more. But, the referee still carries a knife.
Above is a picture of me with Roho, a Russian sumo star, taken last year.
****************************************
I finally got my Ipod! When I get used to it I am thinking of starting a podcast. So please be waiting for my podcast!

My First Day in School

2006-01-07T15:27:00.000+09:00

Today in the morning there was snow on the ground, but first I thought I was dreaming!
Today's story is about my friends and school.This is my school in the picture.(sports day).
My 1st day of school in Japan I did not know anything about the school rules, and I only knew "Hello","Thank you" and easy words that do not work in conversation.
(me)"PANIC, PANIC, PANIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Well, I'm finally in the class room and my teacher was talking about something that I never heard before.
(Teacher), "@^#^#%&#^@$!!~$(^$^)*&^&"
(me), "EE?"
Then I was puting my backpack in my locker and suddenly the students ran to me and tried to say something all at once.
I almost could not breath!! Well, anyway we were studying math and arts, and then "kanji"(Chinese style characters). (I hate kanji!!)
Thay have 2001 kinds of kanji!! How can you learn that much !!!!!!
Well, my school adventure has begun and I will write more about it tomorrow.

Crow Wars II

2006-01-06T13:17:00.000+09:00

Today is a strange day again and is cold, cold, cold!!!!!!!!!!!
This a sequel of yesterday's story.
I saw this in a japanese newspaper, that someone saw a crow puting a "nut" on the road and waiting for a few seconds,
then a car runs over the nut and opens it, and the crow got the nut and flu away.
So you can see that the smarty crow used the car as a nut cracker.
There is one more story that I experienced.
We were going on a trip to Tokyo, and we had to change trains.
It was boring waiting so I was watching a crow on the train, and the train started to move so the crow moved away.
Then one more train came, and the crow got up on the train again, then again.
I thought there was some thing strange about the crow, then I saw again that the crow was eating something!
So this crow was using the train as a free lunch buffet! Dad and I called the crow "Action Star", because it was living dangerously.
Well is the weekend again, and 4 more days until school starts, it will be good to see my friends again.

Crow Wars

2006-01-05T10:42:00.000+09:00

Today when I got up, I heard crows squawking outside so I thought It was going to be a nice day, but nooo!
It's cloudy and snowing, but the snow will not stick.I love snow, but if it doesn't stick it's boring!!!!
Oh! It's starting to stick!
Well the story today is about japanese crows. Some of the crows act like parakeets.
One crow cawed, "OHAYOU!!"(good morning in japanese), and another crow was disgusting!
They are big and you can get really close to them. In Tokyo you can not get close to the garbage bins because you will get hit by them.
They are everywere! 20,000 crows fly in to Tokyo every day and fly out at night. It looks like an air force coming in.
Well, that's all for today, and thank you to "Links" in Malaysia for posting a comment on yesterdays blog.
My Dad has had a blog for 2 years and never got a comment.
My Mom has a blog of japanese flower arrangement so go take a look. I have put a link to the right.
If the snow sticks I will post a picture.

The View From our House

2006-01-04T16:11:00.000+09:00

This is a story when we start living in Japan.
One day my Dad and I went for a little hike over the hill behind our house.
It was a piece of cake (kind of),but when we were going back to the house,I saw this huge mountain over the ocean.
(me)>"Dad is that Mt.Fuji!?"
(Dad)>"No,its to far...ee!? Son, that might be it!"
You can see for yourself! The picture above shows Mt.Fuji in the distance, in front, on the hill top, is Tateyama castle.
After we saw Japan's most famous mountain we showed Mom.
She couldent believe it too!
I can see it all day if it's a clear day.
That's all for today.

Nice Day at Japan!

2006-01-03T11:55:00.000+09:00

It is a beautiful day in Japan.It's a little(very!) windy outside.
I saw that West Virginia had a mine accident.God bless all 13 workers.
Today is a such a nice day my friend is coming over to my house.That is one reason that I'm happy.
One more thing that I am geting a Ipod nano, so I can start my podcast!!
God bless the workers again,and we wish them a safe return.

Hi! My Name is Duke!

2006-01-02T14:39:00.000+09:00

Hi my name is Duke. I will write about my days and I might even start a "podcast" so you can email me, listen to music and me talking and lots more.
My hobby is playing with "Legos",and I can play the guitar.I am doing "Aikido".It is a Japanese martial art.By the way, I live in Japan.I was born here 12 years ago but I lived in America for 3 years and started school there. My father teaches English and my mother is a great cook!
Thats all for today until I get used to Blogger.