ow be yon

Long time no see !

2008-07-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

I had been skipping this blog even thought I have been in England for 3 weeks. This is because I am just lazy. To be honest I feel troublesome to white the blog because I have to think what I tell in English and let my husbund to check the spelling and the grammer.
So I have decided that I will publish this before I let him to check . Please let me know if you notice something wrong.

Pants the adventurer part 3

2008-04-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

I saw my hamster once while he was missing. It was when I went to the toilet during the night. But I couldn't catch him because he was standing by the hole and I expected that he would go back into the hole again if I moved. I had no choice but to watch him quietly.
My husbund and I were relieved a little that Pants was still alive.
After he had been gone for 5 days, I felt something hit my foot when I was having breakfast. It was Pants. I cornered him quickly and caught him!! I am happy with him again.

Pants the adventurer part 2

2008-04-11T06:17:00.000-07:00

My husband bought a rat trap and set it with a small piece of cucumber which is one of Pants' favorite foods. The next morning, the door of the trap was shut but he wasn't there, although the bait was gone. We considered how to catch him and my husband had a good idea that was putting the tubular part of his cage under the floor with baits and hope he goes back in the cage. We tried to do it this way for couple of days but he didn't come back home even though the bait was gone.

Pants the adventurer part 1

2008-04-02T06:45:00.000-07:00

He had been missing for 5 days, but I and my husband knew where he was. He lived under the floor for a while. The reason why this had happened was that I released him on to the sofa and he escaped from my hands when I tried to return him to the cage. There is a big hole which goes under the floor in the room. Hamsters love the coners in rooms. Unluckily the hole was by the corner. I tried to catch him many times but it's too late, he had already gone into the hole. Oh My God !!!

Pants the Hamstar

2008-03-19T05:45:00.001-07:00

I have got a new member of my family called "Pants". He is still a young boy but not a baby, so he hasn't stopped growing yet. He is so sweet. But unfortunately we haven't handled him yet because he hasn't got used to the new life with us.
When I got up this morning, he was making his bed in his toilet!! then I tried to catch him and lead him to his bedroom, but he made no disguise of his fear of me. I had no choice but to let him go as he likes. I hope he will soon get on with us.

Swanage Blues Festival 2008

2008-03-14T07:26:00.000-07:00

Anyway, it was very busy whenever we went into the pubs, because lots of people were in Swanage to listen to the music and also the bands were semi-professional. I wished that I could request my favorite music from them. I would be happier. I love cider although I am a slow drinker. My husband and his friend drink much faster than me but I can't keep up. I would vomit it if I drink faster, so I must drink in my own time.
This is my favorite pub in Swanage. The inside of the pub is made of stone and wood. The lighting gave a good atomosphere which meant warmth of feelings to me. I think that I could get on with learning English here even if I was drinking cider.
So we have been to the 7 pubs while we were there. Parsonally, I am more impressed with the pubs than the Blues Festival.

Swanage Blues Festival 2008 No1

2008-03-11T05:33:00.000-07:00

It was the second time I have visited Swanage Blues festival. I think that It should instead be called visiting pubs in Swanage Festival 2008. This festival is as happy as can be for people who love music because all the bands play in the Pubs in Swanage. I am not particular about blues music, but any music is ok if I can dance to it and drink cider!! That's why I went there shamelessly.

The happiest day ever

2008-03-06T06:25:00.000-08:00

I got married on the 3rd of March which is a special day for girls in Japan. I had never ever thought that I would get married to an Englishman. My feelings haven't changed at all compared to before the marriage so it hasn't sunk in yet that I am married.
I just thought about 4 years ago that I wanted to be able to speak English and started learning in SriLanka. If I thought that I would get married to an Englishman to myself at that time, I would have been surprised.
Every dog has his day, as the saying goes. I am not sure whether this phrase is the right expression of my life, although I feel it is so. Nobody knows what is in the future, that's why life is pleasent.

An interview No.2

2008-02-28T02:46:00.000-08:00

The market research interview of contained sections on food safety, learning to progress myself, charities and questions about myself. He spoke to me slowly and sometimes explained the words and phrases I couldn't understand with easier words. In the end, it took an hour to complete!! Maybe this was because of my poor English and also I felt very cold because we had been doing it out in the porch. however, my positive thinking was still working! So I thought that I would get something as a reward but I didn't... If this was Japan, I would have got a voucher of 1000yen value.

An interview No.1

2008-02-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

When a stranger knocked on the door, I expected that the man had come to buy my jewellery or to deliver parcels from Japan, such was my positive thinking. But it didn't happen, he was a market research interviewer. According to him, it would only take 30 minutes and the questions were easy to ansawer. I refused him once, but he didn't give up trying to persuade me even though I
told him that I am not good at English. In the end I accepted.

A bulb in the kitchen part 2

2008-02-20T02:55:00.000-08:00

This Monday evening, my boyfriend was unexpectedly trying to change the light bulb as soon as he came home. I made him to stop doing it because I wanted him to read my blog which I wrote during the day. I wanted him to check my English before I posted it, so that my hard work writing it wouldn't be in vain.
He corrected the English in my blog - grumbling as usual! After that he fixed the light. Well done, Horsey!!! and Thank you.

A bulb in the kitchen

2008-02-18T03:41:00.000-08:00

the kitchen light has been gone for about a week, so it still doesn't work even though my boyfriend said that he would change the bulb at the weekend. The weekend has already gone!!
By the way, how I've been cooking and washing up in the kitchen without lights is that I've been bringing my desk lamp from upstairs when I do it, but as you know, it's not bright enough so it's an inconvenience for me. I have no choice but to manage with my desk lamp.
Even if I show this blog to him, it is doubtful whether he will fix it.

Long time no see !

2008-02-14T07:34:00.000-08:00

I arrived at England last Thursday night so I' ve been here for a week but didn't start writing this blog again even though have done it for my Japanese one. This is because I incredibly felt sleepy and had been sleeping a couple of day since I arrived. I didn't even write my Japanese blog for a while. Now I am back to normal lifes in England. So I will try to keep writing this as much as possible again!!

Going back to Japan

2007-12-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

I am going to stop writing this blog for a while because I am going back to Japan. So I will start this again when I come back to England. Thanks

My adherence for learning English part3

2007-12-20T03:50:00.000-08:00

I started going abroad with my friend after I stopped the English classes because I hated learning English. I met a Japanese man who was working for a travel agency for Japanese tourists when I went to Australia. He came there with a working-holiday visa to be able to work and was also going to English school as well. Broadly speaking, the benefit is living in the country and mastering speaking English naturally. I still remember what he said that the best way of learning English is living abroad. I could not forget it. Then I was aware that going to English schools weren't suitable for me, staying abroad and learning it is good for me. But I couldn't do it then even though I thought that I wish I could speak English whenever I went abroad.

My adherence for learning English part 2

2007-12-18T03:10:00.000-08:00

I couldn't deny my urge to speak English after I left school. So I went to English speaking classes twice a week after I finished my work, but it was nigthmare because the class level was higher than my level, so I could not follow the lessons and there were 7 or 8 students for the teacher to manage. I didn't like it much. Normally there were less students per class, and you needed to find a class at the right level. There was a cabin attendant in my class, it seemed at the time that she spoke English fluently, but now I'm not so sure. Of course, I didn't have an oppotunity to speak with her and I didn't understand what the teacher said. So, I was getting hateful of English. I hated the class rather than English. I stopped the class after 6 months and spent lots of money in vain.

My adherence for learning English part 1

2007-12-16T10:47:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I was fascinated with English. As I wrote last time, my school record of English was not good because I couldn't follow the system of teaching English. I could manage to remember English words but couldn't make English sentences because we didn't learn it, also we didn't learn speaking in Japan. We only read textbooks after the teacher read it and the teacher interpreted the meaning and explained the English grammar. It is open to question whether the teachers really understood the meanings and whether they could speak English well. However, I had been thinking that I would be able to speak English for a long time, even though my results were not good.

Idiot me again!!

2007-12-14T01:47:00.000-08:00

I estimated how many more Asia Miles points I need to gain a free return air ticket to Japan. I need another 7940 poinds and I am going to get 7823 points the end of this year. Bloody hell!!! I thought that I would gain the free ticket when I go back to Japan this time. Also I lose 562 points at the end of October because they will be over the term limit. I could have kept them if I paid extra. What a shame!! I regret that I didn't estimate it properly. It was very silly of me not to think about it. Anyway, it's no use crying over spilt milk!!!

My worries

2007-12-13T02:01:00.000-08:00

It's that I don't feel that my English has improved. I feel that it is the same as last year. In particular, I feel that my listening abilities hasn't improved. Did it stop, perhaps? I want to believe it 's not true!! Certainly, I've started learning English again after I was over 30 years old, I didn't like it when I was a student the first time. I know that this ability is invisible and success is hard to measure. Also I understand that my present English is much better than when I was in Sri Lanka. The longer I continue learning, I know the better my skills will be.

Idiot me

2007-12-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

I am going back to Japan on the 29th via Hong Kong so am staying in Hong Kong on the 30th because I like to buy beads and eat mango pudding there. Whenever I go abroad by the Cathay Pacific airline, I always stay in Hong Kong for a night, so it's like a holiday for me. I love Hong Kong!! But, I've noticed that I am staying in Hong Kong on Sunday. So it's possible that the bead shops won't be open, becase they are not really tourist shops. I only thought about the day I would arrive in Japan without thinking about Hong Kong when I booked my flight.
How stupid I am!!!

My disappointment

2007-12-09T10:00:00.001-08:00

I gave my jewellery that I made to an art shop to display and sell about 2 months ago. The shop is very effective because they display free of charge with no time limit as well. But my jewellery still hadn't been displayed when I visited there last time which was already over 3 weeks since I gave them. The member of staff excuse was that they had been busy. So I made price tags and put them on the jewellery with my boyfriend. So we prepared them to get ready to display soon and gave them to the shop again. I expectantly went to the shop to see my jewellery which should be in show cases. But my expectation was wrong!! I am very very disappointed with the shop but I can not complain to them because I want them to display and sell my jewellery and the shop is very effective if they do it.

My travel history

2007-12-06T02:26:00.000-08:00

I need to document my travel history during the past decade to apply for my visa. I wrote it out last night and it took an hour because I have travelled over 30 times including stop overs and 9 different countries, in particular I visited HongKong 10 times. Also I had to write the reasons, the periods, the destinations. It may be useful for the Embassy to refer to travel histories, but I am doubtful why they need this information.

Speaking on a phone

2007-12-04T01:58:00.000-08:00

It's my weak point - speaking English. I had to phone about changing my airticket to the airline company. But not just change it, I wanted to know whether I can stop over in Hong Kong as I had originally intended to go straight back to Japan. I phoned the company with a nervous feeling. What matters to me is whether I can understand their English. But, the person who answerd was a HongKong Chinese. His English was very clear but he wasn't sure about my request and he said that he would conform it with the Tokyo office. The next day, I phoned them again without feeling nervous and the person was an English lady against my expection!! But I understood her English clearly because my matter had already been worked out. So I am able to stay in HongKong. Yippee!!

My beads

2007-12-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

I've got lots of beads and jewellery making stuff. I have been feeling that I should tidy them up for a long time. I did it today but I gave it up after only an hour because I wasn't sure how to organise them. I am not good at tidying up, but curiously enough, I know where everything is. So the reason why I stopped tidying up was that they have already been tidied up in my mind. I adore beads put in small bottles and clear cases beautifuly like we see it in bead magazines. However, I prefer to buying more beads rather than buying the cases to put the beads in.

Intuitions

2007-11-30T06:41:00.000-08:00

Do you trust your intuitions? Why are they fulfilled? What is an intuition? Where does it come from? It's mysterious!! However, it doesn't work when I buy lottery tickets!!! I wish it could work then. I seldom feel an intuition but I felt it recently. It's still a secret though.

a pretty cottage

2007-11-29T06:30:00.000-08:00

This is the cottage next to my ex-work place.
I felt how pretty this is!! when I saw it for the first time because it was summer so there were plenty of flowers. It looks like the houses in picture books. The cottage is not the only pretty one, the other houses are also pretty. I would feel that it is pretty, even if the flowers were planted simply, because I think that houses made of stone in England look good with any flowers. Also I feel there is no point in the Japanese wishing to make an English garden, because Japanese houses look very different.

Curry

2007-11-27T06:42:00.000-08:00

My boyfriend cooked curry last week. It was absolutely wonderful!! The recipe is much different from a Japanese one, he used many kinds of spices. I used to eat curry in Sri Lanka but have never eaten real Indian curry. Curry is typical of Indian and Sri Lankan meals. I like Sri Lankan curry as well but it is sometimes too spicy for me. Compared to Sri Lankan curry, curry in England is thicker and not too spicy. I think it is between Sri Lankan curry and Japanese curry. Sometimes I prefer an English curry. By the way, my boyfriend thinks Japanese curry is similar to Chinese curry because it is similar in texture and spiciness.

A party

2007-11-25T13:50:00.000-08:00

I had a party last week with my Japanese friends who used to be my co-workers. I like parties, especially with Japanese people because as you know I can speak in Japanese. An environment where I am able to talk in Japanese is important in England. I used to feel that not being able to speak in Japanese was stressful. But also this would make me speak in English more and help me improve my English. Nowadays I appreciate the Japanese friendship. But, unfortunately my friend will leave for Japan after two months!! I will miss her.

English blogs

2007-11-21T07:11:00.000-08:00

I saw a Japanese website that lets you write your blog in English on the Internet. The purpose is to
make progress in English and also it says that anyone can write a blog in English easily. It takes less than an hour and it will even help with grammar and spelling, but you must pay!. When I read it I thought that's rubbish what you are talking about! Personally, I doubt whether it's possible to improve one's English easily. Certainly, writing a diary every day helped me improve my English but it is not as easy as we expect. Even this blog is hard for me...

A big problem

2007-11-20T06:41:00.000-08:00

The problem is that I have to get a visa to come back to England again. It's not necessary to get a visa but if I visit England many times as a tourist, it will be getting hard to get a visa in the end. That's Britain!! I've been searching about sorts of marriage visas and how to get them but it has made me fed up because it is all very complicated and I need lots of documents about me and my boyfriend and possibly an interview as well. If I do all things, I don't know whether I will get it and how long it takes. As it is of anything, starting new things are hard. Anyway I must overcome it otherwise there will not be an opportunity to vist England again.

Sashimi !!!

2007-11-13T02:14:00.000-08:00

This is sashimi which is slices of raw fish. Some people might feel that it is disgusting but it's absolutely yummy!!! for me and my boyfriend. My boyfriend had never ever eaten it until he met me but he wanted to try it when he went to Japan with me. We can buy raw fish in England but they often don't look fresh enough and it makes us lose our appetite. All that matters is that they should be fresh. My boyfriend sarched for good fish shops on the Internet and found one in Bristol. Raw tuna was ￡12 per 1 kg and squid was ￡2 each. It's not bad. They ware definitely fresh enough. Of course, our tummies were satisfied!!!

Scarey cows

2007-11-11T10:09:00.000-08:00

I had a scary experience when the cows rushed at me today. When I went to the footpath with my boyfriend, we saw the cows were staying on top of the hill as usual. I have a friendly feeling for the cows because I can see them from my house. I clapped to see whether they noticed me or not. Some cows mooed and they started running suddenly. I didn't notice that all the cows were running to me at first because I've got bad eyesight. I thought I would die when I noticed that they were rushing us. But they stopped a couple of meters in front of the fence and stared at us. I tried to escape from them but my boyfriend was saying "Hello" to them. I realized that we were safe and took a photo of the gathering cows.

How to eat biscuits

2007-11-09T06:12:00.000-08:00

What surprised me when I first came to England was that the English dunk their biscuits in coffee or tea. I've seen it in Sri Lanka as well but I didn't take much interest at that time. I have tried to do it in England and now feel that it is three times better than just having biscuits on their own. I've been doing it ever since! I think that customs vary from place to place and if I keep doing it, eventually I will be a fat piggy!!!

My dictionary

2007-11-07T06:36:00.000-08:00

It's broken... I had an electoric dictionary which translated English to Japanese and Japanese to English. It was very useful when I read papers, magazines or my boyfriend said some words I don't know and it could even write letters in Japanese. I like to read papers or write letters in a cafe because I feel that I get on with it better than at home. I have a book dictionary as well. Now I have no choice but to use it. I just remember my youth. There were no electoric dictionaries then. But I've already got used to using it so it's not easy to go back to how it was before. I hope to get used to my old dictionary again soon.

Under 21 years old ?

2007-11-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

I went to Tesco with my friend today who is a Japanese. I bought cider there . My friend was going to buy a bottle of wine but she couldn't do it because she looks under 21. She asked me to help but I could only say that she was definitely over 21. Of course, I can not prove her age even if I insist that she is over 21 years old. She had no choice but to leave there without buying it. On the other hand, my checker asked me whether I've got ID when I bought my cider. I thought that she was joking, so I responded that I was not young with my smile and she said that I wasn't old was I. I bought cider without a problem but my friend could not even though she took an hour to walk from her place. What a pity!!

A craft fair

2007-11-04T10:49:00.001-08:00

I attempted to sell the jewellery that I make at a local craft fair today on my own. I really wanted my boyfriend to stay with me because I felt uneasy because of my poor English, but unfortunatelly he couldn't stay there because he had things to do. I managed to serve and have a chat with the visiters. My sales were much better than the car boot sale I did last time, I even made three friends there. One of them is a couple who were selling gorgeous hand made dresses, the other one is an English lady who can speak Japanese fluently, and the last one is a Thai lady who lives in the next town to me with her English husband. I feel that I gained more precious things than making money. Anyway I had a very good day.

After a Halloween party

2007-11-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

I was dancing on my own at home like mad and went to bed worn out without having a bath which is unusual for me. Next morning, I was going to Tesco with my friend but I felt dull and didn't have an appetite. So I definately had a hang over. I was able to go toTesco but I would rather not go there. I was pleased when I recieved text from my friend that she also had a hang over and couldn't go anwhere. Then I went straight back to bed with my smile. I was just a drunken bum!.

A hard training

2007-10-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

My pronunciations of WOULD and WOODS are a nightmare. I have been practising them with my boyfriend. Of course, he was like a teacher. In the pronounciation of the word "would", we decided that I could sometimes say "I'd". The other word "woods" was still deifficult for me. I tried to follow the mouthing like my boyfriend showed me, but it still sounds wrong. I could not help bursting into laughter because his appearance was like an ostrich when he pronunced 'wo' many times. My lesson finished because I couldn't stop laughing.

Marriage

2007-10-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

My friend in Japan got married today. I only knew about it at the begining of this month because we couldn't keep in touch for a while. She tried to contact me about her wedding but I was away from Japan, I also tried to send e-mails to her but her address had changed. I looked for a post card from her when I went back home to Japan because I thought her home address should be there. I found it as I expected although I hadn't enough time to write a letter to her in Japan so I posted it from England.
What surprises me is that she got married to a man who I introduced to her 12 years ago. They have not been togather for 12 years, they started seeing each other again at the begining of this year. I've been feeling so sorry that I couldn't go to the wedding. Cogratulations!! from England.

Love music

2007-10-26T06:25:00.000-07:00

I like Friday nights even though I don't work because especialy hard. I love listening to the radio which is playing dance music. I often dance with my boyfriend at home like an idiot. The reasons why I came to England are because I want to improve my English and love music and clubbing. Clubbing is not popular with Japanese and also it's difficult to find mates to go to a club with. But in England, young and old of both sexes go clubbing. I think it's one of the merits of the English.

Pronounciation

2007-10-24T07:14:00.000-07:00

It's quite difficult to pronounce the words would and wood for me. everyone says "pardon?" whenever I say the words would or wood. When someone doesn't understand would or wood even though I said it many times, in the end I say the spelling. Especially my pronounce of wood seems very funny for English people, everyone bursts into laughter when I say"wood". No matter how long it takes, I would like to be able to proper pronounce "wood" like English people.

Post cards

2007-10-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

I recieved two post cards today unexpectedly. One card came from my mother who is living in Japan. The other one is from my cousin who is living in Canada. I have been writing letters to my cousin for more than 20 years. E-mails are much commoner than letters nowadays, although my cousin and I don't know each others e-mail address and my mother sends post cards because she can't use a computer. Anyway, getting letters is one of my pleasures.

Woods

2007-10-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

A friend of my boyfrend brought a load of wood to burn in the fireplace even though we haven't got a stove yet. He explained there are four sort of woods to me but I knew only pine tree. If I was explained it in Japanese, I would understand what kinds of wood there are. However, recognising kinds of English trees, plants and animals are still hard for me. Anyway there is no doubt that a house made of stone will be able to keep warm longer than Japanese houses when we use the fireplace.

Frozen feet

2007-10-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

My feet are extremely cold!! I can't sleep with cold feet so I wear socks and slippers to keep my feet warm after I've had a bath. I like to ski but my toes get sore because of the cold temperature. I feel that my toes are freezing and will be getting frostbite whenever I ski and I warm them in front of a stove when I have a break. There is no point in insisting that I want to ski here because it doesn't snow much in England and there are no places to ski unless you go to Scotland.

Frozen cows

2007-10-18T03:56:00.000-07:00

What surprises me is that it was chilly and frosty this morning even though it"s still the middle of October.Yes, it's still autumn!! The weather man said that the low temperature would be 2 degrees around Bath. He was exactly right!! I want to be having a hot spring bath while viewing the scenery when it's so cold. There are some cows by my house and I am wondering whether they are chilly becuse they haven't got a house or woolly coats.

My hobbies

2007-10-16T03:01:00.000-07:00

I have been making jewelery with beads for 6 years. I have lots of beads which I brought with me from Japan. So I have been beading without learning English!! I wish I could have more motivation to learn English like I have for beading...

Nice to meet you!

2007-10-15T05:37:00.001-07:00

Hello, I am a Japanese who is living in near Bath with my boyfriend.
I have been worried that I haven't been learning English since I came here at the end of August even thought I am not good at English, so I determined to write my blog in English and will discribe my opinions about Enldand and Japan e.t.c.
I hope to keep to this as much as possible.