...And the celebrations continued....

I feel very fortunate that my former students made the time to come see me, write or call on the 15, 16 and 17. I'm also very fortunate to be in okay health and to be greeted by so many different people here in Japan and around the world. Thank you, everyone! 

Dinner at Yutaka two consecutive days....

Even Minnie joined us!

Kashiwa-kun: thanks for the special pasta!

My orchids started blooming at home!

Hitomi and Yuka visited on Friday. Thanks for the gifts!

Isn't that cute? I don't think I can eat it!

Thanks, Miyuki, for the tea and for the great soap.

Look at this beautiful card made by Dale & his wife.

Flowers from the English teachers. What a treat!

Flowers from Narimatsu-sensei's garden.

Happy Birthday

Thanks, Chiho, for remembering.

Brooks Brothers--thanks, Daiki!

Te-chan: thanks for the cute card and superb wine!

Miyazawa-sensei: I appreciate your thoughtfulness!

Thanks for making it a little cooler in my office!

Go: thanks for the beautiful fan and for making time to come to JIU. 

Rilakkuma and Tako-chan resting on my desk. Thanks to Kobayashi-san and to Daiki.

Azusa: thanks for the most beautiful tea container!

Naho: thanks for the apple pie. Hanako: thanks for the great cake!

My junior class: thanks for the special slippers and cushion!

Hara-sensei: thanks for the beautiful Maria.

Thanks Fumi and Haruka for the best chocolate!

What a pleasant surprise! Many thanks, Yuki!

Celebrating Watanabe-san's birthday

The two courses I teach in the JIU Community College started yesterday. I was pleased to realize the enrollment for the day time class was very high and I was really pleased to see the participants in the Discussions course in the evening as well. I felt fortunate to be able to celebrate Watanabe-san's birthday with her and the classmates last night. She's been taking this class for the past 20 years and I feel honored we have celebrated our birthdays in class all these years. 

She brought me these gorgeous Calla lilies from her garden.

Early Birthday in the Seminar

A surprise cake, flowers and even a special birthday song with Argel's guitar in my seminar yesterday. Thank you, all, for preparing all that. I felt a little younger actually.

Enjoying a walk on campus

I ran into a duck on my way to class yesterday!

Happy Birthday, Hara-sensei

We celebrated Hara-sensei's birthday at Takemi on Tuesday. It was a fun evening for all of us. Hara-sensei: Happy Birthday!!

Seminar Picnic Photos

The "zemi cho."

Uniform?!?

Team Shining Flamingos.

The Laughing Kangaroos playing dodge ball. 

Flaming Hippos posing for a photo.

The Flying Monkeys getting ready for a charade.

What a beautiful day with beautiful people. 

Seminar 2013

I have just uploaded information on the students who will be taking my seminar in 2013. Please take a look. 

A BIG surprise!

Hirota-san was in the second class of the Department of International Exchange Studies and I hadn't seen her for ages. She showed up on Thursday and wow--what a great surprise. She says she's working  in Dalian, China and she seems to be happy there. She works for an IT company. JIU is organizing a reunion in Dalian on May 26 and I hope she'll be able to attend. For those who have been to my kitchen: she's the one who gave me the cutting board from Germany--the one that's on my wall. 

City University of Hong Kong

President Way Kuo of the City University of Hong Kong visited us in Togane today. Yesterday he visited our Kioicho campus where he gave an inspiring lecture on "Reliability and Survivability: Nuclear Energy and the Future of Energy." Professor Chain T. Liu from the Center of Advanced Structural Materials and Pauline Chan also visited us the past three days. We are now sister institutions and we are looking forward to a fruitful relationship.

Meeting students in the Center for Language Education.