Hadashi the barefooted

Hadashi the barefooted http://hadashi.multiply.com/ Mon, 9 Jun 2008 01:00:34 -0000 Mon, 9 Jun 2008 16:53:00 -0000 Hadashi the barefooted http://images.hadashi.multiply.com/logo http://hadashi.multiply.com 100 100 Blogging <a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SExY_QvyexI/AAAAAAAAAXk/U6gHTUL8DWM/s1600-h/dice.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 224px; height: 223px; " src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SExY_QvyexI/AAAAAAAAAXk/U6gHTUL8DWM/s320/dice.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209636712811232018" border="0" /=""></a>Hi everyone Today I'll try and call by and see what H611, our new room, is like. I'd like you to look at some blogs today. What is a blog? Well, it comes from the words 'Web Log'. You take the last letter of the first word and combine it with the next word. B + Log = Blog But what is it exactly? You know what a diary is like, don't you? A diary, journal, log, travelogue etc is simply something that you write on a daily or regular basis. When you put in online it is called a blog. What you are reading now is a blog. It's my class blog. I write regularly for ESOL students. Let me show you <a href="http://www.williamandmami.blogspot.com/">another blog</a>. It's mine too, but it is about another topic. It tells about my trip through Japan three years ago. Take a look at it, but don't read too much. Please come back here in no more than 5 minutes. (Now go to <a href="http://www.williamandmami.blogspot.com/">http://www.williamandmami.blogspot.com/</a> for 5 minutes.) Are you back? Good! Soon I'm going to send you away again. I will ask you to look at some blogs by other people. You will look at some at ... http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/155/Blogging Mon, 9 Jun 2008 16:53:00 -0000 Queen's Birthday half marathon Mami and I took part in the 2008 Queen's Birthday half marathon in Christchurch, though we weren't in the best condition. Mami has been having problems with a calf muscle, and I a niggly side of my foot as well as an unresolved gallstone condition. Since electronic timers recorded each person's exact start and finish time, I thought I'd start right at the back and enjoy passing a few people. That went well up until about the 15 km stage when people started to pass me. I felt tight about the torso and back, so it must have been the gall bladder. Mami passed me then, and I thought that I had her, having started at least 3 minutes behind her. No such luck - in the final 4 kilometres I lost a lot of time. Overall, Mami ran 1.45.01 and I did 1.45.48 I hope to do ten minutes better at Dunedin in http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/154/Queens_Birthday_half_marathon Sat, 7 Jun 2008 02:52:00 -0000 Rather an occasion It's a rare day, these days, that I scribble down a haiku. But at least I know I'm not forcing it. Walking by the hospital, I saw a patient braving the cold for a smoke. You're meant to be at least 10 metres from the building, but she was huddling from the weather in the doorway. A weird sight . . . A &amp; E portable drip and a cig shitty weather <a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SD4vj87WExI/AAAAAAAAAXM/d0qOev8giMw/s1600-h/060512-gulangyu-136-thumb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; " src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SD4vj87WExI/AAAAAAAAAXM/d0qOev8giMw/s320/060512-gulangyu-136-thumb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205650513983836946" border="0" /=""></a> The photo? I just like the look of it. http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/153/Rather_an_occasion Thu, 29 May 2008 23:15:00 -0000 Ship or sheep <a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SDncxBFJfYI/AAAAAAAAAXA/M9pDxjWcLew/s1600-h/bullas-holy-sheep-ship.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 147px; height: 199px; " src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SDncxBFJfYI/AAAAAAAAAXA/M9pDxjWcLew/s320/bullas-holy-sheep-ship.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204433579065048450" border="0" /=""></a>Hi All Today I shall certainly pay you a visit in the computer lab. I'm well. I'm not on holiday. I am double-booked, so I can't spent the full hour with you, but I shall call by. Today I have a site that Jean Monk told me about, called <a href="http://www.shiporsheep.com/">Ship or Sheep</a>. Using this site will help you with your pronunciation of vowels. Maybe it will get quite noisy in the lab today! I have bookmarked that website to <a href="http://del.icio.us/hadashi05">my delicious account</a>. This is a very convenient way for me to remember useful websites. Perhaps there is a student in the class who uses '<a href="http://del.icio.us/">Delicious</a>' too. If you want to join up it is free. I can help you if you http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/152/Ship_or_sheep Mon, 26 May 2008 16:35:00 -0000 May 2008 <a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SDY40hFJfXI/AAAAAAAAAW4/k43rmRIOYKE/s1600-h/pommes-bw.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 153px; " src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SDY40hFJfXI/AAAAAAAAAW4/k43rmRIOYKE/s320/pommes-bw.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203408894357503346" border="0" /=""></img></a>Today I ate the last apple of the tree. It looked something like the image on the left - probably an heirloom of some sort. It didn't taste sickly sweet, in other words. Every day for the past two months I've helped myself. The tree is on the side of someone's driveway on the way to work. I walk by in the morning and then at night, and I pluck one each time. The owners don't touch it. They probably don't even know that it's there. The tree grows within a hundred yards of a supermarket where people buy apples in plastic every day. Weird. Saw What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire this month too. Very, very worthwhile seeing. It helped me clarify what I want to do. Just back from the Regent Theatre 24-hour second-hand book sale. Mami and I walked home - well, to the car - with two cartons' worth. $50 @ a dollar a pop. You can't go http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/151/May_2008 Fri, 23 May 2008 03:23:00 -0000 Is this who we are? http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/149/Is_this_who_we_are Tue, 20 May 2008 22:59:00 -0000 Essay writing <a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SDIqEUzTPhI/AAAAAAAAAWU/uNnEAbDMSlk/s1600-h/gall8790.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SDIqEUzTPhI/AAAAAAAAAWU/uNnEAbDMSlk/s320/gall8790.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202266773358067218" border="0" /></a> This week I was absent again - this time because of gall stones. But I shall continue to work! Some students are starting work on how to write an essay. I did a quick search and discovered three sites that look good. <ol><li><a href="http://www2.actden.com/Writ_den/tips/essay/index.htm">This site</a> looks clear, short and simple.</li><li><a href="http://members.tripod.com/%7Elklivingston/essay/">This is a basic guide</a> that also looks good.</li><li>Finally, <a href="http://www1.aucegypt.edu/academic/writers/">this is a ten-step guide</a> that also looks useful.</li></ol>Take a quick look at all of them, but choose only one to study http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/150/Essay_writing Tue, 20 May 2008 20:19:00 -0000 April 2008 In April I made progress on two fronts. In terms of pedestrian training, I completed my second 12-hour walk/run, covering 77 kilometres in terrible weather. I'm very pleased about that, but will now concentrate on shorter distances in preparation for the Christchurch half-marathon early June. I've also spent a lot of time at the computer. The final draft work of Hadashi no Tabi: Barefoot through Japan is almost complete (but how often have I promised that!). Fingers crossed, in other words. I shall make the book available on Lulu. I shall make <a href="http://www.williamandmami.blogspot.com">a shortened version available online</a>. And I've just recently learned that the slide show I prepared has been selected to grace <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">SlideShare</a>'s homepage! <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/?src=embed"><img src="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/logo_embd.png" style="border:0px none;margin-bottom:-5px" alt="SlideShare"/></a> | <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/hadashi/hadashi-no-tabi?src=embed" title="View 'Hadashi No Tabi' on SlideShare">View</a> | <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/upload?src=embed">Upload your own</a> http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/148/April_2008 Wed, 7 May 2008 21:26:00 -0000 Sharing Slides A couple of posts ago I first mentioned SlideShare. Here I've had a go at making a slide show myself. <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/?src=embed"><img src="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/logo_embd.png" style="border:0px none;margin-bottom:-5px" alt="SlideShare"/></a> | <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/hadashi/hadashi-no-tabi?src=embed" title="View 'Hadashi No Tabi' on SlideShare">View</a> | <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/upload?src=embed">Upload your own</a> http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/147/Sharing_Slides Wed, 7 May 2008 20:36:00 -0000 Hadashi no Tabi in pictures <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/?src=embed"><img src="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/logo_embd.png" style="border:0px none;margin-bottom:-5px" alt="SlideShare"/></a> | <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/hadashi/hadashi-no-tabi?src=embed" title="View 'Hadashi No Tabi' on SlideShare">View</a> | <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/upload?src=embed">Upload your own</a> http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/145/Hadashi_no_Tabi_in_pictures Wed, 7 May 2008 01:39:00 -0000 Introduction I awake needing not to pee, but to . . . peek. According to my watch it’s only 3.30 a.m. yet the sun is already up. At Soyamisaki, the northernmost point of Japan, the sky is a dazzling blue. Outside a crow looks in and caws, so I close the window, my ears and eyes, and roll over with a grunt . . . But it’s no use. After more than two months of rising daily at dawn, I’ve become an early bird myself, and instead of getting back to sleep I think back on the journey. What is its purpose? Does it have a point? And is it going to succeed? ~~~ While I toss and turn in the past, let me introduce the ‘me’ I am now. I invite you to call me Hadashi, my Japanese nom de plume. “Why?” you might ask. “You don’t come from that country. Why should a gaijin choose a foreign nickname?’ Well, I’ve lived and worked there, I’m fascinated by things Japanese, and I love the literature that dates back 1500 years. Those authors feel nearer and dearer to me than most people living. They commonly used pen names – why ... http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/146/Introduction Wed, 7 May 2008 00:55:00 -0000 A good grammar site from Germany Try <a href="http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/index.htm">this site</a> if you like. Kwi-Ok, Hannah, Afsona enjoyed http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/144/A_good_grammar_site_from_Germany Tue, 6 May 2008 20:35:00 -0000 Slide Show about Global Food <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/?src=embed"><img src="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/logo_embd.png" style="border:0px none;margin-bottom:-5px" alt="SlideShare" /></a> | <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ratbagradio/the-global-food-crisis?src=embed" title="View 'The Global Food Crisis' on SlideShare">View</a> | <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/upload?src=embed">Upload your own</a> http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/143/Slide_Show_about_Global_Food Mon, 5 May 2008 23:51:00 -0000 World's biggest photograph <a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SB43uv3zFCI/AAAAAAAAAWA/eNPncRfFjp4/s1600-h/great_picture_44x7_300dpi_2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SB43uv3zFCI/AAAAAAAAAWA/eNPncRfFjp4/s400/great_picture_44x7_300dpi_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196652296296141858" border="0" /></a> Welcome back after your holidays. I was on holiday too. In fact, I will still be on holiday from this class, although I will come in and see you for a few minutes. Today I have some reading for you to do. If you <a href="http://www.4to40.com/newsat4/index.asp?id=1687">click here</a> you will arrive at an interesting site with many interesting new stories. The story I would like you to read is about the world's largest photograph. It is larger than the picture above, which is the previous world's largest photograph. When you are finished, please choose another story to read. There are 10 other stories listed underneath the words: <a href="http://www.4to40.com/newsat4/index.asp?id=1687">Related Links</a>. After you have read that story too, see what stories the other students in the class chose. Were they all different? (If there are more than 10 students in the class then they can't have been http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/141/Worlds_biggest_photograph Mon, 5 May 2008 17:22:00 -0000 ESOL resources and other matters The other day I received the following message: <blockquote>Hello William There was at our last staff meeting a mention of on-line resources for ESOL and we were reminded of the work that you have been doing. Would you be prepared to give the School of Foundation Learning an update on your work at our next staff meeting, 5 May? If so, I'll book a room with a data projector etc. Many thanks, Marc</blockquote> And so today, the 5th, I'd better decide what to cover! I've blocked myself and hour or two out to prepare. I'll do so via this blog interface - I find it easier to draft on a keyboard, and it leaves a permanent record that others (you) can readily access. That's assuming that I' actually have pearls of wisdom to offer. I'm just not too sure how a data projector operates . . . Being a visual learner, I quickly sketched out/brainstormed a plan on a piece of paper (recycled of course). Three arrows radiate out from the centre, so there are to be three sections in this presentation: <ol><li>The nature of my... http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/142/ESOL_resources_and_other_matters Mon, 5 May 2008 16:09:00 -0000 So, anything interesting happen on your trip? During our travels, the paparazzi courted us and we became TV stars, appearing live on television regularly and having our story written up as a special feature in the newspaper. Though I tried to solve a national crime, I must admit that Mami and I broke the law. The police suspected me of being a terrorist and in Taipei I faced the death penalty. On the way to our wedding we had a car accident. At an all-female party, young women hung on my every word. I suffered a nervous breakdown. I watched businessmen in suits sweeping the streets, and a train chased us from a restaurant. We used a bath at a construction site, and we slept in a toilet where a ghost appeared. I discovered an elephant graveyard and revisited the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. We joined a community of freaks and acquired a sex toy. I exposed myself to two women, and Mami and I undressed in front of a total stranger. A pimp offers us a look at a dead mummy and Mami tasted ear shit. I climbed barefoot through snow up a mountain... http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/140/So_anything_interesting_happen_on_your_trip Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:35:00 -0000 Broken glass and bad weather <a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SBUm3v3zFAI/AAAAAAAAAVw/844zMbVIVdY/s1600-h/runtights.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SBUm3v3zFAI/AAAAAAAAAVw/844zMbVIVdY/s320/runtights.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5194100484426896386" border="0" /></a> The forecast was poor, but since I was up anyway I thought that if I could get in my long run this Friday that that would leave the whole weekend for Mami and I. Therefore, I decided to put in 20 or 30 kilometres and then, if the conditions really didn’t permit, I could repeat the exercise on Sunday, when, hopefully, the front would have blown by. It was dark when I began ‘looping’ at 5.10 a.m. It was cold and wet from a previous shower. The first lap you always need to check for conditions afoot. What have the students been up to? Last week there was a roadside fire, and I’d had to dial 111 (the number works on a cellphone). Today the only problem was a couple of smashed bottles outside a notorious address. I pushed a few pieces aside and carried on. I thought I had escaped until right at the end of the run when I felt a prick – had to pluck out a sliver. Then the next day I discovered another embedded chunk of glass, and then a third the day after that. Just grist to the mill, really.... http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/139/Broken_glass_and_bad_weather Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:33:00 -0000 ESOL Tutorial Group <a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SAQIdi1BzTI/AAAAAAAAAVc/mnZU7djtmfA/s1600-h/ntiny106.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SAQIdi1BzTI/AAAAAAAAAVc/mnZU7djtmfA/s400/ntiny106.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5189281974296104242" border="0" /></a> Today three students studied with me: Hannh, Afsona and Kwi-Ok. We looked at the following sites. Their work in class this week was looking at using resources, dictionaries, Internet and the library. One of their exercises was to look at the history of certain words like ANZAC, balaclava, Trafalgar, holocaust etc. I searched online for "Etymology" and discovered an online <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php">Etymology Dictionary</a>. After trying a few words I browsed <a href="http://www.4to40.com/newsat4/">this site of interesting news stories</a> for listening comprehension. The story we chose was about <a href="http://www.4to40.com/newsat4/index.asp?id=1581">the world's smallest girl</a>. Finally, I played this item about <a href="http://www.cdlponline.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=activity1&amp;topicID=8&amp;storyID=240">Fuel Economy</a> for understanding and http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/138/ESOL_Tutorial_Group Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:33:00 -0000 March 2008 <a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SAQKhi1BzUI/AAAAAAAAAVk/KIa8N7k2ROU/s1600-h/Kaikorai_Valley_College_logo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/SAQKhi1BzUI/AAAAAAAAAVk/KIa8N7k2ROU/s320/Kaikorai_Valley_College_logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5189284242038836546" border="0" /></a> This month my old high school (Kaikorai Valley High School - now Kaikorai Valley College) held its 50th Jubilee. Over a thousand people attended from overseas and around the country. It was fun to catch up with the likes of Rodney Thompson, John Begg, Estelle Fraser, Peter Scott, Howard Broad, Darryl Daglish, Bryan Jamieson, Karen Little, Kevin Marlowe, Liz Sawkins, Gerald and John Schoones etc. Where's everyone else? They've changed. I've changed. No one http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/137/March_2008 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:47:00 -0000 Dictation and Comprehension <a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/R_q-3VPrtVI/AAAAAAAAAVU/_gzBUu8q83E/s1600-h/letter_writi_24714_md.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_Lye_H76aqAw/R_q-3VPrtVI/AAAAAAAAAVU/_gzBUu8q83E/s320/letter_writi_24714_md.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186667778675553618" border="0" /></a> Some of my old students have asked me for a place where they can listen to dictations. Here is <a href="http://www.fonetiks.org/dictations/">one good site</a> of free exercises to try. They also asked for a site with interesting stories to read to test their comprehension. <a href="http://www.4to40.com/newsat4/">This site</a> has interesting Asian http://hadashi.multiply.com/journal/item/136/Dictation_and_Comprehension Tue, 8 Apr 2008 19:37:00 -0000