At school today we made mochi. It is made by pounding rice with a wooden mallet. Gradually the rice becomes a glutinous mass. The texture is gummy, like marshmallows or taffy.

We put toppings on the mochi to add flavors. It was very tasty.

Have you ever made mochi?

Tonight I have a year-end party in Hisai. It is a party with my photo society. We are eating at a very nice restaurant. I look forward to lots of tasty Japanese food.

We are supposed to forget everything bad that happened during the year. I like to remember the good things, so I like this tradition.

I hope everyone has many good things to remember this year.

Today I was waiting for a train at Obata station. An old man came to the station with his grandson. I have seen them at the station before. They watch the trains until an Urban Liner goes by.

Today I decided to talk to them. When the grandfather talked about me he called me ojisan. I was a little disappointed that he was calling me an old man. I hoped he would call me oniisan. I guess I’m not young anymore.

I live in Ise and I work in Tsu. Everyday I ride the train to work. Sometimes I have activities in Tsu in the evening. On those days, I can’t return to Ise until very late at night.

After work and before my evening activities, I need to do something. Sometimes I wish I could take a nap, but I don’t want to sleep outside.

Today I drove to Tsu by car. After work, I will take a short nap in the car. It will be much warmer than sleeping outside. Have you ever slept in your car?

Today I went shopping for “closet drawers” at a store called Mujirushi. I really want to get a nice, old Japanese chest of drawers, but they are very expensive. Also, they are rare.

The “closet drawers” are made of plastic, but they are very durable. I hope I can use them for a long time. I think it will be easy to organize my clothes now.

I bought a lot of other items at Mujirushi. Every time I go there, I buy a lot of things.

After work I met a friend and we talked about many topics. One topic we discussed a lot was business. We both find business interesting so we talked a long time.

On my way back to the train, I stopped for dinner. I ate at one of the first restaurants I found in Japan. For five years I have eaten there occasionally. Recently, I have been too busy to stop there. It was nice to see old friends again.

I had fish, pickles, and traditional Japanese food called ‘oden’. All the food was good. Many funny conversations occurred. Now it is time for bed.

Tonight I was invited to eat some very tasty food for dinner. Unfortunately, I will go back to Ise for rehabilition after work. I will have to eat dinner in Ise. I am a little sad.

This morning I rode my bicycle from the station to school in the rain. My hands were very cold and wet. Tonight I will look for my gloves. Now that it is Winter, I need to wear my gloves while riding.

Tonight I will eat dinner with several English teachers. We all do the same job. It is always nice to get together and talk about our job. We can help each other a lot.

I am looking forward to learning from my colleagues tonight.

Do you meet your co-workers outside of the office? What do you do? Do you talk about work, or something else?

My friends birthday is in two weeks, but I can’t see her that day. Today we spent the whole day celebrating her birthday. Some people think it is strange to celebrate so early, but I think it is a good idea.

We ate lunch at a restaurant near Matsusaka Castle. It is in an old Japanese home. The food was very tasty and it was only 950 yen per person.

I was happy because the weather was so sunny. We went for a nice walk after lunch.

I love English very much. Of course, I learned English when I was a child. However, I continue to study English every day. There are so many words I don’t know.

Today I was reading a book and saw the word ’sloe’. I could guess that it was a fruit, but I didn’t know what kind.

It is a purple, bitter, wild fruit like a small plum that grows on a bush called a blackthorn.

There is a drink called ’sloe gin’ which is made by leaving sloes in gin. The gin becomes purple and tastes like sloes. I want to drink it.

Have you ever had a drink which was made by leaving fruit in alcohol?