Recently Japan has been the victim of another terrible series of disasters. The March 11th Earthquake and the following Tsunami devastated the Tohoku region and took thousands of lives. We at the Washington Institute of Language send our thoughts and prayers to those affected and encourage them to hold on to the hope that things will get better soon. With that in mind, our motto this month is:
“Stay strong Japan!” or “ 頑張れ日本！”.
We would also like to thank those who have asked about us, to which we can happily reply, yes we are safe! Kyushu has not been physically affected by the disaster, but we worry about the safety of everyone in the affected areas. Stay strong Japan!
A better day is coming!
-Taylor
On December 23 we had our annual Christmas parties. There were two for kids and one for adults.
The first party started in the morning at the Kumamoto City International Center. This party was for younger children.
We had songs and games, we made Christmas cookies and we watched a skit. And Santa visited too!
The afternoon party was for older children, and was a lot of fun. We had more games in this party, and Santa came in the afternoon again! And we saw a skit again.
But the afternoon party had a special teacher — Yoshie-sensei. She came to the party to show us how to make mascots for our phones or bookbags. And they were very cute!
The last party was for adults, and started late in the evening. This party was at Buenos Aires restaurant, near Tsutaya. The food was excellent, and Ms. Tsubokuta was a wonderful pianist.
The surprise entertainment was from a small part of a famous pop music group. They sounded like AKB48, but there were not 48 of them. …
The last event of the night was a raffle, and everyone got a prize — but some prizes were bigger than others!
It was a long day, but it was a lot of fun. We hope you enjoyed it too. See you at the party next year!
Well, Halloween is long gone, Thanksgiving has passed, and Christmas is just around the corner! Decorations are up all around the city, and Washington Institute of Language is no exception! We are really excited for the upcoming Christmas parties this year, on December 23, 2010.
The first party, for children is going to be so much fun! We’re going to sing some Christmas songs, decorate some cookies, enjoy a skit from the WIL staff and maybe Santa will show up!
The second party, for elementary/junior high aged students is also going to be a blast. Last year, we made a little scrapbook, but this year, we are going to do a craft: “スウィーツ・デコレーション” (sweets decoration). The students of WIL are going to perform a traditional Christmas song: “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
But we’re not done yet! We are also going to have an adult Christmas party, at a restaurant called Buenos Aires. Come join us for some eating, drinking, and all around merriment!
If you are interested in coming to any of these parties, please phone WIL to make your reservation.
Last year’s Christmas parties were a lot of fun, and hopefully this year’s parties will be even more so.
This year was one of our biggest parades ever, with over 250 parents and children attending our Halloween parade. Everyone was looking great in their costumes, including me in my Elmo suit.
The shop staff were very kind to give us such great treats, and the children remembered to say “Thank you” after receiving their candy. After the parade finished we all gathered to take a group photo. Thanks so much for coming everyone, it was fun! We look forward to seeing you and your friends in costume again next Halloween.
We had a good time at the Halloween Bowling party Sunday night. Many of us were still in costume, even as we bowled!
Everyone tried their best, but Lucas’ team (Toru, Yuichi, Lucas) had the best score after two games.
Yonemizu san and Nakamura san managed to get the best male and female individual scores.
Some people, including our very own Mr. Tateyama earned a tasty snack by getting a strike during the “Strike Time Challenge”.
We hope to see you at next years Halloween event!
