ＳＴＡＲ ＥＮＧＬＩＳＨ・スターイングリッシュ新潟 英語スクール

Here's Johnny!

How would you like to wake up in the morning to this guy? Have you met my husband? Hee hee. Luckily, he doesn't usually look like this. Have you ever seen "the Shining"? What a great movie...

Battery-Powered Candles

The weather in Niigata is AWFUL at the moment. My friends invited me out for a drink tonight, but there is NO WAY I'm going outside in this blizzard! So, I thought I would post a photo of something warm and friendly looking (^^)v. Our student gave us these very cute battery-powered candles today! They flicker like candles, but they last a lot longer and they aren't messy or dangerous. What a great invention!

Vocabulary:

at the moment - right now
awful - really bad, terrible
blizzard - a heavy, strong snowstorm
battery-powered - getting energy from a battery
flicker - moving back and forth
messy - unclean, not neat
invention - something totally new that someone has created

Cocoa Bella chocolates from San Francisco!

We were given some Cocoa Bella chocolates from San Francisco yesterday. Here is a picture (^^). I have already sampled two kinds: the Caramel with Sea salt and Orange Ganache. While I have to admit that I was apprehensive about the salty caramel, I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was! And, while I have tried orange chocolates before, I would have to say the the Orange Ganache from Cocoa Bella is the best I've ever tried. The tangy filling offsets the bittersweet chocolate coating beautifully! What a great gift (^^) we are always so happy to have the chance to try new things!

Vocabulary:

apprehensive - uneasy or fearful about something that might happen
tangy - tasting sour like a lemon (but good)
offset- counterbalance, counteract, or compensate for something else
bittersweet - a bitter and sweet taste at the same time
coating - a thin outside layer

Halloween Costumes

I think these are a couple of the best Halloween costumes I've ever seen!

It's Halloween tomorrow! I'm excited this year, as always, but unfortunately I don't have a costume. In Canada, Halloween is a big event and usually I spend a lot of time thinking of a cute, clever, or scary costume every year. However, this October we have attended three weddings--one of them in Turkey, so I just haven't had the time to plan a costume for Halloween this year ( -_-). I'm very sorry m(__)m. I will post some pictures of my friends' costumes if i can!

Vocabulary:

a costume - an outfit to wear for an event or occasion. Sometimes it disguises your identity.

Cats and Dogs!

All over turkey there were so many stray cats and dogs! I couldn't believe it. They were all calm, friendly, and very healthy. My sister's husband told me that the Turkish government actually vaccinates the stray animals to protect them from dangerous diseases and the local people give the animals food and table scraps to keep them healthy! Here are a couple of pictures of comfy-looking stays.

Vocabulary:

stray cats and dogs - homeless cats and dogs
calm - quiet and peaceful
vaccinate - to inject with the modified virus of a disease, to keep the animals healthy and disease free
table scraps - extra uneaten food
comfy - comfortable