CROSSROADSCROSSROA DS Language StudioÊs Newsletter April,April, 201
20 1 4Mystery, riddles, enigma
andmanyunansweredquestions characterize thisintriguing creature. The
ancient Egyptians depicted it
as having the body of a lion
and the upper torso and headof a man; the early Greeks“Oedipus and the added wings, changed its sex
Sphinx”, 1864 by
and made other mutations,
French artist Gustav
Moureau.
notably to its character.
Perhaps the most familiar story from
antiquity featuring the Sphinx comes fromthe 5th century B.C. ancient Greek legendof Oedipus. In that story, the Sphinx haswings, is malicious, merciless and female.
She stood guard outside the city of Thebes
and would waylay all travelers going to or
coming from that city. She demanded thatthey answer a riddle she put to them; andshe would devour all those who could notgive the right answer!
The riddle was, “what walks on four feetin the morning, two in the afternoon andthree at night?”
None could answer her and so they
suffered a horrific fate. None, that is, until
Oedipus came along. He answered herriddle correctly and by doing so, broke thecurse she held over the city. His reward?
He was made the king of Thebes where hisstory continued toward an inevitably tragic
ending.

NET LESSONS: Too busy to come to CROSSROADS?
…. Try our lessons through the net!
SITE OF THE MONTH:
Here is an interesting page about this mostinteresting monument:www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/riddles-sphinx.html

In the minds of most people however, theSphinx
isgenerallyassociatedwitharchitectural monuments, sculptures orreligious temples. Such stone images go backlong before the Greeks. The oldest Sphinx
archeologists have unearthed dates to around
9,500 BC and probably comes from Gobeki
Tepe in what is now modern Turkey.
Henson Recording Studios, LA, USASphinxes crop up all over the ancient worldand have continued to appear down throughthe ages in both western and eastern art, but
the most famous is the colossus on the Giza
Plateau near the outskirts of Cairo in Egypt.
The Great Sphinx is one of the largest andoldest statues in existence, yet so little is known
about it. We don’t even know its original
name and there is nothing describing its original
purpose or even how it was constructed.
There isintense
debateamong
researchers
andscientists as
to when it
was built.
The generally accepted view is that it was built
around 2,500 BC for the pharaoh, Khafra, eventhough there is no clear evidence that this is true.
Based on what appears to be considerable
water erosion to the Sphinx, and that there has
been no significant rainfall in the area for wellover 10,000 years, some researchers speculatethat the Sphinx must have been constructedaround 10,500 BC or even earlier!
When was it built? Who built it? Why? Theseare questions far more puzzling than Oedipus’riddle. Have you already worked out theanswer to his riddle? For those who haven’t,
you can find it on P3…..

Joshua Says: The opening party for our new location on the 5th marked thestart of a new journey for our school. And if the atmosphere and attendance wasany indication, we can look forward to some very positive times ahead. Theparty was one of the best we’ve had in a long time, and it gave me the feelingthat we’re really starting out on “the right foot”. Thanks to all the many people
who came; you made it an event to remember!

Junko Says: The other day I happened to see “Hanako and Ann” on NHK.
Hanako was a real person who lived in the Meiji, Taisho and Showa eras andwas the translator of “Ann of Green Gables”. The episode I saw was about themission school where Hanako learnt English. In that school, the students had tospeak English as most of the teachers were native English speakers. Obviously
she became a good speaker in a short time. If only this were possible for all
students in Japan, they would all be good speakers of English like Hanako.

Kenneth Says: The school break has come and gone and now thenew year has begun. Our daughter Sumire will start fifth grade atYuugun Elementary school and son Luka will commence his
second year at Rosario Youchien. With cherry and magnolia
blossoms now subsiding, azaleas should be next. Wonder when thehigh country and summits will be free of snow ….

Adrienne Says: Last week, I was walking across the street from theHoribata, and as I gazed in that direction, I was stunned by what Isaw: beauty! Soft pink clouds floated above the waterway, topped by
the castle tower. Was Matsuyama once filled with parks, trees,flowers, and graceful architecture, I wondered. All too soon, I
returned to the treeless concrete streets of modern Japan.

Cyril Dit: Ce mois-ci, ce sont ma soeur (qui habite à New-York) et ma

grand-mère (qui habite à Draguignan) qui sont venues nous rendre visiteà Matsuyama. Nous les avons emmenées visiter des temples, desrestaurants de sushis, des hotels, des parcs, des chateaux, des "hyaku en
shoppu", encore des restaurants... cependant, la seule chose que nous
retiendrons vraiment est: "mais est-ce qu'ils ont des fourchettes?"Lions make terrific pets too!

A few years back a video hit the YouTube circuit andbecame an instant sensation as millions tuned in to watch it. It was
originally shot back in the early 1970’s, but started to appeared on YouTube in 2008.
It showed the reunion of a lion called Christian and hisformer owners. Anthony “Ace” Bourke and John Rendall had
purchased Christian from the famous London department
store, Harrods, when he was just a cub. They kept him in
their apartment and treated him with love and affection. Astrong bond developed between the lion and hisbenefactors. However, the inevitable happened, Christian
The moment of their reunion as
seen in the YouTube video.
grew! It soon became apparent they had to make a decision.
They would not give him to a zoo under any circumstances, so with the help ofGeorge Adamson, who ran a wildlife sanctuary in Kenya, they decided to repatriate
Christian to the wild. This was done and Christian settled into a new life in Africa. A year latter, thetwo young men decided to visit the sanctuary
to see how Christian was getting on. You cansee how their reunion went at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOLqVshIM4w
or watch the full 45 minute documentary at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4enNZqNrwYc

If you should ever want to know what “unconditional love” is, this is it!

End-Of-Semester party
We’ll have our next party at the end of this semester. It will beheld on Saturday May 31st – next month!
We start at 7:30pm
Look for posters around the school or ask Junko for details.
If it is anything like our Opening Party this month, we’ll have a“Ball”!
See you there!!
(continued from P1) …. And the answer is…., “man” – as an infant, he crawls on

hands and knees (4), as an adult, he walks on two feet and in old age, he walks with theaid of a cane.
OK, now you know the answer to Oedipus’ riddle, can you answer the really bigpuzzles? Who built the Sphinx at Giza, and why……?? There’s a really big prize foranyone who can answer these questions correctly so, get cracking!

Don’t forget… Our SPECIAL 1+1 Campaign offer! Up to 50% off!!
See our notice board, or ask Junko in our office, for the details.