October CROSSROADS Language Studio’s Newsletter 2007
A new version of Soseki Natsume's“Botchan” is about to come out inpaperback to mark the 100thanniversaryofits
originalpublication. But this isn’t going tobe just any version of this classic
novel. This will be a reproduction of
the original manuscript handwritten by
Natsume himself. As such, this version will allow
Natsume’s many readers to see his actual
penmanship, and his mistakes, corrections andtext notations, for themselves. It is claimed that
Natsume’s “methodical and nervous disposition”
is apparent in the style of his handwriting. So,
for Natsume’s many fans, here’s a chance to get
to know their hero a little more intimately.

In a recent poll in Britain, Oscar Wild

was voted the “wittiest of them all”.
Britain has produced some of theworld’s greatest and best-known wagsof all time. Take for example Spike
Milligan who had inscribed on his
tombstone, “I told you I was ill.” Spikewas an entertainer/comedian, but even Britain’s
politicians get into the act of delivering humorous,and sometimes biting, witticisms. When accusedby an opposition backbencher of being drunk,Churchill replied, “Bessie, you are ugly. Andtomorrow morning I will be sober but you will still
be ugly.” Winston came in at number 5 on thelist, Spike was number 2. But the winner, Oscar,
was placed above them all. He is even said to havemuttered on his death bed, “Either those curtains
go or I go!” Now that’s wit!

Tokelau, comprising of three small atolls in the

mid-Pacific is to hold a referendum to decide if its
population of about 1,500 should declare
independence from New Zealand (pop. 4,000,000).
Do you think they are expressing theirdisappointment at New Zealand’s performance inthe recent Rugby World Cup? In any case, if they
secede, they will become the smallest selfgoverning state in the world. Good luck, Takelau.

I’m sure Santa Clause is the most famous symbol
associated with Christmas. He has always been an
essential part of the Christmas celebrations for us.
But, the modern image of Santa didn’t develop
until the 19th century. So, who made Santa’s
image, especially his red-and-white costume?
At the beginning of the 1930’s, the developingCoca-Cola Company was still looking for a way toincrease sales in the soft drink market for theirproduct during winter. They chose a talented
commercial illustrator named Haddon Sundblom
who created a series of famous drawings of a redand-white costumed Santa Clause with Coca-Cola.
Coke’s annual advertisements – showing Santa
holding bottles of Coca-Cola, drinking Coca-Cola,etc. – became a great Christmastime feature andhelped Coca-Cola’s sales throughout the winter,having a particularly strong appeal to children.
The success of this advertising campaign has
created the legend that Coca-Cola actually
invented the modern-day image of Santa
Clause, with his red-and-white
costume, to promote the company’scolors. But, in fact, Coca-Cola chosethe red-and-white version of Santaover a variety of competing figuresin order to help establish red andwhite, their colors, as the accepted
image of Santa Clause. The legend,then, is not exactly true.

Story by Kenji Mouri, A(1) classColored words are in the glossary on page 2

NET LESSONS: Are you too busy to come toCROSSROADS?.... Try our lessons on the Internet!
It’s CROSSROADS in your home or office! You get
CROSSROADS’ great teachers, teaching programs,
even classmates, on-line! Call for details: 089 9217595

NET SITE OF THE MONTH:
For an interesting review of Botchan, go to:
http://januarymagazine.com/fiction/botchan.html
NET NOTEBOOK: Don’t forget to take a look at
the Internet activity notebook in our open-house.
You’ll find games, news and English learning sites.

Joshua Says: We’re getting ready for another “performance night” at the end of next month.
This is our term party also, so I hope those who are not in a performance group will come along
anyway and give their support to those who are performing, as well as enjoy the party. Thisevening is a reward for all the great work you have done throughout the term and we all want
to relax and “let off some steam”! I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at the party!
Junko Says: Isn’t the power to live great! Especially, in the plant kingdom. I
just heard of a new vegetable called a “Cabekon”. Farmers in Japan havecreated this vegetable by splitting a white radish (daikon) shoot just after itstarts to grow and grafting a cabbage onto it. This two-in-one vegetable, the“cabekon”, can be cooked and eaten. So, look for this new vegetable to appear inyour local supermarket soon. And if you try one, let me know what you think!
Michael Says: A friend of mine and I were asking each other riddles.
Here are three I had. Can you figure them out? If you ask me for theanswers, I might tell you!: 1) What seven letter word becomes longer whenthe 3rd letter is removed? 2) Paris starts with a P and ends with anE. Why? 3) What can you always find in the middle of a taxicab?
Iain Says: A large wasp came into my office and got his head stuck in thewindow. He got out, but in the process, he cut his head half off. Then, he attacked
the head with his stinger. The severed head and body were alive and moving
vigorously for at least 30 minutes! It just goes to show you that you don’t need togo to outer space to find strange alien life. We have it right here on earth!
Adrienne Says: Some of my Saturday students had some interesting questions
to ask about “extreme ironing”. For example, “how do they supply electricity tothe iron? Are there batteries in the iron?” Perhaps, in the near future, we will
see specialty “Extreme Ironing Goods” sports stores in Matsuyama!
Greg Says: It has been interesting watching my little daughter doing her best
to stand up over the past week or two. She can get to her feet but then thewobbles take over and she crashes to the ground like a giant sequoia. What isinteresting is how, not only my baby, but any baby, never ever gives up…..they
just roll back over and try again. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful event if we could
all keep this mentality in never giving up throughout our entire life?

Dean Says: As the days get shorter and the nights get colder we prepare for anotheroncoming winter...., hopefully not too cold. What are your plans for the remainder ofautumn? I plan to climb Mt. Ishizuchi and have a look at the beautiful autumn leaves. I
had my last swim in October in a lovely little mountain pool with a beautiful waterfall tocool me down. I won't be going back there ‘til the weather warms up again next spring. So,
I hope you have a great time for the remainder of Autumn, whatever you choose to do!

(These words are in color in the story on page 1)

reproduction 複製(本）methodical 方法論的な
disposition 気質
intimately 親密に
wag ひょうきん者
mutter つぶやく
wit 機知secede 分離する
essential 最も本質的なfeature 主人公(呼び物)appeal 興味をそそるCrossroads is going to help Nova’s
students keep up their English byoffering them a chance to join us
free for a short time. Why? We
do not want to see anyone lose
their passion for English.

Lead Articles for ourNewsletter!
The new format for our newsletter
relies on you, our students, to come
forth with articles for the front page.
We will edit them and the best ones

SATURDAY, Nov. 24th:
AT 8:00PM
HERE AT CROSSROADS
Everyone is invited - friends,
family, everyone ! to cometo the Party!
Get the details form the office…

will appear on the cover page every
month. Short articles, long articles,
any subject, all are welcome. So,come on! Ask your teachers fordetails, and let’s see how interesting
our newsletter can really get!!

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