October

CROSSROADS Language Studio’s Newsletter 2003

It’s that spooky time of year again, known
to Americans and Europeans asHalloween. This is a time for ghosts,monsters, and pumpkins in the window.
It’s also a time when kids love to dress up
in scary costumes and ask theirneighbours for money and candy! It’s acustom called trick-or-treating.
But how and where did thisstrange festival begin?
Halloween began in the 5th century BC,
which makes it about 2,400 years old! TheCelts (an ancient people who lived inBritain, Ireland and France), celebrated
New Year’s day on October 31s t, andbelieved that on this day the spirits of all
the people who had died that year, cameback to earth to s t e a l other people’sbodies. So, to protect themselves from thespirits, people would extinguish all thelights in their homes, dress up in scary
costumes, and walk the streets, making
as much noise and trouble as possible, inorder to frighten away the spirits.

The tradition was then taken to America
in the 1840’s by Irish immigrants
escaping from the Irish potato famine.
Halloween is now a mixture of many
traditions. For example;
The Jack-o-lantern custom comes from anold Irish folk story about a drunk man
who, because of his bad ways, was madeto walk the earth with only a little lightinside a turnip to guide him.
The Trick-or-treating custom
comes from a 9th century European
custom called ‘souling’, which took placeon November 2nd. On this day, early
Christians would walk through villages
begging for ‘soul cakes’. The more cakes
they received, the more prayers they
promised to make for dead relatives of theperson who gave them the cakes.
Nowadays, these traditions live on withmany people dressing up and acting crazyon Halloween night.
Will you be joining in this year?

(These words are in color in the story)

Joshua Says: Well, the big day of cricket, the West Japan Cricket Cup, hasbeen fought and won. No, Matsuyama didn’t win. In fact, we didn’t do very wellat all. But the event was a great success. The weather was perfect, everyone
participating and observing enjoyed themselves immensely and many newfriends were made. We are all eagerly looking forward to next year’s cup.

Junko Says: Here’s some good news for our students! Many of you are aware of
our new internet lessons program. And you are also aware of the special
government subsidized courses we offer at Crossroads. Now, we can also offer
these same subsidized courses through our internet program! So tell all your busy
friends about this great new opportunity to study with us, and save!!

Joanna Says: I’ve always been a person with too many hobbies, which means
I’ve become a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ (bad at many things, and very
good at none of them!). My new hobby is knitting. I found some beautiful yarn
shops in Matsuyama, and now I can’t seem to stop. So if you see me wearing
something woollen and strange, it’s probably something I made.

Tamara Says: Christmas still seems like a long way off but I’ve alreadyfinished most of my Christmas shopping! I’m so excited to be able to spend theholiday with my family this year so I bought everyone special gifts from Japan. Iwent to Dogo and managed to find almost everything I wanted. The last thing onmy list is two big bottles of Sake…one for my uncle and one for me!!

Duncan Says: I got some really good news recently: I am now an uncle! Mysister had (gave birth to) a lovely little baby girl!! Her name’s Elizabeth, and she
looks a lot like my sister. I hope I can see her (and my sister, of course!) soon – Imight go back home to the UK for Christmas. Then again, Christmas in Japan
can be “interesting”…

Greg Says: Last month I took part in a cricket tournament in Tobe. We had afun time (thanks to the Crossroads cheerleaders) and really look forward to it
again next year. Actually I didn’t realize how old I had got because the next day
when I woke up I couldn’t move an inch. If anyone is interested in trying a newsport, please let me know and come along to one of our training days.

Yuka Says: It’s getting cooler day by day, and now is a good time to go on a trip.
I like travelling like most of you do, and the best part of it is planning, which isalways exciting. There are books to be read and travel agencies to be consulted.
Now, I’m planning to visit an aquarium next month. It should be interesting towatch rays, sharks and turtles swimming.

Yukiko Yagi says: Last month I went to Scotland, England, and France. Actually, I neverused to like France much because the people didn’t seem very patient. This time though, Iwas very impressed by everything there. The food was delicious, the people were kind, andthe museums were fantastic!
Yoshihiro Tanaka says: Last month I started wearing contact lenses instead of eye-glasses.
My eyes feel great and it’s so nice to see everything (and everyone) clearly without having towear glasses.

NET LESSONS:
Are you too busy to come toCROSSROADS for English lessons? Try
our lessons on the internet!

Congratulations to:

Yoichi Matsumoto has passed all of his
exams and is going to be a police officer in his
hometown in Kagawa Prefecture.
Tomoka to Brighton, England for 6 months,
on a homestay. Enjoy your trip, Tomoka!

It’s CROSSROADS in your home! You
get CROSSROADS’ great teachers,materials, even classmates, on-line!
Call for details.
NET SITE OF THE MONTH:
Practice your English, and get spookedat the same time!
http://www.halloweenghoststories.com
NET NOTEBOOK:
Take a look at the internet activity
notebook in our open-house. You’ll findgames, news and English learning sites.

These are confusing because they sound sosimilar. However, their meanings are very
different;
Used to – For talking about something in thepast, e.g.
I used to smoke, but now I don’t.
He used to be married, but now he’s
divorced.
Be used to doing – For talking about actions
that you are accustomed to, e.g.,
I’m used to Japanese foodHe’s used to working hard

Phone: 0120-21-7594
Tel: (089) 921-7595
Fax: (089) 921-7319
Email:info@crossroadsco.com
Web Site: www.crossroadsco.com