March CROSSROADS Language Studio’s Newsletter 2007

In January’s Newsletter we did a story on
On this occasion he had a skeleton key which
Claude. As you will gather from that article, Claude was just the tool he needed for that particular job.
can be a most difficult, although interesting, With this key, he let himself into their house whilecharacter to get along with. What we didn’t touch on the young couple was out. He settled into athen is that Claude loves to play practical jokes on comfortable chair, turned on the TV, helped himselfpeople. His “friends” dread the coming of April 1st, as to whatever food was available, fixed himself athis offers Claude the perfect opportunity to play his whisky, lit up a cigarette and waited for their return.
pranks. On April Fools’ Day Claude comes into hisThe moment they walked into the house, Claude
own; he has a ball, while most of his friends run for jumped up “in surprise” and demanded to know
cover!
what they thought they were doing by barging into
For example, about this time last year an “his house” like that! When they protested that it
acquaintance of Claude’s happened to mention that was their house, he pretended to get even morea young couple, friends of his, were moving into a aggravated and demanded that they prove it. Didhouse just 4 doors down the street from Claude. they have the deeds to the house? He ranted andClaude was, of course, eager to make some new raged so much that the poor young couple started tofriends (especially as he was fast running out of old believe that perhaps this wasn’t really their houseones!), so he decided to introduce himself. He chose to after all. And, by the time Claude had taken his
do this in a way that only Claude would think of. You “joke” as far as he dared, they were beginning tosee, it was approaching April 1st and this gave wonder if they had ever bought a new house in the
Claude the perfect opportunity to be, well, Claude!
first place!
The couple had moved into their new home inFinally, Claude relented and with a big grin on his
early March and were still trying to settle. Most of face, introduced himself as their new neighbor, but
their unpacking was completed and all their by this time the young couple was too exhausted tofurniture and other belongings were, more or less, in see the “joke”.
place. It was time to go out and celebrate.
Instead, they promptly invited Claude to “get out” ofClaude had been closely watching his new
their house and never return! Poor Claude could
neighbours’ movements for 2 or 3 weeks now and
not understand why they were so angry, but
this was the chance he had been waiting for.
everyone else could….
Being a resourceful fellow, Claude always
So, if you do not like being the subject ofcarries with him any manner of items thata practical joke, be wary on April 1st, and, if you
might, or might not, come in handy given
see Claude coming your way, RUN!!
Guess who?
the right circumstances.

(These words are in colour in the story)dread ひどく恐れている
pranks悪ふざけ
acquaintance 知人
resourceful 工夫に富んだ skeleton key(多種の錠をあけられる)合鍵 barging乱入する
aggravated 怒る
deeds 証書
ranted and raged 激怒して怒鳴り散らした
relented 気持ちを和らげる
wary 用心深いJoshua Says: On behalf of everyone at Crossroads – students and staff alike – let’s send Greg andKasumi a big “congratulations” on the arrival of their new baby daughter, Katie! Katie is theirsecond daughter and her “big” sister, Joy, seems just as thrilled as Mom and Dad about this “newarrival”; take a look at the picture on P3. Katie is the first of three similar “big events” coming up
during the year. Stay tuned for news about more additions to our “extended family” as they arrive.
Junko Says: There is a great “free movie site” on the internet. The movies on thissite usually do not have Japanese subtitles, so they are quite useful for home English
study. Also, sometimes you can see very new movies such as “The Departed” which
won a lot of Academy awards this year. There are so many movies listed on this site.
If you are good at avoiding the occasional “pop-up” advertisement that appears on thissite, please take a look at //peekvid.com and enjoy movies on the internet!
Alice Says: This month I have been mostly learning about Japanese culture. I went to alecture about the making of sake – and we were able to sample some of the local products!
I also had the chance to practice music with a friend. We sat in the spring sunshine under
the cherry blossom trees by Ishite River – it was beautiful and very inspiring to makehappy music!!! I can understand why cherry blossom is so important in Japan!
Adrienne Says: Japanese people take their social duties very seriously. I’m always amazed by this. A

woman in my neighbourhood once told me that in Japan there is no excuse for not doing your duty, and she
wasn’t kidding! I have even seen mothers take very sick babies to PTA volleyball games because it was themother’s duty to play! And, very ill elderly women come to neighbourhood events and pass-out while making
taco-yaki because, well, it was their duty to do it! People seem very afraid of what others will say about them.

Greg Says: A little ray of sunshine entered into my world at 7:24pm on the 21st of
last month. Her name is Katie and she weighed 3500. All went well with deliveryand all is going well in the early stages of babyhood. Thank you to Joshua, Junko
and the staff of Crossroads for the lovely flowers which were so kindly sent andthank you to all the students who have passed on their best wishes.
William Says: The folk music of my home of Newfoundland wasderived from the traditions of Ireland, England, and Scotland. The
music sings of the ocean, the land, the fishery, and the shaping
elements of Nature - for example, the wind. These days Matsuyama isvisited by an unusually gusting wind...it reminds me of home.
Yuka Says: Time passes so quickly and it’s already March. Just 8 years ago, I came backfrom Tokyo. Since then I’ve been enjoying my life here in Matsuyama. Staying in one place is
comfortable because moving requires a lot of time and energy. But there is a problem, and it’squite serious. I feel my house is getting smaller and smaller. I mean I am surrounded by apile of things. Now is the time to start cleaning and doing away with unnecessary things.

Special from Suzuko – OUR TRIP TO GREECE, Part 2: It took 5
hours to fly from Doha to Athens. On the first day of sightseeing we went to Corinthos
where we saw the ancient canal that connects the Aegean Sea and the Ionian Sea. It wasbuilt in the 4th century BC. We also saw an ancient outdoor theatre there. The acoustics
were so good that when the tour guide ripped a piece of paper on the stage, we could
hear it all the way up to the top row of seats where we sat; no microphones, of course.
During our trip my husband became ill with “acute viral gastroenteritis”. Very
fortunately, we found a Greek doctor who could speak Japanese. Unfortunately, myhusband gave his stomach virus to most of the other members in our tour!

Congratulations from everyone atCrossroads to Greg and Kasumi on
the arrival of their new baby daughter,Katie.
Joy withher newbabysister.

It’s SPRING CAMPAIGNtime!!!
Sa, don’t forget to spread the word! Tell
your friends about these great offers…
* No Joining fee and* Up to 10% off tuition fees –for all those who join up next month!
* Also, there’s a present for you if
you introduce your friend!
Get the details from Junko at theoffice.

A little background musicfrom AdrienneCourses you can take at CROSSROADS
NET LESSONS: Are you too busy to come to come to
CROSSROADS to study? Try our lessons on the internet!
It’s CROSSROADS in your home or office! You get
CROSSROADS’ great teachers, teaching programs, evenclassmates, all on-line! Call for details. 089 921 7595

GENERAL COURSES:
2 x’s 60mins / week
1 x’s 90mins / week
Private 1 x / week
Semi-Private 1 x /week

NET SITE OF THE MONTH:

For those interested, here is a list of the all-time top 100
April Fools’ pranks:
http://www.museumofhoaxes.som/hoax/aprilfool/
NET NOTEBOOK: Don’t forget to take a look at theInternet activity notebook in our open-house. You’ll findgames, news and English learning sites.

FRENCH with Natacha
SPANISH with Patricio
RUSSIAN with Natasha
GERMAN with Marita & Matthias
CHINESE with Noriko
KOREAN with Kim

MOTHER & CHILD, group or private
KIDS, group or private
COSMOPOLITAN COURSES:“Singing in English” with Alice“Magic English” with Iain
Yoga with Dean
“Cooking in English” with Alice & Dean
Guitar with William
Piano with Adrienne
Acting with Alice
NETLESSONS:
group or private

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