February CROSSROADS Language StudioÊs Newsletter 2006

It’s carnival time!
It’s February and in thestreets of many cities allover the world it’s Carnival
Time! In Rio de Janeiro
Brazil, it is Carnival andSamba. In Venice Italy, there’s
the famous Carnevale diVenezia, and, of course, inNew Orleans Louisiana,
Flamboyance and Power- Rio
there’s Mardi Gras.
These are just three of the many famouscarnivals celebrated during this month. But
why February? And when did it all start?
In spite of its boisterous nature, Carnival,believe it or not, comes from a Catholicreligious festival celebrating the start oflent, a time when Catholics are not supposed
to eat meat for 40 days before
Easter. The name itself comesfrom
theItalianword,carnevale, literally “to putaway the meat” or “to throw
the meat out”! (Somehow theimage of Brazil’s buxom
samba dancers just doesn’tquite fit with this notion, orStyle, Elegance andthen again on second thought,
History – Venicemaybe it does…)

For the roots of Carnival, however, somehistorians would have us go back to theancient Romans. In mid February, theRomans celebrated the “Lupercalia”, a circus
like festival not entirely unlike Carnival as it
is celebrated in many countries today.
When the early Christians tried to spreadtheir faith, they decided it was better toincorporate certain aspectsof pagan rituals rather thanattempt to abolish them.
Carnival evolved into aperiod of gay abandonment
and merriment (some would
say taken to extremes) thatpreceded the penance ofLent.
A mix of Old World and
New - New Orleans
In Rio, it has evolved into
wild Samba dancing, extravagant floats andbreath-taking feathery costumes.
Along the famous streets of water inVenice its exquisitely crafted masks,
beautiful costumes, elegance, and intrigue –in a carnival dedicated to abandonment
behind an anonymous mask!
New Orleans’ Mardi Gras seems to be a
mix of both, floats, costumes and masks, plus
a lot of ….JAZZ!

(These words are in colour in the story)
boisterous 騒々しい buxom 豊麗で快活な abolish 廃止する abandonment 放棄
merriment快楽
penance苦行
extravagant贅沢に飾りたてた
exquisitely 絶美絶妙に
intrigue好奇心
anonymous 身元不明のJoshua Says: Well, the big news is that Steve and Magnolia havedecided to move on from Crossroads to pursue their own agenda. On
behalf of the staff, and, I’m sure, our students, we all wish them thebest of luck in their future. Their contribution to our school has beenmuch appreciated – a big thanks to you both!
Junko Says: I am sad that Magnolia and Steven will be leaving us. As much as it saddens me
to see them leave, I take heart in the knowing that Natacha will be returning in March. Many ofyou will remember her as our very popular English as well as French teacher. We’re very happy
to announce that she’s rejoining our staff. And, we will have a new Guitar and Drum teacher too!
William is a professional musician and we look forward to him joining us in March.
Greg Says: By the time you read this the winter Olympics would have come and gone. It was good tosee Australia win a Gold medal for the second winter Olympics in succession. I don’t think anything will
ever surpass the way Australia won its first ever winter gold medal back in Salt Lake city four years ago. Itwas won by Steven Bradbury, a short-track skater from Sydney. He qualified for the final after several
skaters fell down in front of him. In the final, everybody except him fell on the last turn, giving him gold.

Iain Says: I’m going to America for the first time in two years. I’ll beaway from Monday the 20th of this month to the 17th of next month.
Since I’ve been away my grandfather and my dog passed away, but myyounger sister gave birth to two children! A lot has changed, but it will
be good to get back. I’ll see you all again when I return next month!

Steven & Magnolia Say: February will be our last monthteaching with Crossroads. We would like to send a special
thank-you to all of our students for such an enjoyable year.
We wish the new teacher all the best and thanks toCrossroads for being such a great place to work.

Marita Says: On February 3rd I went to the Ishiteji Temple and I was really
impressed by the number of visitors there. It was the first time for me tocelebrate the coming of spring on setsubun. What a nice custom. It is said thateating as many beans as you count in years brings you happiness and health.
How do older people get along with it, I asked myself, counting my years...
Yuka Says: It looks like the flu is around. I heard lots of people eat hotchicken soup when they have a cold. I don’t usually eat chicken meat, but I’msure chicken soup is helpful. And here is a book I found for our mental health –“Chicken Soup for the Soul” contains more than a hundred stories which give us
a warm feeling all over. I hope you will also enjoy reading this book also.

A Special Article form our student Shinobu Nakao, Architect:

Architects not only design and draw the plans of a building, they act as the mediator between
the client and the contractor. They also make sure a building’s design, construction, costing andbuilding permission meet local government (or private) building standards. They make a contract
with the client agreeing to undertake these assignments and in doing so they guarantee thebuilding’s quality. This commitment is made at the time the client submits a building project(with drawings) to local authorities and asks for building permission to begin construction.
The client, by this time, has selected the best construction company for his needs (usually thecheapest) and the architect checks the company’s estimation sheets.
During construction, the architect inspects the site and supervises the construction process(once a week is common practice).
With an architect in control of a project, all of the materials and finishings (even down to thedoor furniture, etc.) are designed and planned in order to coordinate with the available space.

NEW START FOR OUR GUITARENGLISH CLASSES

Guess whosecoming back to town…!?
Natacha will be here in
March to join us as afull-time teacher(thistime)and we all welcome her back.
Many of you have already expressedexcitement about this and we are
all waiting impatiently for her return– get ready for the FUN!!!

OUR NEW GUITAR-ENGLISHLWSSONS WILL BE ON THURSDAYS
AT 8:00PM AND OUR NEW
TEACHER IS WILLIAM FROMCANADA. WILLIAM HAS ALREADY
MADE 3 CD’S IN CANADA AND IS
WORKING ON A NEW CD HERE IN
MATSUYAMA. HE HAS ALSO HAD ALOT OF EXPERIENCE TEACHINGENGLISH IN JAPAN SO WE ARELOOKING FORWARD TO
WATCHING HIS STUDENTS
PROGRESS ONTWO
FRONTSGUITARANDENGLISH!

Courses you can take at CROSSROADS
NET LESSONS:

Are you too busy to come to CROSSROADS to study? Try ourlessons on the internet! --- It’s CROSSROADS in your homeor office! You get CROSSROADS’ great teachers, teaching
programs, even classmates, all on-line! Call for details.

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:
Follow the links in French or English for info on yet GERMAN with Marita
another famous February Carnival:
SPANISH with Leo
http://www.nicecarnival.com
RUSSIAN with Natasha
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 Bam & Natacha
CHINESE with Noriko
KOREAN with Kim

MOTHER & CHILD, group or private
KIDS, group or private
COSMOPOLITAN COURSES:“Singing in English” with William
Yoga with Natacha
Guitar with William“Cooking in English” with Natacha“Magic in English” with Iain
Piano with Adrienne
Drumming with WilliamNETLESSONS:
group or private

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