July CROSSROADS Language Studio’s Newsletter 2007

“Lavender”! Even the sound of its
name invokes a sense of calm andtranquillity.
It has had a place in the minds and heartsof men and women since antiquity. A
native of Southern Europe and North
Africa, lavender’s uses have been
documented for over 2,500 years.
The word lavender comes from theLatin lavandus “to be washed,” or lavare,“to wash” and it has been cherished overthe centuries for its wonderful fragrance
and medicinal properties, not to mention
its uses in the culinary arts. Indeed, astaple of modern Southern Frenchcooking, “Herbs de Provence”, uses asavory herb blend with lavender as one of
the main ingredients. For the lessutilitarian among us, one can just simply
enjoy lavender as a naturally beautiful
ornamental shrub in the garden. To gazeat a single bush, or a field, of lavender inbloom has a therapeutic effect on mostpeoples’ senses.
The Egyptians used lavender in theirmummification rites and the ancient
Romans used lavender oils for bathing(the probable origin of the name), cooking
and scenting the air, as well as for itshealing and antiseptic qualities, and its
ability to deter insects!

Indeed, legends about lavender go all theway back to Adam and Eve who, it is said,
took lavender with them when they werebanished from the Garden of Eden.
Lavender is often mentioned in the Bible,referred to as “spikenard”, as it was called
then.
In Medieval times, people believed that across made of lavender hung over the door
would ward off all kinds of disease and evil.
Citizens of 17th century in London believedthat a bunch of lavender tied around theirwrist would protect them from the Great
Plague.
Also, there is lavender and Love! The
seductive power of its scent was used byCleopatra to entice Julius Cesar and Mark
Antony. Similarly, the Queen of Sheba
offeredspikenard(lavender)withfrankincense and myrrh to King Solomon.
In latter days, in Tudor times, if a maiden
wanted to know the identity of her true
love, she would sip a brew made withlavender on St. Luke’s day while softly
murmuring: “St. Luke, St. Luke, to me be
kind. In my dreams, my true love I wouldfind”!
Lavender! There are many elements ofnature that, without experience of them, thehuman race would not
be as it is today.

(These words are in colour in the story)
tranquillity 静穏 cherished 大事に育てられた culinary料理(法) staple主要テーマ
savory薫り高い utilitarian効能 gaze 見つめる deter 阻止する ward off 撃退する
entice誘惑する
brew (ラベンダー)で出した飲み物
murmuring つぶやき(ながら)Joshua
you arereally getting
goodat this “performancething”!
Last monthwebirthhad
JoshuaSays:
Says:Well,So, now
it’s number
three!
Congratulations
to Iainand Kyoko
on theourtheirsecondPerformance
Nightour newwas terrific!
Two classes
wrote
andofson,Kento. Kenis here
the inthirdbabybuilding,born toandourit staff
this year.
First, thestork
performed
thistime–
In(b)1
andlastterm’sperformers,
In(a)1.
Bothplays
wereveryfunny
andbrought Katie to proud dad Greg and mom Kasumi, next Natacha had her new baby son,Iamsure thelearnt
lot. Other
performers
wereDominic,
andstudents
now itswho
Iainparticipatedand Kyoko’s
turn;a twoboys anda girl, allin Adrienne’s
the same piano
year!
students,
Iain’smagic
students
andAlice’ssingers.
Checkoutthereport
ontheNotice
Board,
P3.
Watch out for some photos of Ken in next month’s newsletter. And Iain, “have a cigar!”Junko Says: Europe is experiencing one of the hottest summers in history thisyear. In fact, many people are dying from heat-exhaustion there. Until recently, I
believed that unusually hot summers were something far away. But not any more!
Now, towards the close of July, we are experiencing very hot weather. So, hang on
everybody! Get plenty of water and nourishment to fight, and overcome, the effectsof this heat and, wait patiently for Autumn to come around again.
Alice Says: Well, what do you think of the weather recently? Many people have told me howfrustrated they were by the typhoon because it prevented them from doing the things they planned.
Changing or canceling plans can certainly be irritating! However, “there are never problems, onlyopportunities!” Wise words. When you are stuck indoors because of the weather, why not follow thelead of some of our committed students who used the time to watch English movies on the internet?
Perhaps you could put your new English skills to the test and join an online chat group too!
Iain Says: On Monday, July 16th at 3:10 in the afternoon my son Kento was born after 9hours of labor. He weighed in at 7 pounds, that’s 3200 grams. I was there with Kyoko when
he was born. You’ll have to ask me personally for all of the gory details if you want to know.
One thing I will mention is that this hospital does “Kangaroo Care”. After the baby is born,instead of taking him away to another room, they put him on the mothers chest for twohours. He hardly cried at all. He just breathed normally! That was very interesting.
Adrienne Says: My cat Jack, who used to be the “back-up” cat, but who
became the main cat when his brother left home, is having emotional problems
again. He was a very nervous, insecure cat until his brother went away. Well,the other day, one of my sons brought home a small kitten with a broken leg.
The kitten loves Jack, but Jack does not return the love!
Greg Says: Many years ago in Scotland, a family had a dream to travel by ship to the USA. It
took years to save enough money. A few days before their planned departure, the youngest son
was bitten by a dog. The son was quarantined for 14 days because of rabies. His father was very
depressed as he stood on the dock watching the boat leave England without him or his family.
Five days later, the tragic news spread throughout Scotland that the mighty TITANIC had
sunk. Although we may not always understand at the time, all things happen for a reason!!!!
Dean Says: It must be baby season! Three people I know have justhad babies, including Iain and his wife! Congratulations! It seems
that as the rainy season finished, all these babies just started
popping out!! So, this July could be called the baby month. So, rainyseason, baby season and next it will be the hot season!

MY TRIP TO BELGIUM by Chiyoko (Mits. “B”)
I went to Belgium to see the sights, and to get there, I firsttravelled through France. While in France, I dropped in at theHenry Matisse Museum which is in a small town made famousby this museum. After that, I crossed the border into Belgium. TheKingdom of Belgium is surrounded by four countries. Its area is smaller
than Kyushu here in Japan, but the headquarters of the European Unionis located in Brussels, Belgium’s capital, so it’s important in Europe. I visited
Brussels, Mechelen, Gent, Antwerp, Brugge and other small villages andtowns with many museums where I saw a lot of cultural heritage sites and world
heritage sites. In a cathedral, I saw religious pictures. They were painted by Rubens,
Rembrandt and the Van Eyck brothers, Jan and Hubert. When I went on a picnic at asanctuary in the Zwin, I enjoyed bird watching. White storks build their nests on the rooftops ofhouses there. I enjoyed going down a cannel on a sightseeing boat. The carillon bells made me feelcalm. But when I took a horse and carriage to go sightseeing in the town, I felt I was being cruelto the horses and felt sad. Anyway, I enjoyed eating, travelling and sightseeing in Belgium.

Don’t missthis year’s Summer

Special guest, Y.
Horio-san andhis shamisen

Roof-top B-B-Q Party!
Sunday: September 16th
from: 5:00pm –Bring your favourite
food and drinks,…..
and invite yourfriends tocome along
too!

“The Alice Brown Trio”– with special thanks toKirin Pan on guitar andMasami on keyboards.

Adrienne in concert

A little background musicfrom Adrienne
Now wait,…I,…I know
the answer tothat question…

Iain, up to his old(and new) tricks
again.

Three of the prettiest
bells at the ball! - Yayo,
Setsuko and Yukiko

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.

NET SITE OF THE MONTH:
For lots of info about lavender, go to:
http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Lava_ang.html

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.

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

MOTHER & CHILD: group or private
KIDS: group or private

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

COSMOPOLITAN COURSES:“Singing in English” with Alice
Yoga with Dean
Guitar with William“Cooking in English” with Alice & Dean
“Magic English” with Iain
Piano with Adrienne
Acting with Alice
NETLESSONS:
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