In June the boys went hiking in Shiga on the north of side of Lake Biwa. This hike is the most memorable for me. I love waterfalls and Yotsubuchi no Taki is known for its eight waterfalls. Each one is beautiful and the higher you climb the better it gets. What made this the best hike was the climb using ropes, chains, ladders, and questionable bridges. You don't need any hiking gear but using running shoes might have you slipping around. Here are some pictures of the hike. I recommend this hike! Once you climb up it's a couple more hours across the ridge and down to the train station again. This hike took us about eight and a half hours to complete (after leaving the breakfast house). We didn't push hard, took lots of pictures, and rested many times.

For a long time I've thought about how to make studying and practicing English more fun. I am slowly putting together online activities and games but the system is not yet user friendly. So now I am testing blog posting directly from the cell phone. Then no one needs to be at a computer and online to make a post! Yeah! I have a lost of wasted time while travelling.

this message is from my phone. just testing it out!

I downloaded Windows Vista RC1 and installed it on my PC. I have to say, it's pretty amazing! The GUI (graphics user interface) is beautiful and even my 2 and a half year old computer can run most of the special effects. At first my sound didn't work, but I could download drivers from my card's manufacturer's web site easily. I also installed my graphics card drivers. I didn't have to download Canon Pixus printer drivers because Windows Vista already supports it and the drivers look similar to the XP version.

The biggest change other than appearance is the new security function. Every time you or a program wants to access a sensitive area of the computer, such as the control panel or user administration, a special pop-up box double checks that you want to do this. You can deny the program access or grant it permission to access or open the data. I think it's great, but can get pretty annoying. However, most people wouldn't see that pop-up box very often.

I also downloaded and installed MS Office 2007 beta. This beta is for testing and costs $1.50 US to download but comes with the full suite. Office 2007 also looks great but the GUI is very different than previous versions. I kind of like the new interface but it takes some getting used to.

Office 2007 beta will expire in December and Windows Vista will expire next June.

I am also testing out another beta program from Microsoft called Writer. This program is for making Blogs right from your desktop. It works like MS Word and I can connect directly to English-Japan.com and post a blog. In fact, this post, the one you are reading, I did using only MS Writer and didn't open my web browser (also a beta version of Internet Explorer 7).

I'm looking forward to the official release of both Windows Vista and Office 2007.

I have some ideas to make unique lesson plans so I've been honing my skills with graphics editing. What I've done here is took three different pictures and combined them into one, to make them look like they fit together. It's my first try and, if I do say so myself, it's not too bad! Of course it's not perfect, but I was just playing and only spent an hour learning how to do it.

Hopefully I can get better and make some useful lesson plans for all to use!

Elephant in the river test

crazy hotIt's hot. Real hot. When I came into the teacher's room this morning around 8:20 am it was already 32 degrees inside. And of course it got hotter as the day went on. My public school doesn't have any air conditioning for the teachers or the students. I've been using my notebook computer all day and I think it's running hotter than me. Thankfully, I was just blessed with ice cream from the school's refrigerator. Ah, sweet, sweet goodness. Ice cream never tasted better

What's the best way to escape the summer heat? Except for leaving the country or having pockets full of dry ice, what can we do?

After walking 15 to 20 minutes to the station, standing on a train for almost an hour, and again walking for 10 minutes home from the station, I'm pretty hot. One of the best feelings after getting home is splashing water on my face and rinsing my hair in the bathroom sink (it's a fancy sink like at a hair salon where the tap comes off). Next thing, beer. You gotta have a cold beer and it must be a tall 500ml can, no exceptions. Then just sit and wait for the air conditioner to pour out frosty cool air.

Torani Mango SyrupIf beer isn't to your liking then you should try an Italian Soda. You only need two ingredients, both pretty easy to find. First you need a shot of flavored syrup poured onto ice. Seattle's Best Coffee has a good selection of syrups and one large 700ml bottle costs 1500 yen. Then you fill up your glass with Club Soda or Sparkling Water. I've tried Suntory, Asahi, and Perrier and they all taste the same. I usually drink Mango syrup, but Passion is also very good. Give it a try! You can also buy the same drink from Fred's Cafe on the Hankyu line (Kansai area).

I'd like to know how you escape the heat!