NZ's favorite women's sport...

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What did I have for dinner tonight?
What was in it?
What is usually in it but wasn't tonight?
What did I forget?
What is NZ's most popular game for women?
What can you tell me aboutit?
List at least five countries that play netball.
What can you tell me about the bread I used for the steak sandwich?

See you tomorrow!

Hiroko's first game of golf!

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What did Hiroko think of golf before she played?
What does she think now?
Why did we only play nine holes?
What project is she working on?
What is the new word Hiroko learned?
What does it mean?
How many can you write down that I asked her?

We also visited the Rest Home for old people that Hiroko did her volunteer work in. It was her last chance to say goodbye to them. I was amazed to see how friendly the old people were when they said goodbye to her. I think it was agood experience for her.

See you tomorrow!

Cheap shopping

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The Warehouse is New Zealand's biggest discount shopping chain. What does "chain" mean in this last sentence? There are stores all over NZ like this one.

Can you list all the things I said The Warehouse sells?
Why do New Zealand people like The Warehouse?
What do Annalise and daniel like?
What is Annalise's favorite thing?
What do people sometimes think about The Warehouse? Is it true?
What was the weather like today.

Today we went to play golf but their was a competition on so we will play tomorrow. We still did some cool sightseeing and English study.

See you tomorrow!

Mountain biking...

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Does anyone know what the expression "sleep well tonight" means? Because I will sleep well tonight after today.

What did we do today?
Where did we ride?
What is bush?
What is the town Kati Kati famous for?
What did Hiroko do in Kati Kati?
Who were we meeting and why?

See you tomorrow!

blo-karts with Hiroko

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Sorry, I can not put our mid-winter Christmas video on the blog today. I t was on my father in-laws camera and he was emailing it to me but the file was too big. I hope I can put it on the blog another time.

Today was great. We walked along the beach and picked up shells. Had lunch on the beach and then went to Blo-Karts. Please watch the video and see if you think it looks fun. Here are the questions.

Who was best at blo-karts? Why?
What does Hiroko want to make?
What did we have for lunch?
Where is Hiroko going this afternoon?
What is a mural?

Raglan - Hiroko's first night...

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This video was of our first night in Raglan (Friday). See if you can answer these questions.

Why is Raglan famous?
What did we have for dinner?
What did Annalise have and what did it do?
What does Annalise like about Raglan?
What is the big news about today?

An interesting thing that happened today (Sunday) was the Polar Bear swim. This was a mid winter swim to raise money for charity. Do you understand this phase 'raise money for charity'?
It means to collect money to donate to something good. So in Raglan today people dressed in funny clothes and went for a swim in the cold water! Below are some photos. The first lady is wearing a wedding dress (she painted it for today) and the other is a man wearing a wetsuit with a bikini! The third is a man dressed as a baby.












Tomorrow will be our mid winter Christmas party in Raglan.

See you tomorrow

Raglan day 2

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It has been a great day here at Raglan. It really is a beautiful place. I went to the waterfall for the first time. See if you can answer these questions.

What did we have for dinner?
Why was it a special dinner?
What did Hiroko do today?

Tomorrow morning we are going to a midwinter swim. It will be very cold but lots of people will swim to raise money for charity. Do you understand this phrase? "raise money for charity"

We will stop in Hamilton tomorrow. It is a pretty 'river city'. We will meet my sisters family and walk along the river. We will feed some ducks!

see you tomorrow

Raglan

Hi everyone! Sorry no video today. We are at Raglan and I tried to download the video but it didn't work. I will try again tomorrow. Raglan is Roz's parent's place. It has sea views from every room except one.

It was a wonderful sunset tonight. Tomorrow I will try and get a video of it. Also tomorrow we are having a mid-winter-Christmas party. We will even have a Christmas tree. A Christmas party in June or July has become popular in NZ because in December in NZ it is summer so peopel like to have a "winter Christmas". Do you understand?
See you tomorrow!

date loaf and a fun game...

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We had a games night tonight with Hiroko's Homestay family. Hiroko has sore muscels today after yesterdays hiking. Can you answer these questions.

What was in the date loaf?
What was they new word?
What does it mean?
Can you give an example sentence using this word?
Who won the game?
Did you hear the names and ages of any of the family?

Tomorrow we are going to Raglan to my wife's family for two nights. Raglan is NZ's most famous surf beach. We are having a special party. Make sure you join us tomorrow and find out what kind of party it is!

See you tomorrow!

A great view with lots of sheep

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We climbed a hill today and it was awesome! Hiroko will 'sleep well tonight'. Is everyone familiar with that expression? It is very common after you have done a lot of exercise to say "I will sleep well tonight". Or someone will say to you. "You will sleep well tonight.

Here are a few questions.

What was Hiroko's new word today?
What does it mean?
What was the new sentence she learnt at her homestay?
What did the man say to her on the way up the hill?
What does it mean?
What is special about today in New Zealand?
What did Hiroko do at her volunteer work today?

O.K. See you tomorrow.

Jet boat ride/ What do Japanese like to eat?

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Hiroko and I went to Te Puke today. It is known as the "Kiwifruit Capital of the World". It is where most of New Zealand's kiwifruit comes from. We had a lot of fun. She went on a jet boat ride as well as a farm tour. Here are some questions.

What is "kibbled maze"?
What was feeding the animals like for Hiroko?
How was the jet baot ride?
What was our tour guides name?


There were some things she was very surprised at. One of them is in a picture below. Can you guess what they are? Japanese eat a lot of them!

Choosing a movie for tonight...

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We are watching a movie tonight. Choosing a movie is always difficult. I thought I would take you along with me tonight. This video shop is a couple of minutes from our house. Roz and I like watching DVDs. Do you? See if you can answer these questions.

What are 'New releases'?
What kind of movies does Roz like?
What kind of movies doesn't she like?
What kind of movie did I get?
How much was it?
Why was it cheap?
What is Tip Top?
What is the name of the old movie I talked about? Have you seen it?
What was on the front page of today's newspaper?

See you tomorrow!

Annalise and Daniel's Room

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Don't be discouraged if you can't understand everything in today's video! Kids are always hard to understand even for native speakers sometimes. So be encouraged by what you can understand! It is important to listen to as much English as you can.

Here is a few questions.

What time do they go to bed?
What is a "trick"?
What is a "top bunk"?

Is everyone watching Japan’s World Cup game tonight? Go Japan!

See you tomorrow!

Slang and Afternoon tea

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It is a cold Saturday here. But we have had a great day. Had lunch at my brother's house (Hiroko's homestay family) and then we had afternoon tea at my brother and sister in law's house. The video is at afternoon tea. See if you can answer these questions.

Who's place is it?
What are we eating?
What are they like?
What can you tell me about Si? (age, what does he do? etc....)
Who owns the house?
How big is it?
What does Kelly do?
What is the best thing she likes about teaching?
What does "pretty stoked" mean?
Who does Si think will win the soccer World Cup?
What does "far out" mean?
What does Simon coach?
Who is on his team?

Lost car....

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What kind of cookies are they?
What are in the cookies?
What was the "machine" called?
What are gumboots?
How did they loose the car?

If anyone wants the recipe for these cookies please email me. There is lots of chocolate in them. Emmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....... Yummy!

See you tomorrow!

Maori New Year

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Today's video is about stars and what they mean to Maori. Does everybody know who Maori are? They are the native people of New Zealand. Hiroko has gone to the 'Field-Days' today. This is New Zealand's biggest farming event. It has all sorts of interesting things to see and do.
I hope she has taken some photos. Here is a few questions from the video.

What is a constellation?
What does hazy mean?
If the stars look hazy what would that mean for the next year?
What is the boat made of?
Where is the Japanese restaurant?
What is the pub called?

see you tomorrow!

an amazing view

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It was great to take Hiroko up Mount Maunganui today. Afterwards we met Roz and the kids and had a coffee at a cafe (actually Hiroko had a mango tea) and the kids played on the beach. Hiroko picked up some nice shells. The beach was very quiet today as it is midweek and winter time.

See if you can hear what else Hiroko did today.
What was the new word she learned?
Why was the beach quiet today?

see you tomorrow.

Aussie Wine

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I am sorry that Japan lost against Australia. I was supporting Japan of course! So sad. I shouldn't have bought an "Aussie" wine tonight!

Can you answer these questions.

What was on at the supermarket today?
What kind of wines do I usually buy?
What is happening tonight?
What does "Aussie" mean?

Please try and write everything I say in the video and email it to me. I will email you back with a copy of what I said.

see you tomorrow!

Hiroko's first day

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It was Hiroko's first day today. We did some study in the morning, and did a little sightseeing in the afternoon. We went to an art gallery and a vineyard for some wine tasting. The wine was really good. She starts her volunteer work tomorrow. The weather was really wild today. Windy and rainy and then suddenly sunny. Crazy.

See you tomorrow.

Autumn and The Farmers Market

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Sorry about the quality of the video when I go inside. My camera is not very good in low light situations. Hiroko arrived today. She is doing our Fusion English program. You will see more of her over the next few weeks.

What can you tell me about her homestay family?

We went to the beach yesterday as well as the Farmers Market. We usually go there every Saturday. It is a small market but we like it!


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What can you buy at this market?
What is special about the fruit and vegetables?
What can you tell me about the bread?
Why were the children selling cakes?
What type of cakes did we buy?

See you tomorrow!

The beach

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We went down for a play at the beach today. See if you can answer these questions.

What time of day was it?
What can you do at this beach (but not today)?
What were the kids doing?
Was Papamoa (town's name) to the left or right?
When is Benjamin's birthday?
How old are Annalise and Daniel.

Don't worry if you can't undersatand much of what Annalise says. She has a cold and also doesn't make sense sometimes when she is excited.

Tomorrow Hiroko (she is a mixi person) is coming to Tauranga. She is doing our Fusion English program. We are looking forward to that.

The picture is of the fish the guys got a few minutes after I stopped the video. Most of the fish are 'Snapper'. I love the taste of snapper. Emmmmmmmm yummy! The red thing in the background is what takes the line and hooks out.

See you tomorrow.

このブログに皆さんの意見をどしどし寄せて下さい。英語ができない！と恥ずかしがらないで、上達のために、是非この機会を用いて下さい。そして色んな質問をお寄せください。皆さんのコメントをお待ちしています。「コメント」をクリックして、そこにメッセージを残して下さい。

The Mount, fashion, and models...

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So what was specail about today for Dainiel?
Why is Friday night good for Roz?
Who goes to the same preschool as Daniel?
What can you tell me about the book I just finished reading?

Roz loves this T.V. program (don't tell anyone but I do too)

http://www.upn.com/shows/top_model/

The next link is to some of the art work done by the poor kids the Irish lady has helped (the book I just finished today).

http://www.cncf.org/gallery/intro.asp

see you tomorrow!

NZ Theatre

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I took Daniel back to the doctor today and his broken collar bone is all better! Annalise is loving school but is finding it hard to make new friends as she is the "new girl" but this should get better soon. Today's blog is with my good friend Devon. Can you answer these?

What were we doing today?
What kind of shows (theatre) does Devon like?
What kind of shows are popular in New Zealand?
Who is the next show about?
Who is directing it?

One of my new mixi friends asked me a question about a special small mountain that is in our city (Tauranga). The name of the mountain is Mount Maunganui. It is wonderful to walk around and up it. I will leave you with a few pictures from the top of it with Yuka in it. She came out for our homestay/ English program (Fusion English ). See you tomorrow!

Cutting firewood

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Daniel goes to the doctor tomorrow for the last time. It looks like is broken bone is all better!

The New Zealand guy who has no legs but climbed Mount Everest had some fingers amputated today. He got frost bite on some fingers climbing Mount Everest so they have had to take them off. It is sad but he is still very happy because he sucessfully climb the worlds highest mountain. Amazing eh?

Here are few questions from today's video blog.

What did I say about the weather?
Why would Roz be mad with me?
What were we going out to do?

Tomorrow I am helping my friend Devon who is the actor make some things for their next show. I might get him to say hi and tell you about the show.

See you tomorrow!

wine, cheese, and a newspaper.......

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Does anyone else like wine?
Has anyone tried any NZ wine? How was it?
I hope everyone enjoyed meeting some of my family yesterday. They were staying at our place because it was a long weekend (Monday was a holiday). It is called Queens Birthday weekend. It is not the Queens birthday on that day but we have a holiday each year on that weekend. Funny eh? What queen am I talking about?

Since I am talking about my family. Here is a competition. I post a present to the first person who can guess how many brothers and sister I have.

It was really cold this morning. We had a little ice on our deck. We are lighting our fire at night and in the morning now. Maybe I should do a video blog and we can have a coffee and some homemade cookies in front of the fire. Make sure you ask me questions and make comments either here or on mixi!

See you tomorrow

このブログに皆さんの意見をどしどし寄せて下さ い。英語ができない！と恥ずかしがらないで、上達のために、是非この機会を用いて下さい。そして色んな質問をお寄せください。皆さんのコメントをお 待ちしています。「コメント」をクリックして、そこにメッセージを残して下さい。

What do New Zealanders eat for breakfast?

Join us for breakfast?


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What does "yummy" mean?
What do you have with Weet-bix?
What do you do with Vegemite?
What does "homemade" mean?

Today was a holiday. It was a holiday to celebrate the Queens birthday?

Which queen's birthday are we celebrating?

See you tomorrow!

Meet a University Student and Graduate (my nieces)

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These are my nieces Kylie and Jodie. Kylie lives in one of the most beautiful places in N.Z. Here a link to a few photos she showed me today.

http://www.spaces.msn.com/rogerandroz/

Here are few questions about the video.

What does Jodie study?
What year at university is she?
What does she do in the weekends?

What does Kylie do?
Where does she live?
What is her favourite movie?

See you tomorrow!

Daniel and Annalise's "play house" /Christmas breakfast

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Daniel and Annalise made a house today. See if you can understand about their house.

Tomorrow my brother and his family are visiting us. They have one daughter who has just graduated and the other who is studying to be a doctor. So I will have them on the Blog tomorrow. If you have any questions for them please ask me (use comments or mixi). It should be interesting to find out about life for students or new graduates in New Zealand.

Do you want to meet my brother and his family now? Watch the second video. It is of my brother and his family as well as my mother. It was last Christmas and we had a "Champagne Breakfast" at my sister's house on Christmas day.


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What did we have for breakfast?
What do you think "bubbly"is?
What is in the bubbly?

See you tomorrow!

I am too heavy!

This is important. I must lose weight. I am too fat. Look at the the photo? Can you see how many kilograms I weigh? I will start exercising tomorrow.

A popular American T.V. program in NZ is "The Biggest Loser". Do you have these kind of T.V. shows in Japan?

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/video/specialedition/

Today Roz and I went to one of the most famous tourist cities in New Zealand. It is about 50 minutes from our city.

http://www.rotoruanz.com/jpn/index.htm (Japanese)
http://www.rotoruanz.com/home.asp (English)

Just a short video today. See if you can write down everything I say.

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Oh yeah! Our kittens are doing really good.

See you tomorrow. (I hope I have done some exercise)

Join me on my morning walk!

Today was another gorgeous day! I went on my morning walk and thought you might like to come! As I say in the video you would think because I walk nearly everyday I would be thin. But I am not. The photo was taken today. How heavy do you think I am (how many kilograms do I weigh)? Can you guess. Tomorrow I will tell you and also tell you an important decision I have made.

I had a meeting today with the manager of a Rest Home. A Rest Home is a place where old people live and can be cared for. I talked to him about Japanese students that come and do our Fusion English Program doing Volunteer Service there. It was very interesting but also sad. I think a lot of the old people are lonely and don't have a lot of people to talk to. I hope I can send some volunteers to help.

Here is the video. Please join me on my morning walk and see if you can answer the questions.


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What kind of city is Tauranga?
What do I do on my walks?
What do I need to do?
What do the nice homes have?
What are some questions I ask you?
What is my last sentence?

What do gorgeous and thin mean?

See you tomorrow. And remember I have something important to tell you.