Early this month, I went on a hiking trip with Dave and our friend Tex, who lives in Nagoya. Tex and I have gone hiking together a few times in the past, but this was our first time to do a proper hike on a snow-covered mountain in winter. We were very glad to have Dave’s experience this time!

The climb was tough, and we only had one pair of snowshoes. Fortunately, the snow wasn’t too deep in most places, and our trekking poles were good enough to get us to the top.

After seeing the beautiful view from the top and resting a short while, we started down the mountain. Going down was MUCH faster than going up - we just sat down in the snow, then slid down the slope as far as we could. It was as like an amusement park, only cheaper!

明けましておめでとうございます。年末から寒波がやってきて冬らしい寒さでしたが、新年の明けた2日目今日は穏やかな岡山市らしい陽気さです。元日には実家の方にある羽黒神社へ行きましたが、子供の頃は児島の由加山さんへ初詣へ行くのが好きでした。今では横着を認め、NEOの最短距離にある内宮さまへ毎年参っています。自宅ですることがない子供たちを黙らせるため、今年はおみくじを引かせてやりました。英語ではおみくじを引くのをdraw a fortune slipと言いますがあまり風情はなく残念です（引き分けのdrawや絵を描くのdrawと同じ）。

11歳児は大人のおみくじを引き、私が英語に訳す羽目に…「恋愛」「健康」の項目まではよかったけれど、小学生には関係なさすぎの「裁判」「失物」や「待ち人」の項目には私がしどろもどろ。8歳児はこどもみじくを引き、どちらも吉でした。はて、吉と小吉、どちらが上だったっけ？？？

吉だったので、持ち帰るのではなく木の枝へ結べば？と言えば「なんで結ぶん？」と聞かれ、ここにお賽銭を入れてと言えば「なんでお賽銭っていうん？」と質問だらけ。天満宮はお勉強の神様よと言えばだれが決めたん？とどめはお稲荷さんを祀っている祠を指して「なんでこの中におるん？」と聞かれ、正月早々に「そんなん知らんがな！！！」と叫びました。修業が足りません。

今年は干支では寅年。我が家に年男が一人おりますが、名前に「竜」が入っているせいで親でさえ辰年生まれと勘違いし、本人には寅の気配もありません。ただやっぱり性格は寅年が当たっているように思えます。正義感が強く頑固です。次男は巳年生まれ。さすが巳年生まれだけあって光り物が大好きです。クリスマスが過ぎてもなおNEOにツリーが出たままなので片付けさせましたが、喜んで光り物を触っていました。

Dave-sensei was on "Let's Enjoy English!" on Radio MOMO (79.0 FM) . Dave and D.J. Chiaki Kamibeppu talk in English and Japanese about Dave’s new house and a review of 2021. Click the button below to listen.

Dave-sensei will be on Radio MOMO (79.0FM) with D.J. Chiaki Kamibeppu on Thursday, December 23rd (today!), at about 5:40 pm. They will talk in English and Japanese about Dave’s new house and a review of 2021.

12月23日（木）5時40分ごろにDave先生がRadio MOMO (79.0FM) に出演します（DJは上別府千晶さん）。英語と日本語の両方で感謝祭とDave先生の家と2021年について話します。

• http://www.fm790.co.jp/

Since I was born, having a Christmas tree in the house during December has always been one of my traditions. Me and my family would go buy a tree and decorate it together. It would usually stand as tall as the ceiling. There was always a strong smell through the house, a sign that Christmas was almost here.

Coming to Japan, this tradition had to change a little. In my first few years I never had a tree and it felt like something was missing every year. I eventually bought a cheap, reusable one. But when I moved to Okayama City, I decided to not bring it with me, only to realize that year it felt like something was missing at Christmas time once again.

So, recently I decided to order myself a new tree online and it finally came. And now that I have one, it once again feels like Christmas is on its way. I think the traditions we have for holidays are important to maintain, or else the spirit of those holidays can fade away.

How have you all been doing recently?

It's been getting colder and colder and I'm freezing in the cold..

Please stay warm and healthy！

I played Othello for the first time in a while.

I can't remember when I played it last.

I was very excited to see an Othello set at a store, so I felt like playing it.

We had a lot of free time at home and I just wanted to try something else that we hadn't done before and we decided to play it.

I thought I would win but opposite to my expectations, he had good strategies to win...so he won.

I felt that the rules were very simple but actually they weren't.

I hoped to win and it made me frustrated！

Next time, I will win against him!

週末にオセロを何年ぶりかにしました！

オセロゲームのセットを見つけて懐かしい気持ちになり、勝負を挑んだもののぼろ負けしてしまいとても悔しかったですが、非常に楽しかったです！

Do you like board games?

Have you played one?

If you have, please share your experience with me！