Happy May, everyone! Let's keep our fingers crossed that we've seen the last of the cold weather for a while. I've just put away our gas fan heaters and hot carpet so we better not have any surprise snow storms! Nevertheless, we were fortunate to have a beautiful cherry blossom season, giving us a chance to enjoy the blossoms for a couple of weeks and shake off the winter blues! Also, the garden across the street from Oregon Language School has been especially beautiful this spring – I hope you take a few minutes to enjoy it!

  We're in the middle of an extra-long Golden Week and welcoming the new Reiwa Era in Japan – a major event! I wonder what impact this change will have on this country and the rest of the world in the years to come.

  You may have recently noticed some new faces in your class at Oregon Language School as new students have been enrolling for the new school year. Please say "Hello" and help us welcome them to OLS. Thank you all for your patience as we were setting up the new class schedule – we make every effort to place our students in the most suitable classes. We look forward to helping you with your English studies this year – our students are the best!

  Have a great month, and see you in class ………….

　皆さん、5月ですよ！ここのところの寒い日はこれが最後であると思いたいですね。私はガスファンヒーターとホットカーペットを調度かたずけたところです。ですからもう突然雪が降ったりするのは勘弁してほしいですね！色々寒かったりしましたが、今年の桜は2週間ぐらい楽しめ冬の鬱々とした気分を拭い去ってくれました！またオレゴン外語スクールの向かいの庭は今年の春は特に見事に花が咲いてきれいですね – 皆さん少しだけ楽しんでみてください！

　今ちょうど長いゴールデンウィークの真っただ中です。そして日本は新しく令和の時代を迎えますね – 大きな行事です！この変化が今後わが国や世界の他の国にどのような影響を及ぼすのでしょうか。

　新年度になってオレゴン外語スクールに新しい生徒さんたちが入ってくれました。皆さんの中には気が付いている人もいるかもしれませんね。ですから皆さんハローと言って、ようこそOLSへと歓迎してくれると嬉しく思います。それから新しいスケジュールの調整にご協力頂きどうもありがとうございました – 私たちは一番最適なクラスに生徒さんが入れるように最大限の努力をしています。今年も英語の勉強をお手伝いすることを大変楽しみにしています – 私たちの生徒さんは最高です！

　それでは良い月を過ごしてくださいね、そしてまたクラスでね・・・・・・・・・

Have You Heard This One?

  With the price of gas going up again, I begin to wonder if the politicians in Tokyo think that "the sky's the limit" when it comes to spending our tax money! If "the sky's the limit", this means there is no restriction or limit on the amount of money you can spend – and I think most politicians believe this, don't you?! We also use this expression when treating our family or friends to a nice dinner – it means they can order anything on the menu, no matter what the cost is. Perhaps our politicians have become too accustomed to being treated to nice dinners where "the sky's the limit"! They should change their thinking!