Lightning and thunder at dawn signal the arrival of spring
A few days ago, I was woken up by the lightning and thunder before dawn. “It is spring thunder(春雷-shunrai)! Spring is approaching!”, I got excited in bed and could not fall asleep anymore. When I got out of bed, I looked up the definition of the word “春雷”. “春雷”means thunder that forms from March through May, which signals the arrival of spring. It is also called “虫出しの雷(mushidashi-no-kaminari, meaning bug-poking thunder)”, because it wakes up the insects that has been hibernating over winter. My body and soul must have been longing for spring to arrive from recent extreme cold weather.
For ages, Japanese people reflected changes of four seasons onto their calendar. We have been embracing the seasons and lived with them side by side. We are feeling the seasons with our five senses.
Adult Courses’ New Year Celebration
On January 20th, the students of adult courses experienced calligraphy at our annual New Year Party. We invited our calligraphy instructor, Kawab
ata Sensei, and worked on words such as “福-fuku-Happiness”, “初雪-hatsuyuki-First snow”, “愛-ai-Love”, and “正月-shogatsu-New Year”.
A student who was trying again and again to write the same words commented, “Seeing Kanji and Writing Kanji are two completely separate things! Until now, I haven’t thought about spaces between small dots and spaces between lines…”. We calmed down our minds and concentrated on the art of calligraphy. It was a great experience at the beginning of the year.
Teachers Wanted!
To nurture the dreams and hopes of our students, we are looking for homeroom teachers, substitute teachers and learning support staff members. For details please contact: Tel. 610-642-1202, Email. staff@jlsp.us.
Top Readers’ Prize “Yokozuna”
Congratulations! You did it! Prizewinners, you have gained a lot of courage, spirit of adventure, kindness and thoughtfulness! ◆Preschool
3rd year: Ayu Nijinsky
◆Elementary school
1st grade: Ryu Hayashi
5th grade: Kaya Namura
5th grade: Nina Benioff
Announcements
Parent/Visitor Name Tags, absolutely a MUST!!
Last year, the consulate of Japanese foreign ministry conducted a site survey of JLSP’s security measure and a report has been issued. Although we received a high evaluation, some suggestions for improvement has been made. One of the suggestions was to wear the name tags 100% of the time. The name tag serves as ID and as permit to enter the school buildings. It also allows us to recognize/identify outsiders. Please wear it at all times!
Parking Duty
There is no parking duty while we are using the parking lots at Lankenau Hospital (January 6th to February 10th). After February 10t
h, normal parking duty resumes.
Preschool-Trial Class for preschooler of 2018
For children born between April 2nd, 2013 and Apr
il 1st, 2014
Time: February 3rd, 2018, 9:30 to 10:30
Place: Middle Building, 1st Floor, Room 10 (Multipurpose Room)
Please wear comfortable clothes, and bring 5-6 crayons and scissor
○Concurrently, we will hold an information session for parents
Time & Place: February 3rd, 2018, 9:30 to 10:30, Room 17
○We are planning to host a trial class for preschooler (3rd year) of 2018, on February 17h.
For details please contact JLSP office. Tel. 610-642-1202 (Tues-Fri, 10:00-14:00)
Cell. 215-901-8172 (Sat AM only), Email. staff@jlsp.us