What On Earth Is A Portmanteau?

This is a combination of "Fresh" and "Precious" used as the name of a water server. This is a uniquely Japanese portmanteau. 

 

"The Dog Days of Summer"

 Thanks to theidioms.com we have the meaning of this strange English phrase: 

Origin
This phrase originated from the belief of early Romans, Greeks or Egyptians that the hot summer days were caused by the Earth’s proximity to the dog star Sirius during the summer months. The Romans referred to the late summer period as dies caniculares, meaning dog star days. Source: www.theidioms.com

Because of other commitments in July and the Obon break in August, we'll only meet a couple of times in the heat of the summer. 

A Summery Summary

 Yes, "summery" is a word. It's getting warm, so I'm counting it as summery, even if the really hot weather doesn't arrive until July and August. 

Spring into Spring!

"Spring" is both a noun and a verb. As a noun, it is both a season of the year, and something that makes furniture and vehicle rides more comfortable. It can also be a welcome place to drink cool clear water in the mountains, can't it? As a verb, it can be a leap or a leak! You can spring into action, or your boat can spring a leak. See you at English Club! 

 

Plan C is the Final Plan (we hope!)

 

The reduction of quarantine time means we can have English Club on January 23 and 30. February 6 and 20 will remain unchanged as our dates for next month. 

New Year, New Variant!

OMICRON ate our first English Club of the new year! The quarantine restrictions prohibit us from leaving the apartment until the 25th, so the 30th will be our only time in January.

We have high hopes for February being a better month. Here are our dates:

 

You Can See the Future Here!

 

Here's our November schedule for English Club! 

In December we'll be taking a break (Christmas in the US!) but we'll be back in January, and after doing quarantine.