Keeping only the things spark joy

I have been working on decluttering according to the following app.

KonMari

This morning I began decluttering “paper”, which was  a great challenge for me.
I have kept too much paper including receipts, handouts, instruction manuals, and etc.

I already finished decluttering “clothes” and “books.”
It was a lot of fun, because the app guides me what to do step by step.

My new year's resolution is to to keep only the things spark joy!

108 sun salutation

This morning, I went to yoga class and did 108 sun salutation for the first time in my life.

It was OK until the instructor let us know it was the 100th sun salutation but suddenly I couldn’t brace myself on my arms when I tried the 101st one.

Anyway, I followed the instruction by the instructor until the end.

When I finished the sun salutation I sweat a lot and I felt refreshed!

Christmas party

Yesterday I attended a Christmas party at my favorite cafe.

The food served at the party was just amazing!

The couple who married a couple of months ago cooked the mediterranean dishes for us.

The husband is a Greek-Canadian and his wife is a Japanese.  They are a lovely couple!

I enjoyed the food I rarely eat including turkey, root crop saute, pottage of lentils, quinoa salad, pumpkin tart, rice malt bread.

Stollen she baked was tasty, too.  She said that she loves baking stollen, so she bakes it almost every day.

I had a good time with wonderful people.

Lovely Christmas present

Yesterday I received a lovely Christmas present from one of the staff members at Starbucks I always stop by.

I am always grateful for her warm hospitality ❤️

Banana pancake

This morning I baked "Banana pancake."

I also simmered an apple, a potato, and raisons as topping for the cake.

The texture of the pancake was fluffy and the combination of the pancake and the topping was awesome!

The recipes are as follows:

<Banana pancake>

INGREDIENTS (For four to five servings)

banana : 1
weak flour (cake flour) : 6 tablespoons
baking powder : 2/3 teaspoons
salt : dash
soy milk : 5 tablespoons

coconut oil : 1 tablespoon

1. mash a banana to a pulp with a fork
2. put the flour, baking powder, salt and soy milk into 1 and mix them with a spoon.

3. put the coconut oil in the pan.
4. pour 2 in the pan and cover it with the lid.

<simmered apple, sweet potato & raisons>

INGREDIENTS (For four to five servings)
apple : 1
sweet potato : 1
raisons : adjust to suit your needs
salt : dash
rum : splash

1. cut an apple and a sweet potato into bite-size chunks.
2. put 1 into the pan and simmer for a while.
3. add raisons, salt, rum into 2.

I visited Wakayama.

Yesterday I visited Wakayama with my best friend.

She drove all the time.  I hope to drive again next year!

First we visited "Toretore market," which sells a voluminous number of souvenirs in Wakaya as well as serves seafood meals.

https://en.visitwakayama.jp/venues/venue_75/

The meals were yum and had reasonable price.

I enjoyed eating Toretore set, which includes soba noodle and a bowl of rice topped with deep-fried prawns.

After having the meal, we visited "Senjojiki." 

There were few people there and it was such a quiet spot that I felt comfortable with the sound of the waves.

Then we move to "Engetsuto."

It has a unique shape and I loved staying there for a while because it led to the purification of my mind and body.

Anyway I want to come back to "Toretore market"!

I'm sure you will like the market, too!

Start working at a new workplace from April

I left the previous workplace last March and struck out on my own.

However, I realized how much I loved teaching English and serving my students while I was working by myself for half a year.

I was too sick both physically and mentally to breathe everyday.  I felt so stressful in staying home.  I had no energy to practice yoga, which was one of my favorite exercises.  Furthermore, I had little appetite, so I lost four kilograms in a month.

My best friend was so worried about me, and advised me to go back to an English teacher.

As soon as she said that, I was so relieved because her words prompted me to decide to go back to teaching world.

I was so lucky to find a part time job as an English teacher until next March.  Since I started teaching English again and was thrown in with a group of students, I revived and enjoy working outside.

I am starting working at a new workplace from April as a full-time teacher.

I will serve my future students going back to basics.

I have started QQEnglish online course

I started QQEnglish nine days ago and take 25-minute lesson every day.

http://www.qqeng.com/

I take the course called "topic conversation."

Every instructor is very friendly and I like the way they ask several questions to me.

All of the instructors who gave the lesson to me were the Filippinos.  Some of them speak English like native speakers of English.

I feel faintly sorry that I can't book the lesson from my favorite instructors, because their classes have been already booked by other students.

Anyway today's instructor was very beautiful and her English was perfect.

My goal is to have perfect confidence in speaking English in everyday situation. 

A new encounter at Starbucks

I go to the Starbucks near my house almost every day after I finish my work.

Whenever I order a drip coffee there, the staff serve me a blanket so that I will feel warm during the stay.

Recently I got a special invitation postcard for 25% discount from one of the staff members.

The message she wrote on the card was heartwarming:

"I was so happy and energized when you talked to me and smiled at me."

Just the same feeling goes with me.  She always smiled at me and talked to me so friendly.

She and I have so much in common.