What Lawrence Browne had said in January 10, 2016

January 10 --30, 2016
What Lawrence Browne had said in Yokohama
Lawrence is a classmate of Professor Kevin Mark of Meiji University.
He met Kevin at Yokohama International School in third grade at the age of 9.
Later both went to England and became students, met again at spiritual gathering and once more in Cathay Pacific airline where Lawrence had to move from the first class overbooked to Economy where he will sit right next to Kevin.
I had a chance to meet him once before through Kevin. I showed him his old office building of Butterfield and Swire in Yamashitacho, today Soka Gakkai use it for their Toda Peace Memorial Museum. His father was the branch manager when he was in YIS and later moved to Hong Kong and London where he became the chairman.
We spent the tour of Yokohama Foreign Cemetery to Motomachi to China town.
There are many things he had taught me and some I would like to share.
He married to a Chinese in Australia and has a daughter and he had taught English teachers in Korea through the Ministry of Education of Korea.
There are many things he had taught me but two I remember now, they are:
1)Koreans are known for Shamanism like Okinawa and many of them became evangelical Christians, so churches are not organized by denominational group. In Korea there 40% Christians and 40% Buddhists. Why they became Christians were the fact in colonial Korea Christians w ere helping the natives and as America won the war, it became a symbol of success and winner.
Korean Buddhism is only one denomination of Zen.
2) He thinks China should be broken down to four or more nations; it would work better.  He is very much concerned of air pollution of China and also Korea.  He thinks Korea could clean the air but not doing it. He thinks cleaning air is the symbol of "developed" nation and Japan is one of them. They can clean the air but not doing it.
Gto

December 13, 2015: Blog of thoughts

December 13, 2015
Dear Friends and Students
I went two Churches today. One is a Quaker meeting and the other  Anglican Christmas service. One was a quiet meeting but today we had two people inspired and stood up and talked.  The first was about a person who went to legal registration of the Religious Organization and met a clerk who had a good view of the Christians because when she travel the Eastern Europe the nuns were very kind to her and left good inspiration of Christians to her.
The other was very interesting to understand why Quakers behave that way and what is the principle of Quakers. Our leader this year and long time religion teacher of Furendo Gakuen stood up and talked about Mary(Maria).  Usually this time of season , they will talk about the birth and how people are waiting for Mary with a new born king.
But she talked about how people in Israel told Mary that they were disappointed with him not saving them but being crucified and did nothing what he was talking or promised.
Mary was not totally disappointed with what happen.  She thought of the days her son, Jesus preached and shared his thoughts and lived together and inspired many when he was in Galilee.
When thinking of the days in Galilee, Jesus, her son, had inspired so many people and there were followers followed his preaching/teaching and led vigorously followed his compassionate lives.

 I can't totally express what came into my thoughts today, that is why it is in our inner spirit rather than verbalized expression what matters.

At 6 o'clock I visited the Anglican Christmas held every year at this time because many foreign families will go back to their home countries.
It was a solemn mass with beautifully arranged choir singing and short sermon given by multi racial members.
The whole thing is well done.  Rev. or Father Andrew, a young single Englishman did very well and the whole setting was superb and I think it is the best in Bluff, Yokohama.
I don't know why Japanese keep St. Andrew's Cathedral as their diocese head church.
The whole setting of the mass is to prepare people for the birth of Jesus Christ, savior and king to bed born, with the impressive candle lighting  being lit by the altar boys and beautiful voice of choirs with the Reverend conducting it. You feel the organized and calmness of the church of England residing over us.
 GtO

December 4, 2015; Blog Friday

December 4, 2015
Dear Friends and Students
Thursday, we covered Chapter 11, Music and Fashion of UK.
Friday, we had a presentation on Biography, well done, we would continue with the presentation and work on Geography.
Friday, Core, Cover Unit 10 of Interchange, exchange Journal; News discussion.
Academic Skills: Continue listening and solving the problems of Task 5: First and Second Language Acquisition.

November 30, 2015; Blog Monday

November 30, 2015
Dear Students
We had our Monday's Speaking and Listening's classes. We covered listening of Unit 5 twice, mainly on traveling  and numbers. We would listen and discuss on "Traveling, planning a tour with schedule and cost for coming traveling plan."  We would listen again to the Unit again. We should cover two units this month and another two units next month.
I would collect your notebooks on December 21 and grade your journals(assignments).

November 23, 2015, Monday, Ferris

November 23, 2015
Monday, Ferris
We had classes even it was a national holiday.
We covered all of Unit 4,
positive thinking.
We want you to write and speak on
Tell us about a story turn out to positive result.
Thank you

GtO

November 15, 2015 Blog Sunday

November 15, 2015 

Blog Sunday

I went to St. Andrew's Cathedral on Saturday for the Anglican commemorating 130th yea.

I heard they are Anglican, Church of England, and surprisingly very influential group called Episcopal Church in the USA. I was told by many I fit this group not the Religious Organization of Friends. So I was curious and attended their Sunday in Christ Church Yamate, both English and Japanese and the cathedral on Saturday.

I found out they are very closed group and the new comers had a hard time befriending them.

Buddhism in Japan is obliged membership and for many years you had to have your temple or you can not even die.

Christians were persecuted for hundred of years and spread among the Samurai classes of the eastern Japan. So they carry arrogant silent way of running their churches.  Anglicans or Seikeokai in Japanese is the best among the arrogant Japanese Christian carrying the English class arrogance. They claim they are Protestants with the Catholic rituals, mixed of the two.

I think I belong to the Religious Organization of Friends, Zen-Christian, very liberal group and the most democratic group. 

Whatever it is , it is the matter of our Inner Voice.

GtO

November 14, 2015 Blog Saturday

November 14, 2015
Saturday Blog
Today I went to Ikuta Campus of Meiji University
we had completed Unit 5 and spoke on long time friends.
Next: we would cover Unit 6 and presentation(speak) on summer holidays when you were a child,
your school days,
working in a terrible job,
a time you were ill
GtO