Saffle Says --- Lessons for English Learners

Mustache March

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:15:55 PST

Hello from Washington D.C.

It's March first and unseasonably warm outside. In fact, this winter was one of the most unseasonably warm in recent memory. It's 68 degrees right now! That's Spring weather not winter weather and winter isn't supposed to end until 3/21. I'm not complaining.

In fact, it is so warm, I shaved off the beard. Now I'm wearing a mustache which makes my neck a lot cooler. When it gets to the 80s and 90s, I'll have to shave off the whiskers as well.

What's the weather like where you are? Leave a comment!

Michael

Hot Ticket!

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 07:01:43 PST

Hope you are having a nice weather where you live. Here in Washington D.C. it's freezing! I realized that it's been too long since I posted some idioms to my site. So I have three for you today!

I had a lesson with one of my regular eikaiwa 英会話 students and we talked about a couple of interesting idioms and vocabulary words you might want to learn.

Hot Ticket: a very popular thing, show or something of the sort. "The new Broadway show with Nathan Lane is going to be a hot ticket."

Mark My Words: what someone might say when making a prediction or prognostication. "Netflix stock might be lower this year, but mark my words, it will get back to $300 a share in 2012."

Canary in a Coal Mine: is a warning of danger or trouble that is about to happen. Mining workers would carry these small birds down into the tunnels with them. If dangerous gases such as methane or carbon monoxide leaked into the mine-shaft, the gases would kill the canary before killing the miners. It was an early warning system. "Did you hear about Bob getting laid-off? That's the canary in the coal mine, we better update our resumes before we're next!"

Have any questions? Send me a comment!

Michael
about.me/michaelsaffle

London, England

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:49:32 PST

London 2011, a photo by Michael Saffle on Flickr.

We are back from vacation and I have pictures to share. It was a lot of fun and Nohora and I must have walked for miles!

Click on the picture to see them all or click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nonoboy/sets/72157628087675884/

Michael

The Kittens Eat!

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:13:59 PST

Happy New Year!

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 08:46:43 PST

Have you heard of Instagram?

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 20:32:03 PST

I was listening to a podcast called net@night and was introduced to an iPod application called Instagram. This is a great application if you have an iPhone (sorry, not for Android or Microsoft phones just yet) and you like to take pictures and post them on Flickr or Facebook or Twitter. (I do to all three!)

You take a picture from your iPhone and then use some of the filters in the app to create the final result. This picture of my wife Nohora was taken of her while on Skype video. I was in Nebraska at the time and thought it would be a nice test of the application. I think it turned out well. A formally grainy picture of a laptop screen looks more like art! Well, at least to me.

Check out the application and if you join, add me as a contact!

Michael

Softball Fun!

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 06:20:57 PDT

IIE Softball 2010
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

It's the end of summer and my 2010 International Education Softball League is officially over. My team, The Institute of International Education (IIE), went 4 for 13 and did quite well in the first game of the tournament. We almost won! Well, it was 12-4 so maybe we weren't as close as we thought.

I hope you had a great summer and if you play on a softball team send me some pictures.

Michael

Abe on his way to inspire the representatives

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:34:19 PDT

Lincoln is on his way to inspire the representatives
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

I took this picture outside the Longworth Building which is one of the office buildings the House of Representatives use in Washington D.C. If you sit in the same place long enough, you see all sorts of strange things. This was the strangest.

Did you know Abraham Lincoln was a a member of the U.S. House of Representatives before becoming president? Well it's true. He was elected to Illinois 7th district back in 1847-49 and what a Republican is today are two different things.

You can find out more about the 16th President of the United States here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Lincoln

If you have not visited Washington D.C. in a while, it's time to go!

Michael

New Address for english.michaelsaffle.com

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Fri, 07 May 2010 06:10:54 PDT

So Google made everyone like me who used FTP to download new content to their websites move to a new system. If I was better at HTML programing I think I would have been able to do that without any problems. Well, it took me over 5 hours to complete and when it was all said and done I ended up changing the address to english.michaelsaffle.com to make it a little easier to find.

Sorry for the confusion and I will work on getting the former link directed to this address.

Thank you.

Michael

Cherry Blossom Festival

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:06:48 PDT

It's been a busy couple of weeks for my wife and me. Two weekends ago we volunteered at the 98th annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. This is the largest cherry blossom festival outside of Japan.

We worked at the sake 酒 tasting tent where we served 5 different types of the rice wine to eager patrons. We also threw in a shot of plum wine to cleanse the palate at the end. The nice guys at Hakutsuru Saki sponsored the event. My favorite sake was the pink one here: A little gritty but I like it. My wife who is from Colombia didn't like the nigori sake but liked the clear junmai ginjo. Of course, the jumai is more expensive!

You can check out the pictures we took here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nonoboy/sets/72157623705927159/with/4510874202/

Michael

Cherry Blossoms 2010

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 08:02:33 PDT

It's cherry blossom season again in Washington D.C. I took out my new D-SLR camera and gave it a work out. The weather was cloudy but I think a few of the pictures are nice. Check them out!

Michael

p.s. next week is the 98th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Nohora and I will be working at the sake tent. I will have pictures I am sure!

Spring is here!

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:36:11 PDT

Spring training starts for Team IIE
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

So happy to have winter in the rear view mirror. Spring has sprung and boy are we happy to have the warm weather finally. We had way too much snow this season but that appears to be behind us. Although here in Washington D.C. the seasons like to play tricks on us and sometimes act out of character. Sometimes it will snow in April or we will get 70 degree weather in January. I remember one January back in 2007 when it was so warm for a week that the cherry blossoms started to prematurely bloom. 4 months early!

Here is a picture I took with my old cellphone back then. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nonoboy/350071118/

As you can see my wife Nohora is getting ready for softball season. She will join me and my company's softball team this summer. Having never played softball before, we thought it prudent to get some practice in. This weekend we worked on throwing and catching. We will have to work on hitting sometime later. You can never practice too much!

Speaking of cherry blossoms, the cherry blossom festival is coming soon and Nohora and I have volunteered to work. This is be Nohora's first time at the festival and it will be my 8th in a row. I have volunteered each of those 8 years and this year we will work at the sake tent. Oh yeah! I don't know a lot about sake but will do my best to learn all I can before the festival. I of course will have pictures to share in April.

I hope it is warm where you are!

Michael

A Cup of Juan Valdez's Best

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:28:05 PST

I love coffee. I drink coffee everyday and I like to try different kinds from different countries. I also like iced coffee but only in the summer when it's too hot to drink regular coffee.

Recently I have been drinking a lot of Colombian coffee. Most people know that Juan Valdez is the national brand of Colombia, but traveling to the country a couple of times a year to visit my wife's family, I have been able to buy a few different types. They were all fantastic.

When I went to the UK to visit my friend Richard I was introduced to Caffe Nero. (Normally you would spell this word "cafe" but this is a proper noun) This was a popular coffee shop in London, almost as popular as Starbucks. It's been a while since I have been to London but the next time I go I am sure one of my first cups of Joe will be at Caffe Nero.

Some people would call me a "coffee snob" because I don't mind paying as much as $5 a cup. And it's true, I tend to thumb my nose to cheaper coffee that you can buy at McDonalds or in a vending machine.

Do you like to drink coffee? If you do, what brands do you like? What do you like to put into your coffee? I like a little raw sugar or panela (a South American sugar) but not milk. My wife like to have half coffee and half milk. She calls that a cafe.

If you don't drink coffee, what do you drink?

Colombia Vacation December 2009

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:13:58 PST

Colombia Vacation December 2009
Originally uploaded by Nohora Saffle

My wife and I went to Colombia for the last 10 days and took a lot of pictures. Check them out!

My photos from Colombia and my wife's pics.

Thanksgiving 2009

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:44:47 PST

Thanksgiving 2009
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

Now that's a traditional Thanksgiving meal! You have your turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, squash and sweet potatoes. Perfect!

Click on the picture to see the desserts!

Happy Holidays!

Michael

Halloween 2009

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:11:00 PST

Halloween 2009
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

Halloween is traditionally a children's holiday but adults love it too. Here is a picture of a couple dressed up as John Lennon and Yoko Ono. I think this was my favorite costume of the night. You can see the other pictures by clicking on the picture.

Daisuke Matsusaka

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:01:06 PDT

Baltimore Orioles vs. Boston Redsox 9.20.09
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

I got the chance to see the famous Japanese picture Daisuke Matsusaka (松坂大輔) who won the game for the Boston Redsox. As someone who grew up an Orioles fan I was cheering for the Orioles but even though the game was played in Baltimore, there were a lot more Redsox fans than O's fans. If you click on Daisuke's picture you will see all the pictures I took while at the game.

Well, the Redsox and the Orioles are finished for the season. A Redsox and Orioles fan would agree, as long as the New York Yankees don't win the World Series this year we will be satisfied.

If you comedown to Baltimore in the summer, you have to check out the Orioles stadium, it's one of the best in the country.

Michael

Postcards are fun

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:04:50 PDT

YOMEIMON GATE
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

Postcards are a great way to communicate with a pen pal. My friend Dr. Meguro sent me this postcard a few years ago. If you would like a postcard from Washington D.C. area send me an email!

Michael

Lobstah!

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:40:02 PDT

Lobstah!
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

I went to New England for a nice long (but not long enough) vacation with the wife. We visited my sister and her husband Morgan (on the right) and they were nice enough to buy a bag full of lobsters. I love lobster (Pronounced "lobstah" in that neck of the woods.), and in Maine, it's only $4 a pound off-season!

Check out the pictures on my flickr account here: www.flickr.com/nonoboy

Michael

Polaroid

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:16:31 PDT

BBQ Polaroid
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

I missed Polaroid cameras. To be fair, I never owned a Polaroid camera but I remember them from when I was a kid. I owned a Kodak camera that was very similar. So similar in fact that Polaroid sued Kodak and they had to stop making film for it.

This picture was not taken by a Polaroid camera, but was created using a program that mimics the classic style. You can find the program here: http://www.poladroid.net/

Enjoy!

Michael

Hanging out on the 26th floor

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:20:52 PDT

Hanging out on the 26th floor
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

I love NY! Well, not really. I like New York, but I have only visited three times. Once in 1994, once in 2002 and now 2009. It's hard not to be impressed with the tall skyscrapers and awesome bagels. But beers were around $10 each and the city is so big, I don't know how people find their way around. I'll visit again, but I am not ready to move there any time soon.

Michael

Wedding Idioms

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:41:30 PDT

I recently got married (check out my blog at www.michaelsaffle.com for details and pictures) and I thought about all the wedding idioms there are. I picked a few I like the best and thought I would share them with you all.

get hitched - to get married. "Did you hear that Mark and Lisa got hitched last week?"

shotgun wedding - is a wedding that is rushed because the bride-to-be is pregnant. It's a forced wedding. "Mark and Mary had a shotgun wedding in Las Vegas. They had a baby girl 6 months later."

cold feet - when one feels nervous about the wedding. Having second thoughts about getting married. "His friends asked him if he was getting cold feet, but John was happy to get married and wasn't nervous at all."

tie the knot - to get married. "At 25 I was not ready to tie the knot. At 34 I felt it was time."

Sleeping at the switch

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:00:08 PDT

Smithsonian Folk Fest 2009
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

I have been meaning to post my pictures of the 4h of July holiday last week. I will soon. You can see some pictures I took recently, though most of them are of me bowling.

Enjoy!!

Michael

Greenwich Mean Time

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:05:42 PDT

1925 Royal Observatory in Greenwich, UK
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

I was reading a Wired story when it occurred to me I have seen this building before. It was when I first visited my friend Richard at his house in Greenwich, UK. You can check out the article here: www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/06/dayintech_0622

You can also see my pictures of UK by clicking on the photo.

Greenwich Time: the time as measured on the prime meridian running through Greenwich, England: used in England and as a standard of calculation elsewhere.

Michael

Softball is a fun game for grownups

genkienglishclub@gmail.com (Michael Saffle) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:45:27 PDT

Softball Practice
Originally uploaded by Michael Saffle

I love to play softball. I have been playing since 2000 when I was assistant coach to the Tajima Junior High School girls softball team, in Fukushima, Japan. When I got back home I joined the JETAA softball team and sometimes played for the Japan America Society of Washington. When I got a job in Washington D.C. I joined the company's softball team in 2005. I have played for them each summer since. Our league is made up of teams from other International Education companies and organizations around the Washington D.C. area. My team, the Institute for International Education (IIE) is now 2-1. That's 2 wins and one loss. I hope to have more pictures up soon of our games but for now you can see pictures of our practice by clicking on the picture.

Wish us luck this season! We want to win it all!

Michael