Olga with our Holiday Tree, writing Haiku, learning about Japan. 
There's a fascination about Japan in Ukraine. I don't know why. But it's come to our English Club. Our last three meetings have focused on things Japanese: the history, culture, arts, myths and facts. Maria, a former English student at the University and now a teacher at a nearby Polytechnical Institute, led the sessions. She brought in videos and information on her computer. Beautiful photos of cherry blossoms and spring on the streets of Tokyo, the real and the sublime. We gathered round and had lots of conversation. We enjoyed some arts
and crafts, making origami pumpkins (easier than peace cranes), boxes, tiny flowers and animals.
We talked about Haiku poetry--what it is, how to write a Haiku—and read poems by Basho and others. We talked about seasons and themes; we made lists of words; we talked about the feelings the seasons evoked. We played “what do you see now?" If someone said I see a scarf, I'd ask "what color." A red scarf. Let’s add color to our words. I see a tree. What color? A green tree and gold leaves. I see books. What kind? Many colored books on many subjects! Okay. Great images for a Haiku. Some members focused on winter. What words tell us about winter? Words tumbled out. White snow. Snow angels. Snowballs and sleds. Cold and ice. All great words for poems.
and crafts, making origami pumpkins (easier than peace cranes), boxes, tiny flowers and animals.We talked about Haiku poetry--what it is, how to write a Haiku—and read poems by Basho and others. We talked about seasons and themes; we made lists of words; we talked about the feelings the seasons evoked. We played “what do you see now?" If someone said I see a scarf, I'd ask "what color." A red scarf. Let’s add color to our words. I see a tree. What color? A green tree and gold leaves. I see books. What kind? Many colored books on many subjects! Okay. Great images for a Haiku. Some members focused on winter. What words tell us about winter? Words tumbled out. White snow. Snow angels. Snowballs and sleds. Cold and ice. All great words for poems.
Now we write! Groans. “Nah, I can’t write a poem.” That’s Dima. He just wants to talk!
,
Three lines, I reiterate. We can be flexible on the 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables format. Take your time. Think. Look over your words. Help each other out. Before we knew it, voila! We had about a dozen Haiku poems. Dima, who is a good English speaker, determined to converse, doesn’t like to study, write, or do poetry. But guess what? Dima wrote some good lines, and with gentle prompting added adjectives and color. I made him redo them a few times, into three lines. Why re-write? Because you can do it, I assured him. Three lines, Dima, not four. Dima, who had never written a poem, wrote a nice Haiku. I read it (asked what the blue and yellow stood for!), and we clapped. He was proud of his effort, rewarded me with a big grin. There's a first time for everything, I told him. Never give up!
Here are a few of our Haiku poems. The are now on our Holiday tree (photo above), along with other crafts and Stacey's garlands of little origami flowers.
,
Three lines, I reiterate. We can be flexible on the 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables format. Take your time. Think. Look over your words. Help each other out. Before we knew it, voila! We had about a dozen Haiku poems. Dima, who is a good English speaker, determined to converse, doesn’t like to study, write, or do poetry. But guess what? Dima wrote some good lines, and with gentle prompting added adjectives and color. I made him redo them a few times, into three lines. Why re-write? Because you can do it, I assured him. Three lines, Dima, not four. Dima, who had never written a poem, wrote a nice Haiku. I read it (asked what the blue and yellow stood for!), and we clapped. He was proud of his effort, rewarded me with a big grin. There's a first time for everything, I told him. Never give up!
Here are a few of our Haiku poems. The are now on our Holiday tree (photo above), along with other crafts and Stacey's garlands of little origami flowers.
The falling snow is white,
His hair is snowy white-
A man is tired, falling like snow. --Olga
Winter is a time to sleep
and dream in white-
whiteness all around, immovable. --Alosha.
People are waiting for miracles.
Snow and wind whirl around icecles--
Is it a fairy tale? --Maria
At night the round white moon shines,
But anyways guys in blue and yellow
Let’s play with snowballs. -- Dima
A gold autumn day to enjoy.
Everything is okay as the red leaves fall
and take away my memories. --Maria
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