I am taking some teenagers to Korea over the weekend. Children who have finished our year-long program at Fujimae Tidal Flat can go, and this year, we are taking seven junior high school and high school students. They will have a chance to meet Korean children who are interested in the environment like them. Everyone will do activities together and go to see important wetlands. What language will they use? They know a few words in Korean, but they will probably use English. I’m looking forward to using my Korean. We are not coming back until Monday afternoon, so there will be no Jaremaga post on Monday morning. You will get a Readers’ Corner post tomorrow. Then, next Tuesday, I will send you a post talking about the trip.  (129 words)

Yesterday I saw a man riding a bicycle with five large bags full of aluminum cans on the back and three big bags on the front. Why do people like him collect aluminum cans? Because aluminum cans are valuable. Aluminum is expensive to make from raw materials because it uses a lot of energy. Recycling aluminum only uses 5% of the energy used for making new aluminum. As a result, recyclers pay good money for aluminum cans. These days, they buy aluminum cans for about 120 yen per kilogram. Each empty can weighs about 15 grams, so you need about 70 cans to make 1 kilogram. I wonder how many cans this man can carry.  (115 words)

Alain Delon passed away on August 18. He was 88 years old. He was one of the most famous French actors of his time. I became a fan of his after watching “Purple Noon” (“Taiyo ga ippai” in Japanese). It was his first major role in a movie, and it is a great crime thriller. Delon plays a conman, the bad guy, who tries to steal everything from a rich playboy. Delon went on to become a big star in Europe and made movies with other French stars such as Jean Paul Belmondo and Brigitte Bardot. He even made a movie with Mifune Toshiro called “Red Sun.” He is best known for playing a tough guy in movies such as “The Samurai” and “Borsalino.”   (124 words)

We had a nature walk at Fujimae Tidal Flat yesterday morning, and seven families joined us. While we were walking along the levee above the tidal flat, the temperature was about 35 degrees. However, as we walked down toward the water, it began to feel cooler. We had to cross a channel of water. The water came up above the knees of the adults and above the children’s waists, but nobody complained. They enjoyed getting wet. On the tidal flat, the children found clams, small fish, and tiny shrimp. Some dug holes and got covered in mud. One child just wanted to stay in the channel and swim. It was so pleasant to feel cool on such a hot day!   (120 words)

This is the hottest summer that Japan has ever had. Nagoya has had more than 20 days in a row with temperatures of 35 degrees or higher. I try not to go out in the afternoon because it’s the hottest time of day. Some plants in my garden are dying, and the heat is even killing some trees. There is one kind of tree, however, that is doing great in the heat. It’s the crepe myrtle. A street that I sometimes drive along is lined with crepe myrtle trees, and yesterday they were in full bloom. Some trees had white flowers, some had red flowers, and others had pink flowers. They were beautiful. The heat doesn’t seem to bother them at all.   (122 words)