Moving into May

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Hello, Friends.

April is ending and May is beginning. May is a great month in the U.S. for endings and beginnings:

• School is ending and summer break is beginning
• Graduation (from high school or college) and adulting is beginning
• Winter/spring is ending and spring/summer is beginning

For people in the United States, Memorial Day and Mother's Day are key holidays in May. Do not plant outdoors until Mother's Day (or be prepared to plant again after Mother's Day). Yes, there are exceptions.

Save the Date

Japanese Spring Festival 

May 3, 2026

12:00-5:00 PM

1 Civic Square Carmel

MOMoirs

Mother's Day is coming up. What are your memories of your mom? What are your memories as a mom? How do you celebrate this day?

I thought I knew my mom. Then I found a grainy Polaroid that forced me to reconsider.

International Friends Meeting Notes

Practicing your American English is important. Join us! Click here to register and get the Zoom link.

International Bible Study: Monday, 8-9:00 PM, Zoom

We plan on finishing Leviticus by the end of this year which is the first week in May. We dug deep into Leviticus 21 and 21. In contemporary Christianity, priests/pastors declare forgiveness of sins. While only God can forgive sins, one of the responsibilities of the priest/pastor/leader is to declare (after the people confess) that a person's/congregation's sins are forgiven once and for all through Jesus. For example:

• The Catholic priest says, "...I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
• The Lutheran minister says: "In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
• The Methodist order of worship states: "The confession should be followed by declaration of pardon, which may be as simple as, "In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!" Confession and pardon together remind us that we are sinners saved by grace."

Is any of this different from Old to New Testaments? In Leviticus, priesthood (and roles, practices, responsibilities) is established. The new covenant involves the Word because the final sacrifice is done through Jesus' death and resurrection.

April 27: Read beginning with Leviticus 23 which is about festivals. 

American English Language and Culture: Thursday, 9:00AM- 11:00 AM, Zoom

You are storytellers. You remember things about your life. You CAN write a memoir--your memory of a slice of life that was significant to you in some way. During our warmup, you spoke memoirs. We heard stories about travel, and volunteer work, and relocation, and parenting, and grand parenting. The details frame a story, but the motivation and feelings around the details finish the story. We heard about a sense of adventure, a desire to help, a sense of gratitude, a fear of judgment--both judging others and being judged. We heard about fear, and determination, and anxiety, and dignity, and indignity, and courage. We noticed how our culture and values may put us in conflict with the world around us or with ourselves. From our own narratives and those in films we had viewed recently, we observed the arc or frame of most stories. They have a beginning, middle, and end. They usually have a hero or protagonist. They usually start with some spark or conflict, even an internal conflict. The details build to a climax or turning point (rising action) and then approach a resolution (falling action) or realization. Memoir may follow a slightly different pattern. The conflict may be small or large. You yourself or someone else may be the hero. Maybe the conflict isn’t fully resolved, but you learned something about yourself, about others, or about the human condition. Be brave. Just tell us a story. We look forward to sharing and learning from each other's memoirs at the pizza party in May.

April 30: Spend some time daydreaming this week. Tell us next week what came to mind during your moments of revery. Were they wishes, memories, imaginings?

International Friends Wrap-Up: Memoir Month

Not everyone can make every meeting as we wrap up the year. Here is the end of year plan: follow along. Even if you are not coming to class, try these steps to better tell your story.

• April 9: Talking about a memoir. A slice of your life.
• April 16: Priming the pump: three things that stopped me in my tracks (from Now Write! Nonfiction Sherry Ellis) Notice three things that stopped you in your tracks throughout the week. What is common about these things? What is uncommon?
• April 23: What is the conflict? Who is the hero? Stories need conflict to move them along. 
• April 30: Watch one. Do one. Teach one. How does your learning, experience, and then help someone else learn inform your memoir?
• May 7: Last day of classes...Pizza party! Bazbeaux Pizza 111 West Main Street, Carmel

American English for Kids: Friday, 6:00-6:30 PM, private Zoom

We are looking into May for dates without a conflict to work on our memoirs and finalize our year. Maybe we will go into writing mode?

Words and Phrases and Resources

adulting: performing the acts typically associated with being an adult (paying rent, taxes; making medical appointments; getting insurance; finding living accommodations) and do not include getting a pet that is left with parents when life circumstances change adulting means that you take that pet with you...

Christian denominational discussions: conversations related to the various branches within the Christian church

dug deep into: thoroughly examine (dig deep into)

narratives: stories

once and for all: finally; now and for the last time

priesthood: the office of a priest

spend some time: