ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

I love the "wish list" feature that online retailers have adopted. It gives you the experience of window shopping, but from the comfort of your home. It's also a great way to prevent regrettable purchases because you have a place for the things that you're thinking about buying. Meanwhile, you can think about whether or not it is worth what it costs or if you even need it in the first place. I have had items sit in my wish list for years before I finally decided to buy it. In those cases, I think that I'm just waiting for the perfect excuse to purchase.  

One of the things, I'm excited to do when I go back to the States is eat a plethora of gummy candy.

Don't get me wrong. We obviously have gummy candy in Japan, but the brands that are offered are too chewy and the packaging is so small. Meanwhile, in America you can get a 4 pound bag of gummies for 3 dollars. It also seems like there is a wider selection of shapes, colors, and flavors in the U.S..

On the positive side, the lack of palatable gummy candy options in Japan has probably made my diet much healthier.  

A sport that I really miss playing is racquetball. This sport is very similar to tennis as both sports require you to hit a ball with a racket. Racquetball is different because when you hit the ball you're aiming for a wall. I love tennis, but for some reason I enjoy a racquetball a bit more.

Back in the States, my friends and I would often play racquetball from 10 PM until 2 in the morning. It was a great way to relieve the stress from the day.

I have yet to find a good place in my area to play racquetball, which is regrettable. It seems like I may have to wait until I leave Japan.   

All of my friends know that I am practically obsessive about chocolate. It is definitely one of my all-time favorite foods.

With that being said, a friend of mine recently gave me a large gift basket filled to the brim with a wide assortment of chocolates. I was very elated to receive this as I actually hadn't eaten chocolate for a very long time.

I tried to practice moderation and self-control, but I'm ashamed to say that the gift basket only lasted three days before it was totally empty. It should have easily lasted two weeks, but such is life.

The more you see, the more you eat!
  

For months, I was under the impression that my toaster oven was broken because the door wouldn't stay closed. I eventually came to terms with it and just stopped using it.

Then one day I was feeling very productive and I decided that I was going to attempt to fix it myself.
I pulled it out of my closet and opened the toaster oven door and then I realized there was a hinge to attach the retractable grate to. Once I reattached it, it open and shut perfectly. I can't believe it was something so simple! It literally took less than one minute to fix.

Now that it's fixed, I'm really excited to be using it for cooking again. For some dishes, it's much more convenient than a conventional oven.  

Every winter, I always have a strong desire to ride in a night train with a private cabin. Riding on a train through the snow at night has always been something that I wanted to experience for some reason.

Anyways, I heard from a friend that Japan has one night train left. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll be able to take a trip on it before I leave Japan. It's just as well. There wouldn't be much snow anyways and the snow is a definitely a major part of the fun.

I'm sure that this is something that I'll be able to mark off of my bucket list eventually.  

My students and I have been talking about super heroes a lot lately for some reason. I'm always curious to know what super powers people would wish for if they could have any super power.

I know it's not very inventive, but I would like to be able to fly. To be able to sleep on a cloud would be a dream.

How about you? What super power would you like to have?  

An organizational tool that I swear by is Google Calendar. You can put in all of your appointments, events, and tasks and you can color code them. Additionally, you can have reminders sent to you via phone notification or email. You can even add notes under each appointment and set it to repeat at different time intervals.

I use it for everything under the sun including work shifts, housekeeping, hair conditioning, television shows- just everything! As someone who religiously used physical weekly planners in the past, this has been a true life-saver for years.  

I can't believe that I have lived in Japan for almost two years. It seems like just yesterday when I arrived here. I've had a lot of fun during my time here.

I'm very grateful for all of the unexpected adventures that these past couple of years have given me and I'm really excited to see what's coming up next.

Always look forward!  

Many people are surprised to hear that I have 7 siblings. While I definitely have more siblings than the average person and it can be cumbersome dealing with them sometimes, it does have its advantages.

Because of all of my siblings, I started interfacing with a variety of personalities and age groups from a very young age. This has made it much easier to relate to a wide array of people now that I'm adult. I think that I definitely owe my adaptability and my ability to make friends to the experiences I've had with all of my brothers and sisters.

  

Do you prefer dogs or cats?

Usually people prefer one over the other for one reason or another. I think they're both adorable in their own way, but if I had to choose one to have as a pet, I would probably choose a cat.

My personality is more compatible with cats because I'm not very affectionate. Additionally, I prefer a clean and quiet environment. Considering all of those things, I think a cat would probably be the best choice for me.

What about you?  

My dream holiday would be a ski trip in Switzerland. I don't know why particularly. I've never been skiing and I've never been to Switzerland. This may be precisely the reason that I want to go. I may be romanticizing the idea of a ski trip in Switzerland a bit, but that is my nature. Even if it doesn't live up to my fantasy, I'm sure that it will be very memorable. I love snow and new experiences are always really exciting for me, so I really can't lose.

Nevertheless, this is a dream that I hope to make come true in the next one or two years.  

I listen to many genres of music, but one of my favorite genres is jazz and one of my favorite jazz singers is Julie London.

I discovered her when I was at university. I was up studying late one night while listening to a jazz playlist. Suddenly, I heard her sing "Two Sleepy People" and I fell in love with her voice immediately. Her voice had this eccentric blend of sadness and sultriness that is almost hypnotic.

Julie London's most popular song is "Cry Me a River," which I definitely recommend listening to, but my personal favorite is "Love for Sale." Honestly speaking, you can't go wrong with any song in her catalog. Each one is a jewel in and of itself.  

When I was in secondary, one of my hobbies was making fashion sketches. Since then, I have been really busy and I haven't had the time to keep up with that hobby.

At the time, I learned how to make fashion sketches out of boredom. It seemed like a great thing to learn because I had a moderate interest in the fashion industry and there was a possibility that I would work in it one day. I researched various techniques and practiced a few times a week.

Now that I have a bit more free time again, I have decided to rekindle this hobby. I'm a bit rusty because it's been about a decade, but it's nice to have a creative outlet.  

One of the other teachers recently introduced me to these spicy peanuts and now I love them. They're the spiciest snacks that I've ever had in Japan.

Very often, I have found that foods labeled spicy in Japan are actually quite mild and you can barely taste the spice. I love spicy food, so in order to satisfy that craving I would often have to make my own spicy snacks. After discovering these spicy peanuts, they're definitely my new favorite go-to!  

One thing that I could never seem to understand since I arrived in Japan is the popularity of karaoke as a past time. Don't get me wrong, I love singing to my favorite songs. I just don't understand paying for something that you can do for free.

On the other hand, fast food is no different. You're paying for a dish that you could probably make at home for much less.

I guess people are not just paying to sing, but they're also paying for the experience. I can't honestly say that singing in your car will give you the same experience as singing at a karaoke bar. Additionally, karaoke bars are one of few socially acceptable places for everyday people to sing their hearts out.

Even considering all of that, I'm still not so sure that it's worth it.
  

In English, we have the term "early bird" to describe people that like to get up early in the morning. We also have the term "night owl" to describe those that like to stay up late.

I can't really pick one that I identify as. I like to wake up early and stay up late and I'm not sure if there's a term for that.

What about you? Do you consider yourself an early bird, a night owl, or somewhere in between?  

I've recently been doing a lot of swimming and one river that I went to was nostalgic for me. It reminded me of a watering hole in Texas I used to go to all the time when I was younger. My friends and I would call it "the secret place." We called it that because it was kind of hidden away. In order to get to it, you had to walk over a field and through the forest for a while. My older sister used to take us frequently in the summer, but one day we saw a giant spider there. My sister has severe arachnophobia so we left immediately and we never came back.

Anyways, it was nice to be reminded of a place that I enjoyed so much in the past.  

When I was younger, we had this pet bird called "Wisdom." One day, my younger sister got it in her head that he should be set free. She opened the cage, grabbed the bird and stepped out onto the second-floor balcony.

She reached her arms out over the railing with the bird in hand and let go, thinking that he would just fly away. What she didn't realize is that Wisdom's wings were clipped to avoid him doing just that. Considering this fact, when she let go, the bird just frantically fell to the first floor.

I was outside at the time and saw him falling in my peripheral vision. I quickly ran to the nearby bush that he fell in. Amazingly, he was perfectly fine. Once we found out he was okay, we all couldn't help but laugh. My sister has never lived down this story. In her defense, she did it with the best intentions.  

One day back in the States, I went out to run some errands and when I got home, these kids ran up to me and said, "Your dog is flying in the window!" I literally could not believe what they were saying, so I continued to my home. When I got there, what I saw was my dog had gotten caught in the upper part of my horizontal blinds. This created the illusion that he was flying to the neighborhood kids. I assumed that my dog was overzealously attempting to look outside, but the blinds were closed resulting in this silly incident.

When this happened, it was funny and irritating at the same time. It was funny to see my dog caught in the blinds, but also irritating because he ruined my blinds and I had to have them replaced.

Anyways, this story always gives me a laugh when I think about it and I hope you found it entertaining as well.