ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

I got new shoes! I'm so excited! I don't usually spend a lot of money but these shoes were so cute. They are my first pair of DCs and are surprisingly very comfortable. Possibly the most comfortable shoes I've ever had. Also, I discovered that the arch in my feet is getting more prominent. I have had flat feet all my life so this is exciting also.  

I usually don't have problems with bugs. I don't like cockroaches or mosquitoes, but I'm okay with spiders, grasshoppers, and beetles. When I was a child, my brother and I used to catch grasshoppers during the summers. My girl friends thought it was really strange that bugs didn't bother me.

However, these spiders have begun to scare me, and I don't know why!

  

I went for a hike up Mount Yashima with my brother and friends one weekend. We decided to hike up the old cable car tracks for more of an adventure. It was a faster way to the top but more challenging. It was overgrown with weeds and more spiders than I have ever seen! ICK! I don't like spiders...At the top an old cable car was sitting there just decaying. Next we found an old hotel that was also decaying from abandonment and the elements. There were pigeons flying in and out of the windows. This creepy adventure was just in time for Halloween!  

here i am a zombie. This is not my halloween costume this is just how I celebrate halloween at home by myself. I hope everyone is ready for the big Halloween party tomorrow. It will be fun  

I hate shaving. But I hate having a beard more than I hate shaving, so I shave every day. Sometimes I shave twice a day if I want to look sharp after 3:00pm.

So it's very strange for me to have a beard. I'm only doing it for my Hallowe'en costume. After the GEM Halloween Party, I'm going to shave it off.



The beard has gone in and out of style throughout history. Beards were very popular in ancient Mesopotamia and Greece, but went out of style in Europe between the time of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire, was back in style during the Medieval period, and has been declining in popularity for the past 300 years. These days, most Americans see young people with beards as probably either lazy or crazy, or both. Older people can get away with having a beard, but if you're applying for any job other than college professor, it will probably work against you.  

My last haircut was in April. I decided it was time for a new do because I was getting split ends. I called a friend whom is a hairstylist to cut my hair. I looked at some of his books and decided not to but it too short this time like I normally do. I decided to grow it out some. So, I chose a picture and he cut it. I was surprised because in America the hair salons usually wash your hair then cut it and style it. Here he cut it, washed it, then styled it.

  

I live in Takamatsu and I love it. I enjoy going to cafes to read and study. It's very relaxing. Takamatsu also has nice parks to hang out in. Ritsurin is beautiful but I spend more time in Chuo Park. Sometimes my friends play soccer here on sunny afternoons. I like to ride my bike through the arcade. I also like to hang out at the port where the lighthouse is. There are some beautiful views of the sea and on clear days you can see the Seto Ohashi Bridge all the way in Sakaide. What do you like doing in Takamatsu? What do you like doing in your city?  

Hello everyone,
This day was my first experience octopus fishing. I cought about 30 octopus that day and I ate about 15. This was one one the best fishing days I've ever had. I love fishing and have done it most of my life. The best thing was it was almost right out my back door. I was mostly in Sakaide and Marugame and went all the way out to Honjima.  

I have been singing in choirs and choruses since I was eight years old. In high school I sang everything from Benedictine chant to The B-52's, Mozart to MC Hammer. I sing the bass part, and since I am one of the few people who does, I try to sing out strong and clear. Some people heard me singing in church and invited me to sing in a quartet this Sunday.

Among the religions of the world, large group (congregational) singing is pretty much unique to Christianity, as far as I know, and is the root of much of Europe's great classical music. In most modern churches, singing is a form or worship, not a performance, so everyone joins in. Some churches have a formal choir that performs every week.



This quartet isn't anything official or formal, just three other people who like singing wanted to perform a special musical number and needed somebody to sing the bass part.  

Some friends and I went to Osaka. We saw how big the city was. We wanted to go to Universal Studios Japan but my sunburn was so bad that it hurt to be in the sun. We decided not to go because it would have been very very dangerous for me. Instead, we stayed in the shade as much as possible. We went to Osaka Tower.

  

I went to the Kanonji Festival this weekend. It was lots of fun. Several chosa passed right by my house. I took some good video and lots of pictures.



One thing I sometimes do is take stereoscopic 3D pictures.

Instructions:
1. Download the full-size picture to your computer.
2. Open the picture and make it as big as possible on your screen without going off the edges.
3. Stand back from the computer with your head facing directly to the center of the screen.
4. Cross your eyes slightly.
5. You will see a blurry picture where the two images overlap. Focus on that center image.
6. You can see a 3D image!







  

Kyoto is known for it's traditional architecture with it's many temples, shrines, and homes. However it has a more modern architectural marvel. The Kyoto Train Station is a beautiful modern station and it is Japan's second largest station. It is actually one of Japan's biggest buildings. It is 15 stories tall and includes many shops, a hotel, a movie theater, and government offices.
  

I didn't get to see much of the Toyohama festival this year. I have attended it before, I live close enough that I could hear the drumming all night, and I was able to see a few chosa toward the end.





I'm really excited to see the Kanonji and Saijo festivals this weekend.  

Some friends and I hiked Mt. Fuji. It was a beautiful day! The temperature was perfect but we were much closer to the sun than normal. I got a very bad sunburn. I had second degree burns and blisters on one arm, neck, and face. We started at station five which is half-way up the mountain. We were above the mountains. The climb was great! I started to get tired between stations eight and nine. It was colder at the top and I had to put on my hoody.

  

Recently my students and I learned about Leonardo da Vinci. He was a genius in his time. He was ambidextrous—he could write with both his right and left hand! Pretty cool! So we drew one of his most famous paintings, the “Mona Lisa” with our left hands. It was really hard but fun. Next we drew portraits of each other. Luke and Ricky are brother and sister. They were very thorough with their portraits of each other, as you can see they are checking for every detail in each other’s face! Haha These two crack me up!  

In American culture, there are actually fairly few widespread traditions that almost everybody does. Every region, state, town, and family has their own version of a certain holiday, celebration, or festival.

For example: almost every American family celebrates Thanksgiving, but the foods and the activities that my family has traditionally are going to be different (sometimes very different) from the family down the street.

Some traditions are even unique to a specific family. My family has a tradition of calling home the first weekends of April and October every year.

My family moves around a lot. My brother has lived in Argentina and Spain. My sister has lived in Russia, twice. I've lived...it's a long story. Even now that most of my family is back in the United States, we're still scattered all over the country. The point is, even though we email each other a lot, it's not often that we get a chance to call each other on the phone.


My church has a big conference every April and October. No matter where in the world I am, I make it a point to watch it live, on the Internet, even if that means staying up all night. And I know my whole family it watching it, too. And there's a two hour break between the morning and the afternoon sessions, and I know everyone in my family is at home and awake at the same time, which usually doesn't happen because of our locations and schedules - it's the perfect time to call.

We usually use Internet calling programs like Skype so that we can use video or call several people at the same time, and it's free. It's like a little family reunion every six months: we see each other, we all talk together, and it's a tradition that only my family has.  

hey everyone. This month is coal miner appreciation month. Everyone in my family has been a coal miner at one time. these people work very hard and in dangerous situations so we can have resources to run out countries.   

I met a new friend a recently. She is from America and is teaching English for an internship. We met at church. She had never experienced a sushi bar or onsens so we had a girl's night out. She was very excited to experience everything about Japan and is getting used to the onsen experience.