ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

Welcome to the last day of 2013! One of my most memorable New Years celebrations was New Years 2006. That was the year I studied abroad in Spain. A lot of my friends who were also studying in Europe decided to meet in Paris for the end of the year. We all gathered at the Eiffel Tower for the midnight countdown. It was very cold, but also lots of fun. Surprisingly, I recently found out that Eric was also in Paris for the same New Years. He had been studying abroad too and came to Paris for the same reason. What a coincidence!  

Hi all from Khajuraho, in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. The site of some of the most famous, and beautiful temple in India, and where my adopted family live. Unfortunately it's a bit cold, but warmer than in Shikoku. The home made food is incredibly good, as usual the restaruant fare a bit less. I'm so glad to be around family, and friends. I hope everyone there too is having a great time with family and friends, and making resolutions they'll feel guilty about breaking a few weeks from now. As we look back on a rather dismal year in many ways, let's hope it gets better in the New Year. Happy New Year to all.   

Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite writers. He writes science fiction books. They are very interesting and complicated. I have always loved reading. Currently, I am reading The Picture of Dorian Gray. It is a story about an innocent young man who falls into a strange life and all of his bad deeds are reflected in a portrait he hides in his house.
  

Hello,

It is me the one and only Zee. I hope every one is have a great holiday season filled with love and joy.

I am doing well visiting my family in America for the holidays. It is always good to see family.

well talk to you all later, big hugs!!

~Zee~



here is another picture of a cute kitten to make you all say "awwww"  

Now that it is cold, I have of course started to use my air conditioner and kerosene heater to keep me warm and toasty. Recently though, I have started waking up with a dry throat. Its time to plug in the air humidifier. I noticed the difference immediately. Now I can sleep peacefully and warm without a dry scratchy throat.  

By: Leigh

  

I love to have fun in my classes. Learning English doesn't have to be dull and boring. We can have fun while we learn English. Sometimes my students need to be reminded that they are allowed to have fun in my classes. For this student, I took a picture of her with a vegetable as her head. She loved it. I called her "vegetable head". She had a lot of fun calling me funny names too.

  

Sometimes I like to rhyme, I do it all the time
Sometimes it's an accident, but today's rhyme will be on purpose...

Let's start with an easy intro, it's not so hard,
It's as easy as putting dots on a bingo card.
I work for GEM school, teaching English in Japan,
And I’ve made lots of friends like Ed and Anpanman.

I live in the mountains and yea they’re pretty,
Not a chance you’ll catch me in the city.
When I’m not in school you’ll find me hiking around,
King of the hill, I hike to the top, you know I’ll get crowned

I hail from Canada, home sweet home,
the land where we sleep in an Icy dome.
Sometimes we follow hockey as James can attest,
If you ask him, he’ll say the leafs are the best.
I cheer for the Sens, so while he’s my brethren,
I’ve got two words my friend: 67.

So you see it’s not so bad,
You got some entertainment, aren’t you glad?
The best way to ring in the New Year is out with the old and in with the new
So why not give learning English a shot with the GEM school crew?
We’re lots of fun and have secret talents,
So come one come all, ladies and gents!
  

Christmas in Japan is so extremely different than in America. In Texas, most families do crazy last minute shopping and stay up all night on Christmas eve wrapping presents. Then, on Christmas morning the children wake up suuuuuuuper early to run to the Christmas tree to see what Santa left them but they can't open presents until the parents are awake so normally the kids wake up the parents on Christmas! After presents comes the cleaning and then breakfast, and then the rest of the day is spent with the family until the grand Christmas dinner comes around! It is a very fun and loving holiday back home and it is very interesting to see the differences in Christmas here and Christmas at home. Merry Christmas you guys!  

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope your day is so special and that you are spending it with loved ones. I know I am. I hope all your dreams come true this Christmas and that your holiday season is a blessed one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLWQR9t3Ldw

Here's a link for some great holiday music.



And here is a picture of my friend Matt and I singing the songs to you.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE   

Christmastime is full of family traditions. In my family we have a tradition of putting a lottery scratch-off card under everyone's dinner plate on Christmas Eve. After we finish eating together we scratch off the cards to see if we have won any money! Usually no one wins more than $5. But one year, as a child, I won $50! I guess I was feeling the spirit of Christmas because I felt bad that Santa had to get so many presents, so I told my parents I wanted to give the money to Santa. Luckily they told me Santa doesn't use money, so instead I could keep it for myself. Do you have any family traditions?  

After an exhausting flight, with delays, layovers to drive you crazy, I made it to Khajuraho, where my adopted family lives. It's a bit cold, but nothing like in Kanonji (0 degrees there on Saturday when I left). It's nice to be with loved ones, and catching up on all the news from everybody. I guess that's what the holidays are about, aren't they? Khajuraho is home to the famous Kamasutra temples. This is the Indian erotic arts tradition but it's a holy place, dedicated to the sacredness of human sexuality. A lot like the Japanese that have a lot of these elements as well. It's a beautiful, wonderful place. Anyway, it's a must for people interested in Indian culture and religion, and it's one of the main tourist attractions in India. It's nice to be here for that as well. I hope everyone is also enjoying being with family and friends, and counting our blessings, as few or as many as they may be. Happy holidays!  

This winter vacation I will go to Borneo in Malaysia. I plan on exploring the mountains, jungles and coral reefs. I will also do some dirt biking and enjoy a New Years Party. I hope everyone has an excellent holiday season.  

During the holiday I'll be meeting with several friends from all over Japan. A common tradition here is that when you meet up, or visit someone you haven't seen for a while you bring them Omiyage. This usually takes the form of something edible from where you are coming from. In my case, Kagawa is home to one of the tastiest treats I've ever had in Japan; Kamado! So before I ventured away from Shikoku for the holiday season I picked up about 4 boxes of the scrumptious little treats in order to give them to some of the people I'll be meeting up with.

The bad part is I'm so tempted to eat them all. During my travels I should seek out other prefectural treats. Gotta try 'em all.

- Let's do this

James Barbosa  

I was very excited to find out that Jetstar, a low-cost carrier airline, has added flights between Takamatsu and Tokyo Haneda. This makes traveling so much easier and affordable. Previously, if you wanted to get to Tokyo, one had several choices including taking the shinkansen, the bus or flying with ANA/JAL. These option range form expensive to a waste of time. Finally there is an easy way to get to Tokyo. Hurray!  

Every now and again I like to change up my life a bit with a little pizzazz. On December 20, I decided it was time to go back black. In High School and through University, I had short black hair. I loved the way it looked and others loved it too. It matched me well. Now I have gone back black, but with a different goal in mind. I found out about a year and a half ago that my husband, Samuel Muentes, likes long hair. Though I know he loves me no matter the length of my hair, I want to grow my hair long for him. My goal has not yet been reached even though my hair is a lot longer than it has been for years. I will trim it up to keep it healthy, but I will not chop it off for a long time, until I have reached my goal length. I love my husband dearly and will do anything to make him smile and make him happy.

Thank you for reading.

Leigh  

Hey everyone,
This is Zee and I want to wish everyone a great holiday and hope you all had a great week. I have had a great week with all.

Now i will be going to America soon to visit my sister and family for Christmas. So very excited.




Happy Holidays  

I mentioned before that I like to take pictures of my student's drawings. I love the rudimentary depictions of life that children often create. They tend to focus on such particular things. The things they choose to draw also emphasizes the things they chose not to draw. It's a very interesting approach to drawing that many children share. The creator of this drawing is not one of my students. However when I saw it I loved it and wanted to take a picture. Where is the Earth in this picture? It seems to me that in that moment, for the artist, the only things that existed were the swing and a friend. So simple and beautiful.

  

Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year. I know that in Japan Christmas isn’t nearly as important as it is in North America, but I’m still really excited for it! One of the best things about Christmas is getting to see all of your family. Unfortunately living abroad will make this year a little different, as most of my family lives in North America, so I won’t be able to be with them this year. Skype will have to do! I think that Christmas also represents togetherness and compassion for one another. While this is something I think you should always strive for, Christmas always seems to bring out the best in people. Think less about yourself, and more about others! Another thing about Christmas is the food! Back in Canada, Christmas dinners always have turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cakes and pies, some vegetables and what seems like a vat of gravy! I can’t wait!  

The rainy days recently have been very nice. I love rain quite a lot and I had been missing it since I came to Japan. Hopefully the rain stays a while and helps clean the air. Enjoy the rain you guys and have a very merry Christmas!