ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

Last week the students and I created art using pasta and paint! The imagination of these kids is astounding and I hope to create more art with them in the future. Originally I was thinking of macaroni art that I used to do as a kid back in Canada, but we decided to think a little more broader and incorporate many different shapes and sizes of pasta to create this art.

How did the art turn out? I think they look fantastic.

- Let's do this

James Barbosa  

Hello to all,
I hope every one had an awesome week. Today is a lovely day out and I am just in my happy mood. The weekend is coming up and a great time to explore.

Here is a picture of a cute Kitty




Have a great weekend

-Zee-  

I love riding my bicycle. I also love to look at other peoples bicycles. Some people have very interesting or cool looking bicycles throughout Takamatsu. A few days ago I saw some bikes parked in a 'no parking area' and I thought "wow, these people are hardcore rebels". It was a sarcastic thought though... What a lame way to rebel.

  

I finally broke down and bought a day planner. I know that my computer or my phone has more then enough technology to keep myself organized but I love pen and paper. There is nothing like it. So I bought a nice leather bound planner and I hope a little bit of piece of mind will come with it. How do you keep yourself organized? A computer? A tablet? or are you old fashioned like me with a day planner?

  

This week in my home stay club we had pizza! Now, pizza is technically Italian, but since it is so tasty, it has become a favourite all over the world! Especially in Canada and America! If you've never had pizza before, its essentially a thin round piece of bread that you cover in sauce cheese and whatever toppings you like! I prefer a meat lovers style of pizza; chicken, pepperoni, steak, bacon, and ham. While it's a little bit harder to find all of the ingredients, we were still able to make a delicious meal! What would you put on your pizza?!  

As my brother has been here the past week I have had a lot to do! We have gone to Takamatsu castle, various parks, and we are planning to go to Ritsurin gardens this weekend! It is such a pleasure to have him here with me! I keep wondering what all we can do but I am coming up with a few blanks. I want to take him to round 1, Yashima mountain, and we also want to see Megijima island. Any ideas?
  

It's not uncommon for Japanese people to live in tiny apartments, especially in big cities. Generally the typical American home is much bigger than the typical Japanese home. But recently some Americans have started to choose to live in smaller houses. In fact, a growing trend is to purchase or build your own "tiny house". These tiny homes are often cleverly designed to make the most of storage space. They have everything you need, and nothing more. I think it would be neat to stay in a tiny house for a short time, but difficult for me to live there for very long. Could you live in a tiny house?  

When living away from home some people try to celebrate traditional holidays away from home. I have a Scottish-American friend in Japan. She introduced me as well as to many close friends to Burns Night. America as a whole celebrates many different cultures and that day we celebrated a very special holiday!

We ate Scottish food called haggis and learned a special dance called the gay Gordon's! It was a fun night! I always enjoy celebrating holidays in Japan! How about you? What is your favorite holiday?  続きを読む

When living away from home some people try to celebrate traditional holidays away from home. I have a Scottish-American friend in Japan. She introduced me as well as to many close friends to Burns Night. America as a whole celebrates many different cultures and that day we celebrated a very special holiday!

We ate Scottish food called haggis and learned a special dance called the gay Gordon's! It was a fun night! I always enjoy celebrating holidays in Japan! How about you? What is your favorite holiday?  続きを読む

This is a photo of a monitor lizard in Malaysia. They are really big and not scared of people. There are many people on the island so the lizards have become used to humans. This makes it easy to get nice photos of these incredible reptiles.  

Kyoto for me is not just a place. It's a state of mind. It's what Japan is really all about. It was the capital for the longest time, and it represents a confidence in being Japanese, without defensiveness, I think, an assuredness of being Japanese and not just as an industrial power house. I realize it may be all in my mind, but I still think there is something to be said for this point of view. The subsequent history of Japan is all caught up with catching up and surpassing the West, whatever that means. There's a kind of competitiveness that now characterizes Japan, but does't seem to have been there in the Tale of Genji. Anyway I feel Kyoto has a kind of cosmopolitan air about it but with an air of being on an equal footing with others. That's nice to see, a relaxed state of being at home in your own skin.   

Though this year has been cold, it has been sunny and wet. This winter has seen lots of rain, and, as a result my wife's orchids are starting to bud and bloom. Out of the 20 some orchids she has, over half are in the process of blooming. Hurray. Looks like it will be a colorful winter.  

I woke the next day to a mind numbing headache and Jamie shaking me. “We should go now.” He said. The sun was just starting to rise and he was right.

“Where are we gonna go?” I rubbed my eyes and sat up. “Did you even sleep?” I asked as Jamie stretched, his biceps flexing underneath his tight white tee. “Yeah, I got a bit of sleep.” He nudged me, grabbed his clothes, and disappeared into the walk in closet to change.

“So, what’s the plan Jamie?” I crawled out of bed, stumbling a bit, and walked to my pile of clothes near the door. I peeled the night robe off and quickly tugged on my pants. “We keep moving.” He said. “Away from that crack. It’s an eyesore and the people are likely still in a panic. We move to the next town.” Jamie emerged from the closet just as I pulled my shirt over myself. Jamie looked me up and down. “No sun dress?” He grinned. “If we’re going that far I’m going to need to be able to move” I rolled my eyes and groaned at the thought of the trek ahead of us.

I walked over to the bed and plopped down onto it. “Are we leaving without telling Rebecca?” I asked as I looked at the ceiling. “We have to. We can’t afford to take on anyone else. We have no idea what is happening and no clues as to what we need to do to get to safety, if safety is even an option at all.” I thought about that for a moment before resolving that he was, as always, right.

I got up and grabbed the backpack that Rebecca had given me the night before. Opening it, I shuffled through the contents. “She gave us water, some food, and a med kit. A hunting knife, rope, twine, and a striker for starting fires.” Jamie came over and tried to take the bag from me, but I zipped it shut and slung it over my shoulder before he could get a good hold on it. “I’ll hold on to it. No worries. So, Do you know how to get to the next town?” Jamie thought for a moment and shook his head slightly. “Ok, do you know where we are currently in relation to where we came from?” I placed my palms firmly against my temples to stifle the headache that had been tormenting me since waking up. “Uh… not really, no.” I groaned again and walked to the door. “I’m going to the restroom. We should leave soon.”

I opened the door and stepped into the hallway. The first signs of dawn were beginning to show throughout the small cabin. I walked silently to the restroom, opened the door gently, and stepped inside.

The door shut with barely a sound and I walked over to the sink. I looked at myself in the mirror, dark rings lingered under my eyes. “So much for beauty sleep.” With a sigh I turned on the cool water and placed my hands into the gentle stream. I let the water pool in the palms of my hands and brushed it over my face. I grabbed a towel and dried my face as I leaned against the wall next to the sink. “I wish this headache would ease up some. Guess I’ll just have to go with it.”

A few minutes later Jamie knocked gently on the door. “It’s time.” He whispered. I walked over to the door and opened it gently, as to not make any sound. “Let’s go.” I said as I pushed passed him. “You ok?” He asked, concern washed over his face. “Yeah,” I sighed. “Just a headache.” We snuck through the small cabin in silence. As we approached the door we heard a creak behind us. Tai stood there in the entryway to the master bedroom, his blanket dragging behind him. He yawned and walked over to the rocking chair that he was in the previous night and quickly fell back to sleep. Jamie and I exchanged glances before quietly exiting the cabin and leaving the two lonely strangers behind forever.  

Last week I mentioned my Japanese little sister. She is a lot of fun to play with. If you have ever taken my class you probably know that I like to have fun. I can always think of fun things to do with anything. While we were spending time together on Christmas day I made her a chair fort. As a kid I often made forts with my brothers. It was so much fun.

  

This past weekend I went on a Snowboarding trip to Okayama. It was supposed to be for singles, but My wife and I went to help teach some people how to ride. It started out pretty rough, as we had to take an overnight bus at 12:30 am that got us to the hill at 5:30 am. Once we got all set up with gear and our lift passes we quickly forgot how tired we were. The conditions at the resort were some of the best I've ever seen as a snowboarder. We easily had a foot of powder on most runs, something which I don't normally see where I'm from in Canada. This was one of my best snowboarding experiences and I hope that I get to go back sometime before winter is over! Have you ever Snowboarded or Skied in Okayama before? What about Canada?  

I have had an amazing week so far! I went to Osaka by bus, next I walked around Rinku town for a few hours and sang on the coast. At Rinku town I was able to ride and enormous Ferris wheel while I was waiting for my brothers plane, it was terrifying! I am very very scared of heights but it was also a very fun experience! After my brother got here we went by ferry back to Takamatsu, it was my first ferry ride and it was awesome!  

Here in Japan everyone hangs their laundry outside. I think it's great, it's a good way to save money and save the environment. But U.S. culture feels very differently about hanging up laundry to dry. When Americans see laundry hanging outside, we might immediately think that it means that the family is very poor. Also most people think that it's very ugly, and in many places there are rules against drying your laundry outside! If you live in the U.S., don't be surprised if you're neighbors are unhappy about you hanging up laundry.
  

The other day my student was eating an orange so I asked him what the name of the fruit was... He is two years old by the way. He said the Japanese word for orange although he knows the English word for orange. I found that very interesting. When we were in class playing with out toys, I handed him a plastic orange toy. He called it an orange. I haven't figured out if it is the class environment that makes him say orange or the fact that it's a toy that differentiates it from the actual eatable fruit.

Everyday we see each other now, one of us will say "orange" and the other would say the Japanese word. I wonder if to him they are different entities or really he is still just learning what an actual orange is.

-astrid   

This is my friend Khov in Cambodia, with his young nephew, in their village in central Cambodia. His story is like so many in the third world. Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and has had a recent history of war, carpet bombing, and Khmer Rouge. He went to the capital city Phnom Penh, wanting to become a doctor. The school he found took his money, gave him nothing and just disappeared. So he was left penniless, and without any school credits. He tried to work in a restaurant washing dishes, but couldn't live on the wages, so he ended up selling bottled water to tourists along the riverside. It was there I met him. We became friends, and over time, he managed to turn his fortunes around, won a scholarship to study veterinary medicine, and is now working as a veterinarian in the ministry of agriculture. There are some happy stories to be told, I guess. Not enough of them though.
  

This is Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park in Borneo. I went snorkeling here and relaxed on the different islands. There were many different types of fish and animals on the island. The water was very beautiful but there was trash on the beach.