ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

This my friend Chany, a young man in Cambodia, cousin of the other friend I wrote about in an earlier blog. They're from the same small village out in the country. As I mentioned, Khov, the other friend has become a veterinarian, and is working in the ministry of agriculture now. Chany here has just finished his studies in nursing and hopes to find a job as a nurse in a hospital either in Phnom Penh, or Seam Reap (Angkor Wat). I hope he finds one in Seam Reap since I'll have a good excuse to visit Angkor Wat. I've been there already a couple of times, but love returning. Chany and Khov have been lucky to stay in the Buddhist temple facilities in the capital, while they study. That's how the monks help young students, providing them with room and board. I lived through the terrible times of the bombings of Cambodia and Laos, that went on for about 7 (?) years. I was living in Italy at the time. "Everything that fires against anything that moves." That was the order. Against civilians, animals, carpeting the country with cluster bombs which are still killing people today. In my small way making amends for those days. A gentle kind people who deserve the right to live and prosper like anyone else, don't you agree?   

Packing a suit case can be a real pain sometimes. This is particularly true when you have too many things and not enough space. Now airlines charge fees for overweight bags and checking in extra bags, this is even more the case. I am having to help my wife pack her bag to go back home. Man is it a pain.  

This past Monday, on June 23, 2014, I celebrated my 5 year wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband, Samuel Muentes (Sam-Sensei to most students). We were married in 2009 and it has been a joy ride. There have been many ups and many downs, but we have prevailed through all of the hard times. My love for Sam has not ceased and will never cease. I hope that everyone can find someone to love as much as I love this man. An office worker told me of a tradition today about anniversaries and I thought it was interesting. Last week I was asked by many people if I was going to throw a party and I had no idea why I would throw a party for a private occasion, but when it was explained to me it made complete sense. I am happy to now know this tradition in Japan and I look forward to learning many more.

Thank you for reading!

Leigh   

Hello everyone,

I hope everyone is having an awesome week. I know most people use facebook to share photos and post . It can be a lot of fun. My boyfriend and I , we like to use the Application called bitstrip on face book. It is very cute and allows us to make a cartoon of yourself . my boyfriend and I are always sharing cute ones with each other . I really do miss him. He lives in America. He sends them to me to cheer me up and I do the same for him :)


This is a photo of Damon and me.


Here is a bitstrip cartoon of us





The name Triss is my Facebook name .

Well enjoy your weekend   

This is puppy! Yes, we called him puppy. He was so fluffy and was my favorite dog until he had passed a couple of years ago. I still think about him time to time. What I liked about him most was that he did anything that I wanted him to do, like "sit down puppy", or "jump puppy", or "come here puppy", or "fetch puppy."  

James is a fun guy. We hang out often. I believe I mentioned it before but I like improving and challenging my dexterity. One of the thing I like to do to challenge myself is balancing things. Sometimes the things I balance need to be altered a bit in order for me to be able to do what I want to do. I had to crush the cup a bit but I was able to balance it on the bill of James' hat. Steady James, steady.

  

So, my birthday is coming up soon, and I've no clue what to do. As the years go by, I realized that I have celebrated my birthday less and less. I remember when I was a child, I would have big birthday parties. All of my family would get together, usually at my house. There would be lots of presents waiting for me by the table. And on top of the table would be a decent sized cake, one big enough that everyone could at least have a small piece (and I remember this one birthday where I had ice cream cake! That was the best!).



When I was older, I would still have parties, but they would be a bit smaller, and instead of family, I would have a few friends over instead. Cake may or may not have been involved, and I think I still got a few presents from my friends, but the main thing was for us just to have fun hanging out. I remember how I use to play video games long into the night with them. It was quite fun.
I wonder what birthdays are like in Japan. I am sure it varies from person to person. Do kids get big parties for celebration? I somehow don't think that cake is involved. Is there an alternative for the cake? Culture and traditions are different, and I would love to see first hand the celebration of a birthday in Japan. Not just kids, but adults as well (if people still celebrate their birthday as an adult).
My birthday has a lot of potential, seeing as it's during summer, more or less. That means bbq, going to the beach/river, and playing outside in general. I guess we will see how it plays out this year!


  

"Texas is a state of mind. Texas is an obsession. Above all, Texas is a nation in every sense of the word." -Steinbeck. This week I have gotten into an "I miss my Texas" mood. I love Japan, it's very different and it has a beautiful culture but Texas is in my blood! I love the wide open fields that have been plowed and sown and that sprout and grow into beautiful vast fields of corn or wheat or milo. It's such a beautiful place! If you ever go to America you need to go out to Texas! But the catch is, you can't just stay out in the city, that's only part of it! Drive out a ways, go into the country, have a picnic in the wildflowers, go ride a horse! You should definitely go down to Austin and Houston, and Corpus Christi, and you should hit West and also El Paso! There is so much to see in Texas that you should simply spend a month travelling it! Also, spring is an amazing time to go to Texas! Its absolutely beautiful with the wild flowers and bluebonnets!






  

So I know I have written about this over and over again but this World Cup is getting very exciting. Spain has been knocked out. England and Italy have followed them and unfortunately Japan is out as well. This year America is doing amazing they beat Ghana and should have come out on top against Portugal but they let Portugal through with the ball in the closing minutes of the game. I really hope that America goes further. I think a win would be amazing and would help to boost popularity of the sport in America.




  

This past weekend I took a trip to Kochi City in Kochi Prefecture. It was my first time visiting the city. On Sunday I went to the market. On Monday I visited Katsurahama. It was really nice to go to the beach, but I was disappointed that it's too dangerous to swim. It was a nice trip anyway :) It reminded me of some of my past visits to Florida, which is another place with great beaches!  

Trains... I love trains. I love how relaxing it is to take a train in Japan. A lot of my students love the trains in Japan too especially the Shinkansen. My students ask me about public transportation in America. I have told them it isn't as popular in the US, but California has a similar marine liner train from San Diego to Los Angeles to Santa Monica to Sacramento to all the way to San Francisco! Although not as fancy it's a nice way to travel. Driving is the main port of transport in America though.

How about you ? Do you drive, train or bike ?
  続きを読む

Trains... I love trains. I love how relaxing it is to take a train in Japan. A lot of my students love the trains in Japan too especially the Shinkansen. My students ask me about public transportation in America. I have told them it isn't as popular in the US, but California has a similar marine liner train from San Diego to Los Angeles to Santa Monica to Sacramento to all the way to San Francisco! Although not as fancy it's a nice way to travel. Driving is the main port of transport in America though.

How about you ? Do you drive, train or bike ?  続きを読む

Is Japan in Asia? Don't laugh. I thought this was a forgone conclusion, but I'm not so sure anymore. I remember when I first came to work in Japan, I had been here several times previously but only on vacation. Someone asked me if I felt any "culture shock". I said of course not particularly, no more than I would in Europe or some western countries, mainly because the standard of living is so high. I could imagine having a harder time elsewhere in the East, the first time I mean, but coming from Japan, not even there did I feel too much of a problem, except for the extremes of wealth and poverty in places like India or Cambodia. Anyway, the reason I ask is that, asking my students where they've been abroad, I noticed most of them preferred traveling to Europe, North America, Australia, and many positively disliked the idea doing so in "Asia", as if Japan wasn't also there. Surely confusing considering that the written language is essentially Chinese, Buddhism comes from India, via China, and Korea I guess. Even now some of my students are still active in Chinese poetry chanting. These are things of the past in some ways but still part of the culture, I should think. So, is Japan in Asia? I hope so. I don't want to lose my bearings.   

I hope everyone is watching the World Cup. Though I am first and foremost a basketball fan, the World Cup is truly an amazing event. Everyone around the globe can cheer for their favorite team(s). It is a shame of the time difference, but sometimes it is worth staying up late or waking up ealry for a match. Let's go USA! Let's go Germany!  

I have some really amazing students in my classes and I must say that I am truly blessed by them all. This week I want to brag on my awesome student Molly! I know it's a bit late, but a few weeks ago was Molly's birthday and I just wanted to share that with everyone. I always look forward to seeing Molly and interacting with her in class. Happy Belated Birthday! I hope all of your wishes made that day come true!

Thanks for reading everyone!

Leigh   

Hello everyone,

It is another lovely Friday. So glad the sun is out. It has been a busy week. I was able to speak to my younger brother in America, which was so nice, but sadly I have not seen him in a few years. His name is Jayce, and he works for Microsoft . He is a game designer and i am so proud of him. He was one of the creators for Halo 4 and he is now working on Halo 5 for the Xbox.




This is a picture of the last time i was visiting him, I was recovering from my surgery and so I had gained a few pounds due to the swelling and medication i was on. But my brother always found ways to make each other laugh and be silly. I miss and love him so much.




Have a great weekend everyone

-Zee-
  

Elephants, I really love elephants. They are gentle giants and was fortunate enough to see one up close, let alone ride on one of them. I was hesitate on riding on an elephant hoping that the people in Laos had taken care of them correctly but was happy to see that they did.  

In order to get around the city, whether it be for work, or for groceries or even just to look around my main mode of transportation has been my bike. Last weekend I decided to challenge myself a bit more than usual and decided to bike from Takamatsu to Tokushima. I woke up at the crack of dawn on Sunday at around 4:30 and left my house at 5:00 and went on my way. It was a great time to bike because the air was cool and the streets were desolate, there weren't many cars on the road which made it a lot easier. I took route 11 all the way to Tokushima and for the most part it was easy until I got to Higashikagawa. by that time I was starting to feel the fatigue and there were many hillside roads that took a lot of energy to climb with my bike.

I made it to Tokushima by 8:37 in less than 4 hours. Although I made it I felt really fatigued and my knee started to hurt for the next few days. I definitely want to continue biking long distances, who knows? maybe I'll eventually bike to Matsuyama!  

Recently I saw an interesting bug. I was cycling near YouMe town in Takamatsu. I was taking a break and so was the this bug. It was a large beetle. I had never seen a beetle so big in the outdoors before. It didn't seem well. I think it might have been dying, but I stopped to take a picture since I had never seen it before. I'm still not sure what type of beetle it is. Do any of you know?

  

Recently I have been reading (and am nearly finished with) a series of novels by the author Simon R. Green. You may not have heard of him, but he has written quite a number of books. I will most likely mention a few more in the future. The series I have been reading doesn't really have a specific name, so the books are just called "Novels of the Nightside".
The Nightside is the setting in the twelve book series, a dark, hidden place located within modern day London. If you are a fan of fantasy, the supernatural, and science fiction, then this series is for you. The main character, whom you follow throughout each book, is named John Taylor. He is a private investigator, who specializes in finding things or people. He also has a unique gift, which is what allows him to find whatever he is looking for. Throughout the series, he encounters and even fights off monsters, psychopaths, demons, angels, and even gods. He has his own morals, but it doesn't stop him from doing the things that are necessary, even if those things seem downright nasty.
The kinds of people he comes across are also unique and interesting in their own right; Shotgun Suzie, a tall blond bounty hunter, specializing in the use of shotguns and grenades, and one very scary attitude; Razor Eddie, Punk God of the Straight Razor, a vigilante for Good, though through such appalling acts. Sometimes friend, sometimes enemy of John Taylor.
I strongly recommend checking out at least the first book, Something From the Nightside. If you don't get hooked from that, well, to each their own.