ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

Last week was the first week of winter break for the Gem School teachers, so like many of us, I went exploring.

Most of the first week was taken up by moving! I moved to Saijo from Shikokuchuo, and it's awesome! :) Still, I had time to take a trip out to Matsuyama for some tonkatsu and to view the lights there. I also visited the Takashimaya department store there, which reminded me so much of Tokyo that I got a little nostalgic.

I also took a quick drive up into the mountains here in Saijo, and I rapidly found myself on the way to Kochi. I actually ended up driving over the border into Kochi prefecture before turning around because I was low on gas. :)

While driving in the mountains, I came across an odd (and a bit sad) sight.



There was an older Volvo 960 wagon abandoned on the side of the road. It had not plates, and it looked like it had been there for a long time.

Now we all know that I'm a car guy, but less people know that I'm also a big fan of Volvos. The first car I ever drove was a volvo wagon, and I've owned 4 of them. They're rare in Japan, and I understand that they're fairly prestigious cars here. that means that this old wagon was once somebody's pride and joy. Somebody loved this car once, and because of money or convenience, they abandoned it on the side of a mountain road in the middle of nowhere. Poor thing.
  

One thing I really wanted to see this year was Japanese Christmas lights. So we took a trip to Matsuyama and saw these beautiful decorations along the street!




After checking out the lights and walking around the department store for awhile we were getting hungry. Nothing sounded good in the department store at the time so we headed outside and walked around.




We found a tonkatsu place called Kiyomaru that looked yummy!! I had tonkatsu and fried rice. It was delicious and I can't wait to go again!

Thank you for reading!
  

I love kids. Kids can communicate in the most creative and fun ways. They're also great at finding the fun in things. Sometimes, the kids don't even need to look for fun. Sometimes it finds them. I love some accessories for children. Things like cute backpacks, leashes, hats, funny shirts, and squeaky shoes are among my favorite. This picture is of some super cute baby shoes. They don't squeak, but they're so cute.

  

During Christmas week I was at Shiokucho School working with Jason. We had a really fun time making reindeer puppets with the kids!




After everyone finished their craft project we read, sang and played games!



Christmas is one of my favorite times of year and I am so glad I got to spend my first Christmas in Japan having so much fun!  

I really like having fun and technology. I especially like it when I can have both in one. I found a store that sells a candy smart phone. It's just a box of candies, I'm not even sure what type of candy, I didn't read the box, with pictures of famous app's logos over the rounded square candies. The logos are not printed on the candies, they are printed on the bag and the bag is see-through. All together it's pretty nifty.

  

Recently I went to Naruto to see the Whirlpool and it was really fun. We went on a bridge that had glass panels on the floor so you can see the water below you. Unfortunately the Whirlpool wasn't as big as I had hoped but it was visible enough! During this trip I had the opportunity to try sweet potato ice cream and boy was that delicious! Even though it was a cold day it was still very beautiful on the water.

The coastlines of Shikoku are really beautiful, I look forward to seeing more of them!

- James Barbosa