ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

This past week I have come back t my roots. I have remembered all of my core values that I had let slip and I also remembered how much I love my family. Speaking of family, we have a new addition this week! A small brown poodle named Gus! Gus came to us via my mother who works at at veterinary clinic, he came in with a broken leg and the owner didn't want him so we took him. He is the cutest little puppy, and he's so small that my other dogs think he's a cat! I absolutely love that my family steps up to the plate any time a person or critter is in need of help! I will miss this!

  

Do you like spicy food? I know I do. My guilty pleasure will always be flaming hot cheetos! They are basically original cheetos that are made to be super spicy. Now, what I love about these chips is not that they are spicy but rather the mix of the spicy and cheesy taste. If you every visit America you can find these in any variety store! Try em out if you dare!

- James Barbosa  

So I have heard it said that it doesn't snow very much in Kagawa (with the exception of last year). So far I have seen for myself how light the snowfall is. I am kinda glad for that, because I'm not too fond of snow. The reason is mainly because it is cold. I really, really, really dislike the cold. That's why summer is my favorite time of year. That being said, I still think snow is quite pretty. Like little white crystals falling from the sky. And you can play with it, making snowmen, snow angels, igloos, or having snowball fights. I would also like to try skiing at least once. But as fun as snow can be, it is still cold. I wouod end up just sitting at home with a cup of hot chocolate in hand, wrapped up in several blankets. *sigh* I can't wait for summer.  

As most of you are probably already aware, I am a big fan of Youkai Watch. Such a big fan, that I got really excited when I saw models at Yume Town, and only for 850 yen! So of course, I go ahead and biy one. Bet you can't guess which one I got?


It's Komasan! I had a lot of fun with it. So much so I was going to buy Jibanyan next. I didn't, though, which was good because I actually received one at a party where we did secret santa. But at this rate I might end up collecting them all. Which isn't so bad, except I wouldn't know where to put them all! Hahaha.
  

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  

As we see in the New Year, it would be well to remember that not all is well in the world especially when it comes to children. All over the world there are refugee children, poor, abandoned children out in the cold, without food or medication, on the run from wars and atrocities of every kind. Their only fault was being born in the wrong place at the wrong time, the wrong ethnicity, or religion in the wrong place. Considering the vast capacities of modern society to provide the necessities of life for all, the current system with its huge inequalities can in no way be justified. There is little any one of us can do to help by ourselves, but collectively, as a society, increasing awareness of these issues, is the only hope of creating a climate where this is no longer acceptable. It should not only make us sad, but angry enough to focus on it, and make others aware as well. Crawling into our cocoon of comfort is not the answer. We are all brothers and sisters.   

I find Hippo's to be one of the most fascinating animals, when I was a kid I always thought they seemed like a really cool and fun animals. This was likely because of the popular game Hungry, Hungry, Hippos which was a popular game in my home. However, I was quite wrong about hippos as a kid and later found out they are one of the most dangerous animals alive. Despite the fact that they primarily are herbivores, they don't eat meat, they still are one of the most aggressive animals alive. It is argued that is because they are very territorial and protective of their young. Sadly, Hippos are one of the many animals that are being driven into extinction from over hunting and human incursion on their lands.   

I occasionally like to play spelling games with my students and we have a good time playing with letters and letter sounds. We were spelling a few months but my student insisted on spelling them all. She worked fast to finish them before the end of class and was successful! Here are all the months, spelled out, and in correct order. Great work, Rhianna!

  

I mentioned it before, but it's still pretty funny and cute to see a tiny can like this. It's especially funny to see a beer like this. In America beer is very often seen as a manly drink and of course is not for children. We also have small cans for various beverages in America as well, maybe not quite so small, but we have them for sodas and some juice. I've definitely never seen such small cans for beer back home.

  

Everyone is different when it comes to what they like. And on the field of chocolate it's not different. Generally there are three different types of chocolate you can find at the store. Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate and Dark Chocolate. Of course there are other types of chocolate flavors that people would prefer, Like, fruit flavored chocolate. But what's your 'go to' chocolate? What type of chocolate do you always enjoy over others?

Mine is most certainly dark chocolate. The Darker the better and I've recently found a brand of chocolate in Japan that sells it in different percentages of cacao. The higher the percentage the darker the taste. I've always preferred the bitter chocolate taste to the sweeter chocolate taste. What about you? What's your favorite type of chocolate?  

This year for Christmas I had the pleasure of going out with this little darling in the photo. She is such a cute little one. We went and took pictures, then played UFO catcher games and so on. She is my little sister essentially. I love her to bits and back! Since meeting her family I have been nothing but blessed with happiness and peace. I hope everyone has someone like this in their lives and I hope everyone had a fun Christmas this year!!! <3

Thanks for reading! Happy Holidays!!!

Leigh   

What kind of movies do you like? Action? Comedy? Romance? Sci-fi? Personally for me I can enjoy all types of movies (Even Romance) but I'll always consider Sci-fi my favorite genre. And when compared to Fantasy I'll always enjoy futuristic settings over fantasy settings, even when playing video games!

What's your favorite movie genre? And why do you like it? I enjoy the more imaginative stories people can adapt into movies, or video games.

- James Barbosa

  

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful time with family or friends! I have been, and will continue to have more! Just recently I joined friends in a classy Christmas party in Shikokuchuo. It was a blast! We played several games (mainly drinking, haha), joked around, and simply talked. we even had a "special tree", where everyone added their own ornament, hahaha.

I look forward to more parties coming up, but I am realy excited about my trip to Kyoto, where I will go next week. Tell you all about it soon!  

This past weekend i was able to attend festival in Takamatsu where a former student was doing naginata demonstration. Other than talking to her about naginata, I had never heard of or seen the sport before. There were two groups of schools doing the demonstration and it was really interesting to see the performance. I find it interesting that Japan has so many sports or arts that are based off martial arts. It was also interesting how the sport is mostly comprised of women and how that is based off historical conceptions of the weapon's usage. I'm really exited to see more demonstrations like this but for other martial arts!
  

I'm officially in Texas!!! I have missed this place so much; the sights, sounds, and even the smell of it. But most of all, I have missed my family. Right this moment I am with my mother, father, and brother; later this week I will be meeting up with my southern family in Waco! I can't wait! We are going to meet up and have lunch together! But just to let you know, when i drove up to my house it was beautifully adorned with many colors of Christmas lights! Its so cool!